First week of school and trip to the cabin

The first week of school has passed and we are now moving forward to the second week. Erika and I work in entirely different parts of the school, I’m in the Counseling Center and in the main building, Erika is in one of the twelve portables that we have mounted in the parking lots outside of the building-six on the north side of the building and six on the south side of the building. We will have to work hard to ever see one another. We won’t be bumping into one another by accident, that is pretty certain. I talked to Erika today and she has had a good start. She likes her students and feels good about her situation. She is adjusting to the things that are really differ between South Jordan Middle School and Corner Canyon High School. We operate on an A day B day schedule with 90 minute class periods. She used to have eight class periods a day, now she has four class periods per day, so she sees her students only every other day. Interesting and different. In the Counseling Center we have just finished our last and second day of schedule changes. We think it will be our last day, but if my experience holds true we will be changing schedules for another four days, until Friday. But we are starting to get back to a regular stream of activity I hope. Paul is continuing to improve, albeit slowly. He had his first doctor’s visit since the surgery. The doctor showed him the photography taken during the surgery. (I had seen these same pictures on the day of the surgery, but Paul was too groggy to appreciate them on that day and so he has seen everything that I had previously seen. He is making good progress, but he still has to stay in the sling, and still can take prescription strength pain killers for another two weeks. He has some controlled physical therapy, but he can’t use or move his shoulder for another month. He went to work for a couple of hours today, but he still isn't up to full days of work yet. We drove up to the cabin this past weekend. Our primary reason for the visit was to see that the horses were doing okay. I am happy to report that they are doing just fine. We got there at about 10:00 p.m. on Friday night and it was very dark when we got to the pasture. But the horses were really excited to see us, galloping around in the dark in happy dashes. They did calm down to eat the grain that Paul gave them. We had talked a lot about this trip. I suggested that we take the Jetta and I do the driving. But if we arrived to find the horses in need of transport for any reason, we couldn't pull the trailer with the car, we would need the truck. I don’t drive the truck, but Paul felt by Friday that he was well enough to take on driving the five hours it takes to get there and he successfully achieved that, though he was quite uncomfortable by the time that we arrived. He wasn't able to take his normal pain killers, because you aren't supposed to use heavy equipment or drive while under their influence, though from my point of view he seems entirely in control of himself even when he is under their influence. Nevertheless, he didn’t take any of his prescription and so he was ready for some when we got to the cabin. Everything at the cabin was in good order as well. On Saturday morning the two of us headed to the pasture to see the horses in the daylight and to check on the fences. I’m afraid I turned out to be a rather poor fence repairer in terms of hammering skill. Paul is unable to hammer at this time, so we walked the fence together and Paul pointed out the problems and showed me what to do and I was supposed to nail in the missing staples as my primary function. We did have to replace a couple of posts and I probably hammered in about 25 or 30 staples, fortunately the fence was in pretty good shape. It has been very rainy in Island Park this summer and August has been rainy, too. Everything is still really green. It rained hard on Friday night during the night and was raining when we got up in the morning. But lucky for us the rain broke after we had eaten breakfast and we were able to walk and repair the fence before it started up again. The horses were happy to see us again in the morning and followed us for a while when we were repairing the fence, but lost interest in following us when we got to the third side. The pond is full to capacity and there is plenty for the horses to eat. He are lucky that they are such good self-care animals, because this time would have been stressful and difficult if we had had to feed them twice a day in Midvale. We plan on visiting them again in two weeks and taking them home in a month, so we will go up there twice more in the next month. It was cool at night and we hope that we can go until the end of September without snow or at least not too much snow. We were able to have a visit with Connie, but we didn't see Ralph. He was in Rexburg moving his furniture and stuff out of their old house. Connie told us the new house isn’t ready yet, so she may be staying in Island Park for a few weeks. We didn't see or talk to Ralph, but had a nice visit with Connie. Emily and her children we also at the cabin this weekend and we had a nice chat with her as well. The swing set has been set up in the yard, and already shows signs of use. It is behind the west side of Ralph’s cabin so Connie can watch the children swinging from her bedroom window. She said it is fun to watch them. You saw that the fire pit has been moved from the south side of Sara and Jay’s cabin to between their cabin and Ralph’s cabin. Jay did a really great job of sinking and finishing it. They also set a lovely walking path between Sara and Jay’s cabin and Ralph and Connie’s cabin. It has some rocks, but it is mostly disks of wood counter sunk flush into the ground. And it looks terrific. Emily told us that Sara had worked really hard on it, with wood in the earth the discs may rot out in time, but for the moment it certainly looks nice. We are looking ahead to beginning our barn next summer and so we are now looking at barns that we run across to see what architectural features we might want to incorporate in our future building. As we were driving home from Island Park we admired a number of barns from the road, but also stopped and looked at a couple as well. We had one kind of silly experience. We stopped at one barn, turned off the truck and got out to walk around the barn and Paul commented on a buzzing/humming noise. I didn't know what he was talking about. Paul thought it might be a pump of some kind there at the site—we got in the truck and drove to Petersboro where we walked around the property. We are making some tentative decisions about where we want to put the house and the barn. Even though it is a long time until we build a house, where we build the barn will affect where we will be able to build the house later, so we are trying to think it all through now. It is still a process. Anyway, we arrived turned off the truck and I got out and went to the bed of the truck to get my boots and I could hear the buzzing/humming noise that Paul had talked about. I said to Paul, “Listen to this noise, do you hear it?” He could and it was the same sound he had heard when we were stopped before. Was it a pump in the truck that was operating even when the truck was stopped? Would could it be? Paul walked around the truck trying to determine the exact location. It didn’t seem to be coming from the underside of the truck anywhere but in the bed---Paul lifted out his own bag, which was a soft, gym style bag and it was obvious that the sound was coming from his bag. He opened it and discovered that it was his electric toothbrush that apparently was bumped on in the back and was humming away in his bag. We were very glad that it was nothing serious and there is nothing wrong with the truck.

