Mother's Day, New Furnace, Concert and Gardening

It seems a long time since last Monday and a lot of things have happened since then. But last Monday was when we celebrated Mother’s Day as a family—at least a local family, with those who were here in Utah which meant: Peter, Kortney and Eleanor and Erika and Jono. I made dinner for everyone and it was a very nice time. Peter and Kortney are participating in a fitness program that is overseen by Ryan and Ashleigh Di Lello (Cindy and Rob’s daughter and son-in-law) and they have a lot of dietary restrictions at the moment, so I made a spaghetti dinner using spaghetti squash instead of pasta and diced chicken breast as the meat. It was actually very good and everyone enjoyed it. I skipped the garlic bread, but made a nice green salad with lots of vegetable bits in it and then for dessert there were heaping plates of watermelon, cantaloupe and mangos. It was a hearty and healthy meal that we all enjoyed and which Peter and Kortney could eat guilt free and without breaking faith with their program. It is always nice to gather the family and I enjoy having our children surrounding our table and filling our family room. I enjoyed this Mother’s Day celebration very much. They also brought some fun and interesting gifts that I will enjoy. Peter brought among other things a couple of sets of reusable ice cubes which will be fun for summer meals and which before being frozen were engaging toys for Eleanor to play with. Eleanor is such a delightful little person, very verbal and interesting to interact with. Good evening for me. Tuesday was a banner day for our household. After more than six weeks, we had our new furnace and air conditioning installed with a humidifier and high efficiency filter set-up. When we made arrangements with this company, (and I liked this company very much,) I asked about them coming on a Saturday to install the furnace. They declined to come during the weekend, because all the suppliers that they work with are closed on Saturday and if they find during the installation that they are missing some important connector or other essential part then they are able to quickly get it, however on a Saturday that is not possible. But they said that if I was agreeable—and their employees are all licensed and bonded—then I could be home to let them in and get them started and then I could go to work and return home at the end of the day to find that the new furnace and air condition would be mostly installed. This is what I did—they told me that they would arrive sometime between 8:00 and 9:00 and I stayed home and waited for them. After they arrived I left and they went to work. It is interesting that the furnace which they installed is much smaller in size than the behemoth that it replaced and is 96% efficient, while the air conditioning unit, which is outside is twice the size of the one they replaced. They were still busy with the installation when I got home and continued to work from about 3:40 p.m. until after 7:00 when they finally finished and gave me a tour of the new equipment and helped me set up the thermostat and showed me how the various components work. By this time Paul was home, too and he got to listen to the presentation as well. Interestingly, it was a rather chilly evening and when they left the interior of the house was 62°, so we got to hear, see and feel the furnace kick on for the first time and really within minutes our house was warm and toasty. It has been warm enough since then that it hasn't been needed, but we are assured that it works—and we will let it rest until we need air conditioning. I’m not anticipating needing the furnace again for many months. Tuesday evening turned out to be super crazy. I expected the furnace guys to be finished by six or so. Peter had some meetings in Salt Lake Tuesday evening and Kortney was working so I agreed to keep Eleanor for the evening. She arrived at about 5:00 while the workmen were still here. Also at 7:04 p.m. my parents were returning from a trip to Las Vegas and I was to pick them up at the airport. I got ahold of my mother’s cell phone and told them to sit tight, I was going to be a little late, and after the workmen left, I popped Eleanor into her car seat and headed for the airport. I called Mom and Dad when I was almost to the airport and they met me at the door, so I didn't have to go in and I drove them home and when I got home,Paul had had a dinner of cold cereal and I gave Eleanor applesauce and pudding