Musings from the Middle

Happy New Year! Hope it's not the last :)

2012-01-03T21:08:00.000-06:00

OK, I do not believe that the world will end in 2012, but you can't ignore the irony of how many get caught up in the speculation. My Christian upbringing teaches that we must be prepared at all times, but it also states very clearly in the scriptures that "no man knoweth..." the time, not even Christ Himself. To me, this simply means it WON'T happen on 12/21/12. Maybe earlier? Maybe later! Life goes on until the time comes, right?
   I figured I may not get into much better practice to post even short ones, if I don't start early in the year. I will be taking 6 credit hours again this term, as well as continuing my efforts to keep Conway HS German program growing. The farm will continue to be the farm, but my Church calling has changed, somewhat. I was released as the Branch President back in November, but called the same morning to be the Elder's Quorum president.
   For any of my readers who are not familiar with our Church organization, Branch President is essentially the same as "minister" in a baptist congregation. He is the spiritual leader for that congregation ("branch" is smaller than a "ward", whose leader is called a "bishop"). Elder's Qurorum refers to a group of men who hold the office of "elder" in the Priesthood organization. The president is largely responsible to assist the Branch president or Bishop take care of the material needs of the congregation, by organizing home visits, teaching and training the men in priesthood responsibilities, and organizing service and welfare projects as needed. So I am still very involved in the "inner workings" of the Branch, just no longer responsible for the specific spiritual needs and struggles of the members.

A few updates:

   Justin is now home from his mission. His original call to Guadalajara, Mexico was great for him, but not for his diabetes. The 15-20 miles a day, and a different diet led to health problems. He came home for a week, and then was able to serve temporarily in our own mission. He was then re-assigned to Tempe AZ. He served faithfully over 26 months, in 3 missions, with 4 mission presidents, 2 countries, 6 states, had 23 missionary companions, and was blessed to be involved in baptisms for 20 converts.
     It is wonderful to have him back home.
Liz is doing well at BYU. She came home for Christmas, and we were so glad to have all of the family home, that we completely forgot to get a picture together. Liz went back yesterday, sad face/happy for her. She is enjoying her time at the university.
    School starts in earnest tomorrow, (sad face?) and I will feel ready sometime in March. New semester, projects, AP audit, AP practice tests, and the AP German test, to see what changes I need to make to my program. Never a dull moment.
   Gotta go. Time to "put chickens to bed", and then get in bed myself, so that my 5 am start won't seem too terribly harsh.
   Again, Happy New Year! Hope it is a blessed year for all of you!

Another 2011 make up post, just in case you thought my life got boring.

2012-01-03T20:26:00.002-06:00

Update January 4, 2011

Wow! Time sure flies by when you need 36 hours in a day! I think I survived my classes. I am not sure yet. I had some severe tech issues since the last post. OK, since I wrote the last post, even though they are probably showing up together.

As we were winding down the semester with major written assignments and research projects, I was having issues. The day after I submitted a “major” paper, the laptop I was using crashed. I should back up slightly......... This little netbook, that has saved my life in so many ways, has one significant drawback. It does not have Microsoft Office installed. Powerpoint and Microsoft word are heavy needs for my online class. And for some reason, the major paper (sent earlier), didn't go through correctly. (probably because it is not WORD). OK, I had been using my school laptop to re-write that paper and make up powerpoint presentations. So the major paper was on my school laptop, pretty well done, and so I just finished it on a weekend. Failed to bring home the flashdrive, but figured it would be OK until Monday. Wrong!!

I sent it, planning on backing it up to flash drive the next morning at school. Something about the best laid plans.........

At school the next morning, I didn't have time to back up the paper before my classes started, and I was using the computer for class. As I'm sitting there at my school desktop doing grades (during my 2^nd period planning), the laptop starts making weird sounds, and when I went over to check it, it was showing a black screen with the line “checking for hard-drive....hard-drive not found”

I would have screamed, but I think it might have disturbed my classroom neighbors.

A couple of days later, I got an email from that professor, that they could see I had resubmitted something, but it still wasn't coming through, would I please send it as an email attachment?

By the time I got that re-done, I have typed that paper 3 times. During the time that laptop was down, I still had powerpoint and written docs to deal with, so I had borrowed the FL dept. laptop for the Microsoft office.

I was in the middle of the biggest presentation I had to produce this year, had only saved about three pages of the 15 as a draft, but had not backed up all my notes, outlines, bibliographies, etc., and that computer went into a fatal loop error. (trying for days to “configure [the last] update”). I even pulled the battery, because it would restart itself back into that loop in the carry case. Startled me out of my sleep one night. After 2 days without power it started right back into that loop. Had to be wiped, and have everything re-installed. Again, I wanted to scream. Got to start that project over as well.

I think I have turned in all the critical stuff, but I have yet to hear back from the professors in question, because the next term doesn't start until the 18^th of January, and I am sure they are not back “in school”, yet. At this point, I can only hope that everything went through OK, and try to keep Michelle at ease until we actually know what grade I have for the online class. (while that class shows an incomplete, I am on grade probation, and Michelle is really on edge.) I got a “B” in the other class, so I need at least a “B” for the online class as well. Crossing my fingers.

Next issue: Things on the farm are likely to get interesting. We are raising one house using methods that were in practice over 30 years ago. Not quite “organic”, but “natural”. Natural lights, as close to natural ventilation as can be had, and still keep chickens alive, no medications, smaller flock sizes for more space/bird, etc. People on the Coasts want to believe their chicken had a happy life before it was butchered and sent to their table. It is almost laughable. All a chicken cares about is food, water, lack of predators, and a temperature that is “comfortable”. The company (companies?) involved have actually talked about putting “toys” in the houses. ??!!?? But hey, word has it people on the coasts are paying $9 + per pound for “happy chicken”. YIKES!! We'll call ALL our chickens “happy” if the pay goes to that level!

The big plus for us is that for now, Townsend will pay us by the day, not by the pound. It should mean a higher pay-out for the flock, regardless of mortality, weight, etc. More to come as that develops.

Late (make-up) post from 2011, sorry!

2012-01-03T20:22:00.000-06:00

I don't know yet if I am going to post this, but I am sitting in the downstairs hallway, monitoring doors at school, killing time, so I figure it gives me something to do.

We have just come off a 3 day weekend, coming off a 3 day school week. Last Sunday/Monday we got snow. The storm was somewhat odd, in that it hammered to the South. Places like Atlanta, and even down into Florida had snow and icy conditions that are rare. We, on the other hand, got a measly 3 inches. It was super fine, soft powder, what I call “powdered sugar snow”. Conway and Little Rock ranged between 4 and 7 inches. The southern/central part of the state got the worst of it, but it was enough trouble on the highways that nearly every school in the state shut down Monday, and many stayed closed on Tuesday. Conway closed both days, but I was already in Heber Springs before they called it in on Tuesday. I was still glad to turn around and go get some more sleep.

I used the day to help with laundry, we baked large amounts of bread, and I was able to get some firewood cut. We have used most of the pile I had cut a few years back, and the thought of a major snow or ice storm leaves me anxious. I have lots of downed trees, from the ice storm(s) of the last few years, I just need to tromp out into the woods and actually cut it up. Fortunately, the weather on Tuesday was great for outdoor activities.

This weekend (Martin Luther King jr.), I am getting ready to sell chickens. They go out today from one house, and the other three go tomorrow. I am taking a personal day to be around to help. Bob does not do well in the chicken houses anymore, and he really doesn't like Michelle to have to run the show on a catch. The water lines and doors are a big enough job, he will try to help if I am not there, and his breathing can not handle that. I should add that he also has concerns about Michelle being the only one up there with the catching crews. All men, most not english speakers, some a bit “rough around the edges”. I actually agree with him on that reason.

I'll update this one, rather than starting a new one. I am having trouble cutting/pasting these word documents into my blog, so I will try to add just a few things, and hope I can post it without having to rewrite the whole thing.

We had some great weather at the end of January. Last weekend was up in the low 70's, so I spent a good amount of time cutting trees. I am feeling it now (one week later), because my back has not worked like that for awhile. I cut some trees that were nearly 18 inches across when they fell. Mostly Oak and hickory, so it will be great for fires.

Then, just to make me feel better about the back pains, this week started with the potential for a massive storm across more than half the country. The one that was all over the news, arctic blast, record snowfalls, ice and sleet, etc. Well, it missed us. We got just the edge of the snow here in our region. Northwest Arkansas got slammed, but we got a lot of rain, followed by just enough sunshine and wind to dry the roads before the temperature bottomed out. Snow flurries did happen, but they left less than an inch of really fine dry stuff on the ground, and cars moving were enough to blow that off the roads. Nuts, isn't it?! We went from 70's on the weekend to 50's on Monday, rain and low 50's again on Tuesday, to a Tuesday afternoon that dropped below freezing! Thankfully, the roads had been mostly dry before the temp hit 32. It was 19 in Greer's Ferry the next morning going to work. It stayed cold, and today the temp read 11 as I came through GF. BTW, “today” is Thursday, February 3^{rd (2011)}. The weather is supposed to get “iffy” again tomorrow, I guess.

(Friday morning update) The roads were clear, dry and beautiful today, but apparently this new wave is supposed to drop anywhere from 1-5 inches of snow and/or sleet, some possible ice, depending on your location in the state. Concord called off school, rather than risk the bussing issues later, as have all of the Little Rock area schools, and many others around the state. Conway, of course, is always a hold out when it comes to school closures. Hopefully I will be able to make the drive home when that time comes. I would hate to get stuck here on a weekend. If it's going to be nasty, and driving is impossible, I would much rather be stuck at home.

If I could stay home and read or work around the house, or even “fight” computer issues for my classes, Fun! Otherwise, I am ready to be done with the cold weather. Conway called off school, and ran busses at 12 noon. I “raced” home on slushy but usable roads.

College Freshmen

2011-08-27T21:17:00.000-05:00

   I have to at least post something. I am feeling old (er). we are sitting here talking to our second college Freshman. Last week, Michelle took Liz out to Provo to get ready to start at BYU.
   It was the crazy week from heck, and "losing" Liz at the end of it only made it crazier. we have been getting excited about her going out there, but it doesn't seem like it has been long enough since she was riding circles around Justin on her new bike, yelling "come on, you can do it", "even I can ride better than you", just before crashing into Granny's mailbox. She bounced right back up, and hasn't slowed down much, sincce.
   She has grown into a pretty amazing young lady (yes, I know I am biased, but many others say the same thing), and lots of people are going to miss having her around all the time. But, we know she is moving on with life, and many great experiences and adventures await her.
   And Ian is a senior, already getting piles of recruiting mail, because of his high test scores and good grades. And Justin will be home in December. We may very well be sending 3 to BYU next year!   Yikes!!
Maybe it's time to look into real estate in Provo again?? 3 Apartments to rent, or one mortgage? Something to think about.
   Liz is off to a freshmen orientation dance. Does that mean they point them in the right direction, to music?? JK.
   She is having so much fun this week, but she is also excited about classes starting on Monday. Such a gem. we are blessed to have her as a part of our lives.

Legalized, mandatory gambling

2011-08-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

I sometimes think I should not try to write something when I am right in the middle, and other times, I think that that is when I am at my best. The down side is, I may fire something off that I would like to pull back later. I guess that is the beauty of the delete and backspace buttons. I always read through my posts several times before I "publish" them, but I wonder if I give out too much info inadvertently.
     This morning, my gripe is about insurance. Now, don't get me wrong..... I think it is a good plan, overall, but do we all know that this is legalized gambling?
     Let me explain my thought process, and anyone who wants can straighten me out if they feel I am way off base.
     Insurance companies make their money (read in "their fortunes") off the most careful and healthy and cautious individuals. That's just the way it works, but that's is not the only source. They play the odds. plain and simple. they base their premiums for any given policy or type of coverage on the statistical odds of having to pay that out. Hence extra riders to have flood insurance if you live anywhere near a river flood plain.
     Take this week. We have had an accident. Along with other things, you could call it the week from ..... well. But my focus is on car insurance and the like. Liz got in an accident. She didn't cause it, but she couldn't avoid it. Short version: Car behind her passes her and the next car in a blind "s" curve, not knowing that there is an intersection (stoplight) just past the curve. Car A jumps back in the right lane, and slams on the brakes to make the stop. Car B (Jeep) locks 'em up, manages to miss car A, but Liz (car C) can't make the stop and creams the back of Jeep (car B). Light turns green, car A leaves without a scratch or a trace, leaving Liz and Jeep to trade insurance info. Police arrive, issue no citations, because both witnesses explain car A, but of course have no ID info. My car is totalled!
     Our insurance coverage will probably pay for what is left of the car loan. It is only a year old, but we had a big down payment, and our loan remaining is about the same amount as the bluebook. So how is this gambling? When we bought the car, we paid a hefty premium for GAP insurance. We gambled that we could avoid a wreck for at least 6 months, on the payments we make.
     You see, GAP cost us about $700 when we bought the car, and because of where our loan balance is right now, 1 year later, they will probably pay NOTHING, because our loan amount and our primary insurance are right about even.
     If we had kept that $700 in an envelope for the last 12 months, we would at least have $700 to almost cover the deductible on our primary coverage. To say nothing of trying to come up with a down payment for a replacement car. In other words, our years of paying faithfully into our "insurance" slot machine have saved us from having to deal with a loan amount on a dead car, but leaves us nothing with which to replace it, and our lovely GAP policy would have been useful 6 months ago, but will be (or would have become) even less valuable each month from this time forward.
     Maybe I am too naive. Or maybe we just constantly get the cheapest coverage available not realizing the "bonanza" available at the next premium level. Or maybe I am too honest. I hear people claim that their insurance coverage gave them a great boost. "look at the new car I got after my accident" Or that medical insurance had some "left over" and they used it to buy new furniture. For me, insurance has always been a gamble, and like most gambling, the "mark" loses.
     The gamble is that we pay into a system ( by law, many times) in which we only "win" if our mishaps, bad health, damages happen very early on, or continuously. But most of us try to stay healthy, we drive carefully, we try not to build houses in the same flood zones that have been hit every year for the last 3 decades ( I said "most of us"), and in the end, our money is meant to protect the banks and goverment agencies, not us.
     Of course, I say this not in ignorance. I know certain insurance is a great blessing when a house is destroyed or a child becomes very ill and requires surgery, or needs insulin his whole life. I know car insurance is a "game" of chance, and it lives because it protects the money, but for those of us who have little, it is frustrating. It doesn't really offer us a hand up when "life" happens, when our tired fingertips threaten to slip from our precarious perch on the edge of the precipice, it just keeps the banks from coming over with a hammer. I guess I can even see that as a blessing. Eventually.

Not anti-Chinese, just pro-American!

2011-08-08T21:19:00.000-05:00

     I heard something today at a school meeting, and then I got an email from Robin (sis-in-law) and I thought this is something to throw at the world. (Even if the part that "listens" to me at all is somewhat small.) If you agree, maybe you could pass this on somehow, or send others links to my blog.
     We "know" that there are issues in China, with human rights, government oppression, economic and social controls that we disagree with, and even events of "unlawful" or unethical practices that hurt people both there and in many other countries. Two came to my "front burner" today.
     Discussing curriculum issues in one of our teacher meetings, our new district curriculum specialist, while setting the stage for a discussion of common core curriculum, mentioned a conversation she had with an official in China this last year. State and district personnel were in china for some program comparisons, and as part of the Chinese bridge program, which is an effort to improve educational relationships between China and the US. (I guess). When comparing test scores and competency ratings, our personnel noticed that there were no special ed kids, and asked where they were in the school system. The answer was essentially "they are somewhere else." the same question was asked about handicapped kids, ADHD, autistic, etc., and the answer was the same. They are not a part of "the system", and therefore not included with the comparisons. why then are we so worried about not "looking as good" as China?!?
     If they included all of their kids, would they even come close to us? And what about all these other countries that we are always claiming to be behind? Are they comparing apples to apples, or are there a bunch of oranges and bananas in the fruit bowl?
     The other issue came in Robin's email, and it is so simple, yet so powerful that I feel I have to address it. We are in an economic "crisis"(?) in this country. There is very little made in China that does not have other roots. Why do we complain about trade imbalance with China, and insist that the government do something about it? Are we not trying to be masters of our own checkbooks and wallets? No on forces us to buy Chinese products. I know, on a budget, we try to find the cheapest items we can, but seriously, if the difference is a few pennies, why not support the American economy, and put down that "made in China" or made in PRC, or Hong Kong? If we quit buying food sent from china, guess how long places like wal-mart will keep stocking it? We fuss and complain at times that our government buys uniforms, supplies, flags, etc, from China, rather than support competitors in America, but what are we doing?
     Every time we buy a product from China that has an american competitor, WE are adding to the massive trade deficit, and adding to China's power. WE are handing our economy to a country that does not respect us. WE are allowing our economy to deteriorate, for the sake of a few pennies, which would come back to America if WE would just support US (U.S.?) first.
     Robin's email suggested trying it out, for a month. Check what you buy, and if it says Made in China, put it back and find an alternate!! If there is no alternate, do you really need it? If we can't live without China's inferior products for a month, we deserve the economic disaster that is coming.

Life moves pretty fast!

2011-08-05T13:14:00.000-05:00

So much has happened since my last post.
And that is just the basics. I will say nothing here of my thoughts on major political and world events. That takes time that I will arrange another day.
I had a small group travel with me to German speaking Europe this summer. We visited Switzerland, Austria, and of course Germany. Oh, not to forget Liechtenstein, even though the 1.5 hour stop and roughly 1 hour to drive through the tiny country hardly counts as a visit.
I am falling in love with Vienna (Wien). The city has so much history and culture just right there in your face all the time! This was my second time there. As the royal capitol for nearly 8 centuries, you can see so much of European history represented all around you, to say nothing of the tours through palaces and museums and such. Some will consider this "history-nerdy", but to me looking at a sword that actually belonged to Charlemagne is breathtaking, even if the sword itself is nothing fancy to look at. Just the fact that it is a piece of real history more than a millenia old blows my mind!
And, of course, I love Switzerland! I look forward to some summer in the future just taking Michelle and spending a month or more in this beautiful country! We will travel to other places, but maybe do a house swap, or something, and just BE in Switzerland for awhile.
And Germany is always of interest to me. It was really a great trip! We had nice touring companions on our bus, and the guide and driver were exceptional! Our guide is a TV actor and vocal soloist named Matthias Unger. He was great! Had sooooo much fun on this tour!
Since my return, I have dealt with chicken farm issues such as burnt out fan motors ( I am getting quite good at handling electrical work), leaking water lines, feed auger systems which had to be repaired and/or replaced and so on. I have only got hands on training in all the plumbing, electrical, and industrial equipment work, but it is becoming rare that I have to go find Bob or some other "expert" for advice or help. I feel pretty good about that.
I did also go to Tulsa University, to get training for AP German, which will be offered at Conway this year!! Yeah! I haved worked hard to build this program to the point that District administrators will soon have to decide to hire another part-time German teacher or figure out how to tell parents that a school of 3000 students can't offer German to everyone who wants it! They will have to turn down about 20 this year as it stands. I hope next year the number is double that. That would be 2 classes!
Getting long, back to normal chicken farm life for the past few weeks! More next week, after school starts (for teachers). :( or is it :) Maybe better wait till October to decide; that's when I will feel like I am ready to start the school year.

2011-03-14T20:57:00.002-05:00

Some thoughts on dealing with life stress.

If you haven’t heard from me recently, or haven’t seen my most recent posts, I can safely say that life is currently hectic.

Now, please understand, this is not meant to be a gripe session, because most if not all of my HECTIC is done by choice. Sometimes the choice was made a long time ago, and I am just carrying on. Other times, it is a choice based on belief or principle, and it dictates what happens as things come up.

And, as I have told my kids at home and my kids at school, griping about things you have the privilege of changing is not only pointless, it is also really annoying. You know…..If you’re not going to trouble yourself to vote, don’t be the most vocal complainer when you don’t like how things turn out.

Anyway, back to busy. I have been spending an average of 2-3 hours per day away from home, and away from school, while I access the internet to do research and readings for my UALR classes. (AVERAGE) things on the farm have been pretty normal, which means some days go with no glitches, and other days something breaks, and I add hours to my busy-ness. My church responsibilities don’t usually add a lot of time concerns, unless there are training meetings, or temple trips (like last week, which by the way, was a great day), but there are always concerns running around in my head. Trying to stay on top of my needs for Conway is a challenge. I have been assigned to do morning hall duty from 7:30-8, as a trade off for being allowed to leave early to go to UALR. I monitor the north hallway 5 days a week, so that I can leave early on 2. Major downside: I am not allowed to access the internet (even though we have a wifi server, teachers are rarely allowed access), hauling a desk back and forth would take far more time than it is worth, in terms of being able to grade, and it gives me about 4 minutes to get ready for my students, unless I choose to get here by 7 am. Problem with that is it requires me to leave the house by 5:45.

That leaves me with my prep period, and 3 days a week after school. So of course the conflict is, Monday Tuesday and Friday, do I spend the extra hours for Conway schools, or do I use the time to go access the internet at the library, so that I can stay on top of UALR, and still have a few minutes with my family?

That has been the crux of my hectic schedule. Although I am doing it all from this computer, if I am sitting at the school in Conway, I still cannot access the internet. So anything internet related that I do at the high school has to be transferred to this computer. At least this one has pretty much all I need, so my time at wifi hotspots can be as productive as I need to make it. This thing is pretty fast.

As I was driving home the other night, after one of those 3 day periods where nothing seemed to go right, I was feeling really stressed. I had been behind because I had not been able to get out and do homework at all over the weekend. Monday, I had stayed at the library to the last minute, and then met Michelle and the boys at their Scout meeting in Heber Springs. I have signed on as assistant Scoutmaster with troop 200, where the boys are working toward Eagle, since Batesville doesn’t have an active troop. Tuesday, I was working at the Library, and the thunderstorms moving through were not only making me nervous, as the lightning was striking really close, but it also kept knocking out the wifi server. I ended up typing nearly 4 paragraphs on something before I realized that I was no longer online. That was my German Blog for class.

Anyway, this is getting long, and I did have a point: As I was driving home from my Wednesday class/homework session at 10:30, feeling very stressed, a song came on the radio at just the right moment. I don’t know the artist, but I know Liz will recognize it. The chorus was good advice for me at that moment of stress: “You can’t jump the tracks, we’re like cars on a cable, life’s like an hour glass glued to the table, no one can find the rewind button now, so cradle your head in your hands, and..Breathe, just Breathe, come on breathe….”

I felt better, and life will go on, life will continue to be hectic, but when it gets out of control, take this advice: Just breathe!

Variety of things.

2011-03-09T21:38:00.000-06:00

I know, I could, and should put at least 3 seconds of thought into the title of these posts, and some times I will, but not today.
Too many things and thoughts going on. School, SCHOOL, farm, Libya, church, farm, School legislation, weekend obligations, braces, missions, etc.
Thoughts on Libya: It is interesting to watch the history of a nation shift, in a matter of weeks. I hope the "opposition forces" as they have been titled, succeed. They have a tough road ahead, though. The military madman at the top still hasn't admitted that "something is happening", at least not in the last report I heard. That was, I admit, 3 days ago, and in the interim, military airstrikes have been part of the fray. I don't know if they were ordered from the very top, or just military commanders doing "their job". I am anxious to see how bad the mess in Libya will affect us here. Oil price speculation is such a driving factor in the price of gas, and the prices on the market have jumped dramatically. I know there are other factors, including the individual stores maintaining a profit margin, but the speculation makes a big difference. Running 1000 per week, every nickel in the average price costs me about $10-$12 extra per month. That wouldn't really be much, if it were only one nickel.
Things on the farm are about normal. We have had a change in ownership, but it shouldn't really affect us much. At least not negatively. As most know, Townsend declared bankruptcy, and a new company has taken over. we'll see how this plays out. Right now, it is just the same: raise birds, maintain systems, and hopefully get some sleep. With my schooling and church responsibilities, it is not unusual to get home at 9 or later, and have some repair to take care of. Michelle is really good about trying not to let little things pile up, so I only have the bigger issues to tackle. That is good. Sometimes, though, a "big job" that should be simple ends up taking hours instead of minutes. Perfect example: A cable on the feed lines broke (corroded), and needed to be fixed. It looked like it should only take 20-30 minutes to splice in a new section to patch the break, but upon closer inspection, the cable passed through enough pulleys that an entirely new length was required.
This would have been no big deal, except it meant that the ladder had to be moved every 4-5 feet of a 20+ ft. span, to free the old broken cable, then back and forth to run the new cable around 2 turnback pulleys. as it was, it only took me about 2 hours to fix, but you get the idea.

Great, the last 4 paragraphs I typed were not saved, because a thundestorm apparently knocked out the wifi server, and I didn't realize it. Anyway, I may try to fill in blanks on another day.

Gotta go!

2011-02-16T20:27:00.002-06:00

Well, it has been months since the last time I posted anything. I can claim that it has to do with time. Tonight, I am taking time I really don’t have, but I am feeling tapped out, and hope that this will feel therapeutic.

The months since my last post (MAY?) have been busy/crazy, and the slow internet has played in, because it is hard to take time for this, when it is normally 45-60 minutes to get a simple post. Between log-in and waiting for each page to load, it is frequently too much. I might stay up really late, but Benjamin has taken to sleeping in “the den” (formerly Justin’s room). He is such a light sleeper, that I don’t want to stay in here and keep him awake.

While I am talking about kids, let me update those who read the blog for family/friend updates. Ben is doing fairly well health wise. His intestinal problems do make him a light sleeper, so we try to stay out of the room when he is in bed. I do wake him up at 3 am each night, and then we try to sleep hard and fast til daybreak. He is doing well in school, and is growing up so fast. He keeps trying to get me to let him drive. (usually successful)

Driving……..Ian is now legal. He passed his test back in August, just after his birthday, but we finally got him down to get the actual license this past week. He will have to drive with one of us until December, but there is nothing after that to keep him from driving. He needs a bit of practice yet, but …..

Justin is loving his mission. He recently got transferred down below Yuma. He says his apt. is ½ mile from the Mexican border, and the community is almost exclusively Hispanic, so he feels like he is back in Mexico. It is hard to believe that he is past the halfway point! He looks good in the pics he sends, and seems to be keeping his diabetes in control.

Liz is fabulous. She is keeping very busy (like Mom and Dad) with work, school cheerleading, church youth leadership responsibilities, helping on the farm, reading the piles of college recruiting junkmail, etc. She is still playing basketball this year, and she is taking 2 college classes (necessary to meet graduation requirements due to failed scheduling by her HS counselor). She and the other 3 smartest students at school are having to take college classes because the counselor and school administrators put an AP class the same period as one of the classes the students have to have to graduate. Then, they pressured the kids to help meet the school’s legal requirements by taking the AP class. (don’t get me going about ineptitude, I might not stop, and that is not good for me or you) Anyway, she is a very busy young lady, but she is doing well. 18 next month! Wow, that is hard to believe how fast 18 years goes by.

