Book Club and a trip to Loveland

After several weeks of quite warm weather we are having a little bit of winter again. Today and yesterday there was actually snow. Last night it rained very hard in the evening at our house and this morning everything looked wet and rained on, although it was clear, but this morning more clouds have come in and it is actually snowing a bit today, although the snow is not sticking. We are still without a furnace or air conditioning, but are managing quite well anyway. The fireplace in the family room with its blower takes the chill off the main floor in the morning and in the evening and we have a nice space heater in our bedroom which keeps it pleasant at night. Last week we didn't use it at all, but last night and this morning with the cooler weather it seemed like a good idea. I was doing some initial investigation on a heating/cooling system, but Paul is going to take over now and make the final decision. I think we could wait for another month or two, but we might be sorry if we don’t get the air conditioner installed before the summer hot weather arrives. It just depends on how hot the summer ends up being. I spend a lot of the summer in the basement where the weather is always cool…anyway, we have had a number of service people giving us bids, but we have been gone a lot, too. Thursday this week, was one of my book club meetings. The book this month was The Light between Oceans. It had actually been selected as a choice for my other book club earlier this year, so I had already read it, but decided to listen to it again as my “car book”—the book that I listen to while I’m driving in the car. The Light between Oceans is a debut novel from an Australian born author M.L. Stedman. Set on a tiny island off the cost of Western Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean this novel explores the consequences of love and the desire to please and satisfy. Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper at Janus Rock, a position that has afforded him some measure of peace after the horrors of World War I. During his infrequent visits to the mainland at Port Partageuse, he develops a relationship with the spirited Isabel Graysmark whom he eventually marries and the two create a life together on the island. Their happy marriage is marred only by Isabel’s repeated miscarriages so when a boat drifts ashore carrying a dead man and squalling infant girl, Isabel convinces Tom that they have been granted a gift. Lucy becomes the light of their lives, but Tom’s unease with the situation never dissipates and when he learns the devastating truth, he is torn between right and wrong, guilt and innocence, love and duty. With sensitivity, Stedman explores the grey, murky waters between the absolutes of right and wrong. Decisions made with good intentions, with love, prove ultimately to have consequences that cause irreparable harm. This is a story that has strong emotional impact and is written so that I was torn between sympathies for both women protagonists and the man who wants to do right by both of them. It is a book that I would recommend—if I were the type who normally recommended books to other readers, which I am not. This weekend Paul and I headed east to Loveland, Colorado to visit Grandma Kern. We had planned on going over Easter Weekend, but ended up at the cabin that weekend and it worked out better because last weekend Rob and Cindy were in Loveland, and going a different week from them spread out the companionship a little bit. Our trip was short. We arrived at about 10:30 on Friday night. Spent the day on Saturday and then drove home after Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. Our drive on Friday night was very uneventful. We had very nice weather. Coming home on Sunday was another matter. There were storm warnings for snow and rain and high winds all the way across Wyoming. It was already windy at 10:30 when we left, and we ran into snow before we got to Laramie. It was very windy and stormy between Laramie and Rock Springs, and it was stormy pretty much the whole way into the Salt Lake Valley. We saw many big rig trucks pulled over as we drove, but we didn't have to stop and we still made pretty decent time. We were glad to get home and by 8:30p.m. in Sandy we had heavy rain. We were glad to be home and safe. On Saturday, Grandma wanted to do some activity and not just sit around in her house in Loveland and so we went on a little adventure to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park was already crawling with tourists and Saturday was a very pleasant day---not super hot, but springy and sunny. We drove through Estes Park and headed for the National Park. Grandma wanted especially to visit two areas. Bear Lake and the YMCA Conference Center. Paul and I had driven through the park last summer and had really enjoyed the Ridge Trail Road which took park visitors above the tree line, but this part of the park was still closed for the winter. When we got into the park, we discovered that winter was still very much present with snow everywhere. We drove down the road to Glacier Gorge and then continued on to Bear Lake. Grandma assured us that it was open to hikers year round, and it was if you were prepared. There were a number of winter hikers prepared and enjoying the hiking. The snow was probably four feet and quite slick and slushy on the top. Paul and I followed the foot trampings around about ¼ of the distance around the lake before giving up because of the difficulty in navigating the terrain in inappropriate footwear. I was in canvas shoes with smooth bottoms and Paul’s weren't much better. The lake itself was still covered in snow and ice. Grandma remained in the car and it seemed wrong to be out hiking when we came to be with her. She was interested in pointing out to us the YMCA of the Rockies Conference Center which is really an impressive facility. It is massive with many, many buildings and styles and levels of accommodations. It is a possibility for us—presumably for a Paul Kern reunion and she thought we would want to see it. It is a fabulous facility, but we will probably continue to trade out our time share for locations for Kern Family Reunions. But it was fun to see. It is not a five star type of accommodation, but probably about a three star—but many programs and activities available. It looked like a great place to have a camp or event. We were glad to have a chance to see it. We stopped in Estes Park for lunch at KFC—and then headed back to Loveland where we were scheduled to have a “birthday” dinner with Holly and Caden and Connor. The celebration was for Connor who has a birthday at the end of May and Paul who had a birthday at the end of March. Grandma went all out with a fancy “Sunday” dinner including roasted lamb, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, green salad, cantaloupe and rolls. There was an angel food cake for the birthday cake. It was a fun time for the six of us. Later after Holly and the boys left we had a nice visit with Grandma before going to bed. Sunday morning arrived with its grey weather—we went to Church on Sunday morning and then after sacrament meeting Paul and I headed back to Sandy.