cups. (So much for continued healthy eating.) When Peter picked Eleanor up at a little after 10:00, I felt like it had been quite a full day. But Eleanor is loads of fun and I’ll take her whenever. After two quite full and busy days I was looking forward to an evening at home to catch up on things—I got home later than usual, finishing up some details at work and then running a few errands and when I got home, Paul was eating cold cereal again and he said that he had just heard from Erika who had had a anaphylactic reaction from season allergies after a run with a friend and as a precaution had gone to the local insta-care. Her friend had driven her there but had some demands on her time in the evening and so I took the next shift. By the time that I arrived Erika was back to normal and had been waiting but still hadn't been seen, so I waited with her and went into the examination room with her (it was like old times when I used to take children to the doctor) everything was fine and it was recommended that she start using an antihistamine especially when she is running outdoors and then I drove her home. I haven’t been to her apartment since she and Jono got all their stuff moved in and so I went in and got to see their “first apartment” in all its glory. She and Jono have a really cute place and they have a lot of storage and are very comfortably installed. Their living room has a large sectional sofa that makes entertaining possible and they have a full and active life with each other and a large circle of friends. We are happy for them. Friday was the last concert for Erika’s season with Salt Lake Choral Artists. This concert was titled: Caribbean Excursion: Songs from the Islands and the Coasts of the Caribbean Sea. The music was lively and the choirs were excellent. There were familiar numbers (like The Girl from Ipenema—which isn't strictly from the Caribbean, but it has that “coastal” feeling, and Yellow Bird.) And other numbers that had the calypso feeling but were unfamiliar before that night. The concerts are now held in a Catholic Church building that has wonderful acoustics and makes the choirs sound particularly live and beautiful. The conductor has several choirs who all perform, a masterworks group, a youth honor choir and children’s choir and the big choir that Erika belongs to. All of them performed with aplomb! It was a nice evening for Paul and me and we enjoyed ourselves very much. And Erika always looks like she is having a great time being a part of it. It is quite a commitment but she seems to find it a fulfilling part of her life. Saturday I started the day with a breakfast with the nuclear Gates Family minus my sister Liza. David was in town and Stephen came up from Pleasant Grove and my parent joined us for breakfast at the Little America. They have extensively remodeled the interior and it was quite fabulous. David was the one who gathered us all together. My dad commented how wonderful it was to have three of his four children around the same table. We had some good laughs and shared funny stories and experiences and generally enjoyed being together. But the real activity of Saturday was yard work. While I was at breakfast Paul fertilized the lawn front and back and worked on the sprinklers. He had the back yard all finished when I got home and all the sprinklers were up and running. We had one valve that wasn't working in the front and needed to be replaced which he did in the afternoon, up to his elbows in water and dirt, but successfully done, anyway. He had also planted our log planter and the south window box which looked just lovely when I arrived home. We went to the nursery and picked up flats of impatiens, our garden bed choice for this season and a few geraniums as well. We pepped the beds with mulch and fertilizer and Paul turned the bed and then I prepared the bed with racking and arranging the drip system and then planted the flowers. We have been buying our bedding plants from an independent distributor for the last few years, but they are never very far along. This year we bought plants that are already quite far along for bedding plants and they are already in flower—they aren't mature yet, for sure, but the bed already looks colorful rather than a few little green spots. We are hoping for load of color this year. We really worked hard all day on Saturday. I had put together a crock pot stew in the morning which was nice to have a warm meal without a lot of preparation at the end of a busy day.