Kaylee is also doing very well. She is nearly out of elementary school. She still loves to dance, and she continues to be in the pageant scene. She has fun dressing up, and usually will perform with a smile. She is doing well in school, and learning to help around the farm a bit more as well. She asks about driving, but the times I offer, she decides she is still not ready.

Michelle’s busy is still the same. She sews for her Branson clients, she is sewing wedding parties and pageant stuff, and her rodeo queen crowd has grown. She has even branched into fancy leather “gowns” and interview/parade suits for national rodeo queen pageants. She still takes care of the farm when I am at school or church stuff, along with being the PTO president for the 5th year. She will step down next year (Kaylee will no longer be in the elementary school), even if no one decides to step up. I tell her 5 years is enough, she can step down with clear conscience, even if she leaves a vacancy.

My sense of busy has grown this year. I am still the Branch President, still teaching in Conway, still working the farm, and because there was not enough to keep me busy, I decided (WE decided) to start my master’s program this year. I had been searching, but couldn’t find a program that was for languages. I found one, and I am enrolled in 6 credit hours. One class meets in Little Rock once a week, so I add that triangle to my drive time. I am running 1000 miles each week. Glad we could swing getting a new car (Kia Rio), so the 100K mile warranty will last almost until my master’s program is complete. The other class is online, and that has eaten more time than everything else.

I tried to get permission to adjust what the school district server allows, so that I could view the numerous videos for my class, and deal with the program and communication issues for this very tech heavy online class. NO LUCK. I couldn’t do the videos at home, with slow download times taking sometimes 60 minutes to load a 1 minute video. (not with as much as 2 hours of videos some weeks.) So I was spending about 3 hours each day at the library in Conway, where I could work online (except for the recorded audio assignments), as long as there were not people waiting to use the computers. Thankfully, a colleague’s ex-husband offered to loan me a small net book computer with fast wifi , so I can now log in at the library no matter who is waiting, and I can even use McDonald’s or other free wifi servers. I still don’t get to be at home, but at least I can do the voice recordings and videos without worrying who’s waiting behind me, and I can work on weekends, by driving over to McDonald’s.

I am still spending about 2-3 hours each day trying to keep up with these 2 classes, so I am constantly on the run it feels. When things go wrong at the chicken houses, I can only pray that things at church go smoothly, and that my homework doesn’t require too much extra time. When Homework is heavy, I pray that the farm doesn’t have things break. School is always school, and I am trying hard to keep my classes moving well, fun and interesting, AND incorporating the research that is part of my course work. A lot of it, I have already been doing, but it has been a fun challenge bringing the new research into my classes. A few times, things just all fell apart together, and then I just try to breath slow and deep.

Perfekt/Imperfekt in der Klasse

2011-02-16T19:34:00.002-06:00

Ich hoffe nur, dass ich einmal im Leben "perfekt werde", auch wenn man später nur im Perfekten (oder Imperfekten) darüber redet.

Das schwere Ding im Deutschunterricht ist es manchmal, mit Verben umzugehen. Für die Schüler, besonders 9. und 10. Klässler, haben viele eine geringere erkenntnis ihrer eigenen Sprache, was die Grammatik betrifft. Es kommt oft vor, dass andere Lehrer (spezifisch Englischlehrer) mir sagen, dass die Schüler, die Deutsch lernen eine bessere Kenntnis der Englischen Grammatik haben, als andere.

Obwohl die Schüler Schwierigkeiten haben, versuche ich alle Verbformen zu lehren. Ich hoffe, auf diese Weise, eine Sprachfähigkeit zu bilden, dass alle moegliche Themen umfasst.

Wie kann ein Schüler das vergangene Wochenende besprechen, wenn er nicht weiß, wie man die Vergangenheit bildet? Oder das Lieblingstheme aller Lehrer in den ersten Tagen nach einer Schülerferien, "Was hast du in deiner Ferien gemacht?".

Ich versuche immer, dieses heikle Theme ein wenig zu mildern, indem ich meinen Schülern einen kleinen Spruch geben. "Wenn du von den Weltkriegen redest, der Krieg war schlimm, und der Hutmacher hatte einen Hut." (When you speak of the world wars, the "war" was bad, and the Hatter had a hat"). Ich weiß, es ist ziemlich bloed, aber dass hilft meinen Schülern anscheinend, die zwei Verbformen "hatte" und "war" im Gedächtnis zu halten. Wir sprechen dann später über das Imperfekt von anderen Verben.

Danach muss ich über Tagen und Wochen die Perfektformen lehren. Ich sehe es oft, dass die Schüler sehr schnell das "ge-- t" von schwachen Verben begreifen, aber was ihnen schwer fällt ist die Wortstellung der zwei Verben im Perfekten. "...habe..................gehabt." Das problem scheint mir Folgendes zu sein. Englisch, besonders amerikanisches Englisch, benutzt immer häufiger das Imperfekt, und da diese Form leichter zu bilden ist, sehen unsere Schüler einen Ausweg, in Bezug auf grammatischen Regeln. Ich habe erfahren, dass ich oftmals das Theme als Englischregel vorstellen muss, bevor ich überhaupt ins deutsche Bereich eintrete.

tja....... Ich kann nicht viel mehr sagen. Die Schüler brauchen unbedingt Vergangenheitsformen zu lernen, und zwar früh in dem Unterricht, aber wir müssen zuerst ein gutes Präsens beherrschen. Oder doch nicht?

Hier ist 'was für Deutschsprechende

2011-02-03T20:55:00.002-06:00

Der Zweck dieser Seite ist es, eine Bedingung meiner Deutschklasse zu füllen. Ich will auch hiermit ein wenig erklären, aus welchen Gründen ich verschiedenes mache. Alle meine Freunde die Deutsch lesen sind hiermit eingeladen, meine "Hausaufgaben" durchzublättern.

Dr. Wagner, ich weiss, dass der Zweck diese Seite mehr als Unterrichtsunterhaltung dienen soll, and ich werde nachher etwas mehr über diese Themen schreiben. Ich moechte aber einiges über mich schreiben. (Ich habe gerade gemerkt, dass mein Computer nicht das O mit umlaut schreibt. Jedes mal wird die Seite geschlossen. Ich werde "oe" tippen.)

Ich habe jetzt 11 Jahre in Arkansas gelebt. Ich war 5 Jahre bei Bosch "Powertools" angestellt. Dann, nachdem Bosch das Geschäft nach China umgezogen hat, bin ich (wieder) Lehrer geworden. Ich war 8 Jahre Deutschlehrer in Utah. Wir kamen nach Arkansas, um ein Familienbauernhof zu vergrossern. Wir "bauen" Hühner. ("züchten" ist nicht das beste Wort, glaube ich. Wir bekommen die kleinen Küken am ersten Lebenstag, und "erziehen" sie bis nach ungefähr 8-9 Wochen ihr Leben zu Ende kommt.)
Meine Zeit als Deutschlehrer in Conway ist nur ein kleiner Teil meines Lebens. Natürlich verbringe ich viel Zeit auf dem Bauernhof. Ich habe auch 5 Kinder, 3 davon sind mit chronischen Krankheiten "gesegnet". Und, da ich noch nicht genug zu tun habe, bin ich auch "Pfarrer" meiner Kirchengemeinde. (In Batesville).......Ach ja, auch noch Student kann man dazu schreiben.

Das soll keine Trummergeschichte sein, aber ich moechte dass du weisst, warum ich in AATG und AFLTA und andere Vereine nicht eingetreten bin. Als Professorin, weisst du schon eine ganze Menge über mein Gehalt. Meine Kinder "schlucken" eine ordentlich große Menge Pillen und Medikamente. Ich fahre über 1100 Meilen, jede Woche, besonders jetzt wo mein Pfad auch nach Little Rock geht.
Dann, in denn letzten Jahren, wie alle wissen, ist unsere Nationalwirtschaft in Schwierigkeiten. Auf dem Bauernhof bedeutet das, Diesel, Futter, Oel, und alles andere ist an Kosten gestiegen. Leider hat das geheissen, dass für "Extras" kein Geld mehr vorhanden gewesen ist.
Wie gesagt, das soll keine Trummergeschichte sein. Ich und meine Familie haben jede von diesen Entscheidungen vollbewusst getroffen. Ich habe nicht gemeint unfreundlich oder uninterrisiert zu scheinen. Ich habe nur viele andere Sachen zu besorgen, und für das Mitgliedsbeitrag war kein Geld da.
Ich freue mich auf das kommende Jahr, und neue Freundschaften in AATG und AFLTA. Ich werde nicht an allen Tagungen kommen koennen, aber so oft wie moeglich kannst du mich schon erwarten.

Still alive and barely kicking

2011-02-02T20:07:00.002-06:00

I have been trying for over an hour to paste soe posts. I am running out of batteries and time, so this is just to say that I am still around. I have written 3 or 4 posts, during times when I was not able to do it on this site. My Word docs are not pasting in here, so I will have to come back later and figure out why. Isn't technology grand?

2010-05-07T21:08:00.002-05:00

Another vent, only this one doesn't have much positive in it. Sorry! This may read like a rant, because it is one! I tried to give the main points, without all the teary eyed detail, so if you find it hard to follow, you may have to read it again to find the timeline. Again, sorry!

This one has to do with government bureaucracy at several levels. And these organizations/people want to run (ruin) the health care system in this country??!

Today's rant has to do with school districts, state legislatures and the federal government. I wish I could say that it all started this week, but in reality, this started approximately 16 years ago. (for us) It has to do with Ian.

For the 10 or so years we did not know what we were fighting with Ian, we struggled through many diagnoses and treatments, some of which insurance covered, others which it did not. Now, don't get me wrong, I was quite pleased with the insurance coverage we had in Utah. I did not have to pay for the policy, and the plan was decent.

After moving to Arkansas, and having the meltdowns and problems that led to a diagnosis of Asperger's, we have seen constant improvement in Ian's (and our) ability to handle the stresses, and detour the meltdowns. This has not been without financial struggles. Ian's medicines have typically run about $500-600/month, and would have bankrupted us years ago, if not for good insurance at the time, and Ian qualifying for SSI payments and medicaid insurance.

Between Justin and diabetes, Ian and Asperger's, and Ben and ulcerative colitis, we typically spend a small bundle on medical supplies and meds, until insurance maximums are met. Ian's SSI payment has been a lifesaver in this area.

Until this last year. Last year, (and don't ask me why not the 2 years before that), the Social Security Administration informed us that they had been over paying us, and reduced the monthly check to nearly nothing. The reason? I get paid 3 checks in June, which means that we exceed the income limits for SSI. Therefore, when they had found this, they needed to reduce our future payments, until the "oversight" had been corrected.

Why do I get 3 checks in June, You may ask? It's because the district has to clear the books, that is, meet all financial obligations by the end of June. ( that's supposedly state law) And since they "can not, and will not pay a teacher in July, for work that isn't being done"(quote from district payroll manager), I get 3 checks in June, and nothing till Sep. 20th, the first payment of the new contract year.

Back to SSI and government inconsistency! SSI will kick back in, once the "excessive income" is gone, and we resubmit new financial records. Their problem is they base all their limits on monthly income, and it doesn't matter if it's one check or 31 checks meant to be cashed over months and months, it's all considered June's income. That part actually makes sense. The district sees this plan as "12 equal payments". :{

Now, follow me here....... it's MAY. LAST month, we finally got all the financial records straightened out, and SSI discovered that we did indeed fall well below the income level for a family our size, and they had seriously UNDERPAID Ian's SSI since last June, so they were in the process of increasing checks to make up for the oversight. Anyone getting dizzy yet?

Michelle, in an effort to avoid that rollercoaster ride again, called them a few days ago to remind them that June's pay situation was bizarre, and hoping to avoid the same paperwork mess, and payment reductions. No good deed goes unpunished! Yesterday, we got a letter stating that Ian was being dropped from SSI and Medicaid, because my June income was projected too high to qualify!

Get how well this government wants people to manage their money. When Michelle called (in a near panic), to try and figure out what the heck happened, they explained that for them it is all about the monthly income, and as long as that money was available, we had too much to qualify. But, and I quote, "if you use that money up before the end of June, we could re-submit financials, and have him re-enrolled by August". So, if we "blew" our 3 months salary (living expenses) on a $9000 VACATION, we would still only lose out on Ian's SSI and medicaid for 2 months.

Let's see now, no matter what we do, we lose Ian's payments, and his insurance (read prescription co-pays), bringing a net loss bumping $2000. That's if we blow 2-3 months pay in a matter of 5-7 days. If we manage our money wisely, making sure that we still have money in September, while we wait for the 20th to roll around, we lose at least 4 months of Ian's coverage. ($4000) Can't win for losin'.

Now the kicker..... when Michelle called DHS today, to see about enrolling Ian in the Arkids insurance program, they informed us that he should have no problem enrolling, because our income is, according to them, well below the income limit for a family of our size. AND, they figure their income limits based on an average 12 month income. So my 3 check June would not be an issue. Aren't these the same people who want to run our health care system?

2010-05-03T20:47:00.002-05:00

I just need to write something this week. I don't know what, but I think I just need to vent. Not so much in a negative way, just some major things going on.

First major has to do with Justin, of course! He has been serving within our mission, waiting for his official re-assignment. He spent several weeks over in Tennessee, as the only Spanish speaking missionary in that area, so he had some great opportunities to take the lead in discussions. Some of the investigators are making good progress towards conversion, so we were very proud of Elder Wahlquist.

Then, just like a normal mission, President Drewes needed to transfer him to Russelville, a town about 2 hours away from Drasco, the other direction. He was working with Spanish speaking missionaries, so he was getting good practice with his language skills, and they were also seeing some success, working with the many spanish speaking workers and members. Justin was just glad to be staying in the missionary work.

Our big issue with a re-assignment was getting Justin all "hooked-up" to new technology. We have been fighting with the insurance company over a new pump, and the continuous glucose monitor (hereafter referred to as CGM), which should allow Justin to keep tighter control over his diabetes, and to avoid those dangerously low night levels which have led to seizures.

Well, we have the technology ("we can rebuild him. Make him better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster..." :) sorry, a throw back to old TV some of you will recognize, others will be left scratching their heads, wondering if I have lost my mind. I only ask that if you find it, please address to "Urgent: ..........Drasco, AR 72530" :)

Anyway, he is all geared up. We are still fighting with insurance over who is going to pay for it, but it has already been worth the extra peace of mind Michelle feels, knowing that something is there that will pester Justin if his glucose levels get out of whack.

That step kind of led to this week's "majorness". We got the call on Saturday night, that Justin had a new assignment. He was to leave early Tuesday morning. His new mission call is to Tempe, Arizona. So I drove down to Russelville Sunday evening, picked up Justin, and drove over to Searcy to see the Stake president. Justin was set apart (again), and we had him on Monday. Not exactly a long time, made even stranger by Elizabeth's adventure.

Liz had gone out to Utah on Thursday, to attend her best Utah friend's wedding. Ann (used to be Barnett) was so excited to have Liz come out, and Liz was jazzed about staying with Mike and Karen and their gang. She had a good trip, and was supposed to come home Sunday night around 11 pm. Well, after getting home with Justin, and visiting with Michelle for about 10 minutes, she left to drive down to Little Rock to get Liz.

When she walked back in the door 20 minutes later, I knew something was amiss. Liz was stuck in Dallas!!

They had cancelled her flight due to mechanical problems, and Liz was not sure what to do. Fortunately, she called Michelle first, so she was on her way home while talking to Liz, rather than getting closer to LR.

Plus side of craziness! They put Liz up in a hotel, gave her meal vouchers for that night and for Breakfast, and said she was on a flight early the next morning. Our 17 yr. old spending the night alone in a Dallas hotel. You can guess that Michelle slept very little that night, and I only slept marginally better.

When I got to work the next morning, I talked to Liz just before Mom was supposed to leave the house to drive to LR. Liz was in a panic, because they had bumped her from the morning flight ( airline had sent a plane too small for the number of passengers re-booked :(, and Liz would be at least 2 hours later), and she couldn't reach Michelle. She really didn't want Mom to sit at the airport for 2 extra hours building stress. Bright Girl, we have raised a gem, I think!

Well, we got ahold of Michelle, so she and Justin got to visit at home for a few hours. Remember, Justin had been set apart, he had to stay with someone until he reached his mission assignment. They got Liz home, Tuesday evening went way too fast, because it was filled with packing, washing, repacking, hugging, and trying to get to sleep so that the 2 of us leaving at 4 AM would not be working on no sleep. You know, this all seems soooooo familiar.

I am so glad that Justin is back in the mission field. Tempe is Garrett's mission, so the cousins will have some connecting points. It is also the mission of a certain elder McGown, whose brother was the Zone Leader in Mexico, that took Justin to the hospital after his first seizure. Church makes for a small World! I think Michelle and siter McGown are likely to become very good e-mail friends. It will be fun to met that family in person some day.

Arkansas Spring!

2010-04-18T20:14:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!

I want you to know that we are still here, still hanging on! Life in Arkansas is good! We have been enjoying the warming spring weather, and things have reached what I refer to as the "green explosion". We live in the north central part of the state, and we have a very definite 4 seasons.

Spring is really my favorite time of the year. I enjoy all the seasons in their own right, but after the several months of winter, one thing I love is the emergence of life. I get to see it in a couple of phases. Driving to Conway for school, I am traveling about 60 miles to the south, AND I am dropping some significant altitude. It is surprising how much of a difference that makes in the shift into Spring.

As I drive down our county road to the Highway, we may still have barren trees, pockets of snow, and signs that winter has refused to release its icy grip, and could come roaring back at a moments notice. But I get into Conway, and there are trees leafing out, daffodils, crocus and other spring flowers starting to open up.

Then, the drive into Batesville ( to the North-east)starts to take on a distinct greenish hue, and you sense a "fuzziness" to the outline of tree branches on the hillsides across the valleys. This "tint" may last for several days, taking on a stronger greenish tone with each passing day, and then, "suddenly" you look out across the landscape.....

And you can no longer see the outline of the trees, grass that yesterday (or so it seemed) was showing more dead brown, has now sprouted fresh green blades, and you are bombarded with more shades of green than you can imagine. And the flowers! Call me a pansy if you want, but preferrably just plant one! I simple marvel at the beautiful colors that nature includes in this explosion of new life. Daffodils, crocus and the like function as the first sure sign that spring is here. They grow so well here, that places where old homesteads once stood, and the trees have taken it back, will have beautiful, "groomed-looking" rows of these luscious spring blossoms.

Some of my favorite trees are the ones like the Eastern Red Bud, and the variations of Dogwood which blossom with spectacular energy before they put on their green mantle. The shades of purple, yellow and glossy white make Western states landscapers jealous, and these are just "floating" all over the hillsides. Naturally, many people, (like me!), want to have these bright cheery colors close to home as well.

We have been in a ten year slow program of trying to add one or several colorful enhancements to our yard, or even the woods around us, in an effort to make spring really POP. Nature doesn't need much help around here, but we at least try to choose locations. We have lined our driveway with several varieties of spring blooms, and circled trees with daffodils, crocus, tulips and lilies. Grape Hyacinth sprung up in our yard this month, and neither of us remember planting bulbs. We will gladly welcome and nourish this new, pleasant recruit.

I simply love the Arkansas Spring!

Life is fragile; Count the blessings

2010-03-07T23:01:00.002-06:00

Well, it has been a month since my last post. Sometimes, I feel like I would like to try one every week, and then life kicks in, and the week has turned into 2 or 3. As mentioned more than once, we still have slow dial up, so I expect lengthy downloads of each individual page it takes to get here. Then there is just the amount of other stuff that goes on in a typical day around here. Oh, well. Life goes on, and I WILL keep posting, because I find the process somewhat cathartic. Maybe I should try writing a book someday. But for now, this blog is a good release.

I think I have to go with a thought tonight that has been prevalent in my life the last few weeks. That is, that life can be......IS fragile. Not to say that it explodes like a crystal vase at the slightest vibration, but that when life seems to settle into a routine, get ready! Mine rarely seems to be routine, other than the constant stream of new drama.

Let's talk about health! This year got off to a rough start that way. Here at home, we are generally OK. I am heavier than I should be, and terribly out of shape, but otherwise healthy. Healthy prognosis for everyone on the homefront, except for Benjamin. He has fought, (in his own way) with every round of stomache bug that has come through, and there have been a few. His "new plumbing" makes it impossible to tell by standard means if he is sick. But he has been in the bathroom a lot more than normal, and his stomach hurts more than usual. Maybe as the weather warms up, and the little bugs go away, he will get to feeling better. I would trade everything I have, if my kids could just live a normal healthy life! But that is not the plan!

Then, in early January, we get an e-mail from Justin. Man of many words......NOT!! the 8 line e-mail contained this little zinger in the middle. " Now Mom, don't freak out. I had an issue with low blood sugar, and I have been transferred to Guadalajara. New comp is Elder Vasquez, and everything is OK". Been around long enough to know that an "emergency transfer" doesn't take place for a minor event. Some searching e-mails to Mom's group of friends on "Missionary Moms" got better details.

Justin had a series of very low night-time blood glucose readings, and had a seizure. He had a small head injury, and it required a trip to the ER. His comp., Elder Juarez, had done perfectly what he needed to, so Justin was OK, but the president wanted to bring him closer to the medical community at Guadalajara. Michelle was frantic at first, but then realized that Justin had been taken care of the same as if she had been there. She started to be at peace with the situation.

Side-bar.... Church: In the weeks immediately following that stress with Justin, we had several of our church family that were in and out of the hospital for various (some serious) reasons. One of our older friends had some heart trouble, and had to be in the hospital for a few days while they figured out how to get his heart rhythm back to normal. He is doing great now.
Another sister had surgery, which is always significant, but with her alzheimer's, post surgery care and discomfort has been a major challenge for her family.
Another couple have each been to the ER, one for heart issues, which are still "working", and the other for a back injury which has never healed right after many years.

Yet another couple took turns in and out for a series of stomach and sinus infections, and this was the one that got me REALLY scared. After sharing time in and out from about the middle of December, she was just in the downside of a sinus infection. The antibiotics were knocking down the infection, and she was actually feeling better. Then one day at work she noticed some bruising on her arm. She didn't remember bumping anything, and it didn't hurt, so she kind of wrote it off. That was, until later that day when she noticed similar bruises in other places, and a strange red "rash" developing on her neck.

When they decided it was odd enough that a trip to the ER was necessary, that's when it got dicey. Blood tests revealed that her blood platelet count was DANGEROUSLY low. (They were told that a healthy range is from 300-350 Thousand units) She was testing with 15!!!!!!! IV bags of platelets were pumped into her to stop the internal bleeding (bruises). A few hours later, her count had climbed to 1300, and then fell back down to ZERO! as fast as the IV pumped platelets in, her body was destroying them.

Turns out, it was set off by a reaction to the antibiotic (sulpha or sulphur based), and once her body cleared that stuff out, she bounced right back. But before that point, the doctors had told her husband that if she started bleeding into her brain, she would at best stroke, and it might kill her, because the bleeding made it nearly impossible for them to do anything other than pump in platelets as fast as they could. That was a very rough night for many of us!

These are cursory glances at the traumas that face us, as my family includes the branch members that are my stewardship. I cried with Br. J when he told me that his wife might not make it through the night. I stewed over the heart problems of Br. M, serious enough that children from longer distances made an effort to come here. I am constantly praying for all these members, because I know how hard it can be to stay positive in the face of a constant health concern.

Then just 3 days after relaxing about Sis. J., we get a call on Thursday Feb 25th! Justin has had another seizure, suffered a head injury, and mission medical, together with his Mission President have decided to send him home! Our house was filled with tears that night! Michelle and I barely slept, the kids fairly well cried themselves to sleep. Some joy in the knowledge that we would see Justin the next day, but distress because his health had sabotaged something he so deeply wants to complete.

I know, this is long, bear with me, I am reaching the end, AND a potential point!

This week at home may be a great blessing! Justin has already seen his endocrinologist, and been given a clean bill. We determined that his body increased its sensitivity to the insulin DRASTICALLY!! He is using less than half what he used before leaving. And still having some minor lows. That itself is good, now that we know it's happening.

He will be able to go back out, if not to the same place. we will have to wait to hear from Salt Lake, to determine his new assignment. But in the mean-time, our mission president has requested Justin's service. He has need of a Spanish speaking elder over in Tennessee, so we took Justin over yesterday (Saturday), where he will spend the next several weeks (until we hear from SLC) being the Spanish go-to-guy! I think that will be a great confidence booster for Justin, as he has already had success working with a spanish speaking family in setting an appointment for the next discussion, and inviting them to church next week!

Then there is a medical-insurance issue that may be a great blessing. Because Justin had problems, but is now in control, he is a perfect candidate for new technolgy, a continuos glucose monitor, which would not likely be approved as long as his old pump is under warranty. (The pump and the monitor communicate). We thought his warranty still had several months left. Guess What! His old pump warranty expires in 2 weeks!!

Maybe this is a case of the Lord working in mysterious ways. The blessings are coming, and Justin is still able to serve. The members of our branch are currently on the mend. Benjamin will get to feeling better, because the doctor gives him a 3 month supply of antibiotics (NOT SULPHUR BASED!), and life goes on. Things seem to be drifting back into a normal routine.......

but we can smile until the next round

What happens on a Snow Day

2010-02-09T20:21:00.002-06:00

I thought I would give a somewhat detailed account of snow days around here. We never lived in an area that cancelled school. In Utah, it took so much snow to cancel school, I can only recall one day during the time I taught in Utah. I'm sure there were more. I had left early to make the 31 mile drive (it only took 1 1/2 hours), and got there about 10 minutes AFTER the district had cancelled! Then I got to drive back home through the continuing snow. THAT was fun!

Here in Arkansas, where snow frequently comes with its friends Ice, Sleet, and Freezing Rain, we have a few days each year. This year has been particularly strange. Concord cancels easier than Conway, becaue we draw from a rural region, and these back roads may be impassable, even if the highways are good. So what does a snow day look like for us?

Most frequently, a snow day starts with Dad (Scott) getting up at least one hour early, to assess, and usually make the drive to Conway. I hate leaving my classes to a substitute, and if the roads are at least passable, I have driven in some very nasty conditions, and I am always careful.

On those days that I can't make it to Conway, the routine varies greatly, with some common threads. First, we thank our Heavenly Father that we did not receive severe storm damage, and especially if we don't lose power. We have been in ice storms where we spent a week without electricity. I believe one of my first posts last year was about the ice storm.