Spring Break, Furnace Drama, St. Anthony Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Island Park and a New Job for Erika

Last week from the 14th to the 18th was my spring break from school. Because I was out of school I didn't update the blog or write letters or do the things I normally do at the beginning of the week. It was nice to have a whole week without having to go to school. Paul and I planned a trip to the cabin for the last half of the week, but I had three days at home to do my projects. One of the things that we are doing at the present time is going through some of our “more congested” areas of the house and deciding what to get rid of and what to keep. We made a big Deseret Industries drop off this week and got rid of some household items that had been hanging around filling space but not being used. Paul calls it changing our focus from our child rearing years to our empty nester time, and some of the things were associated with children, but some of them were our things as well. After we got rid of all our wheat, I took a look at some of the other things that were being stored in our “storage room” and felt quite comfortable getting rid of some of the items that had been stored there for the last fifteen years and never used and actually forgotten. I use as my barometer of whether or not to keep something—“Will I want to move this to Petersboro?” or more to the point—“Will my children even keep this after I’m gone?” If the answer to either of these questions is “No.”, then it goes into the DI pile. I've been throwing away stuff, too, like magazines---I have been subscribing to Real Simple for the last two years and have really enjoyed it. I was keeping all the old issues, this week, I threw them all away. If I ever need to reference anything—it can be found on line anyway. The saga of our water heater has a new, unhappy and expensive chapter. When it was installed the workman who was doing the work cut a refrigerant line to the air conditioner. This didn't affect the water heater or the furnace so I scheduled the workman’s revisit to repair this problem for last week on Monday when I was going to be home from school. He came and welded the line back together and then checked the line. He claimed to have discovered a leak in the line somewhere and called in his supervisor. The supervisor came and did an inspection and essentially condemned our furnace. Of course, they wanted to sell us a new and improved system, but we were pretty frustrated by this. They unhooked the furnace and removed some of the duct work so it is completely disabled. But they picked the wrong people to play this game with. It isn't a time a year where the furnace is an imperative. It is 70 degrees during the day and isn't going below freezing at night. Paul and I aren't home during the day and we have the fireplace with the blower and a space heater if we need it. So we are investigating other options and certainly other companies but it looks like a new furnace and a new air conditioning system are in our future. The thing that is so frustrating about this is that the furnace didn't break down, it was working and doing a good job. Admittedly it was original to the house and didn't include all the safety features that are a part of present day models, and is relatively inefficient compared to newer, more modern models—however, both the air conditioner and the furnace were keeping our home cool or warm respectively and we didn't intend to make this home improvement this month. So we are feeling a little cross about this. In the meantime, I am listening to presentations with furnace people and trying to decide what make and model of furnace and air conditioning will suit our needs the best. My opinion of all of this is---Grrrrrrr. We were planning on going to Loveland over the Easter weekend; however we had a change of plans when Paul was invited to participate in the 27th Annual St. Anthony Cowboy Poetry Gathering. We had never even attended this event, so it was quite a surprise and honor when Paul was asked to be one of the performers. The event runs on Friday and Saturday and Paul did two sets each day. Paul was reluctant to even talk about this because he and we really had no idea what to expect or what he would be doing exactly or how the event was run or any of the details. We really just plain didn't know what we were getting into. We left on Thursday afternoon and stayed in Island Park at the cabin and drove down to St. Anthony both days. But before I wax lengthy about the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, I need to tell about the cabin a little bit. We had not been to visit at the cabin since we were there last fall. Usually we make one winter trip a year, but this year when we usually go—over Martin Luther King weekend or President’s Day weekend we were in the midst of planning and preparing for Erika’s wedding so we didn't make it to the cabin this year. We had made all the appropriate steps for winterizing the cabin, but one never knows what misfortunes may arise in the absence of “real people” attention. So we were curious how things would be when we arrive. And we were totally amazed at how perfect everything was. We had set up the fan with the timer and had left the windows cracked about an inch in the master bedroom and the great room and when we walked in it didn't have a strong cabin smell at all. The heat tape which Paul had carefully set last fall didn't fail and we had water immediately—and within the hour we had hot water. We got a good fire roaring in the fireplace and we were good to go. There is still snow on the ground everywhere in Island Park, but the roads are totally clear and it was in the high 50’s every day that we were there. Aspen Ridge roads are all plowed and while not really dry were not particularly muddy—at least not rut filled. We were able to drive easily on the roads. The Aspen Ridge entrance is still unopened and we came in on Lodgepole Drive from Red Rock Road. Our driveway still has about four feet of snow on it, hardpacked; we were able to drag our suitcases and storage boxes across it easily. During