Arthritis, Mother Agnes, Books and the Manti Temple

Last Monday I went to see an orthopedic specialist for the first time. I had been experiencing some stiffness and discomfort in my knee for a long time, but recently the pain has been keeping me awake or waking me up and so Paul encouraged me to go and see a specialist. I made the appointment and had my visit. I don’t have to have a knee replacement, at least not yet, but I do have osteoarthritis in both my knees. The progression is about the same in both knees, I fortunately only have pain in one. The doctor assured me that this might change and that arthritic pain is very capricious. The pain may move from one knee to the other or settle in both. My arthritis would be considered mild at this point—I still have some cartilage between the bones, it is just getting narrower and more compressed. The fortunate thing is that when I am actually walking I don’t feel much pain. When my knee is limbered up/loosened up, I can use it without any trouble. It is more when I am static for a while and then try to use it again, like first thing in the morning and after sitting for a while or after a car ride—stuff like that. I guess the worst of the situation is admitting that I am getting old. In addition to my doctor’s appointment, Paul and I attended a really interesting event on Monday evening. One of Paul’s responsibilities in his work environment is that he is part of a really special and exclusive committee that deals with the Middle East. This committee deals with lots of different dimensions of work in the Middle East, and is directly under the jurisdiction of the Twelve. Paul has been very involved in the projects that this committee addresses. Last week we were invited to a dinner that was being held hosting Mother Agnes, a mother superior from Syria that has been heavily involved in relief efforts. She was accompanied by another nun, Sister Carmel. Mother Agnes, as it turns out is a rather controversial figure. She has been an advocate for the underdog and very involved in humanitarian work and also has been an arbitrator for peace in Syria—this year she is one of the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is touring the United States sharing her perspective of the situation in the Middle East and particularly Syria. And Paul and I were invited to dinner with them, kind of impressive. We had a very nice dinner in the Lion House and then Mother Agnes gave us a presentation, including a power point and slide presentation about what is going on in Syria and some of the negotiations and activities that she has been involved with. The information she shared with us was very sobering. Afterwards, Sister Carmel and Mother Agnes sang to us and then all the people present, about fifteen of us sang God Be With You to Sister Carmel and Mother Agnes. It was quite an evening. Tuesday night was my meeting with one of my bookclubs, Bibliobabes. The book that we read this month was The Last Runaway. This was written by Tracy Chevalier, who is most well known for her book titled The Girl with the Pearl Earring, which is fiction based on the Vermeer painting by the same name, where she creates a story which explains why a servant girl is wearing a pearl earring. The Last Runaway is another book of historical fiction. It is set in Ohio in 1850. The novel delves into the difference between a theory of belief and its practice. The story is about a young Quaker woman from England, named Honor Bright, whose fiancé breaks off the relationship to marry outside the faith. Honor goes to America with her sister, Grace. Grace is engaged to marry Adam Cox, a young man from their hometown who followed his brother to Faithwell, Ohio. Unfortunately, Grace dies en route, and Honor arrives in Ohio to find Adam sharing a house with Abigail, his sister-in-law, made a widow by the death of Adam’s brother. Honor moves into the house, but feels unwelcome. Honor ends up marrying a local man and Quaker and she is drawn into helping the Underground Railroad. She is forced to choose between living her beliefs and merely speaking them. The birth of her own child raises the stakes. Honor’s quiet determination provides a contrast to the slave issue, the abolitionist fight; the way this book is written, there are sympathies enough to go around, both sides of the story are expressed in a way that gives them credence. We had a lively discussion about this book and a nice time visiting, too. I really enjoy these women and it is nice to have this a recurring activity. Thursday night was also a kind of book club evening, only with Back Country Horseman. Paul has arranged for speakers and presenters to enrich the monthly meetings. I have attended many of these meetings because the presentations are really interesting. This month the presenter was LeAnn Bednar, an author who wrote a book entitled My Final Ride. It is the true-life story of her father, Chuck Christensen’s epic mule-back Canada-to-Mexico journey while battling stage-three bone marrow cancer/multiple myeloma. Given eighteen months to three years to live and told he’ll never ride again, he gets back on his mule and vows to trek as far as he can. Learning of the Great Western Trail, which eventually is to stretch from Canada to Mexico, he excitedly sends letters, makes phone calls, collects maps, and sets out on his daring ride. Along the way he faces multiple challenges and discouragements. Much of the trip he is traveling alone, or with other adventurers who happen to be on the trail at the same time he is. He has some really great experiences with some of these other adventurers. Bednar