If we have chickens, which is usual, we start the day by taking care of the farm. If the driveway, which is steep and long, is too slick, we sometimes tromp up the hill through the woods. Usually we can get Bob's old red truck up the driveway. It is a beast! Once or twice we have had to take the 4-wheeler, and years ago it was so slick that Bob and I ran screws into the bottom of our boots to make the trek up to the houses. These last few storms were not so bad. The dry powdery snow doesn't really slow down the red truck when it is in 4-wheel drive.

On the rare snow days where chickens aren't a factor ( like the snow event of Jan 29th-31st) we have a much more relaxed approach. We sleep til the kids start moving, or until Michelle and I start showing our "OLDNESS" by getting sore from laying still too long. Yes! Young people, it IS possible to get sore from being in bed too long! Trust me, you will believe me someday:) This time, we weren't rushing to work in the chickenhouses, because we had just sold on Tuesday, and had not heard when new chicks were coming. It usually takes about 14 days. So we had a slow, leisurely breakfast of biscuits and gravy. Liz made a really scrumptious chocolate gravy, and Michelle made her best milk gravy, and we made a triple batch of Mom's sky-high biscuits!

Needless to say, we didn't move much for awhile after breakfast. We shovelled off the walk-way, then the kids and I went and shovelled Bob and Phyllis' walks. Bob asked us to go build a fire in the dog-kennel. Then the kids wanted to try out some sledding. Well, we don't have sleds, so we improvised. we searched out some pieces of old panelling in the old house, and ran some rope through the corners. They didn't work well on the driveways, but behind the chicken houses are steep enough the kids could get some sled runs going. Just not very long. we played in the snow for a good 2 hours.

Well, this time around, Bob informed us that we get chickens on Tuesday Feb. 2, but we have to wait for a special spray to come. So we waited, and waited. I can't do anything to get the houses ready, even though we had Friday and Saturday, because we are waiting on this spray outfit. He finally came Sunday afternoon, just before dark. I had to wait til Monday night to get houses ready for birds.

The rest of the day revolves around movies, video games, cooking chili, scones, or some other warm comfort food. We work (or play) on the computer, and read, sometimes a lot!!

These 3 days (Feb 8-10), we have had small birds to tend. Saturday, I had dealt with some damage from the last snow storm, which had displaced fan shrouds, and jammed the big exhaust fans on these 3 houses. We only have birds in the 3 houses up the hill, so I haven't even been to house 1 since last Monday night, when I needed some PVC to repair a waterline in house 4. The fans are running fine, and I have checked each morning after snow, to make sure the snow drifts did not drop the fan shrouds again.

That means we have a free morning, once the chicken houses have been tended to.

We have improved our home-made sledding options with some plastic sheeting and some slick packaging material, but we still have to stick to the short, really-steep runs behind the chicken houses. Next year, I will be prepared, with either some home-made sleds that can ZIP, or some store bought options. They are hard to find around here, because sledding is not usually an option. But next year, we will be READY for some snow days and some awesome sledding! The chicken house driveway is nearly 300 feet long! If we can get anything sliding, it will be a great run!

This year, we have spent the days sledding, building either snowmen or snow forts, drinking cocoa, making stew, baking cookies, and the obligatory computers, video games, and movie marathons.

It sometimes makes me wonder how easy it was to get cabin fever and go completely stir crazy back in the day before all this technology made distractions so available. I think the kids would have killed each other, or Michelle would have buried us ALL in the snow:)

Snow Days!

2010-02-09T19:23:00.002-06:00

Well, all I can say is that January and February have proven the statement made by many that if you don't like the weather in Arkansas, stick around a few hours.

We started off the year with some very cold, and then very snowy weather. I had to miss a teacher training on Jan 4th, because the roads were treacherous. I had hauled myself out of bed very early, knowing that Conway rarely cancels school events for weather. One station had run the banners for cancellations, and it had said Conway schools were closed. Since classes were not even scheduled for that day, I assumed it meant the teacher training was cancelled. Well I turned off the alarm and went back to bed. I woke up at 7:45 and checked the TV again. OUCH!

The previous banner was changed, and it said Conway teacher training delayed. Well, even if the roads HAD been passable, I could not have made it on time, so I ended up having to sacrifice a personal day. I helped with the chicken houses, as if it were a weekend, mak8ing some minor repairs, and then spending most of the day inside with the family. School resumed with little trauma the next day, because things had thawed enough to make the roads OK, if not great.

January was slightly cooler than averages, but generally "nice" until the end. Significant rain, not unusual for this time of year, some wintry mix events with marginal accumulation in parts of the state. Pretty normal. Almost.

The middle of the month got cold. Really cold! we had a week of temps reaching down into single digits! During one 3 day stretch, we had daytime highs in the teens or low 20's, and night-time lows in single digits. One day read 7 F, with a wind-chill of -2 degrees!! I have a picture I wish I could post. It shows two blocks of ice. One, very dirty, came a puddle left from all the rain in December and earlier in January. It had been broken up by a feed truck down at house 1. We had been driving over it in the van and pick-up, but the feed trucks come in around 36 tons of feed, plus the truck weight. It was nearly 4 inches thick.

I decided to test the ice on the pond! I walked out about 10-15 feet from the shore, where the water is still only about knee deep, maybe hip deep. I broke out a chunk that was over 3 inches thick. The next 2 days stayed well below freezing, but I never got a chance to go back out and test again.

Jan. 28th became the next snow event. Actually, this is early, but the weather reports were calling for a storm to move in that night. Concord sent students home early. Many of my students at Conway were anticipating a snow day. Well, it happened. We got another storm during the night, which dumped nearly 8 inches of snow in my front yard. Conway got hit too, so I didn't have to worry about anything, except the fact that we were missing a quiz. My students were heartbroken, I'm sure.

Our Stake conference (a regional church conference, for readers unfamiliar with the term) was a very lightly attended event. None of our congregation from Batesville made it, and I'm sure most of the outer reaches of the stake could not make it. The roads were BAD!! Liz was upset, because she had been asked to speak, and was well prepared. Oh well, as Elder Packer said, when we called our Stake President, he did not want anyone risking life and limb to attend the conference, and we should be at peace, and spend a safe, calm, spiritual day at home with our families.

Conway made it to school that week, as the roads had cleared some on Sunday afternoon. Concord did not go back to school til Wednesday, so I got a chance to take Ian with me to school in Conway. It had been a pretty strange month. Tuesday-Friday of that week, the temps reached up into the 50's, with night lows in the 40's!! Nearly all of the snow that had been plowed in our region had melted. Nearly!

Then we got to Sunday night, Feb. 7th. The forecasts had been building to the possibility of heavy accumulation in most of the northern half of the state. They missed a bit. Most of the state got some snow or wintry mix. The northern half (including Drasco) got 8-15 inches. Most hovered around 8-10, but I had heard some reports of 12-15 from extended family of some friends in regions further north.

we have been home from school since, and I just read that Conway is cancelled for tomorrow as well. 3 Days in a row!!?! I will start a new post to talk about our fun 3 days!

camping part 2

2010-01-11T20:25:00.000-06:00

....camping part 2

I have to preface this post. I had typed out both parts at about the same time, but when I saved them to the flashdrive, I somehow replaced the 2^nd with the first, so I had 2 versions of part 1. I finally dug through my hard-drive back-up files, and found part 2, so here it is.

As I think about our many camping trips, and the preparation that goes into a successful trip, I am still seeing that planning and discussion is vital. I don’t ever recall hearing Dad and Mom debate what was necessary for a fun trip, they work so much on the same wavelength.

But I am sure they discussed together what would be best for a given trip. If they ever disagreed, that discussion never happened in front of us. When it came time to load the car or trailer (again, ?), they had what we needed, and it had a place, somewhere.

I have had friends that say that camping with their parents was the worst nightmare, because Dad and Mom could not agree on what to take, and if they even went, they ended up fighting because they each wanted their stuff, and there was not enough space for it all. (Sometimes this led to the family going into debt to buy a bigger camper, or trailer, or 5^th wheel, etc.) And yes, divorce was not far behind! Having MORE was not always BETTER!

Well our country is getting geared up for a long trip ahead. And the people deciding what we are taking can’t seem to get along! They feel the need to pack everything, including the kitchen AND bathroom sinks, and subzero winter gear, even though the weather should be balmy. What irks me however, is that each side wants to blame the other, rather than work together to find a solution that works. Many of the Liberals want to pass it now, and work out the details later!?!?

This healthcare monstrosity is a perfect example. Over 2000 pages, of which I have read as much as I can, because the “legalese” numbs my brain, which I’m sure is its purpose. The Libs want to take everything along, and they want to control it, while claiming that it will not be government controlled. Do they really think we are all THAT stupid??! The pages I have read talk about criminal penalties for not having health insurance, government oversight of health coverages, and a “forced” coverage, if unable to find acceptable (to whom?) insurance.

Then, they claim that all the Conservatives can do is try to stop it by being stubborn. “The Party of NO”, they are screaming.

You know, just because one says that we don’t need the 45” flatscreen TV on a camping trip, doesn’t automatically mean the trip is cancelled. The one’s screaming re-think, and re-start are not just throwing up brick walls, they are countering with good ideas. But the Libs and the biased left media are trying to portray the opposition to this healthcare as un-christian, stubborn, un-helpful/uncooperative. They claim that because we want to take something different, we are saying the camping trip is off. I know of no-one, conservative OR Liberal, Republican OR Democrat, in the middle OR outerfringes that thinks our healthcare system and the cost involved should not be changed somehow. We have a problem, and it needs help, but it needs to be thought out carefully, reviewed, discussed, and PUBLICIZED, because this could be one of the biggest changes in our country’s history.

And government take-over (public option, health-care exchange, whatever “soft” version they are selling today) leaves this country in the hands of a greedy few, instead of being moved by the larger, impartial forces of free-market economics. For example, remove the blocks to competition (like state lines!) and the dozens of companies out there will become more competitive just to stay alive. Force a new competitor in, who has the automatic advantage of being the government, and you actually stifle the very competition that will help the most!

Congress, get it and yourselves, together, and open the debate! Quit trying to ram things down the other party’s (and the American People’s) throat. This is too important to just push through so you can say you did something.

2009-12-29T16:11:00.001-06:00

I was listening to the radio the other day, and something that was in the discussion made me think of our family camping trips. I have very fond memories of the times we traveled, because our large family pretty well always camped wherever we went.

I remember going up to the campgrounds up past Frazier Park, up in the sequoia’s. I know I was still pretty young the time we had our lunch up on top of the big redwood stump. (Family of 11 holding a picnic on a tree stump should give an idea of the size of these amazing trees.) I remember silly little things like fishing using those marshmallow “circus peanuts” as bait, thinking it was amazing that fish would bite on those things, because I frequently ate as much of the bait as the fish did.

Then there are memories of the longer trips across the country for things like family reunions and such. Did we have a little box trailer for our camping gear on longer trips? I have some vague memory of a trailer, but I know it wasn’t a camping trailer, it seems like it was just a utility trailer.

Dad has an intriguing ability to pack enough gear, food, bedding, clothes, etc., for our family into some very small places. I have always marveled at his ability to utilize every small space and stack things in, in such a way that they were stable, and we always seemed to have enough to make the trip, without having to sit balanced on piles. Remember the trip to Connecticut for family reunion? I know, I was only 4, but it is one of my most vivid memories from childhood.

I remember the long ride with our cousins from Charles and Colleen’s family (14, kids and 2 adults in a ford station wagon from CA to Conn.). We camped every night. We sang songs and played games in the car to entertain ourselves. I love the stories of how other drivers often slowed down to count our car-full. I remember hot chocolate and scrambled eggs on some cold mornings, and bowls of cereal on other days. Some days we had campfires, others I think we cooked on a gas stove? I remember the pond at the big house we were visiting, and David stepping on a snake while running to use the little boat. I know on that trip I was no help, but I am sure I was awed by Dad’s ability and patience every morning and every night, as he unloaded all the food and gear, then placed it all carefully back in the next morning.

Over the years, I have learned so much from Dad and Mom about taking life’s simpler measures, which can also be life’s simple pleasures. I have not been camping with my own kids in far too long, because we don’t travel like we used to. I am going to fix that, since we have some beautiful campgrounds within an hour drive. Arkansas is really a beautiful state!

One thing that I learned from watching Dad pack is that planning makes the difference. We didn’t cart along many extras, but we always had sufficient gear and supplies to make the trip enjoyable. Dad and Mom planned food, snacks, cooking gear, etc., and they always managed to find places for them, or the plan was to buy certain things while traveling, so they didn’t require space. Clothing and bedding were planned based on the weather, with “minor” provisions for weather changes. We didn’t pack parka’s even though some of the mountains can get pretty cold. Bedding was appropriate for the expected conditions, with some extra blankets added, just in case. But we never froze!

Our camping gear was not fancy, but it was kept in good shape, and was always treated with care. I know we frequently had some minor fishing gear along, and some games and other pastime activities that didn’t require a lot of space. Maybe my memories are blended through years of camping with my “growing-up” family and my “I’m-the-Dad-family”, but we have been careful to teach our kids that they can enjoy the simple things in life.

Things like watching the sun rise over a beautiful mountain lake while baiting a hook, rather than sitting face down in a video game that is small enough to travel. Things like telling ghost stories around a campfire, rather than tuning the radio or TV. The humor of a pair of chipmunks (NOT Alvin and friends), real chipmunks chattering at each other as if they were going to duke it out, while racing around everything in sight. Enjoying a swim either in a lake or a campground’s pool. Followed by a warm campfire, s’mores, and star-gazing.

Even some of my Scout camp-outs in winter, learning how to build an igloo or a snow “cave”, and then actually sleeping in it. Dealing with the needs of sub-zero temperatures, and marveling at the divinity of a big bowl of hearty beef stew to chase off the cold. The gear needed was not hugely different, but if planned well, there was no need to carry in a big gas heater, or to eat different food, just more of some of the heartier stuff.

I think there are some lessons that everyone could learn from a lifetime of “roughing it”. .......to be continued

Thankful!

2009-12-06T19:13:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving! What a great time of year! I really have always enjoyed this Holiday! I was reading Kathy's blog about being thankful, and had some thoughts to add, and then I will probably just post more of the everyday, mundane stuff that rules our lives.

I remember growing up in Bakersfield, how many people there always seemed to be at our house for Thanksgiving. do you guys remember how many tables and chairs we had to borrow from the Institute of Religion at BC? Mom, I have learned too late in life to appreciate you properly for the amount of work and love that went into organizing those amazing events.

I may be off, but it always seemed to me like our family, plus at least 3-4 others, and they were close friends, sometimes even our own family, but mostly friends from church. One tradition I remember most is how we would go around the table, and each would say at least one thing for which they were thankful that year. These large gatherings impressed in me the importance of family and friends, and I am thankful for both. To my family, I love you, and miss you all the time. I am happy where we are, I love living in Arkansas, but I do wish we were closer so that we could all get together more often.

To friends, both here and wherever you may be at this time, we appreciate and love you. It is friends and family that make life truly joyful, and I am thankful to say that I have had many great friends, and have some really great friends now. Those large gatherings are something I look back on with fondness.

I have since experienced the smaller versions, with just our immediate, local family. We always (10 years and counting) eat with Bob and Phyllis. Usually, any of Bob's siblings that are here join us, but this year, it is down to Aunt Robbie, and she has "migrated" north for the winter. She got sick several weeks ago, and I think it kind of scared her, so she made arrangements with her oldest daughter to come stay in their basement apartment in Michigan, just across from the lake by that name.

We had two Moms that were sick on Thanksgiving day, and 2 deer to deal with, so we celebrated on Friday. Yes, Ian got his deer. Ben has struggled more, because he has had a harder time holding out. The cooler weather has kind of got his asthma flared up, if he spends a lot of time outside, and his IBD left-over issues make it very hard for him to sit completely still and quiet for very long. Even when he is quiet, his innards are not!

But Ian got a deer, and the same day Herman, or someone in his family called about taking another. So we spent Thursday skinning and dressing two deer. I am thankful that we have family and friends who like to hunt but not eat. We enjoy venison, and are grateful for the addition to our freezer.

I am thankful for a good job. I love teaching German at Conway High School. I have had great students, and I currently have great students! Not all of them are perfect, but they all add a lot to each day. I can say that no two days are alike, and no two years, either. I enjoy this enough, that even if money started falling from the sky, I think I would drift back to teaching shortly. I wish it paid better ( what teacher doesn't), but if money were no issue, I would probably take some time off to play with family, and then I would find myself teaching. I'm thankful I have a job that I enjoy.

I am thankful for Michelle, because she puts up with me, and is the love of my life.
For my kids, because they are amazing!
For my family, for your examples, prayers and love.
For church friends, and family that are helping to support Justin in his mission.
I am also thankful for:
beautiful sunrises, which I get to see nearly every morning
electricity, because I get home after dark
gas heat, because I know what it takes to stay warm without it
fireplaces, for when the power goes out, and wood is the only heat source
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
healthy chickens, because it is no fun dealing with sickly birds
a free country where I can voice my opinions without going to jail
tolerant people who allow me to worship God as I see fit, and only expect the same respect
a place like this where I can ramble, and some of you find entertainment in that:)

For my friends of all faiths, Have a great Holiday season. Don't forget to keep Christ in Christmas!

2009-11-12T20:51:00.002-06:00

I am just sitting here drawing blanks. I came in with the intention of writing one of several thoughts, and lo and behold, I sit down and my mind goes blank.

Let's see.............. chickens all dead! Hooray!! Yeah! I know, don't be shocked. When the "universal mortality" is scheduled, it's a good thing! Last weekend was very busy, getting everything ready for the catch. I had several repairs that had to be done. A couple of cables had to be replaced on the feedline hoists, and Ian and I removed the garage style door on one of the houses, after a new rolling door had been put in. A couple of basic electric problems to fix. Some minor waterline issues to deal with, etc. Fairly standard, except that this is really the first time that these types of repairs were done completely without Bob's help.

Those would all have been a very "mild" saturday, except we spent Saturday morning butchering Bambi. Sorry, I shouldn't be so casual about it. I have never been particularly squeamish about where my food comes from. Dad, Mom, I think I should thank you for that. I don't take great pleasure in the process, but I am grateful that I have access, and knowledge to do the job.

Cousin Herman (related to Bob) loves to hunt, and really hates to eat game. He got a really nice 12 point buck, and called Bob and asked if they would like to have it. This was a really good looking deer. And he had been eating well. Fatter than we have seen in a long time. Bob offered to split with us, if we would help dress it. He is having more and more trouble with breathing, so some activities are just too much for him, and the dusty chicken houses are just flat out of the question right now.

So I got to help him skin, and butcher the big buck. I don't think I have ever seen such a huge neck roast on a whitetail, and we got two huge roasts. I am just guessing, but based on the hams, I would guess "Bambi" dressed out probably 70-90 lbs. I may be way low, or way high. I actually don't know what a big buck should weigh, but I have cooked some neck roasts in the last 10 years, and these were big by comparison.

Now if Ian and Ben can just get us a couple more. They have been very frustrated. The two times they went out on Saturday (youth hunt), we heard shots all around us, but the boys didn't see any of the deer that normally come around our place. Maybe this week.

I was going to write some thoughts on Monday about the anniversary of the Berlin Wall opening up, but we sold birds Tuesday a.m. and the prep is really a 24 hour process, so I really didn't have the time, assuming sleep was part of the plan. We have to work the feedlines empty starting 12-13 hours prior to catch, and get the feed completely away from the birds 8 hrs prior, so that they are completely empty when the trucks come. With 4 houses, this means every 2 hours, up until the catch begins. By the time catchers are gone, it will have been a 24 hr. process.

The catch started at 6 am, so I had to get feeders going at 6, which was almost exactly when I got home from school. Then, every 2 hours, some series of steps had to be done, so I ended up with a few hours of sleep between 2:30-5a.m. and the 2 hr. intervals to that point were broken up with short naps.

Anyway, birds gone, houses empty, now we get to start the process of preparing for the next flock. Bob still runs the tractor to clean out the litter, since he can run into the windtunnel created by the big fans. It pulls all the dust away from him, and the new tractor does not wear him out like the old one. (old... standard hard clutch. New.... hydrostatic transmission, much like yard and lawn tractors.) Then, I will go in with the kids (hopefully) and we will set water and feed lines, clean things, make minor repairs that crop up during the clean-out, and set trays and lines for the new flock.

This is the flock that requires a lot of prep. We try to tighten up the houses for the cold months, and that involves going through and tightening draw cables on the 100+ louvre covers, checking inlet curtains for holes and damage, tightening up fan shrouds, and setting double curtain materials in the oldest house. We may even be replacing a heating system, but Bob and I have not settled that one for sure.

I am sure none of this is terribly interesting to you, but I had some time to kill, and The video game to my right was not a "productive" kill. At least blogging serves a purpose to keep you all better informed about how we are doing, and sometimes allows me to express some creative thought.

Oh, and by the way, Justin must be doing either so well that he has no stand-out thoughts to send us, or he is struggling so hard that he can't find time or thoughts to fill beyond a 3 line e-mail. I love my son....I wish you could see the wry smile, as I type this. I know my son, and we will have to keep hounding him to get more info out of him. Maybe we will have to hold presents and goodies hostage. He can get packages filled with as much "loot" as he sends info. OOOOOHH! that was a great idea. I should write that down.........oh, I guess I just did! Nevermind!!!:)

Economics of socialism. Can we afford it?

2009-11-02T19:24:00.002-06:00

I have to voice some concerns. I know the majority of you don't need this little rant, but sometimes I just have to vent. And it is possible that someone will read this who may need it. Whether we need it just to know that we are not alone, or to maybe try and see things from a different viewpoint.

The big political news is, of course, the pending vote on the huge nationalized health care bill. Several things about that whole thing scare me. One: Having read......no! Having attempted to read several pages of that monster, I wonder what scary things get dropped into our legal code every day. Have any of you tried to read these bills?? The legal gobbledygook is mind boggling. References to paragraphs and subheadings, and code this, and addendum that, run in sequence as though it were a sentence.

1900 PAGES worth!! What are they slipping past us, and themselves? Yes, taking control of a huge nation's health care system is no small task, but since those responsible are claiming it is not a takeover, just a clean-up, it seems like a huge pile of hard reading. Once again, I have not received comforting answers when asking my congressional reps if they have read the whole thing. They have not, and will not let constituents' opinions direct their congressional choices!! (what the ....what?!?) And they may vote as early as Friday?

Two: I do not trust those responsible, when they claim that the "government option" is simply to add an affordable alternative for those who can't currently find insurance through private firms. I have 3 chronically ill children. I know about the challenges of finding insurance. Justin (diabetic), currently has good coverage through an already existing Govt. program. CHIP has saved his opportunity to be on a mission. He would not be going, if not for that insurance. Benjamin and Ian (chronic IBD and autistic, respectively) are indeed on Medicaid, for which I am grateful, but if this newest monster passes, I trust the CBO and the BBB, which say that Medicare and Medicaid will see huge cuts to help "pay" for the "public option". By the way, CHIP is also through medicaid.

Michelle currently doesn't have coverage, a fact I hate, because my employer (Conway Schools, but indirectly the State of Arkansas) doesn't offer equal coverage, and increases this past year would have made my very small annual step increase actually go backward. The State pays about twice as much on "state employees" as they do for teachers, and they expect the districts to pick up any significant difference. Of course, the employee pays the bulk of the plan. State and district covered $131 for the employee (about half), but spouse and children have to be covered solely by me! Our family premium was moved up to $887/month! ($756 out of my pocket!)

Michelle's portion of that was bumping $400 for some reason, so we decided to drop her from the coverage and attempt to find something supplemental. We ended up doing a minor "self-insured" program.

Now we are facing the threat that if we continue being "self insured", we will have to pay a fine (called "public option", so that the Government can claim to be covering all uninsured persons). Right now, it isn't pretty, but we put aside $50-100 each month to cover Michelle's medical expenses, and, yes, we pray very hard that she will stay generally healthy.

And three: Like any major govt. program, the method of payment will be taxes. This is not a redirection of funds. The 800+ BILLION dollar program will be paid for in taxes and other fees, from both individuals, and medical industry companies. And keep in mind something I "ranted" months ago. When we raise the taxes on businesses and the wealthy people who create the businesses, if they want to stay in business, they will get their money from the end consumer.

Again, an illustration. Units, all units of purchase (gallons, pints, boxes, loaves, minutes, etc.) will not have to increase much to hurt us. If the taxes on a major corporation's UNIT supply go up significantly, because the Government feels they are making "scandalous profits", they can make that up by raising the price of each unit by a few cents. If each unit went up one nickel, not very many people would complain loudly. How much did we see gas, milk, cereal, bread, etc. go up last year, and no huge public outcry.? If an average family purchases 10000 UNITS per year (a very low figure), that nickel increase amounts to expenses growing by $500. Wouldn't seem like much, unless annual income was threatening to go backward. Oh, wait! Yeah, it would seem like much, since many people would need to work an extra week to make up that difference, and there are only 52 weeks in the year.

So a socialist government continues to raise taxes to pay for newer and bigger programs, to take care of the growing number of people who can't make ends meet, and those businesses, trying to stay alive, will raise the UNIT price, while attempting to maintain the cost/Unit, ie. wages utilities. and such. Vicious cycle, larger government involvement if not outright control. Businesses being "purchased" or taken over by the government(bailouts, with conditions naturally), attempts to portray a concept of "private ownership", but overt government influence on every aspect of economic life, both for the individual and the corporate world.

Any of this seeming familiar lately? It has been attempted in other countries, some of them for decades, and the outcome is less than desirable. Some of our friends who have worked this way for some time, are seeing so many problems, they are going to a system similar to what America has been up to this point. Germany, for example, has shifted very much toward a business friendly centrist/conservative government coalition, after many years of struggling with the financial burdens of a fairly socialist approach. At last check, Sweden still has a very socialist program, and a tax burden bordering the 70% range. A friend I knew years ago said you had to be so far in debt to be able to keep your paycheck, that your grandchildren might hope to pay it off, if they were not in the same boat.

When the government promises to take care of everything, someone will have to pay for it. Government officials will try to make it sound like the business owners who make big profits are evil, so they can convince the rest of us that it is OK to "take from the rich to give to the poor". Only problem, they are not Robin Hood, they are the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Let us work it out! When it costs too much, we the people, won't buy it! Those companies who want to stay alive will lower their prices to a point that they succeed. When we can't afford something needed, like health care, if left alone, someone will fill the void. It is not always perfect, or pretty, but it is going to happen. When we want something, we will find a way to get it! Keep the government out of the way! When the Sheriff of Nottingham gets involved, the Robin Hoods of the world will step in. By the way, consider that Robin was one of those "evil" wealthy people, who saw the suffering of the common people, and found a way to step in and help. The sheriff simply used the beggars to forward his own agenda and plots to control the country. WOW!

2009-10-30T23:12:00.002-05:00

I am going to use some otherwise useless time, and put some thoughts down, so that I can move faster tonight at home, where my internet is very slow.