the day we sank in a little, but it hardened up during the night hours each evening. The snow has slid off the roof from the garage making a seven foot mound in front of the garage door, but the rest of the roof is still covered with snow. Fortunately for us none of the neighbors on our street were visiting this weekend, and so we just parked on the road each night and walked across our snowy tundra of a drive-way. We had to hop down to the porch from the snowbank to get into the cabin. But it was cozy inside and we were really happy to be there. There was a significant rainstorm on Thursday night, but the rest of the weekend was clear and as I mentioned in the 50’s. The snow on the roof is slowly melting and there was water dripping of the roof every day, although the melting progress was not particularly visible to us. It was very satisfying to find the cabin in such good shape. We felt it was wonderful to be able to come up and find that all the precautions that we took were to good use and we were able to shower and wash dishes and enjoy our time there. While we were there we took the opportunity to drive over to see Ralph’s new building. It is an impressive structure—the ground floor is about the size of our carriage house and there is a second story attic style loft. It is a pole building and doesn't have a floor finished at the moment, but it is closed with a garage door in the front and a side door entrance as well. On Saturday—between Paul’s sets—we drove down to Rexburg and dropped in to see Connie and Ralph. I was surprised to see his new house is under construction. The excavation is in progress and part of the foundation has been poured. Ralph showed us pictures of the floor plan and what he is planning on doing—we visited with Ralph for a few minutes and then I left Paul and Ralph chatting while I went in to visit with Connie. Ralph has made a very pleasant room for Connie with her hospital bed and a television and other entertainments (her tablet and her computer) near at hand. We were there about an hour and then had to head back to St. Anthony. Our experience at St. Anthony was a very happy and positive one. As I mentioned this was not a gathering that we had ever attended or which I was at all familiar with. Paul knew of it, but he had never been invited to participate. The majority of performers were drawn from Cowboy Poets of Idaho. There were also a few participants from Utah as well as us and also from Wyoming and Montana. The event was held in the South Freemont High School which is in St. Anthony. It has a cozy auditorium and a very nice sound system. Many of the other events that Paul has participated in have multiple stages, but this was the sole venue and so the audience was not fragmented at all. Paul knows some of the Idaho performers from some of his Utah events, and they are a very congenial group and were very embracing and welcoming. This is not a huge event, it does have longevity in its favor—it is supported and sponsored by the local chamber of commerce and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The event was set up with daytime sessions and then an evening show on each of the two days of events. Paul was schedule to perform in two of the daytime session, plus he performed in the Start-Up Session on Friday as well. It was a great time. Lots of really good musicians and poets. Paul has been working for the last year on adding guitar accompaniments and backgrounds to his poems. His first time both reciting and playing the guitar in performance was at the Cache Valley Cowboy Rendezvous in February. He also performed at the American Heritage Center in Logan in the beginning of April;—this is still a work in progress for him—and he really rose to the occasion in this event. He did a great job and drew the comment from lots of people, including other performers. He had some of his CD’s on display—along with many other performers and sold a number of those as well—which is a testament to the success and effectiveness of his performing in this way. It was a happy experience to have everything go well for him. And when you have moments of success like this—it makes trying it again a much more comfortable experience. I was really glad that we had gone and had a wonderful experience. At least at this stage in the game, the Cowboy Poets of Idaho have a very inclusive feeling and Paul was glad to have a chance to be a part of this event. He has already been invited to participate in another CPI event in May. I guess you could say that success begets success. I feel like it was really worth the effort of coming. So to sum up the weekend: We got to see the cabin and how it had weathered the winter. We got to see Ralph and Connie and his new building in Island Park and the start of his new house in Rexburg. We got to participate in the St. Anthony Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Paul and I had a nice little get-away together. Win, Win, Win. And one last thing. Two weeks ago on Monday, Erika interviewed at Corner Canyon High School to become an English teacher. On Tuesday, the next day, the vice principal called and offered her the job and she accepted. Incidentally there were 11 candidates who were interviewed for the position. It was always her desire to teach high school English and this seemed a good time to make the change. Our district, Canyons District has 9-12 grade schools and Jordan district where she works has 10-12 grade high schools so she was at an advantage because Corner Canyon needed ninth grade teachers and she is experienced. The vice principal, Marsha Morgan, who was in the interviews talked to me later and said, “while it is true that you work here, I want you to know that Erika was hired on her own merits and not because she has a mother who works here.” I thought it was very nice of her to tell me that and I shared it with Erika. As for Erika—she is thrilled and of course, I am delighted. It will be such a nice thing for us to be working in the same place. It is a lovely school and we have the best administration in the world. I hope that she will enjoy working here as much as I do.