read a couple of sections from the book, told a lot of the background leading up to the trip, some of the specific events that occurred, she was a very engaging speaker. She had books for sale and I bought one for Paul and me. Of course, we haven’t even started it yet. But it looks like it will be interesting. LeAnn lives in Alta, Wyoming and came from there to visit the meeting. The last big event for this week was a trip to Manti, which Paul and I took on Saturday. I am on a quest to visit all the temples in Utah and the ones that are not an easy distance from Salt Lake City have been a bit more challenging. Paul and I went to St. George in January for a Back Country Horseman State Meeting and I did a session with Marilyn on that trip, and the Vernal and Monticello Temple are still alluding me. But I had a special interest in Manti for a couple of reasons-other than the experience of attending an endowment session in the temple. I have heard of the Minerva Teichert Mural which I wanted to see and Peter had visited that temple last year and told me about the very special staircases in that building that he had had the opportunity of visiting and recommended. So on Saturday morning Paul and I set off for Manti to attended an endowment session in that temple. We left a little before 10:00 and got there in time to make the 12:30 session (but, just). I got to the locker room at 12:25 and by the time I had gotten changed and received a new name, the session had gone from the chapel into the creation room, and Paul arrived about a minute after me. When we were both seated, the doors were closed and the session began. The Manti temple still has patrons move from room to room and the session is performed live, which is interesting in its own right—especially if it has been some time since attending a live session. I was under the misinformation that Minerva Teichert had painted all three of the session rooms that have murals in them. This is untrue. She is only responsible for the murals in the “World Room”. The Creation Room still has the pioneer era murals on its walls, but by the 1940s the plaster in the Garden and World rooms had deteriorated so much that the valiant effort to save the murals, which had been done by Danquart Weggeland and C.C. A. Christensen failed. The rooms were replastered and high quality sail canvas applied to the walls. This was completed in 1946 in the World Room. The Garden room had been completed the year before and Robert L. Shepherd of Salt Lake City had finished the Garden Room murals by then. Back when we had first moved back to Utah, I attended a Minerva Teichert show at the Museum of Art at BYU and had learned more about her and her education and experiences, and so I had been curious about her work in the Manti Temple since then. When I saw the first two rooms, I was struck how much they didn’t look like her style and then when we got home, I looked up some information about her and found out that she was only responsible for the murals in the World Room, other artists did the other murals. And for the record, I found the World Room murals fascinating. From my research, I discovered “several constraints were placed on Teichert’s “great pageant.” It had to enhance the spiritual themes of the world room. It had to wrap under windows and around doors and fit in tight corners. It had to cover almost 4,000 square feet, but be finished quickly. It had to stay true to scripture. Above all, it had to be shaped by prayer and the inspiration gained through temple attendance.” She was assisted by a young man, Frank Stevens who painted the big spaces and helped with the moving of scaffolding. He was an amateur artist living in Green River, Wyoming, who worked with her during the painting process. They worked while the temple was still operating and had to vacate the World Room during the time that a session was in that room. The mural itself is divided into a number of disparate and related vignettes. I didn’t want to be too distracted by the paintings, but there was a great temptation to be absorbed by them and try to figure them out. And the murals in the Garden Room and in the Creation Room were also very interesting. Pictures don’t really do any of the murals justice because the murals are in the round and pictures are flat and only show a portion of the pictures, but they were all very impressive. In addition to the remarkable murals, Paul and I were impressed with the beauty of this building especially given the knowledge that it was a pioneer era building. The temple itself rises out of the countryside like a magnificent palace. The workmanship was exquisite. The woodwork, door frames, wainscoting, window sashing, decorative trim, everything hand done, everything fitting perfectly and looking lovely. This building is such a treasure. There was so much to admire. After the session, Paul and I were able to poke our heads into one of the sealing rooms which is off the celestial room. There are actually eight sealing rooms at the Manti temple and I’m told that this one is no longer being used for sealings. It doesn’t have the big mirrors on both sides like the standard sealing rooms although there are smaller mirrors and is asymmetrical with alter at one end and seating at the other end. The room is beautiful with an arched ceiling and intricate gold patterns and detailed woodwork. The door is left open, but roped off so you can see into it but not go all the way in now. It is small and maybe room for ten or so guest at a sealing. The other sealing rooms which are accessible without dressing in white are also very beautiful. I