The last few days have been very full, emotionally. We had the opportunity to go to the temple with Justin last Friday. The trip to Memphis was pleasant. It is a fairly flat, straight drive once we pass Bald Knob. Dad can vouch for the drive. There are long stretches that are similar to driving through Texas. Straight as an arrow, nothing on either side but vast fields, and very little, if any change in altitude.

The Temple was a very special experience, as we had a very small session. I think I counted 20, which included several temple workers. Overall, it was a very good experience. We all (Michelle, Justin and myself) had experiences that I will share with many of you on a personal basis. I just don’t feel this is the place to share some of those moments.

The weekend went way too fast, but it was good to have all of us at home. Of course, Justin was not working, but we had him hopping, as he packed, and unpacked. He had to go through his checklist with Michelle and me, because packing for 2 years takes some care, as most of you know.

Sunday went by way too fast. We had a wonderful primary program during sacrament meeting. (clarification): Primary refers to our church organization for kids between 3-12 yr. old. Each year they present a program during our main worship service. Since Justin is one of the teachers, they had planned it before he left. Elizabeth is playing the piano for Primary, so we had 3 of ours in the program. Kaylee sang a solo for one of the songs.

It was also nice to have one of our Stake Presidency as the visiting speaker, to finish out the meeting.

Then, as we do on every 3^rd Sunday, we had our Branch potluck dinner. Wow, we have got some very talented chefs in our little Branch. I know Justin enjoyed the “last meal”, but it did mean we were at the church until nearly 3:30.

Factor in the long drive home, and it felt like Sunday night came way too quick. Justin’s flight was going out at 6:50 Monday morning, so we needed to leave our house by about 3 am to get him to the airport for check-in. We decided that Michelle and Elizabeth might be too teary-eyed to make the drive back to Drasco, and the younger kids would struggle with the early start, so I would drive Justin to Little Rock, and then go from there to school.

We went down to Searcy to see the Stake President, so that he could set Justin apart for his mission. We had a good visit. President Berkheimer’s son comes home in just a few days, so it helped Michelle that they felt it had gone by fast.

We had an emotional visit Sunday night, got everything checked, packed, labeled and piled in the front room. I gave Justin a priesthood blessing, and we went to bed at about 11:30.

I think all of us wished the hours would slow down a bit. Especially the short hours between 11 and 2 am. That’s what time I got up to get ready for work. I woke Justin up as late as I could justify, and still make the airport. I am really glad that we have family in Utah Valley, so that J. could have a day or two to adjust, rest, etc. Mike, Karen, Thank you so much for helping us out that way. I know it made the transition easier for Michelle, and I am sure Justin was better off for the transition as well. I know from the time I left for my own mission. Staying with David and Margo for the two days prior to my entering the MTC was both enjoyable and helpful. Thanks again for letting Justin come spend some time with you and his cousins.

Monday morning was hard. The early start was the least of it! I wanted to talk Justin’s ear off. I needed to talk to stay awake, but I knew how tired Justin was, so I wanted to let him sleep. As it stood, Justin was also pretty keyed up. (can’t figure out why) He and I talked the whole way down to Little Rock. It was a very good father/son time. I hope some of the things I said will help Justin, but I also know that he is a strong enough young man, that much of the conversation was about things he already knew. “Preaching to the choir”, so to speak.

It is going to be very strange not having him around. I know with work, school, etc., he was gone an awful lot of the time, but this is not the same. Even when he was away at UALR (sorry, family; University of Arkansas at Little Rock), we still had the ability to talk to him daily. Okay, this is Justin! He frequently forgot to turn on his cell phone, or was out of his room at odd hours doing library research, or playing "airsoft BB's war" with roommates and dorm mates. One time he had been unreachable for 3 days, so Michelle asked me to take the long way home from work, and drive over to check on him.

Can't do that now! As a missionary, he will have a weekly opportunity to send and receive e-mail, and of course he can write letters on his preparation day (laundry, letters, shopping, cleaning, for those not familiar with the lingo). Some of you got a forward of his first e-mail.........yes, it was only 3 lines! We got a letter from him today.........It barely filled a small page; maybe 30 lines. He will have to get better about including detail, or his Mom may be asking me to "take the long way home from work" to check on him.

Mr. Linn, I may be gone the next several days. :)

Interim post

2009-10-28T22:24:00.002-05:00

I am such a dummy! I have been working on a draft with thoughts about the major events in our family's life, but the flashdrive containing those thoughts got left in my classroom after parent/teacher conferences.

There were some things about Justin, naturally. Some thoughts about Elizabeth's doings, and of course, a planned update on the situations of all of the children.

I also think I had started something in there about the weather. I am generally pretty laid back about things that I can't control, and I do enjoy the amazing varieties in nature, including the weather patterns. I guess that is why am starting to think I am about sick of all this rain! Not much variety in the pattern, when the pattern is a month with only 7 days of sunshine! Kathy, did we switch weather with Seattle and I just missed it?

I am back. If it seems like my train of thought derailed,.......... it did!

I was typing along, and then our stupid dial up issues nuked my momentum. Being on a single line, unless I block call waiting, any in-coming calls will disconnect the browser. I usually block, unless I am expecting a call. The problem is, that anyone in the house picking up the phone and dialing will do the same thing. So unless we make a loud announcement about getting online, that does tend to happen, unless I post very late at night.

And once the connection is down, there is always something to do while waiting. It usually involves chicken houses. That's a 25-45 minute interruption, and then it is usually late enough I just want to go to bed.

Oh, yeah, about the weather. One thing that has amazed me about this year's wet summer is the relatively low incidence of severe flooding. Don't misunderstand; lots of high water, and flood damage, but not as many stories about houses washed away, people and their cars swept off bridges, etc. This year, it is more about crop loss, and records being set. And Greer's Ferry Lake has not risen to the same level it reached with all the flooding of about 2 years ago.

Anyway, I look forward to some sunshine!

I can't just keep quiet!

2009-10-11T22:41:00.002-05:00

I have tried to be very positive and fair with my posts, and since I am aware that these are not exclusively for my family, I wanted everyone to know that I enjoy talking about family memories and events, just to keep everyone updated.

I know that these forums have great potential to become "rant" pages, and I really don't want to turn mine into that, but I have just about had enough over the past several weeks, and I can no longer keep quiet!

Let me say, It has been a real joy having Dad and Mom out to visit us this weekend! We got some great time together, and have shared a lot of stories, and updates, and just generally had a very pleasant visit. Friday morning an announcement hit the news pages, that led to some interesting discussion at our house.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I consider myself a fairly staunch conservative. I have registered Republican simply because the majority of Rep. candidates over several voting cycles have leaned more conservative than their Dem counterparts. That does not mean I support the republican party line categorically, only when they support those values and policies that I believe are best for this country and individual freedoms. I may be wrong, and those that disagree with me, I hope you feel the same about that right to disagree. That you would also defend to the death my right to disagree with you.

But we all know by listening to our politicians rant, that the right to disagree is only considered valuable to some, when they feel they are in the minority. But when they take the majority, anyone who disagrees is all of a sudden a person to be vilified, and ostracized, censured, censored or worse.

The number of times I have listened to people go on about our current president is a perfect example. Under Bush II, those currently in power (Dem's) piled on the vicious, the twisted, and sometimes the downright false, and claimed with all sincerity that "questioning" the administration was the highest form of American patriotism. That "We the People" should never just simply accept what the vast Right Wing fed us through the "supportive media". (What the ....what?!?)

Anyone with open eyes and half a brain cell can see that the vast media is leaning so far socialist left that they actually make our current President look conservative by comparison!!

Back to my point! Vicious personal remarks were commonly aimed at Bush II, websites encouraging such vile things as violent hate sex were posted naming conservative female congressional reps as preferred targets, policy decisions were touted as hate crimes against humanity, and the media and Dem politicians alike claimed that this dialogue was just an exercise in free speech! Now it's anti-american to disagree with our current administration!

I don't have time to get into the biased media NON-coverage during the last election. Suffice it to say, I also believe that the year 2008 can be named as the year in which the concept of objective, hard-hitting, expository news coverage passed away. Died, dead, finito, ausgestorben! But congratulations to a junior senator from Chicago, whose major efforts in his Senate years (other than giving some great leftist speeches and running for President) involved efforts to make the UN and other international entities take precedence over US interests and policies. Things like a "tax" for lack of a better name, 1% of the US GDP to be handed over to the UN for "distribution" around the world. Has anybody heard lately how many billions we already send around the world in humanitarian aid? There are countries that wouldn't even exist were it not for the United States of AMERICA!

Well, payback is expected! Less than 2 weeks after moving into the White House, Pres. Obama becomes a nominee for the Nobel peace Prize! Now he won! Congratulations! But for What? According to comments posted on a German NEWS website, where they actually still ask the hard questions, the answer seems to be for a bunch of promises! I read over 200 comments posted by Germans, and even though it is not a large sample, the sample broke down into about 3 categories.

Group one, nearly 2/3 of the sample were shocked, and/or appalled at the thought that such a prestigious award would go to someone for a bunch of yet unrealized-and probably unrealistic promises. Others felt like he deserved it because he had "admitted" America's arrogance and stupidity, and promised to be better. A tiny group (maybe sarcastic, with Germans it's hard to tell in print) said "what's the Nobel peace prize?"

My rant has to do with the hypocrisy of it all. Tie in the current debate on health care, middle east policy, Gitmo, you name it. Hypocrisy abounds. The favorite phrase I hear over and over is "racist". You cannot disagree with this President without being racist, because only a racist would disagree with a black man who made history by becoming the first black US pres.

To disagree means you are a racist dinosaur who doesn't see the vast picture that this president sees. A picture where the govt. provides all the basic needs from cradle to grave, using the money left over after they take 1% of the GDP to do the same for as many countries as possible. A picture where the evil (translate hard-working/ambitious/gifted/motivated) people of this country who make more than you are penalized for their efforts, to make sure that everyone's needs are met. You know who you are.

A picture where everyone simply says "hurray" when the president speaks, (but only a leftist pres.) and all those who disagree can be easily identified by the "racist" card they carry in their wallets. A picture where blind voters follow gladly behind blind government avarice.

When will Americans wake up? We always need to be questioning our Government! We don't need to be mean spirited about it! We can, and should disagree, because no one person has the perfect solution for a country this big. The debate is where we find the middle ground where all can truly thrive, but the debate is key to that discovery. Show respect for the office, even when you disagree with the man! Show respect for the man, even when you feel he doesn't deserve it! Show respect for the great men who helped found this country by being a part of the process, not just a loud angry mob on the sidelines.

But for Heaven's sake, and most certainly America's, allow and expect the same treatment for and from the other side!

Weekend Warrior

2009-09-27T21:44:00.002-05:00

You know how projects and chores can seem to pile up, and then all of a sudden, the timing just works, and you end up doing what feels like all of them? That has been my week, ending in a very full weekend.

As you know, there are always things to be done on the chicken farm. We have managed to get most of the waterline repairs done, things like changing regulators, and fixing minor leaks. We had one line break loose as the catchers showed up to catch the last flock, and with new birds, I had to spend some time getting that line rehung. I am glad that I have good helpers in Justin, Ian and Ben. That was a couple of weeks, ago, but it was the emergency that kind of threw these other projects back a few weeks.

Of course, mowing and string trimming are a never-ending chore, particularly in a summer that has been the wettest in Arkansas' recorded history. Kathy, Andrew, I don't know how you guys keep up. Maybe the slightly cooler weather in Seattle.............Oh, wait, YOU had the 100 + temps this year, not us. We also have the first year in Arkansas history where there was not a single day of 100+ at the main weather monitoring sites in Little Rock, and the surrounding communities.

That has made anything moisture related a chore for us. And it sure made this last round of projects fun.

Last Saturday began the real fun. Michelle and I have been planning to put a porch off the back door. We want to do the front porch, but it will be larger, and therefore somewhat more expensive. OK, a LOT more expensive. We decided to put the back on, because Michelle's Granny Edna is coming out this week, and she can not navigate stairs very well. The front stairs are tall, and have become slightly wobbly with age. I hope we will have saved the amount needed to get the front porch under way, before the steps really start to give out, but with Justin leaving on his mission in 3 weeks, that may be our next tax-refund check.

Anyway, the back porch had to be built on the last 2 weekends, or it had to be built in the midnight hours during the week. LOL, last weekend, it had rained, as it had done all week, up until Friday night. Michelle and the Youth from church were gone to Morrilton for a service project at Petit Jean State PArk.

Justin, Kaylee, Ben and I stayed home and played in the mud. We were trying to get the footings set for the porch. I really don't like digging holes for structures when the ground is this wet, but we are on a bit of a time crunch. It was almost funny, because when the first hole was about 6 inches deep, it started to fill up with water. Nice little artesian well we had going!

So, the kids bailed water, I dug mud, and we set, unburied, and reset the concrete base pier block for the next 3 hours. 1 Block! we ended up adding about 50 lbs. of large balast rock (2-3" gravel) to keep the pier from disappearing into the mud again. You may ask why we had dug so deep, if we needed to fill the hole back in with gravel. I'll tell you.

Just before she left, Michelle saw all the water in the hole, felt it was clearer than the second hole we had started, and realized that we were very close to the water line into the house. She wondered if we didn't have a leak in the supply line to the house, and asked me to please dig down to make sure we didn't have a leak. So our hole, ( although sideways from the waterline) had to be deep enough to find the water line and verify that it was intact. The mud we threw back in the hole did not support the concrete block, which sank out of sight 3 times, before we got enough gravel in the hole to support it securely.

Once we got the blocks set, I have spent several post-daylight hours this week, measuring, cutting and fastening boards to get the porch done. It is not huge, only 6 1/2 ft. X 6 ft, but it is very solid, with a nice built in bench for donning and removing chicken house shoes and other grimy footwear. The steps are low and wide, and rock solid. I am very proud of it. I consider myself pretty handy, but lately it has all been used to maintain farm houses. It is nice to use it for us.

Then, you know how one project leads to another? You guessed it. We have been meaning to build a high storage shelf in the utility room for ages. Just a place to put some things up out of the way, and utilize the huge space over the freezer. Nothing big, just a couple of 2X4's, some plywood, some measuring and cutting, and nails. But it always got set to the back burner. Well not this weekend. Shelf accomplished!!

Then I spent a few hours helping Bob dig some holes to mount a back-up switch to our old chicken house. The automatic switch will transfer from grid power to generator during a power outage. 18 inches-24 inches deep, about 1 ft. across. Should be nothing, as wet as the ground is. No water to carry for the cement, Mother Nature is bringing the water. Wishful thinking! 6 inches down, we find a layer of bedrock!

Now, around here, bedrock is mostly sandstone, so we needed to get through it. I used the 40 lbs. breaking bar that Bob has. I was finally able to break a hole roughly the right size. The rock was only about 6" thick, and we were able to go down the last foot with ease. Posts are mounted, electrician scheduled. Mission accomplished!

But wait, we're not done yet! While Bob and I were digging, I had given the kids an assignment. One related to my last posts about fruit. Bob has an old pear tree. He can't even remember what kind. It is not bartlett, but one of the varieties that stays really hard, but gets really sweet. We have discovered in years past that these pears make excellent "apple" pie filling. When cooked, you can't tell they're not apples.

Well, of course, this week they are ripe, and starting to fall off the tree. The tree is small, but it was about the only thing food related that produced like mad this year! So we wanted to take advantage. That meant the kids picked pears, while Bob and I dug. 4 buckets. (the 5-gallon size) They left quite a lot on the tree, but they only had 4 buckets. So after all our sawing, nailing, screwing, pounding fun on the porch and shelf; after all the bone-jarring, knuckle scraping, rock-breaking, muscle aching fun digging post holes; after the constant entertainment of running back and forth to chicken houses at regular intervals,

We finally got to break out the canning assembly line! We made several quarts of pie filling, and a number of quarts of pear slices. And we did all that before it was time to send Michelle and the younger boys off to the Church building. Michelle to join the Relief Society sisters in a dinner before the General Women's broadcast for Conference, and the boys, as a service project to clean up and wash dishes, etc., so the sisters could visit. There were 49 sisters from 3 branches that were invited to come to Batesville for the broadcast!

I think I will be sore for the next few days, but I really feel like we got a lot done this weekend.

And then there was Sunday!

What a bunch of fruits!

2009-09-13T20:27:00.002-05:00

What a summer this has been! It has had some really great events, like my european trip with Elizabeth. That was really fun, and (sad in a way) the first time I have been able to travel with one of my children. As you may recall, Justin was too young to travel with me while we lived in Utah, and when I started teaching again in Arkansas, Justin was too busy being a genious during the summers. My first trip from Conway, I think Justin (age 17), had sophomore college classes that he needed to stay in, so he couldn't go. He missed this trip because he had just started a new job to earn more money for his mission.

Now that travel has been given the OK by the district superintendent, I will go every 2 years, and it will put each of the children at 16-17 when it is their turn to go. That is perfect!

We have had some good family moments over the summer, but one thing I have missed is the opportunity to can. I consider myself a moderately efficient gardener, and we have nearly always had fruits and vegetables to can each summer that I can remember. This year, garden placement, weather and bugs have gotten the better of me. Our garden is in boxes due to the rocks and roots of hardwood forest where we live. I have already cleared about 1/2 acre of trees for the garden, but as the ones left spread, they are starting to limit sunshine hours.

The weather this year has been strange. Old-timers can't remember a wetter, cooler summer in these parts. July was the wettest on record for Arkansas by nearly 2 inches, and it has also been the first year ever recorded where we have not had a single day of 100+ temperatures. That has made it hard to stay ahead of things like mold and other moisture related maladies. Kathy, I don't know how you guys can raise a garden! A few more hours of sunshine each day may have made the difference, but the big oaks and a few smaller gums that need to come out will have to be dropped when they won't destroy what garden is already there. Chores for a winter Saturday, I guess!

Then the bugs! I try to not go pesticide crazy, but I am not against using chemical pesticides. But the best ones out there don't recommend being spread when the leaves are actually wet, and high humidity(dew), high rainfall, more overcast days, have limited the use of such chemicals. I have taken to picking the beetles and tomato worms (our two biggest enemies) by hand, and crushing them under my foot. As you can imagine, that can be time consuming (and gross!). I try to catch lizards and put them in the garden, the way my grandma used to do, but they don't stay long enough. We have also had a very low population of predator bugs for some reason. Praying mantis and walking sticks were not as prevalent this year for whatever reason. Even the spiders were not as heavy in the garden as usual. Maybe they just stayed out in the woods more, because there was plenty of moisture away from gardens and yards?

With all this, I have harvested less than 1 dozen yellow and zucchini squash (off 6 large, beautiful plants!), and tomatoes(10 plants) and peppers(6 plants), have produced enough for just a few days of sandwiches and (I think) 10 pints of salsa. We usually get 3-4 dozen quarts of tomatoes and the same number of pints of salsa, and I can eat fresh tomato sandwiches every day if I want. I have missed that this summer.

We are trying to follow patterns from our childhood, because Michelle and I both have good memories of the family work time of preparing and canning different foods. I remember how much fun we had every year going up towards Fresno ( I can't remember to where), to pick cherries. I know we ate as many as we picked some years. But we always came home with boxes and boxes. Then the next day or so was spent in a great Wahlquist assembly line mode. We would rotate jobs ( I know, Mom, not always willingly), and wash, trim, de-stem, pack into jars, add sugar, then water to make the "syrup", and the entire process of canning, cooling, storing. Any arguments have been ruled insignificant enough that my memory doesn't recall them. What I remember about those days canning is that we enjoyed working together nearly as much as we enjoyed going out to the store room and bringing in several quarts of our treasure.

Someday, I will put my take on the "Cherry-Chili" argument in this blog, but it has to do with the feeling that cherries were a special treat because we had all worked so hard to have them.

Then we were fortunate enough to have the beautiful apricot trees in our yard, and access to peach orchards that allowed people to come in and glean. Peaches and apricots are messier to pack, but I remember how much fun we had seeing if we could process the same amount as last year in a faster time, or pack significantly more. Not to mention the fresh fruit opportunities, when you have all those peaches and apricots waiting to be eaten. My mouth waters at the thought of some chilled apricots or peaches, slightly sweetened, swimming in cream! As Homer would say "peaches and cream.....hmmmmmmmmm".

These memories tie into trips to Utah, because, of course, we seemed to always be there about the time apricots were ripe. I was trying to recall if Grandpa and Grandma Wahlquist had peach trees? I seem to recall a fair amount of peach canning in my "Toquerville memories", but I know there were always lots of apricots. And OOHHH the fun we had with apricots. ( and I don't mean the apricot fights, although that was also fun). With their cows providing fresh whole milk and cream, i remember the huge bowls of fresh apricots and cream, the afternoons spent preparing for a big family get together by watching grandma mix up huge batches of apricot ice cream, and taking turns at the big hand-cranked freezer(s). No commercial ice cream, (if they ever even made apricot) could ever come close to Grandma's homemade apricot ice cream!! Again, Homer would say " apricot ice-cream.........hhmmmmmmmm!"

Here in Arkansas, apricots don't do so well, so they are harder to find in large quantities. Peaches do OK, but the closest orchard is an hour away, and they charged so much last time we picked, it was about twice the cost of buying canned peaches from the store. I really prefer the home canned, and fresh frozen peaches, but when the budget is tight, it makes no sense to pay 2x, just for the sake of canning a few quarts.

I look forward to next year ( as this year's growth season is coming to an end), and renewed opportunities. My children need to have the fun memories of dealing with a bunch of fruits!

Birthdays and family

2009-09-10T22:57:00.001-05:00

I was reading some of the family blogs , and I noticed the title on Mom's. It caught my eye, because I had spoken with her on her birthday, and she seemed to be having a pretty good birthday, so the "I'll cry if I want to" reference got my attention.

I really did enjoy reading her thoughts on a good life, and since Mom and I share a birthday, it caused me to do some reflecting on the many blessings of my own life.

I have some great memories from childhood, and the vast majority revolve around family. I am so glad that I get along with my family. I had friends that couldn't stand to spend time with their families, and I can't think of many things that are more enjoyable.

Even as a kid, family time was nearly always a positive memory. Now, all of you siblings, I hope we have all kind of moved some periods, and some specifics to a background role. The ever infamous "Cherry-Chili" argument (translate stupidity on Scott's part), although very intense as I recall, has a very special place in the "lessons-realized-later-through-humor" place in my memory. By the way, have I ever really apologized for that mess? If not, I am sorry!

Growing up in Utah (yes I have memories from Utah), and Bakersfield CA, There are so many things that I remember fondly. A Utah memory (mutated through age, I was less than 4), is the day our back yard flooded by the irrigation ditch that ran past the corner of the yard. I recall that it cut a small corner off our yard, and we played in a bush or something on the triangular "island" on the other side of the ditch up against the fence (hedge?). On one of the many days it overflowed the ditch, All I remember is watching the fish flop around in the yard, and being so excited that we could just pick them up into one of Mom's big pots. My tinychild memory has them as huge fish, and a massive canning pot full. I bet they were just big enough to be worth eating, and maybe just a pan full. I need feedback from those whose memories are clearer.

In Bakersfield, I was blessed to have not only great friends my own age, but some pretty amazing neighbors , like second grandparents. Art and Fern Skinner have a special place in my heart. I know all of my family feels the same way. Art took us fishing whenever he could, and I loved spending time with him out in his boat on Lake Isabella and Lake Success. Even the day our fishing trip was cut short by his outboard exploding is actually logged as a fond memory, because we all took care of each other, no one was hurt, and we learned to deal with life's mishaps with humor and a cool head. There are also the countless times he appeared in our yard with one or several huge watermelons, and other local melons, and we would just have the greatest time slurping ripe melon and seeing how far we could spit the seeds. He always could pick them perfect!

I also recall the night I crawled over our fence in a fevered haze at 2 am, and later found myself sitting in the Skinner's kitchen drinking a tall mug of Hot Cocoa while Art called my parents to let them know I was OK. They were Grandparents in every sense but bloodline. I really miss them, but I am so glad they were a part of my life. I could keep going for hours just about Art and Fern. There were many others from my Bakersfield life that deserve mention, but Time is short. (it's nearly 11 pm)

As a teenager, I was lucky to work for some really good people, who helped teach me the value and satisfaction of a job well done. All of this was flavored by family work-ethics, but I can say that my early "bosses" set the stage for a pretty positive work experience for me. I have always related well to my bosses. Several of them I still call friends. My jobs have not always kept us rolling in cash, but they have always kept us fed, clothed and sheltered. It HAS been really tight at times, but none of my children besides Benjamin know what it is like to go truly hungry, and Ben is because of his medical issues.

That brings up another area where I have been really blessed, and family played a big role. Serving my mission in Switzerland has given me so many great memories, and lessons, both related to my spiritual well-being, and things that have been useful in life, even beyond the obvious career. My family has set such a great example of missionary service, I am glad to be a part of that history. And then, at the end of my mission, my sisters convinced me to join them, even though it was late, and I had been in airports for over 24 hours, at the fairgrounds to work on our church group's parade float for Homecoming.

As all of the family know, the young woman in charge made a lasting impression on me:) I knew right away that Michelle was someone I could be good friends with, and as we got to know each other better over the next few months, and I finally worked up courage to ask her out, that friendship has developed into something that will last into eternity. My sisters confessed later that they were kind of hoping......THANK YOU!!

I am so thankful for Michelle's strength. We have been through a lot together. She doesn't always feel like she is holding it together, but I can tell you that she deals with so much STUFF in such a dedicated way, that we can also claim to have been blessed with some pretty amazing challenges. It has helped Michelle be there for others when their lives seemed so out of control. She can relate on a personal level to many of life's major challenges. She and I sometimes wish we weren't so relatable to people with traumas, but it has blessed other lives, and I think, therefore, ours as well. I love that our friendship will last long enough that the last 20 years will seem like a drop in the ocean.

You know, As I get going on happy memories, I think I could write an entire book. So many things I can recall learning from family outings, camping trips, working in nearly every type of setting from fields to farms to factories. Time spent with large family groups, and time spent with just my brothers or my sons. Silly fights, and quiet, spiritual moments. All of this family time has blessed my life beyond comprehension. I think an attempt to catalog it all would take more time than I have in this life, but I want to thank all of you who have been, and are currently such a huge part of the positive experience that is my life.

Okay, now I'm just starting to get gushy, and it is getting late. I will gush some more later about fun memories like "canning days", milking cows, hauling hay, "gutter regatas" and the like. If I continue that list, I will never stop. Goodnight!

Pray for my soul!

2009-08-30T20:18:00.002-05:00

I know it has been a while since my last post. We have been staying very busy, between chicken houses, teenagers with jobs and other activities, Michelle's business, school getting started, gardens, yards and the list goes on! Our three youngest have been eagerly awaiting the start of school (I know, some people think they're weird!), but so have I.