Bountiful Basket, Baby Animal Days, General Conference and things for sale

We have been surprisingly and amazingly busy this week. Not with very much that was terribly important or pressing, but we have just been keeping those wheels rolling. I am in the midst of working lots of vegetables and fruits into our menus. Erika has signed with a company called Bountiful Baskets and we are splitting it. Maybe you have never heard of them. Well…. Bountiful Baskets is a volunteer-driven cooperative that aims to deliver produce, both organic and not, to participants at low prices. Every week on Monday, you can place an order (they call it a contribution) online and it will be delivered to your location choice that weekend. It’s always a surprise what you will find in your basket! They usually consist of half fruits and half veggies, and you will find old favorites and a few new foods that you may have never heard of! Bountiful Baskets also feature various add-on packs for an additional price… breads, tortillas, Mexican packs, granola, bulk fruit. So---How much does it cost? It depends on how much and what you buy—but the standard price for a half and half mix of fruits and vegetables is $15.00, plus a $1.50 service charge. With Erika and I splitting the cost it is about $9.00 a week. Our drop off location is at a fire station about a mile and a half from our house—Erika and I have gone together to pick up the produce and we split it there. It has been full of very normal things—nothing too weird—this week there were artichokes, but I have been eating those since I was a kid. Because we have this regular supply of vegetables and fruits coming in, I am dedicated to making more things with vegetables and fruits in them—not that I didn't prepare lots before, but even more now and thinking that I have to use them up before the next batch comes in. Incidentally, I came across a good food tip on line. You can make your own sliced apple package, rather than buying the expensive ones in the grocery store by cutting your apple and then soaking your apple slices for 10 minutes in cold water and then 10 minutes in a clear soft drink—like Sprite or 7-Up for another 10 minutes. That will retard browning for about two to three days. I do that with my apples and then take them in a baggie to work. They stay fresh looking and crisp. This weekend I washed and bagged the lettuce that came in the bountiful basket and cooked and puréed two butternut squashes for soup, made a casserole with sweet potatoes, broccoli and green pepper in it and prepared some fat-free delicious sweet potato fries. On Friday I begged off work an hour and a half early so that I could go with Paul to Logan where he had a cowboy poetry performance at 4:30 p.m. This was a new venue for Paul and it was a very nice event. He was invited to perform at the Baby Animal Days. This is held at the American West Heritage Center, which is a very nice facility. Paul and I didn't have to wait in any lines or pay the entrance fee, we went in through the service entrance and then had access to the whole place. Paul was set to perform at 4:30p.m and we arrived a little before 4:00—so there was time for Paul to get warmed up and for me to watch the performers who were on deck before him. While he was practicing I wandered around a little bit. By far the biggest attraction was the baby bears which they bring up from Bear World in Rexburg. The line was super long and I didn't go into the barn where they were being displayed. There were many attractions: a hayride, a kid rodeo where little kids could ride sheep, a mechanical bull. There was an opportunity to milk a cow. Outside the cow barn, there were opportunities to hold chicks, ducks and rabbits, and to pet sheep, goats, a donkey, baby calves, and baby pigs, in a pen just outside the barn was a brand new colt and mother. There were baby lambs that weren't more than a day or two old. There was a mini train to ride; there were also pony rides, the kind where the ponies are on a wheel and walk around in a circle. There was also a building with animals from the local Logan Zoo, with a king snake, cockatoo, iguana and other smaller exotic animals. There were people in period costumes roaming the grounds with more animals to pet. They were really good to answer questions and stay in character. There is a mountain man camp, a general store, a farm house, a root cellar, a smokehouse and a blacksmith shop all in working order. And there were loads of people, lots of families, lots of children. There was a candy cannon which they shot off into a large field a couple of times a day. They had an outdoor stage covered by a canopy where they had a continuing round of performances. When we arrived the stage was occupied by men from the local search and rescue organization demonstrating their dogs—and how they sniff out and find a particular human or human remains. Then right before Paul was a poet and singer. And then Paul went on. It was pretty cool outside, but there were benches for people to sit on and a sound system and people kind of came and went and listened as long as they wanted to or while they were eating food from any one of a number of vendors who were hawking their wares at the event. When Paul finished his set, we wandered around together. They have a very impressive barn and Paul was curious how it was put together. They had concrete footings and foundations both externally and internally and Paul was curious about how it was all put together. We had a nice time and then headed over to see how our Petersboro property was doing. We broadcast quite a bit of pasture grass seed last fall and hoped that we might see a few new blades of grass coming up. It is still pretty cold in Cache Valley—at least two or three weeks behind Salt Lake, but even so we did see a few blades poking up which was very promising. Saturday, Paul and I listened to conference at home, I streamed the afternoon session on the downstairs computer while I was doing a bushel of ironing and during the other sessions I worked on handwork. I am doing the hand quilting on another T-shirt quilt. We passed the time very pleasantly. And wasn't conference great? It seems the older I get the more I enjoy conference. I thought the messages were wonderful. I am looking forward to rereading them when our May Ensign comes. Peter and Eleanor came up from Provo on Saturday evening. Paul and Peter went to the Priesthood Session together and I had Eleanor. I went over to my parents’ house for a little family get-together on Saturday evening. My nephew, Crawford Gates—(he’s my brother David’s youngest son) is leaving on a mission in May and we had a sort of farewell event for him. Family members were invited to bring or send a card or letter of well wishes. They were opened and read and a light supper of pizza and vegetables was served. David and Carole and Crawford were there and my other brother Stephen and Steve were also there and me and Eleanor and some family friends from Salt Lake of David and Carole as well. Erika and Jono stopped in for a few minutes too, on their way to another event later in the evening with some of their friends. Paul and Peter did not come, Paul took Peter to dinner after the Priesthood session which they attended at our Stake Center. Paul wanted to have a little one on one time with Peter since mostly we see them in larger family groups. I had a great evening with Eleanor who is just over two, now and is loads of fun, very articulate and well behaved. Sunday after the last session of conference, I went with Paul to feed the horses. They are looking very good. Lakota is a full sized horse now, having completely lost any indication that he was once a colt, and a handsome horse he is. Indy has become a very friendly horse—and wants to be petted and given an “atta boy” regularly now. They are losing their winter coats and are going to be sleek and handsome in a few weeks. In the meantime, Paul is brushing them down with his blade and they are shedding like crazy. Paul and I are sensing the need to clear out some of our excess possessions and with this in mind, Paul put a few things up on KSL.com for sale this week. One of the things that had been weighing heavily on us was our wheat food storage. We bought 1200 pounds of wheat when we moved back from Europe, and while I had been using it regularly and grinding it for homemade wheat bread for a number of years (until Paul was diagnosed with celiac disease)—we had hardly made a dent in the volume of wheat we had. And now the possibility of using it is greatly diminished. So Paul listed all our wheat for sale. Just to have someone come and get it and take it away would have been worth it to list all these bags for free. Another difficulty in my mind was that during the first year after we bought the wheat we had a mouse find his way into our storage room and make free with some of our bags. We had taken everything out of the storage room, cleaned everything up, set traps and caught the mice, and then set out mouse pellets. We have never had mice again, but some of the bags were damaged. During the cleaning process, I had repaired the bags with duct tape, but I wasn't sure that anyone would be interested in buying damaged wheat bags. Actually Paul got several calls, but the man that finally purchased all 20 bags of wheat, plus a couple of extra containers that we had additionally, was a man who intended to use the wheat to feed his 26 laying chickens. He said this would be enough wheat to feed them for a year and he didn't care in the slightest that some of the bags were damaged. It would make no difference to his chickens. He filled the back of his truck, with our bags, paid Paul and drove them away. Hooray! Paul also listed a few other items which have sold, including our cabriole which we haven’t used at all since we got the surrey. Now we have more room in the carriage house, too.