was impressed by one which had upholstered chairs which had a needlepoint floral design on the back of each chair, very impressive. After Paul and I had finished the session and had gone down toward the dressing rooms, I asked a matron if it was possible to see the staircases which Peter had described to us. She told us to change into our street clothing and then she would see that we got a chance to see them. We did and a kind brother escorted us to the area where we were able to see not only one, but both the staircases. These are two of the most unique spiral staircases in the world. In the two west corner towers there are freestanding spiral staircases without central supports. They have incredible workmanship, hundreds of hand turned balusters, and the seams between pieces of wood on the railings are also extremely difficult to find. Peter reported that there are only three free standing spiral staircases that lack central supports in the world and two of them are in Manti, Utah. So these staircases are really special. (Peter and Kortney have been to see the third one, which is in New Mexico at the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe.) One of the staircases goes up clockwise and the other counterclockwise. They really are an impressive sight and a great asset of the temple. We were happy to see them. Paul and I had lunch in the temple cafeteria, which by the way is lined on two sides with stained glass windows and then we headed outside. We had two additional missions for the day. Across the street from the temple is the Manti Cemetery, where some of my Gates line ancestors are buried. William Fowler who is my great, great Grandfather is buried there and so is his wife, Ellen Bradshaw Fowler. William Fowler is best known for having written the lyrics to the well-used hymn, We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet. He emigrated from Sheffield, England, but his health was broken during the crossing of the plains and he died at age 35 as a school teacher in Manti. His family was impoverished and his children very young. His wife only lived a few years after him. She remarried in polygamy and died in complications of childbirth. My grandmother was 13 when she was orphaned. She and her siblings didn’t erect either tombstone, I don’t believe in their lifetimes, but now there is an impressive marker on William Fowler’s grave which gives him credit for that famous LDS hymn. The new marker was paid for with a subscription made in 1920 and was erected in a ceremony with no relatives present at the Manti Cemetery. We headed north for our return to Salt Lake City, but made one final detour along the way. Paul wanted to drive through Spring City. He had read an article about Spring City a few years back and it sounded very appealing. He thought he would like to see what the talk was all about. Apparently it has become an Artist Community, with a number of Utah based artists living there. Here is what the internet says about Spring City: Spring City is a city in Sanpete County, Utah, United States. The population was 956 at the 2000 census. Although it is still largely a farming town, Spring City is becoming increasingly known as an artist community. Many excellent examples of Mormon pioneer architecture exist throughout the town. In 2010, Forbes Magazine identified Spring City as one of the prettiest towns in America. One notable historical point, Orson Hyde, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is buried in the Spring City Cemetery. It is the geographical center of Utah. It is a quaint place off the main highway between Ephriam and Mt. Pleasant. As we looked at the dry land in this part of Utah, we are happy that we have chosen Cache County as a retirement area for us. The land in Northern Utah is just a bit more favored than the land in the south—at least with respect to water. This week there was an article about Spring City in the Deseret News. I thought you might enjoy it. I do have to give the pioneers much credit for the mature trees that garnish all the little communities of central Utah. Without the contribution of these valiant saints who settled these spaces, juniper would be the biggest trees in most areas. All the same, Paul and I had a nice time on our jaunt and it was a Mother’s Day treat for me.

Many Proud Family Moments

This week was full of activities that were fun and special and wonderful. On Wednesday evening I was invited to attend a play at Hale Center Theater. It was a production of Arsenic and Old Lace. The Hale Theater is one of the most successful community theaters in the country and they always do interesting productions. I was invited by Patty Bushman, who is both a friend and a relative. We were in the same student ward at BYU in the 70’s and then she ended up marrying one of my Bushman cousins. We have stayed in touch over the years and I consider her both a friend and a family member. She and her husband Serge live in Kansas City, but they make trips to Utah a couple of times a year and Patty and I try to get together. Last time she was in town we did a session in the Jordan River Temple together. Patty was staying with a brother in Alpine and also picking up her daughter from BYU. She knew someone in the cast who provided the tickets complimentary—so not only did I get good theater but also for free. Arsenic and Old Lace is such a silly farce, but the acting was wonderful and the characters so well drawn. I think the stage play is much better than the movie with Cary Grant, but that is just my opinion. I have seen it many times. We had a couple of proud moments this