We have a new principal this year. I liked our old principal, Mickey Siler, but he retired, and I think we are going to have a good run with Mr. Joel Linn. He met with the departments during the summer, and I think his energy and positive outlook will help CHSE continue on a good path for the future. I am looking forward to working with him. We have some other new teachers, and one of the most exciting for our department is a young lady from China. Xi Chen, known to most as "Anny" is teaching beginning chinese on our campus. That is very exciting for the FL dept. Some might see it as a threat to the other languages, but I have seen what a program can look like when there is great excitement about a new language. Don't forget, American Fork had 53% of the student population in For. Lang. classes. Nobody suffered when we tried to add Italian, or Hebrew, or even the small Ind. Study Arabic class. We still kept the administration jumping trying to find and keep language teachers for all of the programs.

I am looking forward to putting Mr. Linn in the position of needing a part-time German teacher next year. I needed one this year, but the 3rd year class was small enough that the administration could justify dropping it. My numbers should play out next year to avoid that possibility.

Should be a good school year, for all of us. It can't hurt that we have lots of people praying for us. It feels like my high-school days in Bakersfield, CA. I have people praying for my soul. The kids (Elizabeth in particular) have had strangers come up to them and inform them that they are praying for their souls. Good thing!

I guess there is some wave of teachings about various churches, or particularly the Mormons, I don't know which. I got some sense of it a few weeks ago, when Bob and Phyllis approached Michelle with some questions about the Church, and then proceeded to challenge her about her beliefs. They claim they were just asking questions, but when she responded with what we believe, she got a frequent "no you don't" response. They said some things that were very hurtful to Michelle, and she refuses to discuss religious topics with them anymore.

They asked me to come "answer their questions", and so a couple of weeks ago, I went over and spent 2 hours discussing our beliefs. More often than not, the "questions" were actually challenges straight from anti-Mormon literature, with a good example, and the most aggravating being the constant claim that we don't even believe in the Bible. In particular the King James version, which is what many of the local churches use. They wouldn't even bother looking at my own personal, 20+ year old King James Bible, because they "know" it is just the Mormon twist, and looks nothing like the "true" King James Bible.

I have dealt with that ...........attitude from others over many years, but it has been interesting to hear it from family. We are still getting along, but religion will just be one of those quiet subjects around here. we want to keep the family relationship strong, but if they are unwilling to be open-minded, it is pointless to discuss.

Then to hear that the kids are having relatively unknown kids approach them at school and inform them that they pray for our souls......., interesting times are ahead, I think!

One of the ironies to this whole line of thinking, however, is the total contradiction in the argument. Bob and Phyllis believe, as do so many, that the only thing necessary to achieve salvation is to profess belief in Jesus Christ, to accept Him as our Savior. They feel confident in that faith, but for some unexplainable reason, no matter how strenuously WE profess the divine mission of our Savior, no matter how deeply we bear testimony of Christ's divine heritage, and admit his role as the Savior of the world, the saving grace that applies to anyone who professes belief does not apply to Mormons! ??? Bob actually told me that if he died tonight, he would be fine, but if I died tonight, my soul was in jeopardy! I find it both aggravating, and sadly humorous. I guess they don't really believe their own doctrine. A cousin who died of drug and alcohol abuse, but still "claimed" to believe in Christ, stands a better chance in the hereafter than us Mormons, according to them.

I try not to let it make me upset, but it does sadden me. I know part of it is trying to reconcile a personal decision many years ago to leave the Church, but it is sad that the only way to do that is to try to put us down, to convince us of the evil of our ways, and to disregard anything we say to the contrary. Let anyone who believes the Mormons are not Christian read some actual Mormon literature, not all the stuff put out there by our enemies. Most importantly the scriptures, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. They would have to be blind to not see our faith in our Savior. Yes we have a different interpretation of scripture than they do! we have a different understanding of Christ's mission than they do. We don't have to rely on individual interpretations of men. We have prophets to teach us the truth! If our interpretation of each verse was the same as theirs, what would be the difference?

I guess the difference might be that they would allow that we also might be saved by faith? That all we need do is profess belief?

Well, if they are right..then every Mormon is in pretty good shape, because Christ is the most important being in our lives. We worship Him as our Savior, Son of God, LITERALLY resurrected, Light unto the world.

But if we are right (and obviously I feel we are), then Christ has continued to communicate with us, and He has given us continued commandments, and all mankind will be held responsible for how well they have followed those commandments. Can we be considered clean if we fail to follow ALL of God's commandments? Even the ones given to us in this dispensation of time?

I guess it bothered me more than I thought originally. I have been able to get along with many friends, of many different faiths, and I will continue to be fine. I know what is truth, I know not everyone will agree with me, but I know what I need to do. I will just keep praying, I will just stay faithful in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and, everytime someone says to me, " I pray for your soul", I will just keep smiling and responding with "thank you, I pray for your soul as well."

No matter what, just remember...Jesus loves you!

Big News! Crazy Times ahead!

2009-07-30T21:40:00.002-05:00

Well, I am so excited! We have had a great bit of news this past week! It is about Justin, and I am pretty sure that all of the family already know, but I just had to share some thoughts with the rest of the blogosphere.

I was with Elizabeth and Ian at our Stake Youth Conference, which was held at Arkansas Tech, in Russellville. We had a really uplifting weekend. It is always good to have that large a group of kids from Church get together and discuss the truly important things of life. I know my 2 had a good time, and the friends that Liz brought along are also excited about the chance to hang out with so many good Christian teenagers.

The entire focus of the conference was the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. The classes and speakers were amazing, and the spirit we all felt is hard to describe for someone who has not been there before. One of my favorite mini-classes focused on the way that our Savior's very infinite Atonement was also very, extremely individual. For all of us together, but for each of us, separately.

My big news, however, came on Thursday afternoon, as we were waiting to go into the cafeteria for dinner. I had found out that Justin's missionary application was far enough in the process that he should be getting his mission call this week.

Before I go on, a note to explain.. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it is typical (not required, but anticipated), that young men will choose to serve a church mission sometime shortly after their 19th birthday. These missions are for 2 years, at the missionary's expense, and they can be called to anyplace in the world. Young women may apply for a missionary service after their 21st birthday, and the call is 18 months.

Justin, (my oldest son, for those who may not know my family), has been looking forward to being a missionary from the time he could remember singing "I hope they call me on a mission", sometime between 3 and 5 years old. We always knew that his diabetes would be a factor in where he would serve.

This past year has been one of great frustration for us in this regard. Because of his diabetes, Justin cannot serve a mission, unless he has insurance coverage. My insurance through the school drops Justin like a scalding hot potato as soon as he is no longer a student. Being diabetic, no company will even look Justin's direction, a choice I can understand, from a business point of view.

What to do? Justin was preparing himself to be devastated, and Michelle and I spent many mornings and afternoons crying amongst ourselves, as we hit one brick wall after another. We had called the offices of the DHS to see if there were any government programs that might help, and were told, in these exact words.." it sounds like you're basically screwed". (sorry to anyone who finds that type of phrasing offensive, but that was a direct quote from the assistant manager of our closest DHS office.) That's how we were feeling.

Michelle, as a last ditch attempt, before breaking the heartbreaking news to Justin, had decided to call Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and see if we would have any chance of cramming the very high premium she had already been quoted, into our family budget. She just needed to know if there was a long waiting period on existing conditions.

The associate who answered the call has a fond place in our lives right now, and I wish I could name her, to give recognition. She asked Michelle if she had contacted DHS about the CHIP program. Michelle was shocked. She found out that the Comprehensive Health Insurance Pool was exactly what Justin needed. A way to be a working, even successful part of working society, and get health insurance, in spite of being a very high risk case. And the premium was not terribly expensive.

Well, to shorten a long (and probably boring to you) story, we jumped through all the silly hoops required to get Justin enrolled through CHIP. This IS government work, so the change was .......frustrating. Like having to prove un-insurability for 60 days and having to be enrolled before 63 days since you were dropped had passed, and other such nonsense.

Well, Justin got all of that covered, and went through the interview and application process for a mission. The whole time he was being prepped by us, and some of the other leaders involved in the process, that he would most likely serve in the US, because of health concerns. Justin was happy to be able to go, but he had kind of set his heart young on going to a different country. But trusting that these calls are inspired, Justin was mostly just happy to be able to serve.

BAck to Russelville, Thursday July 23, 2009!

Having been informed that Justin's paperwork was in process, I found out from our stake clerk that the letter was in the mail. I called Michelle, and told her to please make Justin wait to open it until he had us on the phone. So we had our entire Branch group together. Myself, Elizabeth, Ian , Br. Babb and Sis. Pace (YM/YW leaders for the event)Brandi, (a young lady in our Branch) and Liz's friends Brailey and Jenny. I called home to hear the good news.

Justin read the words that so many missionaries have heard, indicating that this call comes from the Lord, through His prophet, and the call was to serve in the Guadalajara, Mexico mission starting in the Missionary training center on the 21st October 2009.

The entire cafeteria looked up to see what all the shouting was about in the hallway. It is so exciting to have Justin go to Mexico! Michelle will be very anxious, but she also knows that these callings come from our Heavenly Father. She also knows that Justin will be OK. That is where faith comes in. The nerves will pass, but the Lord will watch over her baby boy. He is not so little anymore, but he will always be her baby boy.

It is late, nearly 10:30, and I have to go sing lullabies. OK, not really, but I do have to "put chickens to bed".

Later!

Hi from the Hijacker

2009-07-11T13:30:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! This is Elizabeth. I'm hijacking my Dad's blog for a sec! I figured that you all got the, how did he put it? the "nerd history teacher" take on our germany trip, so I'll give you all a run down on the first timer's opinion!

Well, It. Was. Amazing! We started the tour, as dad said, in Vienna. The National Library was so beautiful! He wasn't kidding when he said you could smell the history! Every thing smelled of dust and age, but it was breath taking! The ceiling and all walls that weren't occupied by bookshelves were covered with the most beautiful paintings I've ever seen! Dad was disappointed that I didn't get a picture of Charles the Great's saber, but I got some pretty good pictures inside the National Treasury. I got to see the largest emerald in the world, but all the pictures I took of that didn't turn out, so... bummer! We got to spend hours walking around and exploring Vienna, which was quite the experience! Dad's knowledge of all the little, interesting histories made it even better! We would walk past a building, and Dad could tell all of the kids hanging around with us when and/or why it was built, or damaged (depening on the building). I got to experience a 'naschmarkt', which in german means 'snack market'. It was alot like a farmers market, but it also had a bunch of small built cafes and stores for different ethnic food, and that sort of thing. It was really cool because the tour guide kept taking us to the places that catered to the tourist, not the places that the people that actually lived there ate. It was fun haggling prices at one of the little clothes boothes there! I found a really pretty indian made dress for mom that I got the sales guy to cut the price on!! The center, which literally is the center of the city, was full of street performers and 'statues' that weren't really statues! They were people that paint themselves and wear costumes, like Mozart, and stand perfectly still for hours while people drop money in their bowls! We got to watch this one guy play the water glasses, and that was really something!! he was playing the glasses faster than I've ever heard anyone playing the piano!! and he sounded amazing!! He was playing various classical pieces and doing it all while adding and taking water from the glasses to get the right tone! Amazing.

After we left Vienna, we went to Munich, in germany. We went to the Dachau concentration camp. That was... something. Even if it hadn't been chilly that morning, I think I still would have had goosebumps! Walking in the 'yard' where these people did, being able to touch the beds where people were forced to sleep 5-8 to a bed, walking through the 'shower' which was really a gas chamber, being able to look straight into the incinerators where they dealt with the bodies... It was a touching experience! Its definatly increased my interest in the events of WWII. (just watched Valkyrie the other night, and it was so much more interesting this time because of the visit to Dachau!)

Once we left Munich, we stopped in a town called Oberammergau (try saying that one 5 time fast!) on our way to Innsbruck. While we were in Oberammergau, a couple of the other kids on the tour and I went to one of the parks and started talking to some teenagers hanging out there. They were doing this sport called slacklining, and helped us try it! it was so much fun! Basically, you tie one of those heavy duty nylon tie-downs to two trees, use the ratchetish thing to tighten it, and balance on it as you walk from one end to the other. The guys that were helping us were really good! They could do tricks as they went across! after a while we ended up in Innsbruck. The Chapel Bridge there is so pretty. in 1992 it was burnt half way across, but still stands and is stable enough to walk on! in the rafters of the covered bridge, there are pictures and text depicting the stories of some of the saint, or at least thats what Dad said, I adviously couldn't read it! The bridge was over a river or something that was FULL of swans!! they were everywhere!! We got to feed some of them on the banks of the river (until the swans started to attack me!!) And any girls reading this will appreciate this bit. The boys in Switzerland are sooo much cuter than the boys in america!!(no offense boys!) Me and a couple of the girls I met on the tour spent a few hours doing nothing but sitting on the steps of a bank, boy watching. no joke. I only wish I could have gotten pictures without looking a little weird!! :) Okay, there. I'm done letting the teenage girl in me run wild!!

After that, we went to This clock factory in the middle of the Black forest. The upper story of the building was a clock factory, but the lower story was a glass blowing shop and a cafe! It was so cool to watch this guy make a beautiful glass wine glass out of this shapeless blob by spinning it while holding it in a fire! it was... amazing! Dad was pretty jazzed because he got to eat a piece of Black Forest cake in the Black Forest!! He even took a picture of it! (goof!) After our lunch at the clock factory, we made our way to heidelberg, where we stayed the last night. It was an amazing trip! We had dinner at this cafe/restraunt thing built in/outside a church. The tourguide jokingly said 'how else do you get people to come to church?' The courtyard out back, where the cafe part was, was so pretty with the flowers surrounding it, and the fountain in the center! beautiful!!

All in all, the trip was great and I'm totally going back sometime within the next couple years!! Wow! I totally didn't mean to make it this long! Well, the gustapo is getting rid of the hijacker, so I gotta run! bye everyone!! I'll hijack it again soon!!

Vienna! I love this place!!

2009-07-02T22:31:00.002-05:00

Well, I said I would try to post something specific about our trip, so here it is. I think Vienna is a great place to start, since that is where our tour started.

First of all, the Germans, Swiss and Austrians all refer to the capital of Austria as "Wien", say "veen" (rhymes with english "bean"). This is the home of the Hapsburg rulers, emperors of the Holy Roman Empire for over 600 years, from approx. 1200 AD into the late 1800's. These are descendants of "Karl der Grosse"; Charles the Great; known to most Americans by his French variation, "Charlemagne".

With a history as long and rich (literally AND figuratively)as this empire had, their capital city is going to be full of palaces, royal halls, Theaters and operas (music and art were important), fine hotels and restaurants that are over 400 years old. Can you imagine eating in a cafe that existed before the first pilgrims set foot on the American continent??

I so much enjoyed the time we had to explore Wien. I know that museums and old castles/palaces only hold a certain level of interest for your average teenagers, so I was very careful to help find things that were fun and interesting to the group. We did get to go see the National Library on the first day there. You could SMELL the history! That room was so ornate! The Hapsburgs were great supporters of the Arts and Literature, and, of course a somewhat self-serving interest in History as it evolved. There was an amazing set of globes that had been commissioned a few years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock! The curator informed us that the oldest book in the library was from 1501!! The frescoes and other ornate woodwork were just ........ breathtaking. Even though perusing the books requires very high level contacts, I could have just sat in that room for hours, soaking up the essence of time!!

We also saw the National Treasury, where the crown jewels are on display, along with other significant historical items, such as a saber that actually belonged to Charlemagne! That is a lot of history represented in one place!!

Wien also has what I believe is the world's oldest ferris wheel. That was one of the fun things we tried to make sure our group got to see. The wheel still runs, and the "cars" are just that. Box cars. Well, box-car sized cabins really. They each can hold about 20 people, or you can pay extra (a lot extra) and some of them are set up with nice tables, and each time the wheel comes around, waiters in tuxes bring the next course of your meal! Cool, huh?

Wien is also known for its fine hotels, restaurants and cafes, so eating was very enjoyable. I ate a piece of Sacher Torte in sight of the Sacher Hotel, where the dessert was "invented" nearly 300 years ago. (the actual hotel is very expensive, so I didn't think I could afford to go inside.)

Sorry, here's the History teacher emerging. Did you know that one of Wien's most famous children was also responsible for the French's love of the croissant? Marie Antoinette was the youngest daughter of Maria Teresia, Empress of the Hapsburg empire. Marie was very fond of a pastry that had been baked in Vienna, sorry Wien, to commemorate the survival of the city when it was besieged by the Ottoman Turks. The Viennese bakers had heard strange sounds in the night, and alerted the guards, who discovered the Turks attempting to tunnel into the city. The Turks were held back long enough for a reinforcing army from Poland (part of the empire) to arrive. The bakers then created a pastry to remind the citizens of their victory, so they took a symbol which had been seen on the banners of their enemies......the crescent moon.

When Marie Antoinette was engaged to marry King Louis of France, french bakers celebrated the union by producing thousands of the new queen's favorite pastry from home. so ................

I really loved Wien. I look forward to going back, maybe sometime with Michelle, where we can just spend a whole week, just the two of us!

Back on the planet!

2009-06-29T20:19:00.002-05:00

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I have not been incarcerated, nor have I been in traction! No broken arms, legs, toes or fingers! I have just simply had time management issues. There, it's out there! When life gets hectic, the internet, e-mail, and even this blog are low enough on the priority totem pole that they get neglected.

My last post in May was at the beginning of the end. End of the school year to be exact. Several things developing were taking a significant amount of time, and so I was on the computer about once a week, just to get to e-mail.

I had several events for the German club, trying to end the school year off with some fun events, including some fundraising. We worked a pizza restaurant for a "Chris Allen watch party", on the night he won American Idol. It was fun, and wow! what a crazy loud crowd. We never slowed down, until the guests were nearly out the door. We had our Soccer-picnic with the other language clubs. (Yes! the German club gets to keep the trophy for one more year!)

I had some events for my group traveling to German this year, like meetings, car-wash fundraisers, some recruiting for the next tour, etc. Oh, wait. I guess I should also not forget that the end of school means grading projects; organizing, producing and grading tests, quizzes, and any last assignments, as well as dealing with those dozens of things that students bring in at the last minute in an effort to save a grade that was unimportant 2 weeks ago!

Then there are always the chicken houses to deal with. I have been trying to get any significant repairs done before the end of May, because I knew that Bob and Phyllis would be more comfortable with my trip to Germany in June, if the houses were ready to go. Several waterlines needed some minor work, lots of mowing and weed-trimming, one house needed new curtains. ( 100+ ft. long. rip-stop material, cable/pulley system to adjust temperatures in the houses), some screen needed replacing, and so on.

Then, with Church, I have been preparing for our Branch conference on June 14th, trying to get Justin along the process of missionary application, having several issues that required my presence in Newport and/ or Jonesboro on more than one occassion (Jonesboro is about 135 miles away), and so on.

June 16th-25th, Elizabeth and I got to go to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This was gearing up to be the highlight of my summer, if not year. I had a group of 13, so I got to take Elizabeth along as well. We had an amazing trip! I have never been to Vienna (Wien), so this was a fun new place for me to explore. The history is so rich and deep. I know, I know, only a history teacher or a history geek is going to get much excitement out of a library full of books dating back as early as 1501, or a saber belonging to CHARLEMAGNE! But I am what I am! History geek/teacher! IT WAS SOOOOO COOL!!!

Weather was not our friend, sending rain and cold temps for all but 2 of the days we were there, but it was not in any way a let down for me. We got to experience German Europe in such a great way! It will take me literally hours to get any of my pictures uploaded, but I will try. Our entire group had fun! I will fill another blog or two with more detailed trip experiences, but I was so glad that our group had a good time, we all got along (the entire bus load!), and there were no major mishaps to mar the journey.

Back to the real (not the "cyber-")world! The day after we got home, chicks were delivered for house 1, and today we got the other 3. Translation......Got home Thur. evening, worked in the chicken houses. Worked in chicken houses all weekend, and the cycle begins in earnest today!

Time to go put the babies to bed. I'll sing them a German lullaby, and tuck them all in. All 78,000:)

I AM BACK!!!

I wish it would rain some!

2009-05-17T20:43:00.002-05:00

I have to say, I actually enjoy writing these posts. I know I can get somewhat long-winded at times, but I have fun putting some of these thoughts into print. If any of you get some enjoyment out of reading, that, to me, is just a bonus.

I know it is becoming somewhat of a cultural joke, that everyone, and sometimes even the dog write Blogs. Sometimes I think these attempts at "blogging" give me an idea what newspaper writers go through. You know, the ones who write the daily or weekly editorials, or personal interest columns. It might be fun, but I can sense how the pressure would build. I am not sure I could do that every day. Once a week, sure, but every day? On a deadline? "iffy"

As most of you reading know, Bakersfield CA, is not particularly wet. I think it actually illustrates my point when I say that some of my memories revolve around those few times when it wasn't. Like the time it rained so hard that College (street, road, BLVD, I forget) flooded right there by East High School, and a clogged storm drain meant that the last "dip" before the stoplight was flooded and cars were having to be floated across. we were on the way to Primary, as I recall. We must have stopped, because the thing that stands out most for me is nearly being pushed into the "pond" by an exuberent teenager jumping in to help push some cars over to the other side.

Then there was the storm that left Troy flooded when that car got washed under the train tracks. And everywhere else was flooded. I remember trudging along one street on our paper route. The water was streaming past about calf deep. Dad had allowed us (Cindy and me) to go over the cement at the intersection, but had instructed us to stay away from the sides of the road, since this road had no sidewalks. We were to throw the newspapers as far into the yards as possible, and if they floated away, leave them! Over the next 2 days, I remember how I felt seeing the huge trenches that had been cut where sidewalks would have been. One side was nearly 3 feet deep, and the other had cut away the edges of some of the yards!! People had used 4x4's and heavy plywood to span the cuts from their driveways, otherwise they were trapped.

I guess I hadn't seen "real" flooding, though, until we moved to Arkansas. The last 2 springs have been very wet. I keep reminding myself that by definition we live in a rain-forest. Last year, Feb-May was so wet that many levees broke, some areas had water running over dam spillways that had been dry for decades, and our river systems were flooded. I can't speak to "crest" measurements on most of the rivers, but let's just say that Batesville was on the other side of a "lake" where a cornfield existed. Water was up into the city park on the riverfront, which usually sits High and dry about 8-12 feet above normal river level. Other areas had houses washed away, the most striking image a picture of a 2 story house that had been swept off its foundation, and was pinned up against a bridge. Then the force of the water shredded the house and washed the debris under the bridge!!

Greer's Ferry Lake (my best indicator, because I go to the lake regularly in the summer) had crested at 28 feet above normal! Campgrounds and swimming areas were flooded into August, as the water took that long to recede. They could have allowed a bit faster drain off, but the communities built in the river bed downstream (don't get me started on That stupidity!), would have been washed out.

Well, this year has been about the same, with one significant change. We have had nearly the same amount of rain as last year, but the flood damage has been relatively low. We have had as much as 10 inches in some areas of the state, just for the month of May. Our area at Drasco has received about 7-8 inches this month. Lakes and rivers are high, but I have only heard of a couple of breaches, and minor flood damage stories. I hope the last year did not make me, or the community complacent.

We had some great stories of heroic saves, community and church groups coming together to help those displaced by floods, pet rescues, and an outpouring of support from church, civic and national groups.

We need to be reminded that we have to stick together and rely on each other, but mostly on our Heavenly Father. Not our government, but each other and God. To that end, I wish it would rain some!

PS There are other memories about Storms in Bakersfield, but those may be for another time.

Amazing bugs

2009-05-03T22:13:00.002-05:00

Having one of those random types of conversations that take place when surrounded by teenagers, whether my own kids or my school kids, the topic turned one day this week to bugs. I am not necessarily a fan of bugs, but I don't usually freak out at the sight of bugs, which is good for Michelle and Elizabeth. They both go "buggy" when certain critters show up. Especially the eight-legged kind.

We have some amazing bugs in Arkansas. I could spend hours trying to name them all, but some of my "favorites" are the walking sticks (longest I've seen out here was nearly 18 inches long!) and the variety of moths. We have been seeing Luna moths lately, it is that time of year. They are the big, delicate green ones that can grow to the size of your hand. We have several other varieties that are equally impressive, but I don't know what they are called. I saw one yesterday that had the most beautiful black, red and yellow wings. Several shades of gray also made a beautiful eye-spot pattern, on wings that were EACH nearly the size of my hand!

Now I hear that Arkansas has also added giant Mexican "crab-ticks" to our list of amazing, Maybe even scary bugs. I won't go into what little I know of them. They showed up in a newspaper report about a year ago. And of course we have nearly every species of spider, fly roach, grasshopper, etc., that exist in North America. Arkansas is an equal opportunity residence for bugs.

This made me think, almost fondly, of some of my earlier, "freaky bugs" memories. Two that stand out from my childhood happened at Sierra Junior High. Family may remember them. The "scariest" one involved the biggest black widow I have ever seen. You remember the open building plan of Bakersfield schools, and the covered walks between class buildings ("hallways"). The drinking fountains at the end of the first wing of classrooms as you came off the ballfield is where I got the shock. I had bent down to get a drink, and movement over my head caught my eye. She looked to be about 1-11/2 inches across the body, (not including legs), just hanging there over the fountain, as if she were waiting for just the right moment to drop on some unsuspecting human victim. I would have tried to convince myself since then that I "enlarged" her in my memory, except for the reaction of the first adult we found. I don't remember if it was a teacher or a janitor, but I remember one adult saying to the next adult who showed up, "OMG, that is the biggest d..... widow I have ever seen! Where did she come from?!" My summer of the black widows at the fabric store, years later, made this memory even scarier when I learned how far these things can jump!

The other one happened on a warm spring day, and it involved those great big water roaches so common in Bakersfield. Those familiar with Sierra JHS may recall the Cafeteria building, and the way the "playground" sloped away from the building, with a couple of "ditches" off the corners, (out toward the bungalows). At the building end of this drainage was a small pipe opening. There was an old unused restroom on that corner, had been piled full of old gym equipment, and other useless junk. (I found this out later when one of our school clubs helped do a "service project" cleaning it out.)

One day, as lunch ended, just as kids started responding to the bell by moving toward the classroom buildings, something must have backed up in that restroom, or something. The small pipe that supposedly came off the roof drains, but apparently tied in to the restroom vent pipes somehow, came alive. A huge stream of water roaches came rushing out of that pipe, following the ditch out to the fence, which separated us from a huge field. This cut off the screaming students :) from the classroom buildings. There were thousands and thousands of them. It seemed like they streamed out for several minutes. Girls were screaming and running for the other side of the cafeteria, some of us crazy boys took to dancing our way back and forth across the mass, seeing how many we could stomp, until two boys (thankfully not me) had the misfortune of having some of these roaches run up their pant legs:) :). The rest of us decided we would pass on that fun, although we nearly passed out laughing at the other two.