Panama Canal, Quilting, Visitors and Paul's Birthday

It has been another average week in the Kern household. We have been doing all the regular things. There have been a few things out of the ordinary though. On Thursday was my monthly book club meeting. Our book this month was The Path between the Seas : the creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 by David McCullough. One of our book club members, Susan, had taken a 13 day cruise last fall which had gone to the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. She was fascinated by the canal itself and even though there were informational lectures and such, she wanted to know more about it. McCullough’s book is one of the most comprehensive narratives of the building of the canal and she asked if we would be willing to read it. It is a long, long book (depending on the edition—about 700 pages) and very dense, but really interesting. I got the book on CD—it was in two parts and totaled 27 CD’s, but I used it as my “car book”. I listen to a book on CD in the car to and from work and also when I am running errands or other car times. When Paul and I went down to St. George in January we listened to it part of the way and also when we took a trip up to Logan. Paul like it so much that he asked me to get it for him for his birthday. It is one of those books that after you have finished it you feel like you know so much more about the subject than you ever imagined possible. Anyway it was an important accomplishment for me. Several of the club members had not finished the book, but we had an animated discussion about it anyway. This is a very companionable group and I always enjoy the time we spend together. I have been working on a little quilt over the last rather long period. And I finished it this weekend. I thought I would have it finished before the weekend, I was working on earlier in the week. I got the quilt blocks all sewn together and had the first layer of the border already sewn on and I laid it out on the floor to have a look at it and discovered that I had reversed two whole rows when I was sewing the rows together. This was discouraging and disappointing, but I could think of nothing to do, but pick out the seams on the border and unstitch the offending rows and redo the seams and the borders with the rows in the correct position. I had used a very small stitch length, so it took a lot of meticulous unpicking, but I finished the unpicking on Saturday evening and sewed the seams in the correct position, redid the border and added another and I feel quite satisfied that I got it all to look right. It is a baby sized quilt though it isn't in baby colors, so maybe it is a lap quilt. I still need to take it to a quilter and do the binding, but the top is finished. I saw this design as a tutorial on the internet and thought it was very interesting, so I made it. I am trying to work through my scrap stash and am doing small quilts. This one is in plaids and solids. This weekend Woodrow and Natalie Arrington came to Utah to bless their baby. Marilyn and Howard had been in St. George and came up for the festivities and stayed in the Paul Kern hotel. They arrived on Friday night about 9:30 p.m. and we had a nice visit with them. They had breakfast with us on Saturday morning and then went off to meet with their family members and Natalie’s family, too. Rusty and Jamie were in town, and Marilyn spent the day with Jamie and the grandchildren. Howard, Rusty and Woody went golfing in the morning. The Idaho group, which included Preston and Kjirsten came in sometime on Saturday and late Saturday night, Marilyn, Howard, Preston and Kjirsten spent the night at our place. We don’t have any children living here anymore and so we had room for everyone. Marilyn and Howard slept in Philip’s room downstairs, Preston was in K.C.’s room and Kjirsten was in Erika’s room—so there was plenty of space for everyone. Saturday was also Paul’s birthday. We had a rather uninteresting day planned, I did some food preparation and housecleaning, Paul ran a few errands, got a haircut and did some yard work, including reseeding some bald patches and fertilizing. In the evening Erika and Jono came for dinner. We had lasagna and salad and birthday cake. We met at about 5:30 p.m. for dinner and then Erika and I watched the Women’s Conference—we didn't go to the stake center, but just watched it on our own television in our own family room. Afterwards, we had cake and opened presents. I got Paul the Panama Canal book, spoken of earlier and some new guns for him to use in his mounted shooting activities. We visited for a while and then Jono and Erika left and Paul and I watched an episode of Bonanza. Sunday was the baby blessing for Joshua Arrington. The meeting schedule for the ward where he was being blessed was the same time as our meetings. We had been invited to participate in the blessing and the party thereafter, but we didn't receive the invitation until Thursday night and it was too late for me to find a substitute for my Sunday School Lesson (I am a Gospel Doctrine Teacher). So we did go to the blessing but had to leave after the blessing to get back to our meetings. We did have the chance to meet and greet a good representative of family members. Rob and Cindy and Callie were there. Paul and I and Peter from our family. And of course, Marilyn and Howard and their children and grandchildren. I’m sure the party was fun, too, but Paul came to my lesson and I taught about Joseph in Egypt.