School starting this week, WICKED and Heber Creeper

School starts this week at Corner Canyon. It doesn't change my schedule since I have been back at work for almost a month now, but the level of craziness goes way up the last couple of days before school. Everyone wants an appointment, but I am not authorized to make appointments during the first week of school. I forward questions to the counselors by phone and if they want to see a student they set it up themselves. My phone is ringing off the hook. We've been registering new students every day and generally speaking this place is a madhouse and will continue like this for about the first week and a half and then will slow down a little bit. In addition to all the work stuff we have had a few other consuming activities going on this last week. I took Tuesday off work for Paul’s rotator cuff surgery. The surgery was long, but successful and we anticipate a full recovery. In the meantime however he is in the process of recovery. In the last six days he has made progress and during the day he feels like recovery is possible. Nights are still more difficult than days. He isn't lying down yet, sort of sleeping sitting up and leaning over, but not exactly prone. He was originally on a four hour space for his pain medication, but he is adding hours to each time and slowly weaning himself off of them too. He is being very good about keeping his shoulder immobilized, though. The dressings are off and he is healing. He has been reading a lot and has raced through a 1000 pages, but he is finding that he is rather bored, not being able to do anything and just sitting around and especially when I’m not home to entertain him or at least converse with him. We are very optimistic, though. This will be a process, but Paul will fully recover and we are happy about that. There were a number of activities this week that had been planned long before Paul was injured which I got to take part in but which Paul was forced to miss. We had planned a fun activity for Erika’s birthday which included taking Erika and Jono out to dinner and then going to the Capitol theatre to see WICKED. In a long and involved explanation: Erika had given me a gift certificate last November for my birthday for the two of us to go to WICKED when it came to Salt Lake this summer. Tickets weren't even available at that time, and we were going to get the tickets when they became available which was in early May. When it came time to get them we decided that it would be fun to go on Erika’s exact birthday so I suggested that I buy tickets for Paul and Jono and Erika buy tickets for her and me, then Paul and I would take us all to dinner that evening before the performance and it would be a happy birthday celebration for all of us. We bought the four tickets and looked forward to the event with great anticipation. Then Paul was scheduled for surgery on the 12th. We all felt really bad about that, but we had the tickets already by this time---Erika invited a friend of hers to go instead of Paul and we went to dinner and to the theatre and left Paul at home. That part was sad, but the dinner was really nice—we ate at The Olive Garden which is just across the street from the Capitol Theater and WICKED was a great experience. I was already familiar with the music but really enjoyed the show, wonderful production values, costumes, scenery, lights, terrific performances, lovely evening. We had a fantastic evening, in spite of the fact that Paul was not with us. He would have enjoyed the evening with us, too. Paul missed another activity as well. On Saturday, we had reservations to take an old fashioned narrow gauge railroad ride on the Heber Creeper. This was also a gift; I had arranged to take my parents on the 3 hour round trip Provo Canyon Limited Ride. It was the Mother’s Day gift but a busy summer had made it difficult to get a reservation before this weekend—what with trips to Boston, time at the cabin, grandchildren visiting and other activities. I picked them up on Saturday afternoon, we stopped and got a to-go dinner from Jimmy Johns and then went to the train station in Heber. The train travels through the outskirts of Heber and then a lovely tour around Deer Creek Reservoir and then down part of the Provo Canyon to Vivian Park. We had a layover there where they reversed the engine and put it on the end of the train and then we went back the same way we came. It began at 6:00p.m. and we arrived at the station at the end at about 9:00 p.m. so we got to see the sunset over the reservoir. There was a very amusing moment when we crossed the Soldier Hollow station. There was a platform there and as we slowed there a costumed actor dressed in a duster and slouch hat and carrying a rifle shot off a few blanks and then boarded the train, coming up and down the aisles yelling and demanding the cash box (he also gave all the children foil wrapped chocolate pieces) as he was walking back down the aisle in our car he stopped in front of our seats and looked my mother right in the face and said, “Why Janie Sue, I haven’t seen you in ages. You still look just as sweet as I remember—dancing on that table in that saloon in Texas. So good to see you again!” Then he looked over at Dad and said to Mom, “oh, dearie, you could have done much better.” We all had a good laugh.

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.

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.