I am not a huge fan of bugs, but they are amazing, and it is sometimes amazingly fun to watch the way different people react to them.

Putting out Fires

2009-04-21T21:04:00.002-05:00

Here I am at the end , or nearly the end of another month. I have intended to post something each week, but time just seems to constantly slip away from me, and sitting down at 10 pm for 30-45 minutes of computer time is just not always easy. This one will take some time.

These last couple of weeks have been no exception to that rule, just exceptional in how crazy. I hope that I do not come across as a complainer when I write this type of stuff. I like to think I have a fairly level head about it all, but sometimes it seems like life just bursts out into little fires. You know, those events, chores, accidents, assignments, whatever, that have to be dealt with NOW. Like a small kitchen fire, they flare up and require immediate attention, so as to keep them small. If we fail to act, or act incorrectly, we may create a much bigger problem. Kind of like throwing water on a grease fire.

Well, this past week has really felt like that. As you all may know, when we sell chickens, the process takes about 24 hours start to finish. They split us up this time, which was actually nice. Over 2 days, we got to deal with the process more during the late evening hours when I am home. It still HAS to be dealt with, but it is not as frantic a feeling. Things have to be done on a schedule, since the processing of Hundreds of thousands of birds has to meet all the health and safety guidelines, not to mention just the practical aspect of running that many birds.

Then, when they are gone, we start the process of preparing the houses for the next flock. We usually get about 2 weeks to get everything cleaned out, repaired, and "reset". Well, this time had that "fire" feeling, because as of day 9 being out, we had not heard word one from our field-man. Not a thing about the last flock, not a thing about new birds, potential scheduling, NOTHING!

Then several things flared up at once. I got a call from Michelle Wednesday afternoon , day 10(April 15th), that our friend Leonard Powers had died. You may recall I posted some thoughts about him and his dedication back in the early part of the year, and maybe as far back as November. I tried to stay in touch with his children, as they arranged the funeral service, because his dear wife Charlotte is suffering from Alzheimer's, and is little help in this type of thing. There are moments we (the family and I) think she may not even be aware of Leonard's passing.

This one would not have been much, but the children were not real interested in having their Dad's religion be a big part of his memorial service. My challenge was to try to guide them in such a way that Dad and Mom's religious views would be honored, without pushing the family into things they did not want. We all know a funeral is just a "goodbye" meeting for those of us left behind, but I was saddened by the disregard for a parent's faith. Let this fire simmer, it will be out by Monday, probably.

Thursday morning (day 10), we finally hear from our field-man. He matter-of-factly informs Bob (my father-in-law, for those who don't know the family), that we need to do 2 refits to the chicken houses before we get new birds, oh, and "by-the-way", you get chicks on Monday (during the funeral time slot?). Don't 2 small, simmering fires build into something big pretty easily?

Well, the chicken houses are never really a small simmer. Our first major refit was lights. We had to run a new set of lights in each of 3 houses. So Bob and I, along with one of my boys each night, spent Thursday and Friday night until about 10 pm, standing in the tractor bucket (don't try this at home) running 500 feet of new cable per house, then going back and attaching light sockets.

Friday afternoon I hear from the Powers family. The funeral is Monday, 10 am. We still haven't heard what time chicks will be delivered, but either way, I will be occupied. This means I will need to prepare for a substitute for Monday. We also found out that our chicks would be delivered on "Monday AND Tuesday", but we don't know what time.

Refit #2 is new curtain material for our oldest house. Short explanation. House 1, as we call it, is very old, referred to as "half-house"curtains. These are heavy duty rip-stop curtains, that cover half the house. They can be raised and lowered on a system of winches and pulleys to open up the house for ventilation, or close it up to maintain heat, etc. Our goal, to replace about 200 feet of this. This was our Saturday morning, hoping all the time that the rainclouds would just stay friendly. They did!

Next fire in a major positive way, but still requires attention! Saturday evening, We had a baptism at the chapel. This is a wonderful event, and this was such a spiritually powerful meeting. Many happy tears were shed. As the Branch President, I felt compelled to be there for a convert baptism, no matter what needed to take place in the chicken houses. They will still be "open" at midnight if I need them to be.

Sunday is always a busy day, getting to church, taking care of those responsibilities, visiting and counseling with various church members about a variety of things. I am enjoying this "turn" more than my first time as Branch President. My Dad understands why. The "fires" I helped deal with then are mostly out, or simmering under the watchful control of those whose fires they truly are. I guess I get to be kind of "volunteer fireman" when those flare out of their owners' control.

Sunday evening, out of necessity, spent in the chicken houses, putting down feeders and water lines, checking systems, doing some minor repairs to cable and pulley systems for one of the houses. Nothing major, but still immediate. We still don't know what time chicks will arrive on Monday!

Monday arrives, we finally hear that chicks will be delivered about 11 am, funeral starts at 10, in Batesville, which is a 40 minute drive from our house. The family of Brother Powers made some concessions that allowed his faith to be a larger part of the service, although still "muted", but all of the significant church protocols were met, and it was a beautiful and touching service.

Get home from the cemetary around 2 pm, Michelle asks me to go with her to the school for an IEP meeting for Ian. Not bad, just needed. Afterwards, we all go to get the last 2 houses ready for chicks Tuesday at 8 am (we finally got some info from our useless field-man...........no wait, it came from the driver who brought chicks earlier!).

Now for the real fire! After running the last lights in House 4, we dropped feeders and water, and did all the standard checks. Starting up heaters, running feeders, flushing vitamins into the water/medication system, etc. As the feeders cranked up, Ian yelled from about halfway down the house..."Dad, this heater's burning!" I gave the double thumbs up, because we DID want to raise the temps to about 90 degrees. :) Ian hollers back, over the din of the rattling feed augers, "NO, DAD, IT'S BURNING ON THE OUTSIDE!!" Just about that moment, a flaming glob of plastic fell from the ceiling, setting the floor covering on fire. Rice hulls don't burn well, but with some petroleum accelerant, they do burn!

Adrenelin kicks in faster than braincells. My first thought was to find a ladder, to shut off the valve to the diesel fuel line, because I can just envision this fire igniting back up into the entire fuel line. while I ran for a ladder, Bob and Michelle got to the main shut-off valve, and also slammed off every breaker in the electrical box except lights.

I then had the kids run a bucket brigade from the end of the house (closest "aimable" water source), and I threw the water up to the ceiling (nearly 20 feet), hoping to splash enough around to put out the growing flames. As the insulation started to burn, I started to worry, but the kids kept water coming. The smoke stayed hung up in the rafters, so I kept throwing H2O, hoping that the fire dept. would arrive soon. The diesel lines had burned away, but by this time the plastic control boxes, and all the electrical cable was burning off. Lots of different fuels to feed the flames. Every throw made progress, but every interval, the flames would regain a bit.

I was just getting worn out, and told the kids "2 more buckets, and then we run for it!" The smoke was almost down to our heads, and we could hear sirens in the distance. The last bucket I threw splashed every direction except down, I think, and doused the last flame. We ran for clear air.

The fire dept. came and sprayed about 15 gallons on one spot of smoldering dust, and then we all visited for several minutes (local volunteer force). I am tired of dealing with fires! I really could use a few days without them. I know they tend to keep life interesting, and I can definitely say that my life...our lives, are not dull. But I would sure like to deal with dull for just a couple of days. Is that too much to ask?

No such thing as ugly weather

2009-04-03T20:22:00.002-05:00

I was listening to the radio on the way to work the other day, looking out at the bottom of rain clouds that were getting ready to dump on us, again, and something the weather forecaster said caught my ear. It is a type of comment that we hear all too often. I am sure that you hear this where you are, and I guess I have always found it bothersome.
Too often, I listen to people complain about today's weather, hoping tomorrow will be "better". When it's raining, they hope for sunshine, but when it's been sunny for more than a few days running, they complain that we need rain. Then, if we have more than 2 days with rain, even in the middle of a drought, we "hope for nicer weather soon". (HELLO, in the middle of a years-long drought, pray for a week of solid rain, don't ya think?!?)
The comment I heard was about the weather being ugly, but we could hope for something nicer in the next few days. I'm hearing this as I'm examing, no... admiring, the amazing hues from purple to gray, the lush green of freshly "washed" spring growth, splashed with the occassional ray of sunshine sneaking under the edges of far away clouds. As I scanned the sky, following the soft flowing lines of some clouds, "slamming" into the more defined edges of other clouds, playing their soft pale hues off each other, I had to think......"all weather is a result of God's amazing creation, is it possible to have UGLY weather?"
I guess it is true, beauty IS in the eye of the beholder. we can choose to see only a certain type of weather as beautiful. Might even decide that storms, because they can be dangerous, can be less beautiful than a balmy summer day, but I have always enjoyed a good lightning show, (as long as I could watch and listen from a relatively safe place), and the cloud formations in a massive storm front are nothing, if not impressive. Even the softened, dancing edges of a funnel cloud on the ground have an awesome beauty about them.
It may not always be safe for us to be in their paths, but God's amazing paintbrush has given us some absolutely stunning visuals in this life.
What are we missing, I wonder, if we are always looking to the next "sunny" day to find our joy and happiness. Find the beauty in what is in front of you, no matter what the sky looks like. There is astonishing beauty in every sky, every landscape, every tree, the starlit night sky, the flight of a flock of birds, moving like waves on the ocean, and don't forget waves on the ocean.
I think if we get good at finding the beauty in the harshness of a massive thunderstorm, we can also learn to spot the beauty and divinty in some of the less than perfect people around us, and they in turn can better find the beauty in our imperfection.

What a week!

2009-03-28T18:34:00.002-05:00

Here we are to Saturday! Spring Break is nearly over, and I have a few minutes to write something short, maybe.

I am "benefitting" from the most talked about subject in Arkansas....the weather. We have had rain nearly every day this week. Fortunately, it has waited till evening nearly every day. Today has been cold and windy, and it started sleeting this afternoon. I am glad I had some time this morning to put some fresh chicken in the freezer. That's an outside chore, of course. I have already written about my woodsman activities of the first couple of days. Then I got to spend the next 2 1/2 days cursing the government "brains" who decided that changing broadcast signals from analog to all digital was a good idea.

Now, for those of you who live in major population centers, or even within 30-40 miles of one, the following will be hard for you to fathom. Anyone who lives out in the sticks, you probably understand my grief.

In major towns, and "suburbs", it is probably hard to imagine people not having a choice between broadcast "freewaves", cable, satellite, or any of the internet options that allow perfect signals at lightning speeds, with practically no limits to capacity.

I have watched satellite dishes crop up around us like mushrooms after an Arkansas rain, and I have listened to neighbors and relatives complain about how frequently signals are lost due to weather, wind, or stray blowing leaves. To say nothing of the monthly fees just to be hooked up.

Cable is not an option. I am unaware of anyone close to us who has cable, because the closest town with cable access is 15 miles away, and not enough people here to make it worth it for the cable co. to run line all this way. No one wants to be the first to pay for the cable run, and even if we ALL got together, it would make the hook-up pretty pricey.

Internet has the same issues, of course. Many of our friends have added separate phone lines for internet, so as to "speed up" their access, but nothing like what many of you experience.

Now TV! Our digital signal.... after spending 2 days installing the longest range antenna available, running individual cables to each of 2 TV's, so as to not degrade the signal by splitting it, and even adding a signal amplifier.......tops out at 21 on the converter box's meter. And that's when there is no wind or rain. Clouds, wind, etc. have dropped it down to 15-16.

Our problem is terrain, and distance, according to the websites set up to help with the digital switch. We live about 75-80 miles (as the crow flies), from our major broadcasters in Little Rock. We live in hilly terrain, and the issue of direction causes problems. Digital requires a direct line of reception, whereas analog was much more forgiving. We can't point the antenna straight at the broadcasters. (Trust me, I know how to use a compass, and have tried using the compass settings given by the broadcasters, to improve signal reception.) It hasn't helped boost signal strength at all.

I guess we will just have to live with signals going in and out. We can hope that channel 4 comes in strong enough to watch once in awhile, because the kids and I really like "Heroes". I can also hope that in June, when all channels make the switch, that their increased signal strength will benefit us.

Perfect example of government ignoring the people in rural America. I have been reading up on this issue, and there are going to be regions in this country where people will no longer have access to TV signals once the "Big Switch" is final. I guess we will make do. Books can be far more interesting. The nice weather maps and reports will be missed, but we can always read about the tornado that wiped out Drasco, in the next day's newspaper, right?

2009-03-25T22:37:00.002-05:00

I thought I should try and write something before this entire week gets away from me. We are currently on Spring Break. "We" being everyone except for Justin. Justin and the Lyon College crowd had their spring break 2 weeks ago.

The fact that I am sitting here at 10:45 pm, on Wednesday Mar 25, should give some indication of "free" time. It has not been slow this week, that much is for sure.

The weekend was almost typical, the only significant change being a talent show that we put on for the Batesville Branch. It was so much fun. We had 35 people turn out (really good, when you think we have 45 on a typical sunday). There is such diverse talent in our Branch. We had some music, including our 3 youngest. Justin had to work, and Elizabeth was at a Priest/Laurel activity in Conway. Ian, Ben and Kaylee sang "love is Spoken Here", which is one of my favorite Primary songs. Michelle had been sick, and felt like staying home. I was having sore throat issues, and could barely carry a tune in a bucket. I felt bad about not being able to participate.

We also had some poetry readings (original works), and a stand-up comedy routine. Other talents were displayed, such as quilts, paintings, crafts, etc. desserts were great, and everyone seemed to have a really good time.

Sunday was typical. Start at 6:15-6:30 in the chicken houses, so that we could race the clock and try to be showered and out the door by 8:25 to make my PEC meeting. Ian has to come with me, because he has been assigned to make the weekly bulletin. Leonard Powers (mentioned in an earlier post), is still back and forth between the nursing home and the hospital. He is currently in the hospital, but seems to be doing okay, with Pneumonia the significant concern. Church responsibilities last until about 2:30 or so, and then I come home, deal with chickens, help with dinner and what-not. We typically get to read, or just visit, so Sunday evenings are not too bad, most weeks.

Monday and Tuesday were days that were supposed to be pretty, and WOW, was it true, or what? I always have to factor in Chicken houses, of course. We typically start our walks around 8 am on "holidays". The job takes 3 of us about 1 1/2 hrs. we have been leaving Michelle at home, since she is still fighting some respiratory issues from whatever cold took her down last week.

After we finish walking through the houses, inspecting birds, picking up those that died the night before, and dealing with any maintenance concerns, we go home, get cleaned up, and have breakfast.

Then we deal with other chores for the day. Monday involved some hauling. One House has a wet spot, water seeping in under the foundation, into a low spot. No "shiny" surface water, but it turns the litter to a jello like firmness that will just hold chickens, but a human may go knee deep. It required one tractor load of clean litter to firm up the ground to make it cleaner and drier for these birds. Not too troublesome, rice hulls are really light. Kaylee can carry a 5 gallon bucket of them, with no problem.

Then, our next chore! An ongoing challenge, maybe for the next 2 years, really! The ice storm back in Jan/Feb left so many trees down, or damaged, and we have relatives that can't really take care of it themselves. Michelle's Aunt Betty is one. This is Bob's sister-in-law. She and Bob's sister Robbie live just up from old House #1. They had several big trees either fall over, or lose some really large branches. All over the yard. They were fortunate, as were many of us, that things did not end up on houses or cars.

We had planned to help Bob get these trees cut up and moved. I had been working on our own yard, as time would permit, but Bob's old chainsaw was becoming troublesome. I could clean the carbeurator (sp?), and keep things well tuned, and it was still so slow that a 4 inch limb would take over a minute to cut. (New chain, for any who might wonder if the teeth were dull.) Bob decided it was time for a replacement.

Thank Heaven! He bought a nice saw, and man! That thing screams!! We worked on an old "sweet gum" that had fallen in Betty's yard. The trunk was about 2 feet in diameter, and that new saw would rip through that in about the 1 minute it had been taking to cut 4 inches!!! I was sooooo glad!! We got that gum cleared out, and yanked several large branches out of the big oak in front of Robbie's place. Branches about 9-10 inches in diameter qualify as big, don't they?

We filled the old red truck with firewood lengths, and took them home to spend the rest of the evening splitting and stacking. Oak is great! Hickory is nice. Don't usually mess with pine for firewood. Maple, and other hardwoods, so easy to split! Axe, wedge, or 6 lbs. splitting maul, they all make pretty short work of these "nice" hardwoods. Get a good "check", and one or two more hits gives a nice stright split.

Only had 4 wheelbarrows of that stuff. All the other was "sweet gum". Maybe oldtimers would tell me I'm nuts for even trying it. We split all the gum we brought to the house!! Every length, the wedge had to be pounded through the ENTIRE piece, and sometimes requires help from the maul to make the final split.

And what weird directions that wedge would travel!! I had one turn nearly sideways on a single stroke, even though the wood appeared to be perfectly even in color, and density! What a workout!! Good thing I have children who enjoy working outside, (most of the time).

I am going to set this aside for now. It is past 11:30. Interruptions have slowed me down. Phone calls kick me off line, and one of Michelle's clients, who calls pretty late some nights, has called 3 different times. Tired, going to bed now!

Gum Wars, revisited

2009-03-17T21:51:00.002-05:00

I fully intend to be "short-winded" today, but we'll see how that goes once I get rolling.

By the way, Happy St. Patrick's Day, and here's an Irish blessing I heard on the radio today. "May your days be happy and your life be long, for there are few angels on earth, and Heaven is overflowing."

I felt I should give a follow up to my little lesson in history and sociology of the past few weeks. I will also let you in on a little secret regarding the level of intent. I had been contemplating a way to make a lesson out of some of the social issues that lead Germany into Nazi socialism in the last century. I really love the book "The Wave", about the history teacher in America whose exercise in "socialism", ( that is, the power of community, even moving to negative outcomes), went terribly well. And nearly had terrible consequences. My copy is at school, so I will try to remember reference info for another time.

Spring is the time that I typically try to bring some WWII history into my lessons, since several significant anniversaries take place in the next 60 days. When the gum issue arose, I had an opportunity to try something. It is a tactic that parents, teachers and other civic leaders have used, in various degrees of harshness, and with great success, for centuries.

The Gestapo style tactics of community pressure, negative "propaganda", secrecy, intimidation and public embarrassment, etc., were never intended to be nice. They were not concerned about popularity. What worked, worked.

My guilty gum-chewer could not survive the pressure. It was not completely intended to involve others, ( I was hoping the guilty party would just turn himself in), but it did ultimately take some peer pressure.

I was handed a wad of notes by one student, and a sheepish friend, with the comment from the second, "It's all true, it was me."

They had gone back and forth with things like "I'm going going to tell if you don't fess up", "Dude, don't tell, I'll bring you money next week", "I'ts not fair that we all get punished because of your stupidity.", "Man, don't tell, I'll make it up to the class somehow", and so on. 2 Pages, ending in some name calling.

It wasn't pretty, but it was effective.

Herr Wahlquist, the "Gumstapo"

2009-03-12T20:20:00.004-05:00

I am not in a happy place right now. I am even in a less happy place in my classroom as of late. Let me explain.

I thoroughly enjoy teaching. It does not pay well enough for me to be doing it, if I did not have a high level of satisfaction in other areas, related to teaching. I find entertainment, challenge and joy in stimulating young minds. Sometimes, we disagree, but it is wonderful to watch students think through something, get creative, and come up with solutions or ideas that are their own. (any either language)

I incorporate a significant level of history, politics (social studies teacher, can't help it!) and hopefully life-skills and values, into my classroom. (I know, in our current culture, the "values" part may get me in trouble, but I stay away from specific religious views, and promote things like honesty, respect, responsibility, etc.)

As to respect, I have taken the stance from my first year teaching, that teenagers should be shown a level of respect and consideration appropriate for young adults. ( on the condition that they act accordingly). This relates specifically to things like chewing gum, water-bottles, and movement in the classroom.

I have tried to be pretty relaxed about chewing gum, because I really don't like wasting time dealing with it. My only conditions have been that I neither see it (bubbles, or open mouth chewing), nor hear it (chomping and slurping), and that there never be evidence it was here, once the chewer has left the room. Well, recently I have had to put on the uniform of the "gum Gestapo", or the "Gumstapo".

For those less familiar, the Gestapo, (German acronym for GEheime STAats POlizei), was Nazi Germany's secret state police, words translated in correct order and form. They were masters of scare tactics, secrecy, intimidation and bullying as means of controlling the population, or hunting down information and other state goals. Even many high ranking officials were nervous when the Gestapo came calling, because they answered only to the highest powers in the Government.

See, history lesson, can't help it. Anyway........

I have had occassion recently to be aggravated. I have been discovering new, if not fresh, wads of gum in places in my room that remove the possibility of "old" or accidental. Therefore I have started some Gumstapo tactics.

I am stopping each student at the door, and having them show me their shoes, to ensure that they aren't "tracking" it in. Like the historical model, public embarrassment was useful. They have to spit out gum before being seated. This hasn't worked completely, because the last 3 days, I found 2 wads that seem to be "maliciously" placed. Escalation!! Next step, enforce policy. Gum is not allowed, so I informed students there would be a discipline write-up if they were caught chewing gum.

In an almost funny first test, I had been chewing out my first period class (pun intended), and had given them the instruction to get rid of any gum, no consequences. I then went on for several minutes about respect, maturity, rules, and such, not to mention the grossness of finding a fresh wad of gum while moving a desk. I looked back to one corner of the room just in time to see a flash of yellow as one girl started talking to her neighbor. Not teeth yellow, certainly not natural mouth color. SHE STILL HAD GUM IN HER MOUTH!!!

Well, what am I supposed to do? Any parent will tell you, if you make the threat of punishment, follow through. So she got a trip to the office, and ended up with 5 days lunch detention for insubordination. I had, after all, given instruction to spit out gum, AND a chance to do so with out penalty.

Then, today, I found a wad stuck to the bottom of a chair leg!!!! Someone wants to play hardball. I guess my next step will be to have the students learn what it is like to live with the Gestapo. You stand at attention near your desk until instructed otherwise, class begins with desks flipped over and inspected. Class ends with desks flipped over and inspected again. "criminals" will be dealt with in the most severe manner. Those who forget to spit out their gum before class will simply be written up.

It sounds like fun, doesn't it? I am wondering just how far my little game will have to go before the obnoxious parties involved get the message. I asked one of my "mentors" if they thought it would be too much to have students flash their pearly whites and say "aaahh" as they enter the room. LOL, they thought it might be an appropriate next step.

I should have started this entry:

Not so long ago, in an Arkansas town far, far away......

Gum Wars: Episode 1

The Gooey Menace

The galaxy is in disarray. In an "underhanded" (or "under the table?) move, Rebels have defiled the sanctity of the Galactic Empire's seating arrangements. Empirial officials have dispatched the dreaded "GUMstapo", protectors of the sanity, cleanliness and general well-being of the empire's many peaceful citizens.

Martial Law ensues..........

Okay, I could get carried away with this, and I have made the mistake of portraying myself as the Empire(the bad guys in the movies). You're not supposed to want the rebellious gumchewers to "win". Maybe I should recast them as the notorious Hutts, and figure a re-write.

Stay tuned for reports and updates of latest casulties.

"May the farce be with us all."

Loving Technology

2009-03-08T21:40:00.002-05:00

It has been over a month, but I am still here.

We have had some computer problems, namely a crash. we had to wait for a paycheck to take it in for service (or replace it if needed). Once we got the computer back, we had to download several different installers and drivers, and this is a long slow process.

We have just in the last few days been able to get to our e-mail, but much of the old, saved e-mails are gone. And of course, new e-mails have a tendency to pile up when one is disconnected from the cyber world.

I know it was only around 125-150 over the first few days back online, but it felt like 8000. Michelle may have read and deleted some (probably did), so we had more.

I would love to go on about several different topics that are rattling around in my brain, but I am still adjusting to the time change. It caught me by surprise (??) this morning, after a very late night. Story for another post.

I am going to sign off, and go catch some ZZZZZ's

Back in the 21st Century

2009-02-02T20:44:00.002-06:00

Well, it is good to be back!!

we have been living the "old life" for the past week. On Monday Jan 26, our area got hit by the early front of a winter storm, coating the ground in sleet, and freezing rain, making travel by car somewhat treacherous. I managed to get home from school with very little trouble, but I didn't drive over 40 mph the whole way. Tuesday, I stayed home, rather than risk the 1 1/2 hour commute to Conway, on winding, slick highways. Tuesday, Jan 27, our region got hit by an ice storm that made the national news. Trees coated so heavily in "glass", nearly 1 inch thick! The "explosions" of breaking limbs and falling trees is something that defies sufficient description, until you actually hear it!

Bad enough to hear from inside the house, even more awesome when crashing yards away from you as you go to check vital systems and roads! We lost power just after dark, around 5 pm.

In a somewhat strange twist, not more than 30 minutes after our power went out, Michelle's mom called from California to ask us if we were out of power, and how long we thought we would be out. How does she do that??? We spent the night reading to each other, and listening to the explosions of splintering wood and shattering "glass", knowing the way our world would look the next morning :(

We are blessed on several points. 1)We do not currently have chickens, so we did not have to deal with farm houses during all of this, other than to make sure the big generators had diesel so that the heaters would run, keeping waterlines from freezing.

2)We have a gas stove, running water ("city water"), and a small fireplace, chainsaws and family close.

3)We have been instructed by Church leaders for how many decades to prepare for situations where we may have to rely on ourselves.

So we did what came easy. We roped up a big quilt across the opening between our family room and dining room, isolating that room to be heated by the fireplace. We took out the candles and lanterns, using flashlights that had been sitting next to us all day in preparation for the inevitable. We closed off all rooms, particularly my bedroom and bathroom, knowing that they work well as a "refridgerator" if the darkness lasts more than a day or two.

We laid out beds (lots of extra blankets) in front of the couch, found several books to read to each other, and settled in for a dark, but not so quiet night.

It takes a bit more planning to get things ready only on the gas stove, but we had yummy stews and chicken dumplings, warm cereal (mush) for breakfasts, Spaghetti, etc. Our only drawback on the range is that the oven has an electric ignition that will only stay on if it reads a certain temperature. This means we can't bake, but it is okay.

Having to boil water to get ready to wash dishes and hands is time consuming, but not fatal. Trying to bathe that way, however, gives me great appreciation for the pioneers who dealt with this lifestyle their whole lives. What a chore! Plus side....when only one is going to be out in public (me), we rotated bathing across those few days so that no one went more than 2 days without a bath, but we only had to deal with heating water for 2 or 3. I know, it sounds gross to anyone who has never experienced 4,5,6,10 days without electricity, but when you have been told to anticipate 2-3 weeks, you make some concessions!