weekend—particularly on Friday. We attended commencement exercises at both Utah Valley University and University of Utah. Kortney graduated from Utah Valley University at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning. I had never been in the Events Center there at UVU and it is an impressive facility. Paul and I got an early start together—we drove to the pasture to feed the horses in two separate vehicles and then drove to the 12300 South Exit and parked the truck in a parking lot and drove down to Orem together in the same car. This was because both of us were planning on returning to work as soon as the graduation event was over. Erika and Jono, and my parents were present as well as Kortney’s parents and some family members. Afterwards a group of them went and had a “breakfast” together, but Paul and I skipped that and went back to work. We have good reason to be very proud of Kortney. She was named the Outstanding Student in her department and she graduated Summa Cum Laude and got to wear a medal at graduation. (She was disappointed that she actually had to buy the medal herself—but it was still a great honor.) She graduated in the top 1% of her class and she did that while working part time and with a baby/toddler to care for. Both she and Peter were really happy at the graduation and ceremony. Eleanor was lot of fun at the graduation, going back and forth between her two sets of grandparents. Paul and I were sorry to miss the post-graduation festivities, but it was a workday. After the ceremony Paul and I drove back to the parking lot on 12300 South and I drove to Corner Canyon in the Jetta and Paul took the truck into the Church Office Building. We are nothing if not efficient. Later that day was Jono's graduation. He hasn't strictly graduated yet, he is still talking classes Spring term, but the University of Utah only has two exercises a year, in the spring and at the end of fall semester in December. If you don’t graduate at the end of those two semesters you have to graduate when there is a scheduled commencement. They recommended him to graduate in this exercise. His commencement was in the Huntsman center on the University of Utah campus. It was a bigger group than at UVU as it included Doctoral and MBA candidates as well as undergraduate candidates, but they were remarkably efficient in getting the students through the lines. Paul and I picked up Grannie and Granddad on the way to Jono's graduation. (They make a big effort to come to the graduation of their grandchildren and are coming to Boston, too for K.C.’s graduation.) We thought we were going to be sitting with Erika and the Bults, but we were unable to get to that spot and sat in a different area. Erika sat with the Bult group--Jono was represented by his own parents and siblings and his grandparents, too. After the graduation, Jono’s mother, Julie had made reservations for dinner at Ruby River steak house for the entire group which was Jono and Erika, Jono’s sisters Sarah and Rachel, Julie and Scott, Paul and I and the two sets of grandparents. It was a jolly group with good food and lots of chatter and laughter. We expected to pick up our own tab, but the Bult’s graciously paid for Paul and I and my parents. We were glad to be a part of all of it. It was a great day for our family and a big group of our family in-laws. My Bushman cousins and relatives all gathered in Utah this weekend for several events including the marriage of one of my cousin’s daughters, which took place on Saturday. My wing of the family was not included in all the really personal parts of the wedding, but we were invited to the reception which was held in a very nice event center in Draper. The bride is from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and groom is from California, both of them are currently living in Provo so I guess that is why they got married here, and both of them have jobs here. I was happy to go to the event because I got to see my Bushman relatives who I don’t see that often, and now most of them have grown or nearly grown children and it was fun to see them as well. My parents came and picked me up and we all went together. On Sunday we had another family event. It included many of the same cousins and relatives who attended the wedding the night before, plus a larger circle of family members. This event was a function of interested that was generated by the family history book that I finished last December on the GORDON Family. The Gordons are my maternal grandmother’s maternal line. During one seven year period, the family lived in the Salt Lake area, living in virtual poverty, the lived in a succession of rented homes. One of the Gordon relatives made contact with the owner of one of these “Family Homes” and all the interested “Gordon’s” descended on this home on Sunday afternoon at 4:00p.m. for a tour. The present owner is in the process of selling the home and put it on the market on May 1st, so we were really lucky to have this chance. And it was such a darling home. Paul thought it looked quite similar in layout to his Grandma Madsen’s Yale Avenue bungalow. The foyer and the two front rooms looked just like they had in former years. The home was 101 years old. The kitchen and bathroom have been smartly updated. There was also a lovely garden with an outdoor living space. We were all very admiring. Afterwards we headed off to my mother’s house where she hosted a repas and open house. Everyone came to both events and it was lots of fun. Again there was good chatting and visiting and catching up and reacquainting. It was a fun way to round off the week and weekend.