Water, Singing, Open House and Dead Sea Scrolls

This last week started off with an event that turned out to be both good and bad. On Tuesday morning Paul got up to go to work and when he ran the water for his shower no hot water came. He went downstairs to the furnace room to discover that our water heater had failed. It obviously was no longer heating the water, but it was also dripping (we have a floor drain there, so no flood—but still an unhappy moment. We both went to work as usual, but Paul came home and met a man from ACTION HEATING and PLUMBING and they evaluated the situation. It was no surprise that the water heater needed to be replaced. Additionally, some codes had been upgraded so with the change we had a new pressure valve installed and some new piping work and some other upgrades, tons of new fittings, our water situation is much better than it was before—so this was a good thing. Paul was home until about 3:30 with the workmen, who were really working, hauling out the old and putting in the new—and all the other work involved. They were actually missing some fittings and so the left with Paul and then I came home. Paul had to get back downtown for an important meeting at 4:00 p.m. I had talked to the workman on the phone and he told me that the gas had been turned off in the house. When I got home it was chilly inside. I never did take off my coat. I was supposed to meet the workman sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. The water was back on, but of course no hot water, and no heat. I waited—Paul wasn't sure what time he was going to be home, so I was the home guard. Soon it was 5:30 and then 6:00 and the workman still wasn't there. At 6:30 I finally called him again. He apologized for being so late, but at the previous job they had discovered a gas leak, which they were compelled to repair before leaving. Anyway, Paul got home before they arrived which was about 7:00. And then they hooked up the furnace and we could turn on the gas and get some heat. It was about 7:45 when they left and we started getting some heat in the house. I still hadn't taken my coat off. The next morning we had hot water for showers and heat to keep warm and so all is well that ends well. We have a better water system in the house now, with all the new fittings and the new pressure valve, and a new hot water heater, and so we are in much better shape than we were before. This water heater has been in the house since we bought it in 1995—so it is more than 19 years old. The average water heater last 15 years –so we came out ahead. And we have now completed another significant home improvement. One of the upsides of having Paul home all day, was that he did a ton of yard work, trimmed the sprawling apple tree, cleared out the beds and pulled weeds, trimmed the bushes. There were three big yard bags ready to go out with the trash. The yard looks terrific. This Saturday was a big day with a lot of things going on. Paul went out to the west desert for a ride in Puddle Valley. I was invited, but I had a couple of other things going on. The first was our Stake Relief Society Education day. I’m not sure that I would have gone to the event if I had not been part of it. I was invited to be part of a musical number; it was a version of Hillary Weeks’ big anthem entitled I WILL. The woman who was organizing it, a friend of mine, Becky Carter sold me on participating by saying that she was drawing a group of women together from several ward and wanted there to be an age spread. When I got to the rehearsal, there were five of us, three of the singers, including the lead vocal were Young Women. (They were 16 and 17 years old.) The other participant besides me was a young mother, I would say she is between 26-27 years old and then there was me—representing the more mature group. Even so it was fun to be a part of it and it was a very dynamic number and as a group the song came off really well. The conference itself was also enjoyable. There was a key-note speaker and then two break-out sessions. I attended one on music in the home and another on pornography. Both were very interesting. They served a light lunch and then I came home. It was one o’clock when I got home. At two o’clock until four o’clock on Saturday was the reception/open house for Chase Kimball (Chris and Linda’s second son) and his new wife Heather. We had received an invitation and I thought I should attend. Paul was still out on his ride so I went by myself. The party was held in the Wasatch Room on the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. They had a lovely dessert buffet and a few decorative tables with personal items on them and then the room was filled with round tables where guestS could visit and eat. I perceived that this event was primarily an opportunity for the Kimball children (Ed and Bee’s children—and their children) to celebrate with Chris and Linda’s son and new wife. I got there at about 2:30 and there was a good compliment of people already there. Paula and several of her children were there, I visited with her for a few minutes. Mary and David Dollahite and most of their children were there—I visited with Mary for a few minutes. Uncle Ed was there in his wheel chair—he actually looked very good, and we had a lively conversation. Sarah and Kevin were there and so was Joseph and his wife. There were also a few people that I didn't know. Heather Campbell Kimball , the bride, was a charming and delightful girl and her parents were also present, and I had the chance to meet them as well. I asked the question why the major celebration was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And the answer was very simple. Heather was raised in Albuquerque. That was her home. The couple was married in the Albuquerque Temple, and had a reception there. They were a really cute couple and seemed really happy. I was able to also have a nice conversation with Linda, but didn't have an opportunity to chat at all with Chris. Chris and Linda are heading back to Chicago for the spring and will be back in Utah during the summer months. After visiting with all the family members that were available to me, I left the open house and came home. Paul arrived home in the late afternoon as well. We had wanted to go to a local museum where they were doing a large scale exhibit centering around the dead sea scrolls and artifacts. The exhibit is called: Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times. The scrolls, themselves, have been called the most significant archaeological find of the last century. This exhibit has been dubbed as the most comprehensive collection of ancient artifacts from Israel ever organized, it had been at this private local museum since November and was closing in April. We had wanted to see it but hadn't gotten around to it. Then this week I discovered an offer for discounted tickets and decided to take the plunge and buy them. Now we were committed so we decided to go on Saturday evening. Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times includes one of the largest collections of the priceless 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls. Discovered by a shepherd in 1947, the Scrolls contain the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible. Paul and I both expected to see “scrolls” but what we saw were actually fragments. They were well displayed with enlargements as well and transcriptions of the documents translated into English. Some of the translations were scripture, but others were documents of other kinds. On display with the Scrolls are more than 600 objects from the Biblical to Byzantine Period in Israel, including many that have never been publicly exhibited. And we were also able to see a three-ton stone from Jerusalem's Wailing Wall, the remains of religious articles, weapons of war, stone carvings, textiles and beautiful mosaics along with everyday household items such as jewelry and ceramics. The Leonardo is one of only six U.S. Museums to display this priceless collection. The Utah engagement of the exhibition is made possible by the Utah State Legislature and the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies. This exhibition was created by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) from the collections of the Israel National Treasures and produced by Discovery Times Square and The Franklin Institute. Paul and I enjoyed the evening—I had been to The Leonardo previously, but this was the first visit for Paul. After we spent the early evening in the museum, we went out to dinner—so we had a nice date. Erika an Jono came over to pick up some more stuff on Saturday evening after we got home so we got to see them, too. They are doing great—still settling into their apartment—still trying to find places for all their wedding gifts, including the ones that are still coming. They picked up a few more that had arrived at our house on Saturday night. Everyone was very generous with them.

Family Birthdays and Adventures

Last week we had two birthdays to celebrate. K.C. turned 30 and Philip turned 33. It seems quite incredible that we have children who have been around that long. It doesn't seem that long ago that they were just children here in our home. We were able to speak with both of them on their birthdays and that was nice. Philip and Camille are settling into their life in Washington D.C. although their situation as to going to the Ukraine is up in the air at the moment with all the turmoil that is going on in that country at the present time. Philip works on, but what will happen in the next six months remains to be seen. K.C. is in the middle of his last semester at MIT. He is looking forward to his graduation and his life after being a student. We are looking forward to our trip to New England and the Atlantic Seaboard in June for his graduation. Peter and Kortney went on a little adventure this weekend. They went on a hike in a slot canyon.