I will keep trying to add pictures to this blog, but it is very slow loading pictures, so I have not had much success. I wish you could see my road the way I saw it Wednesday morning! For any who have been out here to Drasco, try to visualize 31 trees (at least as big as my thighs) across my road. I didn't even count branches and trees smaller than my legs. Many were bigger around than I am. All of them, every branch, every needle, every dead leaf covered in clear glass an inch thick!! Until they become so heavy they arch over into the road, or snap off midway up, or just simple fall over from the roots. It is one of the most spectacular sights you will see, to watch the sunlight shine thru a million glass orbs! It lights the world up like a gigantic (deadly) Christmas tree.

We finally got our power poles replaced, and lines connected and active on Saturday afternoon, nearly an exact 4 days after losing power.

This is starting to get long, but I would like to make one point: Preparation saves a lot of stress, and possibly lives. Some in our community were in a panic because they were losing everything in their freezers. ( it was 20-24 degrees each of the nights last week, and daytime highs thru Thursday were in the low 40's. let mother nature freeze it.) Others were stressing about paying hundreds of dollars to have trees cut away from driveways ( Don't you have a chainsaw?, you're my age!? I would do it for half that if you asked me, maybe even for free if your need was dire) Many were left in the dark when stores started running out of batteries and candles, waiting for new shipments which could be days away. But most importantly, people didn't know how to eat. What to cook without the microwave. Our little corner store was making dozens and dozens of pizzas every night for locals who didn't have food figured out.

If we had to rely on ourselves for more than a few days, how desparate would the situation be? In a major disaster, we can't rely on the government. We can't rely on immediate response even from our well meaning and overworked emergency service personnel. We can't even rely on the corner store pizza ovens. We may be isolated for 3-5 days in a major disaster.

Would you make it??

Chocolate diplomacy!

2009-01-24T21:54:00.002-06:00

I was reading some of Mom's posts from earlier, and had been reading the one about eating a snicker's bar. Now, anyone who knows me well knows I have a terrible sweet tooth. I like to claim that it keeps me young and smiling:) I know it also makes me look more and more like Santa Claus as I get older. If I let a beard grow out, it might even work, because my whiskers are a very definite white if I let them grow more than about 4 days. Don't worry Mom (or Michelle), I never intend to grow a beard. I get itchy after day 2. And I do intend to try to avoid reaching that body type.

I was enjoying the "discussion" of variations on eating candy bars, and it made me think of some experiences with my students. I have introduced my students to Swiss chocolate. Sorry, parents! Of all the European chocolate I have had during my time in Switzerland, or on any of my visits to Germany, my definite favorite is Lindt/Sprungli, the manufacturers of Lindor truffels. The bite size round balls of pure chocolate indulgence! I have been fortunate to try all of the varieties they make, except the dark/mint version, and all I can say is ..mmmmmmmmmmm:) :)

Over the years, I find it interesting that my students have begun to share my passion for fine chocolate. They have also learned some things about the fine people who make them, or at least the societies that produced them. It is an inspiring notion, that love of a small round confection can instill a sense of pleasant wonder about a culture and place far away from our own lives.

If we all had the opportunity to sample the "minor" delights of the world's many cultures, before we had a chance to see or hear of their many problems, I wonder if we would look at those places and people with slightly different eyes?

It is one of the many joys of teaching, the chance to expose students to a world much larger than the one they know, and to influence them in opening their minds to the many pleasantries of other cultures. If we took more time to find the beauty in other customs and creations, our world would be a much better place in which to live.

Also, as I think back on my students experiences with Lindor "Kugeln" (balls), the snickers test opens up diplomatic opportunities. I know some who will simply pop the whole thing in their mouth and chew it up almost immediately, to get the rush of rich velvety chocolate goodness. Others will let it melt slowly, because the type of chocolate Lindt makes has a magnificent richness to it, and as it melts slowly on your tongue, the rest of the world just melts into oblivion for a moment. Others will separate the outer layer from the "melting" chocolate filling, which has a special softness and richness that is distinct from the outer shell, but which can only be exposed to air for a few moments before it starts to liquefy. AND Oh My Gosh!, is it absolutely heavenly!!

I have overheard students discussing their favorite way to eat one of these wonders of the candy world, and have yet to hear an argument over which way is best. New ideas are tried, favorite methods discussed and relied upon, and generally ..."gushing" is the best word I can come up with. Some have stepped out of their "milk-chocolate" comfort zone to try something new ("dark", "extra dark", hazelnut, raspberry), just because they knew and liked the other.

Maybe if we could just get our world leaders to share a few moments with each other discussing their favorite way to eat a small piece of heaven, whether it be Lindor, snicker's or any other treat, they would be better able to see each other as friends. It's a thought I like to call chocolate diplomacy!

Still here!

2009-01-22T22:16:00.003-06:00

I have not fallen off the planet! I have not been arrested and put in jail! I have not broken both of my arms! We still have electricity at our house and the computer DOES still function!

It has simply been busy enough the past two weeks that the only times I can find to get on the computer long enough to do much of anything tend to be late at night. And then, my sporadic computer time splits between loading and reading any new e-mail messages (sometimes upwards of 20 messages), reading any new postings from my blog lists, such as Barb'sbabblings (mom), Janet's Garden Spot (Janet, obviously), Andrew and Kathy, and others. I sometimes have things to print for church, and I try to keep track of my travel group.

All of this takes way more time than I would like, because we still have slow dial up. I know, I know! The first thought each of you just had is some variation of "WHY?" "Why don't you get cable? Satellite? etc.? Feasability and function, that's why! Our location would make running cable a several hundred dollar job, if not thousands, since we are about 20 miles from the closest cable source that we know of. Satellite is simply too expensive to set up, and the monthly fee just to have the connection is not within our budget, to say nothing of the subscriber rates for this area. And, no, it is not worth it to have satellite TV in my opinion. we have enough issues with channel surfing as it is!

Some friends from church, who live in a similar situation over by Floral (15-20 miles away) have looked into satellite, and the best service is the equivalent of cell phone service that swings between 2 and 3 bars, with frequent drops. (this according to the tech from the satellite company in question!)

This requires significant time AND patience for any internet activity beyond a few e-mails. And when your average day starts at 5 am, sitting at the computer at 11 pm is not the best choice. And here the last few weeks, 11 pm has been about the only time I have been able to come near the computer. Which means I don't spend much home time on the computer.

I know if I ran down each individual day, I could find plenty of minutes that I could spend here, but when those times fall in between job, church, family and farm responsibilities, and I know that I would rather spend those "down" times with my wife and kids (when they're not running every which way but loose), then the desire to come fight the slowness just doesn't materialize.

At some point, hopefully in the not too distant future, I think I might just run through what for me is a fairly typical day. I may be the only one that finds it interesting when I do, but then again..... it is MY blog, isn't it? :)

Don't like the weather? Stick around!

2009-01-02T21:31:00.003-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

I hope you have had a great Christmas and New Year's holiday break! I know not everyone gets two weeks off at this time, but I hope you have enjoyed the time you had. I have been enjoying the time with my family. It is one of the many things I enjoy about being a teacher. Typically, when my kids are out of school, I am also out of school.

I have been sitting here at the end of the day, looking out on the glowing embers remaining from a huge fire in our backyard (more on that), waiting for feed trucks to come off the hill before I go do night time checks on the farm ("put the chickens to bed"), contemplating what, if anything, to write tonight.

I thought back on the holiday break, and decided on the weather. I know, I know, it seems like such a lame topic, but I live in Arkansas! Weather is a common topic of discussion, because there is always something to talk about. These past 2 (maybe 3)weeks are definitely a good example of same.

The last week of school in december started off a wild ride. Arkansas natives (sometimes called "Arkansans") are often heard to say, " if you don't like the weather, stick around awhile. It'll change. (Feed truck's coming off the hill, I will be back).

(40 minutes later)Okay, fed, and put to bed!

Anyway, the weather! 3 weeks ago today, the weather was fairly nice, but on the cool side of things. Just like you would expect for December. Monday, December 15 dawned cold and drizzly, at least here in Drasco. I drove down to school, and watched as the day got colder, and grayer, and wetter. Sleet is such wild stuff. I believe I described it once as tiny ice ball-bearings. Then it was announced that school would dismiss at 1:30. As I watched the sleet start to stick to edges of sidewalks and car windows, I knew I was in for a rough ride home.

Sleet, some snow, and light freezing fog for the next 2 days, most schools cancelled across the north and central part of the state. Then Thursday was cold, but fairly nice.

Friday Dec. 19, last day of school before break, testing for the last 15 students (okay, there were more, but not many). Gorgeous! Sunny, and a pleasant 70 degrees in Conway (or very close to it.) Drasco had 65 degrees or higher. There was talk of possible tornadoes.

Saturday was sunny but cool, and then Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before Christmas dawned cold! very cold. Sunday at church we had people saying they had 10-15 degrees showing at home. Monday, Bob (my father-in-law) said his porch thermometer showed 4 degrees at about 7 am when he got up to deal with a dog. I believed every bit of it, because puddles in the chicken house driveways had frozen solid enough to support our van. The day stayed cold, although fairly sunny. It took a 20-something ton feed truck to break the ice on those puddles Monday night. When I saw them Tuesday a.m., they were nearly 1 1/2 inches thick!!

Then over Christmas Eve, Christmas, and (for our British and Canadian friends) Boxing Day, we had more typical Arkansas December weather. Cool, mostly sunny, some wind and night-time fog or mist (not the German version).

We have enjoyed the week leading up to New Year's, with nice cool weather, allowing work in the yard, or just a pleasant walk down the road. These past 2 days, I finally had to actually do some work in the yard. Hey, I said the weather allowed it, I didn't say I did it!

I spent today dealing with some trees. I have 8 trees in my front yard that need to come down. 3 are dead, and threaten our small storage shed. The others are in the way of a planned construction of a shop for Michelle's seamstress business. After taking care of chicken house chores, breakfast, and some other miscellaneous things, I went to get the chainsaw and get started. Wouldn't you know, the best laid plans........

After drawing the starter rope 4-5 times to work the mechanism loose, the first strong pull snapped the rope! Bummer! After spending Nearly 2 more hours finding tools, rope and other parts, and about 30 minutes unwinding the twisted starter rope, I finally got the chainsaw started. We didn't have as much daylight as I needed to cut down all of my planned victims, but just to say I got something truly accomplished today, I took down the biggest of the 8.

We got it cut, Ian and I split it into good firewood, and it is now stacked nicely behind the house. To celebrate, we burned a huge pile of old rotting logs, and the smaller branches, creating the big bonfire I mentioned earlier. The wood pile was about 4 feet high, and as it burned down to coals, we thought it was a beautiful night for a wienie roast. That's how nice the weather was today. We had hot-dogs, and s'mores, and then sat around the fire for about an hour.

That was 4 hours ago, and I wouldn't want to go sit out around the glowing embers, or a big fire now. A very heavy fog has moved in, and everything is wet and cold.

I don't know what tomorrow's weather is supposed to be like, but if it is not what I want when I wake up, I just need to wait and see what it changes into.

Christmas memories

2008-12-24T15:20:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone reading this has had a good Christmas. I figure you are probably wrapped up (pun partially intended) in Christmas Eve activities, so Christmas day has probably passed. I am sitting here typing, because we have finished baking all the pies and cookies, veggie trays are chilling in the fridge, cheese logs and jello salads are just waiting to disappear, and everything has been wrapped, ribboned, placed under the tree ( and I should add), thoroughly inspected, shaken, measured, and re-placed.

SO, first things first!! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Now, on to some memories. As I was sitting, watching the Christmas Devotional from Salt Lake, I had two treats. First, President Uchtdorf talking about the Christmas traditions of his homeland in Germany. I have shared these traditions with many students, and enjoyed the simple customs myself, so it was fun to hear them recounted. Then when President Eyring spoke, the memories of home came flooding back. I have lots of great memories of our homespun Christmas Nativity pageant, and I guess I was naive to think that only a few families in the Church ever did that.

I can't recall the first memory of our pageant. I just know that it has always been a part of my own Christmas memories. Every Christmas Eve, the family would gather for our big feast. As a kid, I thought this was the coolest thing! We didn't have a big fancy meal (by other people's standards). We had a huge spread of our favorite snack crackers, jello salads, nuts, veggie platters and dip, chips, cookies, homemade cheese logs, etc. We also have our favorite Christmas "wassail", ours being the orange juice based version. (especially good when slurped hot through a broken candy-cane. try this at home, just be patient, it takes a few seconds to get anything past the peppermint)

I don't recall if Mom was pregnant with Janet, Cindy or Kathy when this tradition started, but she was not feeling up to a big meal, and decided that snacks and jello salads were something that she could tackle with the help of the oldest kids. It was such a hit, that it has become our Christmas Eve traditional meal. I'm sure it changed a bit over the years, but ours is still very close to those boyhood meals.

After the big meal, the kids would basically disappear into the bedrooms to prepare for our important part of the Chritstmas celebration. We would hand out roles for the Nativity pageant, which would take place in the front room for our devoted audience of Dad, Mom and Grandma Buckley. I don't remember what part I was given the year I fussed so much about wanting to be one of the "wise-guys". It was probably a shepherd or even a sheep. Costumes were not elaborate, but I must have thought the Jello-mold crowns were pretty cool. We had shepherds in towels and bathrobes (until the year Mom and Dad went to Israel one summer, then they were authentic headwear), wise men (and girls) wore fancier fabrics from Mom's sewing stash, and copper jello-molds, or stainless steel bowls for crowns. Angels were draped in white and garnished with tinsel and garlands. Joseph and Mary were robed simply in old soft blankets, and a doll usually filled the role of Christchild.

We would have our narrator (doubled as the Angel of the Lord, usually) read out of Luke chapter 2. The narration was sprinkled with appropriately placed Christmas hymns, and some more secular (although still appropriate) christmas songs, sung by Dad and Mom's own little (but growing) choir of "angels". We added key parts of the story as outlined in Matthew ch. 1, and always included key events taking place in this hemisphere, as given in 3 Nephi ch. 1.

I remember doing the nativity twice the year Tyler and Garret were born, so that each of them could be the Christchild. Tyler and Garrett just got home from missions! Michelle and I played the roles of Mary and Joseph with Justin as the baby Jesus when he was 4 weeks old. (can you believe he is 19 and getting ready to go on a mission??)

It was a beautiful way to remember the real reason we celebrate this season, and it gave me a great appreciation of the humble beginnings of our Savior's life. I have always felt that my family traditions have helped establish a firm foundation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can only hope that I pass these same tradtions on to my own children, and maybe, through sharing, others may come to a better relationship with their Savior as well.

May you all have a truly blessed Christmas season, and a joyous and prosperous 2009!!

Update on Snow!, and misc.

2008-12-19T22:10:00.002-06:00

I have to say, I may have painted an inaccurate picture of snow in Arkansas. I hope no one thought that our weather is like that more often than not. Or that we shut down at the first sign of white stuff.

I think the issue of snow days is really that we are not used to this stuff. Those of us who live, or have lived in colder and wetter climates.......(.okay, colder, Arkansas is technically a rain-forest region, based on avg. annual rainfall), have seen snow and ice that would bring Arkansas to a screaming and painful halt. I have driven through snow that is deep enough to create "door angel wings", even on the freeway. Those in the North-east have seen ice and sleet that I can only imagine.

The major difference in shutting down a state is our preparation or lack thereof. We only see one or two bad storms a year, and sometimes they are not so bad. So we do not devote much of our energy or money to preparing for such an event. We devote more energy to flooding issues, or preparing for tornadoes. These are the weather events that we face. If people in NY had a tornado, Arkansans would laugh at how bad people freaked out. Here, we are the butt of any jokes related to school closures for a mere inch of snow or sleet.

Oh, well, in California they also do earthquake drills.

NOW TO SHARE A FUNNEIR THOUGHT!!

We had a great day at school today (Dec. 19), preparing to go home for the Christmas Holidays. As more and more students we called over the intercom, I noticed that the office staff started referring to the "new office". We have been renovating the school this year. More accurately, we have been renovating part of the old building. Last year we opened a new campus, but have worked and taught around construction. The construction is nearly over.

Something about the new office reminded me of some funny language mistakes I have heard, seen and made over the years. The Office has a sliding door, and talking about it with other teachers reminded me of my time in Switzerland.

:) When my missionary companion was transferred from my first area, he went to Germany, and the best way from our location was to take a ferry across the Bodensee (Lake Constance for us Anglos). We went together, because my new companion was coming on that ferry from another location. While riding the ferry back across the lake, one of the younger missionaries wanted to go inside. He stepped up to the door and pushed, and pushed, to no avail. Trying to stay "cool", he started to pull. And pull, and pull. Apparently finding this amusing, a small kid, probably 6-7 walked over, pointed to a sign and read outloud, "schieben"while SLIDING the door open for our flustered friend. :)

:) Another time, while working our way through a farming community, my companion and I had decided to work our language skills by including some weather-related comment in each conversation we started. It was my turn, and the old farmer that opened the door was very pleasant and patient. I introduced myself, and stating that I had come all the way from America to share an important message, I mentioned how much I liked the country, its beautiful mountains, the friendly people, and how green and lovely everything was. It was a pretty morning, with light clouds and a hanging fog that just seems to grip[ the trees, but in the sunlight is very stiking. People in Arkansas should be able to picture this. we have these mornings quite often.

I commented about the beautiful "mist" hanging in the trees, and immediately knew I had said something wrong. My comp started snickering, and the old farmer broke into a huge grin, and then they both started laughing as the man took me by the shoulders, walked me over to the corner of the farmhouse, and pointing down the side to the barn and the huge manure pile said (translated) "that right there, that's "mist"! :)

:) A later memory has to do with temperature. I was training a new missionary, and we had been invited to the Bishop's house for dinner. For those unfamiliar, Bishop is the title for the leader of our church congregations called wards. In other circles he would be called minister, priest, rabbi, etc.

Anyway, the Bishop had 3 children as I recall. 2 teenage daughters, and a preteen son. To set this up, I have to comment that the daughters were both rather good looking. I was talking with the Dad, and my comp was talking with the kids while mom finished putting things in bowls to bring out to the table. It was a warm day near the end of summer. All I remember is hearing my comp finish something with "ich bin sehr heiss".

The reaction was slow-motion and hilarious. Dad and I paused, then had to fight back the smiles. The daughters were turning a shade of beet-red and looking shocked. Brother was sucking air in like someone had punched him. Mom, who had come in the room at just the wrong moment, stopped in shock, dropped a plate of rolls, and looked like she was trying to decide whether or not to breathe.

The joke is that in German saying "Es ist mir warm" means (I'm in need of a cool breeze). "Ich bin heiss" translates essentially as (I'm really hot, ready to go, feeling frisky, etc.).

The two girls took a few weeks before they would really talk to my comp again. Mom never was quite as friendly as she had been. :)

Snow Days!! (Arkansas style)

2008-12-16T14:48:00.002-06:00

This topic is a cause for celebration from many a school age child! That magical announcement that comes, sometimes quickly, sometimes way too slowly. That 'moment of truth', when the ever-powerful, and annoyingly slow "they" (that is, the school district administrators) announce what all of the rest of us see as the inevitable.

"They" have announced that, due to the weather, school will be:
..dismissed early today, bus routes will be reduced to 'inclement weather policy'
...cancelled for tomorrow (or whatever)
...2 hour delayed start

Or Whatever!! we have all been watching the weather! We KNOW what is coming, and that it would be 'dangerous', 'irresponsible', or maybe just highly annoying for them to NOT cancel school. As my own children and my students are adding in their own minds......"especially on a day we were all going to be taking tests:)"

Yes, there is cause for some celebration! For some, it is the timing. Could it be more perfect? School cancelled on the day before semester tests begin, knowing that if a student has earned exemption from those tests, this counts as the first day of Christmas break! (yes! I called it CHRISTMAS break!! Not sorry, not following the PC line.)

For others, it is the first significant winter weather, and that in and of itself is important. My own children look forward to the first snow with great anticipation. I myself don't enjoy snowfall for the same reasons as my kids, but I enjoy the quiet whisper of falling snow. The softly whistling wind (hopefully), and the calming glow that happens as every stray bit of light is reflected in a million softly falling flakes. KNowing that the only reason anyone would expect me to go out is to take care of those essential farm systems and checks that keep our farm running. Otherwise, I can sit and read a book, or work online, or read e-mail, or just "veg" in front of a movie.

Well, I said this was SNOW DAY ARKANSAS STYLE! The anticipation is there, the joy in missing school happens, but some of the other stuff.....well, let's just say that softly falling snow is less common. The stuff around here that is more likely to cause school closures and those at- home-times is sleet or ice. Pretty in its way, but more accurately described as pretty treacherous. It falls fast and hard (stings like crazy on bare necks and ears when walking outdoors to handle farm chores, so bundle up.), and takes very little time to cover things in a "blanket" of tiny little ice balls. Once accumulated, driving is iffy at best. Cars that have had time to sit, usually require a hefty tug-o-war just to get doors open, and windshields, window-wipers and mirrors are useless if you don't have 1. A good scraper, 2. some decent chemical de-icer, and/or 3. a really good defrost sytem in your car.

Roads or driveways that are sloped can become impassible very quickly. Imagine the effect of tiny ball-bearings made of ice. One year, Bob and I couldn't get to our job at Skil because the sleet had coated our driveway to a point that nothing short of tanktreads would make it up his driveway. ( to illustrate, we walked to all our farm houses, but had to drive screws through the soles of our boots to have enough traction to even do that.) strap on Ice spikes for shoes are not readily available in most of the stores I've looked in.

I like playing in REAL snow for short periods, but I enjoy the "snowbound" life even better. A big mug of hot chocolate, maybe baking some cookies, even playing video games with the kids. Or the soup! Yes, I said "the soup"!!

At my house, winter weather is our favorite time to put on a big pot of soup. And I mean BIG! Michelle and I use one of those 5 gallon soup pots, and I like to go at least 1/2 to 3/4 full when I cook soup. I guess I could say (should anyone be surprised?) that our house favorite is chicken dumplings. Yes, we have access to chicken. Our big pot usually fills up with about 12-15 big spuds, a package of carrots, several onions, whatever celery we have in the house, spices, etc., and 3-5 lbs. of diced chicken. And as anyone in our family would tell you. The best thing about a big pot of dumplings is that there is more for later, and it just gets better each time you add to it and reheat it.

Speaking of which, it is time to eat, and a big bowl of chicken dumplings is sounding really good!!

On a more serious note!

2008-12-13T22:05:00.002-06:00

This has been a hard week for us! One of the men in our Branch (that's what we call a small congregation in our Church) had a massive heart attack the Sunday before Thanksgiving. His situation has led to some deep and reflective thinking.

Without giving too much detail, I do want to share some of the main ideas that he and I have talked about this past week. By the way, I should say that it is good that we have talked. The day I heard of his plight, he was already on the respirator and drugged pretty heavily before I had time to get to the hospital. That is one of the disadvantages of living so many miles from the places where we do things. I like living out here in the middle of the woods, and I can even say that I find satisfaction in the farming work. But sometimes, driving 30-65 miles to take care of either school or church events gets a bit troublesome. Especially when work is 60 miles one direction, and church is about 30 miles the opposite direction from our house.

Anyway, our friend was in no condition to talk when I got there. He had so many tubes in him, he was hard to recognize, and obviously, talking was out of the question for him. He opened his eyes when I spoke, but it was unsure if he really knew what was going on, or if he recognized me.

The next time I came back, he seemed more responsive, but still tubed up, and no talking. I feel like he knew what was going on, though, because he started to get teary-eyed when I said I needed to leave. He shook his head ever so slightly, so I just couldn't leave. The prognosis was not good, and they were just trying to stabilize him enough to transfer to a hospital in Little Rock, but the staff didn't think he would reach a point where transfer would be possible.

Two agonizing days later, the family decided to take him off the respirator, and leave the rest in our Heavenly Father's hands. I made a point to go visit him as soon as I could. He had been off the machines for about 6 hours by the time I got to the hospital, so he was talking just a bit. Breathing was his major activity. He was still not doing well, and as we visited, I realized how well he understood his situation. He said if he made it through the night, he would probably make it for at least a few days more.

The next words out of his mouth, however, are a tribute to his dedication and sense of duty. He has a responsibility of making our weekly bulletins for church. He has been doing this for many years, as it is one of few things his overall health (and that of his wife) would allow. He brings a wonderful spirit to our meetings even on the weeks he is not present, by the thoughts and scriptures he shares in the bulletin.

After commenting on how important the morning would be for his outlook, he asked me to have sister H come to see him the next morning (strong faith, huh?), so that he could explain to her where all of his materials and copies were for the next 3 weeks bulletins. That's dedication!

They finally got him stable enough to transfer to the specialist in LR on Monday, but by Thursday, they had sent him back to Batesville. Surgery was just not in the picture, and there was no good reason to keep him in LR. He and his wife are now situated in a nursing care facility.

When I visited with them today, we talked for some time about the things in life that bring real joy. We spoke also about the importance of keeping an open line of communication with God. My friend "L" knows that he is living on borrowed time, but then again, aren't we all? If we put our relationship with our family and our Heavenly Father in proper order, reaching the end of this life doesn't have to be a scary thing. We commented on the simple truth stated in a country song my daughter likes. "everybody wants to go to Heaven, but noboby wants to go now!"

Our friend 'L" may stick around for a awhile, yet, but when his time comes, he has his priorities in place. He only wants to go knowing that he hasn't left anything undone here that Heavenly Father wants him to do, and he asked again today that someone be called to take over on the bulletins in the event that he is no longer able. Still wanting to make sure that his responsibility is managed. :)

It is comforting to know that death is only a temporary goodbye, not a permanent, that is eternal, change.

Blowing things up!

2008-12-11T22:37:00.002-06:00

This post is a request from many curious teenage minds, but before I start, I have to offer 2 disclaimers.

1--These are my memories. This is the way I remember the events I am about to describe, as crazy as some may sound. If any of you reading have more specifics (like the fishy backyard thing from Magna), I encourage your input so that these stories may be as accurate as possible. These stories are embellished for entertainment effect, but I am trying not to add any embellishment to the actual events.

2--I do not encourage any of these activities. I recognize, even in the telling, that these represent some of the stupid things I did as a teenager, that could have landed me in legal trouble, if not the hospital (or morgue). I claim no responsibility, should any of my younger readers play stupid, and attempt any of these activities. (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!)

I have to add a #3--Mom, Dad, sorry! I didn't think you "needed" to know about these as I was growing up, so I hope you simply enjoy them for the "entertainment". And please remember: Like the "Swiss Ice-hole" incident, I am still here to write this, and (hopefully) much the wiser for the experience.

Okay, that all said, here is the story of helping a friend blow up a truck.

One of my school friends, we'll call him "D" had an old beater truck. A chevy LUV. Some of you may even remember those. It was a piece of junk, and getting to a point where he just wanted to get rid of it. He couldn't sell it, and keeping it would have been impractical.