Little Wildhorse Slot Canyon is a classic slot canyon located in south-central Utah, near Goblin Valley. It is a popular hiking spot for families and youth groups. The main attraction is a long stretch of "narrows," where the canyon walls are so close you have to turn sideways to get through. The rock walls are sculpted and very beautiful. These canyons are normally dry, although they may have pools of water during the spring and immediately after summer storms. Peter and Kortney did encounter pools on their hike and Kortney said it was the coldest water she had ever experienced—painfully cold. Kortney's family had a family reunion in that part of the country last summer and she and her family hiked this trail.

Peter was working and didn't come on the first day so he missed this part of the activities and wanted to have the opportunity, so they arranged with Kortney's brother Tyler and his wife Landen to go with them on the hike. They left early on Saturday morning and got home on Saturday night. Because they were leaving early on Saturday, Paul and I took Eleanor on Friday night, she slept at our house and then we had her all day on Saturday, which was really great fun. She is so delightful and entertaining. We had good time. I set up the pack and play in K.C.’s bedroom and she slept well, and then we did breakfast, lunch and dinner and read books, and watched a Curious George Video and played with toys and did games together. I enjoyed my “Grannie” day very much. She is two and a quarter now and is so verbal and able to express herself that it is just a pleasure to be involved with her. She says the cutest and funniest things and is a good hand at negotiation and very imaginative in her play. And pretty good at things like tossing and catch. I am going to do a couple of other overnight babysitting turns in the future, too. I am already looking forward to that. Friday night, before Eleanor arrived, Paul took me to the South Jordan Equestrian Center for the annual Horse Expo. This is a big annual event and among other things the Back Country Horsemen of Utah sets up a booth manned by members of the various chapters. (Paul actually had a turn at the booth on Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.—I didn't go because I was at home with Eleanor.) But on Friday evening there was a demonstration put on by the Utah’s Mounted Thunder—the mounted shooting association that Paul just recently joined. This was the first time that I had seen this group in action as I had not been able to attend any of the demonstrations or activities that Paul had been attended. Wow, it was so interesting and amazing to watch. I can totally understand why Paul thinks it is a fun and exciting activity to participate in. There were about six or seven riders who participated in the demonstration and they were amazing!! It goes so fast and is a very exacting activity. Paul has enjoyed this new dimension to his riding activities and Lakota has proven to be a good horse for mounted riding and shooting—so this has been fun for him. I don’t know if we have mentioned this, but for Paul’s birthday I am buying him a set of guns for the mounted shooting activity. He has already ordered them—and they will be coming to Cabela’s where we will pick them up and get them registered. I hope they are here by his birthday. Saturday evening, we got a phone call from Erika who was in the Atlanta Airport during a layover, waiting for their plane to Salt Lake City. She and Jono had finished their honeymoon in Nueva Vallarta, Mexico and were on their way back home. They had had a wonderful time and wanted to come over on Sunday and show us pictures of the things that they did and of the place where they had stayed. We were anxious to see the place where they stayed because we had provided it as an exchange from our Park City Condo and we hoped that it was a nice place where they could enjoy themselves in comfort with many amenities. They came over last night and had supper with us and then showed us pictures from their trip. It was a wonderful place! It was very nice and they had a terrific time. Erika said they dropped into a well-oiled vacation paradise. They did an outdoor adventure day, with ziplines, and ATV machines and mountain slides. They went on a marine adventure another day and saw schools of whales, and a national park and did some snorkeling. A third activity was swimming with dolphins which they really enjoyed. They had nothing but good things to say about the trip, their activities, the place where they stayed, the connections, the service and service people, the cleanliness of their facility, everything. We were really happy for them and happy that everything worked out so well. Their only angst was that it was all over and that on Monday they had to go back to work and to school and real life was going to have to start again. Not that that is a really bad thing, but that a really happy time was finished. They are a really lovely couple and we are pleased that everything is going well for them.

Trips: Near and Far

Paul is in charge of a Back Country Horseman ride in a couple of weeks and he wanted to find a new place to ride. It is still “winter” for horses and many of the horses in the group still won’t have had shoes put on for the summer yet—so they need to go on a ride which isn't too rocky or difficult for horses that don’t have shoes. In the past they have ridden in Puddle Valley which is out on the west desert between Grantsville and Wendover. There is a long wide valley there, with a large watering hole in the middle of it. There is also a herd of wild horses out there, too. But if possible he hoped to find a new place to ride—out of the west desert still, but closer to Wendover out in the area where the salt flats are. So Sunday afternoon after church we got into the truck and took a drive out to check out the possibilities that might be out there. It was a very pleasant drive—it was a bright, day and not even too cold—Paul and I made it without coats. It’s 120 miles or so to Wendover, so it was a good long drive but we had a nice time. When we got to the place that Paul had in mind we pulled off the freeway and found our way into the Bonneville Salt Flats State Park.

From the exit there was a road that lead to a “commercial center”—consisting of an all-in-one Mexican and American café, convenience store with a sad little display of trashy souvenir type items and the usual compliment of soft drinks, chips and candy and some trucker style showers, laundry room and bathrooms. There is no camping in this area so it was not a big hub or anything—more like a trucker stop. About a half mile or so from the “commercial center” we found a scrubby looking sign in an unimproved, dirt parking area with a couple of dirt and gravel slightly improved but still pretty primitive roads heading out in two directions. Paul and I started off on one of the roads which essentially circle some very ragged, vegetation-less and rocky, low “mountains” and then off the gravel semi-improved road there were a number of dirt tracks, used by ATV’s and jeeps. We took off on one of these dirt tracks and did some serious off road traveling. Paul was looking for a horse trail possibility—but after a couple of miles of this and finally stopping the truck and walking for about twenty or thirty yards, he decided it was too rocky for bare foot horses and besides----while the flats include a variety of micro environments and in some spots the soil is so salty it prevents vegetation growth, it isn’t the “beautiful mountain splendor” kind of ride. I thought it was very unique, but Paul thought a lot of it was really ugly. So, in terms of finding a nice place to ride, it was kind of a wasted trip. But for a Sunday jaunt, it was very interesting. On the way back, I paused to remark on the art piece that is on the stretch of road that is virtually straight and flat for 40 miles across the Utah West Desert. I’m sure you have seen it, but I asked Paul what is was about. It is called The Tree of Utah, sometimes called the Tree of Life, and it is an 87-foot-tall sculpture that was created by the Swedish artist Karl Momen in the 1980s and dedicated in 1986. The sculpture, which is constructed mainly of concrete, consists of a squarish 'trunk' holding up six spheres that are coated with natural rock and minerals native to Utah. There are also several hollow sphere segments on the ground around the base. The sculpture currently has a fence surrounding the base to protect people from falling tiles. Inscribed on the plaque are the words from Ode to Joy by Friedrich Schiller; also used as the chorus of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. It has been said that Momen was moved to create the tree after having a vision of a tree while driving across the desolate Bonneville Salt Flats. Following the dedication of this work of art, Momen donated the sculpture to the State of Utah and returned to Sweden. I looked up on the internet to see if I could get some more information about it and I came across a funny review written by the blog: Roadside America. This review is as follows: We give some credit to the State of Utah for at least tolerating experiments with environmental comedy. "Metaphor: The Tree of Utah" can't be serious. Metaphor is an 87-foot tall sculpture poking up out of the white plains of the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Tree was created in the early 1980s by European artist Karl Momen. It is also known as "Metaphor: The Tree of Life." It was dedicated in 1986 as "A hymn to our universe whose glory and dimension is beyond all myth and imagination." Artist Momen doesn't have to look at it; he bought patch of land, built the thing, and went back to Sweden. Near the base of the Tree, there are several fallen "leaves" -- large spherical segments intentionally scattered on the salty ground. It's where your traveling companions would pose if this were a tourist attraction instead of a work of art. Not that they could pose even if they wanted to. Utah doesn't want you to stop, and Momen didn't spring for the cost of an exit ramp. There is no parking lot or pull-off. For years there were "Emergency Parking Only" signs along the highway, although a surprising number of emergencies happened right there, always with vehicles that had people with cameras. In 2008 the "Emergency Parking Only" signs were replaced by a metal, barbed-wire-topped fence that now surrounds the sculpture. We're not sure what kind of a metaphor that is, but it doesn't seem very friendly.

So if you have ever wondered about this sculpture as you have driven by on your way to Salt Lake City—now you know. The costs of building the tree, reportedly over a million dollars, were provided entirely by Mr. Momen. The tree now belongs to the State of Utah. We left home at about 1:00 and didn’t get home until about 6:30. It was over two hundred miles that we covered, but became familiar with a little corner of Utah that we didn’t know before. In other family news: This week Philip turns 33 and K.C. turns 30 with their birthdays coming on Tuesday and Friday. We won’t be celebrating either birthday with them, but Paul and I are starting to plan our trip to Boston and the Atlantic States now that we don’t have to be thinking about a wedding anymore. We will be there from the 1st till the 8th. We are really looking forward to this trip. Speaking of trips: Erika and Jono left on their honeymoon trip to Mexico on Friday night. We haven’t talked to them, but Erika texted that they had arrived safely and all their connections worked out just fine. Later Jono texted that the resort condo where they are staying is wonderful and big and was everything that was expected and hoped for. So they sound like they are happy and enjoying their time there so far. We are happy for them. And Peter and Kortney are happy as can be because they will be going to Puerto Rico on a trip to celebrate their graduations. They want to visit the Bioluminescent Bay which Kortney did a report on way back when she was in Elementary School and has always wanted to go there. Until now, I had never even heard of them and looked them up to see what it was about. Here is the information: Bioluminescent Bay Puerto Rico Bioluminescent Bays are Puerto Rico’s one-of-a-kind ecosystems situated in three locations – Fajardo, island of Vieques and Lajas. Bioluminescent Bay in Fajardo and Mosquito bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico are the best-kept bioluminescent bays in the Western Hemisphere, conveniently reachable from San Juan by car, ferry or a short plane flight, with plenty of tours offered by kayak and electric boat operators. Marine microorganizms that glow at night, when water is disturbed, make visiting bio lagoons a unique experience. Bioluminescence is truly a special representation of rare and fragile environment. Even though the luminescence appears all over the planet, only few places are categorized as a biobays. There are only five of them in the world. Three actively glowing bays are luckily located in Puerto Rico. Jamaica’s Luminous Lagoon in Falmouth is in risk of eradication because of heavy construction development and absence of environmental control. Bioluminescent Bay (often called Bio Bay) is Puerto Rico’s key tourist destinations. The water luminescence is triggered by dinoflagellates, oceanic plankton which is able to generate an emerald green and ultramarine illumination when water is physically disturbed. Dinoflagellates are incredibly delicate microorganisms and are very sensible to the environment conditions such as balance of salt in the water, local climate, deepness of lagoon, air and water pollution, etc. Each one of these the aspects make bio bay a one of a kind, vulnerable ecosystem.

Unique light is an ordinary chemical response forced by tiny creatures which typically respond by giving off the light collected in the daytime. As a result, the best possible view of bio-luminescence comes after a sunny day. The ideal time frame to encounter the luminous bio bay water phenomenon, also referred to as phosphorescence of the sea, is at night. Having said that, the conditions might be affected by moonlight and extreme surrounding lights. Despite the fact that kayaking with a full moon is a memorable experience, it is not the most desirable period to explore the glow of bioluminescent bay. Plan in advance look at the moon calendar. Moonlight is usually too bright for the first 6 days prior to a full moon. Normally, the darker sky, the more desirable watching conditions are. The intense neon illumination happens to be more noticeable with least light pollution.