He decided to blow it up. I should comment, "D" was probably my most 'different' friend. Most of my group were pretty straight-laced. Our major prank of stealing a classroom (see one of my ealier posts) was really harmless, and about the most serious thing we ever did together. None of us got much into drinking, only one started smoking, and nearly all of us were active in our respective churches. We had reps of each of these following churches: Catholic, Baptist, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Episcopal, Methodist, and Jewish. "D", on the other hand, didn't go to church much, as far as I know. He dabbled in drugs, mostly stuff like pot, but he was still in tight with our group of friends.

Now, back to the explosion decision. "D" was a subscriber to the earlier versions of Newsletters aimed at pyromaniacs and "baby terrorists". ( the kind of kids who like to play with chemicals, and see what they can make blow up, burst into flames of different colors, create cool smoke, etc.). He had found a recipe for a concoction that would work like a time bomb. Certain easily available chemicals, injected into a pingpong ball would take about 2-3 minutes to achieve enough heat to both melt the ball and potentially create combustion.

So, the plan....Drive this beater out to the foothills around Breckenridge, or somewhere out between Comanche road and the mountains, find an empty field, and drop the ping-pong ball into the gas tank.

Well, several of us drove his truck and the "get away" cars out to a place behind some of the orange orchards, several miles outside of town. We were all just chatting and getting ready for the main event. "D" injected his chemicals into the ball, and had just dropped it into the gas tank opening, stopped short with a look of terror on his face, and said "oh sh--!!, I wasn't thinking, and I filled the gas tank on the way out here!! Run for it!!" :) :)

The fireball would have made Hollywood proud!

The drive back to town was very nerve-wracking, because we just knew the first emergency vehicle to pass us was going to know our involvement and chase us down. We managed to talk each other into driving calmly, as if nothing had happened. Good luck! The smoke plume was visible for several miles! About halfway back to town, sirens, flashing lights, pounding hearts! Whoosh! right past us!

Then came the second fire truck, followed closely by a sheriff's deputy. Whoosh! Whoosh!, still pounding hearts, and lots of anxious looks in the rearview mirrors. Somehow, we made it, and believe it or not, "D" had removed his license plates, and the fire must not have spread, because that is the last I know about that event. No phone calls, no police visits, just some great fireworks, and good heart exercise!! What a bunch of morons! But boy did we have some fun times!

ONE MORE TIME! DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!! (without parental supervision?) :)

Thanksgiving from Arkansas

2008-12-02T18:29:00.004-06:00

I have been enjoying reading my family's posts about Thanksgiving, and thought I would add my voice. There are some great memories of wonderful feasts in Bakersfield rattling around in my brain. I remember how much we anticipated Wednesday afternoon, for the bell to ring so that school was out. Yes, I also lived "way back in the day" when Thanksgiving break consisted of Thursday and Friday. We may have "experimented" with a Wed./Thur./Fri. break my Junior or senior year in high school, but I would have to get some input from siblings on that memory. I can't remember ever thinking a week was normal for this vacation.

I guess it may not be "normal" still. My own children have been getting the wed-fri version of vacation at Concord, but my school district in Conway likes to take the whole week. They usually try to make it "productive", by offering professional development for the staff. We have days known as "flex" days that can be earned at an earlier time, and used to allow the whole week off. This year, I wanted to make sure I cover my required 60 hours of PD early in the year, so I opted to take the hours of instruction.

So Monday and Tuesday were pretty much spent. Good presentations, though. I am thankful that I didn't feel the need to grade tests to keep awake.

Wednesday, we get to start our preparations for the big feast. We have tried to keep up some of our family traditions by having dinner with family here. Bob and Phyllis usually invite over Bob's sister Robbie, and we have a dinner with the 10 of us.

Standard fare for this part of the family, Turkey, ham, dressing, corn on the cob, greenbean casserole, lots of pies, sweet potato dishes, mashed potatoes and Benjamin's favorite dish of all: chicken/broccoli/cheese casserole. Of course my job is to bake a big batch of Mom's "sweet dough" rolls, which bake up so light and yummy.

But one difference that might seem unusual. WE LOVE DEEP-FRIED TURKEY!!! I enjoy a good roasted turkey like Mom's, (she really did figure out the secrets with that roaster pan), but here in the Mid-south we deep fry everything. (have you ever heard of deep-fried twinkies? deep-fried snickers? deep-fried coke?? ) Well, turkey fries up "real nice". And Bob has found some great marinades and injectibles like Jalepeno-butter and such. You might not believe how moist and succulent a butter-injected-deep-fried turkey comes out. And just think about that great fried skin with all that marinated flavor sealing in all that juicy goodness!!! Oh man, I just ate way too much of it 4 days ago, and I am getting hungry all over again. You really have to try this sometime!! (ps, don't stuff it!, roast another bird if you just have to have stuffing-in-bird, or roast a chicken, stuffed.)

And the desserts! Pies, Pies and more Pies!! This year, even Elizabeth got in on the action. Michelle baked some absolutely beautiful Pumpkin and apple pies, Phyllis created a wonderful Blueberry pie, as well as a cherry pie dessert, but Elizabeth and I still wanted cherry pie. Elizabeth had baked pies at school for a service club, so she created a beautiful lattice-topped cherry pie for our feast.

I am grateful for the many talented people in my life, and I am thankful that we live in a country where we can enjoy nature's bounty in such a wonderful way. It also makes me feel good that we, as a country can help so many other people in the world. I know many do not have what we have, but this country, because of the good people in it, has done so much good for so many in the world. They may not all like us, but I wonder how much they would "hate us" if we suddenly stopped all the generous support that we offer so many countries.

This is a great country, and we should be thankful for our heritage and our place in the world!

Vote intelligently, PLEASE!!

2008-11-26T15:14:00.002-06:00

I shared this story with my classes recently, but I thought I would add it here, as well.

With all the furor over this last presidential election, and all the controversial issues that also were voted on, I have spent some time talking to my classes about it. I know, German teacher, but this stuff is really way more important than German in the big picture, and becoming a globally aware citizen really has to start with being aware of your local and national surroundings first.

As any who know me will attest, my political leanings are conservative, which is typically (though not always) represented best by people in the Republican party. My students, particularly those who lean more democrat will hopefully remember that our real purpose of these discussions is never , has never been, nor ever will be, to push you to accept my views. My purpose has always been to encourage voting from a base of knowledge and logic, not emotion and hype.

We have many discussions about the politics of Nazi Germany, and the Cold War era, and political responsibility in America the Beautiful. I am very open about my views, but I am even more open in pushing students to explore their own beliefs, opinions and ideas, and make sure that their future votes are cast for people and laws that represent those views. Preferably without infringing on the beliefs, opinions, and ideas of others.

I have even been heard to say,"If you believe communism is the best thing for this country, then vote for a communist, but know why you're doing it!" That is the beauty of our system. Hope it stays that way forever!

I feel like we had a huge amount of emotional politics going on this cycle, and that bumper-stickers and sound bites drove many people's votes on both sides of many issues. I am trying so hard to get my students (ages 14-17) to be ready to be intelligent voters when they are old enough.

I wish we would all do more in that regard. I overheard something at the polling place that frustrated me, and I thought I would share.

I was standing there on Nov. 4th, waiting my turn, when a couple came up behind me. Now, remember, this is small town Arkansas, so I am aware of who these people are, and they are at least vaguely familiar with me. (Their daughter is one of Michelle's former best clients). As we stood there, they started discussing how they were going to vote. I will try to recreate the conversation.

"So, who are we going to vote for?"

"Well, we want the guy who said XXXXXXXXXXXX, and stands for XXXXXX, right?"

"Yeah, I think so!" "Now , wasn't that (this guy)?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Okay, so we're voting for (this guy), right?"

At this point I was beginning to be uncomfortable, because the guy they thought stood for XXXXXXXX, was actually the other guy. But, being at the pols, and not being married to either of them, I would be out of line to turn and say something. It might be considered "campaigning at the polling place".

Then, they started discussing some of the proposals and amendments that we had on our ballot. The conversation went something along these same lines.

"Now, how are we voting on this act?"

"I'm not sure. What does it mean?"

"I think it means this, XXXXXXXXXX, and we should vote for it."

"Are you sure, I thought it meant this, XXXXXXXXX and we should vote against it."

"I' don't know, let's read it." Pause to read "Well, heck, I don't understand a word of that."

"So does it mean we should vote for it or against?"

"I don't know, I think we should vote against it."

"OK"

This went on the whole time I stood there, and on at least 3 different items, their understanding of the proposal ( or lack thereof) led them to vote against their own views by mistake. (assuming that they went on to vote the way they talked). Irrelevant whether I agreed with their views or not, it was everything I could do to keep from turning and screaming (as politely as possible), "Please just drop the ballot, turn around and GO HOME!!!"

Add my memories

2008-11-26T14:36:00.003-06:00

I just got through reading Janet's post about gardening in Magna. I know I was only 4 when we left to move to Bakersfield, but I have a few very vivid memories of Magna, and few that I only remember from stories told about me.

About the backyard.... I remember the irrigation ditch, and the times the yard was flooded. I didn't remember that it was a raspberry bramble, but I do remember playing "hide and seek" in some bush in the middle of the yard. I can recall all the apricots, and I am sure I was a happy participant in Apricot wars.

What I really remember, though, is the fish. I have a recollection coming out in the yard one day. It may have been morning, I don't know, and seeing the yard covered in shallow water, and what to me looked like hundreds of fish flopping around!! I was so excited! I helped Mom and ???? gather up as many as we could find. I was sharing this memory with Mom a while back, and she verified for me that my perspective wasn't totally skewered by age. We gathered up a big potful of fish, one of those black enameled canning pots, or Mom's large stew pot (remember family of 11 needs a big soup pot).

I don't remember what kind of fish (probably a catfish variety), or even if I enjoyed eating them. I was only 3 at the time, and probably not really fond of fish, but I will always remember the magical moment of coming into the yard and seeing that beautiful harvest!

Another memory that I have of Magna is really basic, and may sound lame, but that's how memory goes from age 3 sometimes. It was probably David (my oldest brother for non-family readers), that was into the "creepy-crawlers" fad at the time. If you are under 40, you may not know what I'm talking about. You could purchase molds, and materials and make your own custom designed rubber bugs and spiders and snakes, oh my!

What I remember more than the crawlers, was the smell. I will never forget that aroma of melting (and sometimes scorching) rubber based materials that came out of the molds. You could use all kinds of colors, and make the most rainbow bugs in the universe! I still think of creepy-crawlers evertime I smell the aroma of burning plastics.

The most repeated story of my life in Magna, though, revolves around Dad's rsponsibilities as Bishop of our Ward in Magna. We lived just across the street from the Church building (kitty-cornered, if I recall correctly, but it's not critical). As Bishop, Dad would spend many hours at the church, or dealing with the responsibilities of a church leader. I guess in my own little 1-2 yr. old brain, that registered in an important way.

According to Mom, one night around 2-3 am, she had a neighbor lady knock on our door carrying a small diaper-clad, tow-headed kid. This good sister had woken from sleep and just glanced out her bedroom window to see me toddling along in the church parking lot. She came over and found me wandering from door to door of the building. She didn't recognize me, ( there were at least 2 large wards sharing the building, and she was in one of the other wards), and when she had asked my name, "Scott" probably wasn't enough. I couldn't say my last name yet, at least not well enough to be recognized by a stranger. When she asked what my Mommy's name was, I replied "mommy", same thing for "daddy", naturally. I couldn't tell her where I lived, or really, anything else about me.

She finally got some help when she asked where my daddy lived. My response " at da Chuwch" led her to think of Bishops, and she was able to deduce which Bishop lived closest to the building.

Small Town America

2008-11-17T21:08:00.002-06:00

I am sitting here tonight, not really wanting to watch TV, not quite ready to go to bed, and I have so many things that I really NEED to start doing, that I have no desire to even think much about doing them. Is that a bad attitude? Am I unusual in wanting to avoid thinking of a long list of Chores? They will all get done, because they have to get done, but I just don't want to do any of them tonight.

So I have been reading some of Mom and Janet's blog posts. ( That's my oldest sister, for those not familiar with the Wahlquist clan). I enjoy reading them to see what memories of my youth come into print. If you want to check these out, they are found at www.Barbsbabblings.blogspot.com and .......... darn it, I can't remember the URL for Janet's. You can link to it in blogs I follow at the side of this post.

I didn't really come into this with a specific idea, but I was reading Mom's post about family get- togethers in Utah, and her growing up in Missouri, and it kind of got me thinking about the places I have lived.

I can't really say I grew up in small town America, because Bakersfield CA is only pushing the 400 K population mark. It hovered around 250-350 K during the years I was there, but that didn't include all of the unincorporated areas that might be described as "suburbs". We lived kind of out on the East side of town, away from the hustle and bustle of downtown and industry, and so in many ways, it felt much like a "small town" to me.

Of course, Hollywood tried to help reinforce that small town image. Any time Bakersfield gets mentioned in movies or TV shows, and it frequently does, it is mentioned in such a way as to paint it as a small (even "hick-) town somewhere removed from LA, and the other major cities of California. It's about 2 hours north of LA

I was okay with that. I liked growing up in Bakersfield. Those who still live there may not be seeing this yet, but if you do at some point, know that there are things that only Bakersfielders understand. For example, the idea that you might drive around a major parking lot for 15 minutes to get the shady spot under the tree at the far end of the parking lot. That leather seats are not always considered a luxury, especially in July, but that Vinyl seats can be considered cruel and unusual punishment in that same month.

That it is not only possible, but highly likely that you will go for years without seeing any water under the bridges that span the Kern River, as it goes through town. That Kern County Fair will beat nearly every state fair in the country for rides, crowds, celebrity appearances, and exhibits. Man I miss the Kern County Fair!

Well, I moved from "small town Bakersfield", and went to Utah to attend BYU. Provo is not really a small town, but it was always going to be a temporary stay. After spending our first year out of college together in Bakersfield, where did we end up? Small town Utah. Payson boasted about 15,000, and we enjoyed 7 good years. We had lots of space, I was not afraid to let the kids ride bikes down the streets, and Our back yard was laid out in such a way that we only saw the mountains out our back windows. We even had a "creek" running through the back end of our lot, in a place that was such that you could not see any of our neighbors' houses. Space for a small fruit orchard ( 12 trees), and a large garden. Not a bad way to live.

Then the crazy move to Arkansas. Many of the family remember the whirlwind of that summer we decided to move out here to become chicken farmers. It all happened in a few short weeks. We felt totally prompted to make the move, and we really felt like our circumstances were blessed to help the transition be smooth. Then we got here, and our faith was tested over and over. Long stories for another time. These tests, I feel, were to prove to us that we still felt the prompting to be here. In spite of all the trials of that first and second year, (some that had me threatening quietly to pack the family into our car and figure out belongings later), we still knew that we belonged in small town Arkansas.

And I mean small town!! Drasco has a whopping population of about 200. And we are spread out enough that many of us have 1/4 mile or more between neighbors. And you know, I really enjoy the solitude and the simplicity. Not ease, just simplicity. There is something therapeutic about cutting down 2 acres of hardwood forest to create a "homestead". About knowing that I know nearly everyone that comes down our road, as long as I know the neighbor's children. About knowing my childrens' teachers and where they live and who they are because I know several generations of their family. About knowing that I can find solitude and quiet in the trees, if ever life gets too "noisy".

Our town is not backwoods, our life is not deprived of niceties, but we are also pretty self-sufficient. When times get tough, I'd much rather be in small town America. It is called "Heart-land" for a reason. It still shows the true "Heart" of what this country is all about: Opportunity, growth, friendship, hard work, and ingenuity.

Pay Now, or Pay Later!

2008-11-15T19:58:00.002-06:00

As we have been watching the unfolding economic troubles of the world, and listening to the ongoing political rhetoric that springs from it, something that I heard said many years ago comes to mind. I don't remember where I heard it, or who said it, and I'm sure this comment, or many like it can be attributed to many different people.

I'm sure that I heard my Dad or my Grandpa say this at least once growing up, and probably several times as I reached young adulthood. It is a concept that society as a whole seems to have forgotten.

What is at the center of the economic crisis? Credit! So-called "toxic loans". Banks and other major companies "cooking" their books to show higher profits. Many consumers declaring bankruptcy to bail out of loans they probably knew they would be unable to pay in the first place. Government encouraging/requiring/guaranteeing loans to people who would be considered a bad credit risk under any other circumstance. Well guess what? It is crashing down around us. Why??

Because we as a society have forgotten a very basic principle of success. (Both financially and otherwise) Pay now, or pay later. And pay later is usually the bad end of the deal. There is always a "premium" on the quick fix, the instant gratification. If we attempt shortcuts in athletics, for example, we see drug use, steroid abuse or just plain cheating, (although the last one is maybe harder to get away with). Practice takes time, and we don't like things that take time.

In terms of our health, many choose to have expensive surgery, or take experimental and sometimes risky meds, in order to drop weight that often could be shed with better diet, exercise and some serious soul searching. But that takes time! We don't like things to take time.

In a school setting, if we don't want to put in the time necessary to learn something now, but we want the GPA to get to a good college, we see students resort to cheating. Using online sources as if they were our own work. Turning in a paper done by a friend, trusting that their spellchecker caught all mistakes. (Yes I have seen papers IDENTICAL down to the misplaced comma, or a misspelled word.) Doing our own research takes time, and we don't like things that take time.

In the financial world, most of us are not crooks. We would never steal money outright, and the majority of us would even return money we found, if we could. It still gives me hope that we hear stories of people getting their wallets back with hundreds in cash still in the pocket. Of course, maybe we hear about it because it is becoming less common. We commonly make the mistake, though, of wanting something so badly right now, that we change that "want" to a "need". In our country, we have an average of nearly $3000 consumer debt per household, not including car and house loans. We could save up for it, but that takes time, and we don't like things to take time. We want them "right nooooooooooooooooow", to quote Veruca Salt, of Willie Wonka fame.

Can you hear our country and our government screaming? "We want it right nooooooooooooooooow"? Remember what happened to dear, sweet Veruca?

Selective hearing

2008-11-10T21:22:00.002-06:00

I have to laugh! :) Teenagers and their selective hearing! Today in one of my classes, a student was searching for a particular word. Another was helping them, and when they found it, they started to spell outloud: " V-E-R-F-U,'Umlaut'-H".....at which point another student 2 rows over, piped in in with "Who's 'Umlaut', and what did they do to you to deserve that?" At least I know their hearing works, if only selectively.

This is not the only crazy statement I have had from students. Late in the school year last Spring, I had one of my seniors feeling kind of uncooperative. She was generally a good student (at least for me), but I think senioritis had struck. We were getting ready to do a verbal practice, and she stated very matter-of-factly: "Herr Wahlquist, I can't do this exercise, I don't speak verbally".

On another occasion, I had a student working on a vocabulary and short phrase worksheet. He was getting somewhat frustrated, and commented, more to the air than to anyone in particular: "Man, this would be so much easier if I spoke German!" :) :)

Lucky we survived II

2008-11-04T21:30:00.004-06:00

We have other things that seem like We are being protected from our own youthful stupidity. I had an experience while serving as a missionary in Switzerland. I may not have even told my parents about this one, yet, so Mom, Dad, if this is news, just remember, I am still here!

We had been given permission to travel on our "preparation Day", the day we normally did laundry, wrote letters home, went shopping, cleaned the apartment ,etc., on condition that we return by a certain time. We had chosen to go to a beautiful mountain lake not far from where we were assigned. The hike would climb about 1500 feet from the last tram(cable car) station, to an elevation of about 6000 ft. It was still cool enough in shadows of the mountains that this lake was still frozen solid enough to hold a small car, even though we were comfortably dressed in t-shirts, some of the group wore bermuda shorts, and we all wore our "tennis shoes" to hike in.

Next to this lake, a waterfall dropped off the mountain, falling about 100-150 ft., not into a basin or outlet stream, but into a hole carved by eon's of erosion. A local told us it was supposed to be around 700 ft deep, before it started sideways, but no one had really explored it, because there was always moving water and/or ice.

That day, the hole was surrounded by a mound of ice and snow that formed a huge bowl around the crevice. The hole was about 8-10 feet across, and sheeted in ice formations from the minor trickle of water that was part of the early spring run-off above. It was sooo beautiful! We wanted to get a closer look. A couple of us climbed the mound, slipping and sliding, having to retrace our steps more than once, having slipped to the bottom because of the ice and snow.

At the top of this ridge surrounding the bowl, we stopped to try a picture. I wanted to try and get a look down inside the hole, so I was holding my camera as far over my head as I could. I decided that it was still too flat. I took 3 steps down into the bowl, and got what turned out to be a spectacular photo. I climbed back up, and the first step outside of the bowl, my foot slipped on the ice, and I slid all the way to the bottom of the mound!

As I stood up, the realization of my stupidity hit me! The inside of that bowl was every bit as slick as the outside, and the "bottom" of the bowl ended in a cold black hole reportedly 700 feet deep!!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!

I have had many a nightmare about that choice, but it has also been a lesson for me. Sometimes, things seem enticing, exciting, and we fail to see the danger (sometimes even obvious danger). If we step too close, we may end up losing any ability to bail ourselves out. I honestly believe I was being protected that day, from my own bad choice, and I vowed that I would not put myself in that kind of danger again. Either physically or spiritually.

Lucky to have survived, lesson learned!

Lucky we survive!

2008-11-04T20:26:00.002-06:00

Well, here it is, November 4, 2008. Election Day! I have done my duty and voted, we have finished selling chickens, supper is finished, and I really don't wish to sit and listen to the TV talking heads continually go on about "not being ready to project results, but here are our projected results so far."

I am fully aware of the significance of this election, and feel frustrated at the apparent lack of awareness by way too many people. Like I said elsewhere, people who want socialism (or any other system), and vote for it knowledgably have that right. Too many don't seem to recognize what is at stake with that trend. Take for example more than one conversation overheard at the polling place for my voting district. I will not give specifics, but it is mirrored around the country, I am sure.

While waiting with others to vote, couple X discusses the candidates and other proposed amendments on the ballot. Item one "now who were we voting for? And he wants ...this... right? I'm not sure, but he seems better than the other guy." Item two, between two friends "what does this proposal mean? I don't know, but we need to vote against that one, I think."

I will wake up tomorrow and go about my daily routine, and if things in this country start to change, it will be even more important for like minded people to share their thoughts and feelings about politics in this country. Things will go on, America will muddle through. The people will at some point face challenges that will remind us what this country has always been about. There may be some really bad days ahead, there may be some really good ones, and America will make it, as long as Americans continue to be strong and push America to greatness.

While talking about survival, the big picture, I have also had opportunity to think about other things, which will take my mind off the political craziness that is today.

Kids, and injuries, and "aren't we lucky we survived?" I have had more students with injuries this year, than any other year teaching. One student shredded his arm doing mixed martial arts, and will be in therapy for several more weeks. Another student broke something in his foot or ankle, and came in today upset, because the doctor had originally told him that he should put weight on it ASAP. Now they have decided it was something different, and he really shouldn' t have been putting any weight on it at all. He will be on crutches for an additional 4-6 weeks because of the mistake.

Another student has torn something in her ankle ( I think), and has been hobbling around in one of those hard "boots" for the last 2 weeks. One student broke his arm skateboarding earlier this year. To say nothing of the many twists and sprains and bruises that are typical of high school athletics. The one that reminded me most of teenage injuries was a student who came today with a broken wrist.

Another student asked him if he broke it punching a wall, and that reminded me of my friend Ron. We had been friends since Kindergarten. He, and Rick and I had been nearly inseperable all those years through High School. We had other friends that joined our group later, like Brian and Martin, and the list goes on.

But one of Ron's injuries came flooding back when my student was asked if he had punched a wall. We were in the 7th or 8th grade, attending Sierra Junior High in Bakersfield CA. Life was good, and we were all feeling pretty comfortable. Ron had developed a crush on this really cute girl that we all liked. He had tried several times to get her to go out with him, but she had refused. More than once! Ron persisted, and one morning right as school started, he made what was to be his final attempt.

She shot him down so hard, it shook all of us, and we weren't even standing within earshot. He was visibly upset, and as he walked back toward us, he growled something, and turned and slugged the side of the Auditorium, really HARD! Looking at his hand, we knew only adrenalin could keep him from curling up in a ball. He was bleeding, and his fingers looked oddly shaped. He ended up going to the hospital that morning. He had broken two fingers and sprained his wrist, not to mention the abrasions from punching a stucco wall.

When his Mom asked him what had happened, he told her about the girl. Mom asked who she was, and when she heard the name, she started laughing. (Now, my Arkansas students knew right away what was up, my former Utah students had to wait for the punch line)

Ron wanted to know why his Mom would laugh at his pain. She simply said he would have to go ask his Grandma, next door. We went with them. When his Grandma heard what had happened, and who the girl was, she fell out of her chair, laughing so hard. Imagine 4 teenage boys and two grown women sitting on the floor laughing hysterically. Ron was the only one in the room not laughing, when his Grandma explained that the girl was actually Ron's cousin!!

The family had not gotten along well for many years, and Ron's aunt and mother had not had any contact with each other for all those years. Ron didn't know that his love interest was his cousin. She didn't know, either, and Ron made us promise not to tell. Of course the girl found out within days, and she wouldn't come within miles of Ron for several weeks. :)

Eventually, we went back to all being friends, and after Junior High, she ended up going to a different High School, so we all lost touch wth her, but we still give Ron a hard time about his "southern roots" (sorry to all of my Arkansas friends and relatives, but you have to admit that the stereotype is not historically inaccurate.) See my next post for another Survival of the stupid!

Sports in America

2008-11-03T19:25:00.002-06:00

I love working with teenagers! They have so much energy and passion for life, and sometimes in the goofiest ways. But, you know, as they learn and establish their own way, they show great potential. I really hope all of them live up to that potential. They won't all end up the same, but if they figure out a way to convert their youthful exuberence into things important to their lives, they can all be successful in their own way.

That is one of the most wonderful things about this country and this time in which we live. We can each become what we want to become. That is a gift we need to protect. I like seeing the energy and interest these teenagers have in the current political circus. Most of them are 2-4 years away from their first chance to vote, but they are forming opinions, and learning to search out their own viewpoint.

That is what led to a great discussion about socialism, and why I feel it is not right for America. But, even though we disagree, I am proud to say that some of these students were sincere and confident in asking what is so bad about socialism. As I said in my last post, I feel that the forced charity of socialism breeds resentment and corruption at all levels, but they saw the idealistic helpful side of socialism. And I am serious when I say that I would much rather have them know their way around the politics and still vote socialist, than have them be ignorant of the consequences, and vote on emotion.

Well, my topic today doesn't seem related, but here goes.

One of my more vocal students asked a random question about cheerleading being a sport or not. I have some cheerleaders in my classes, and I live with our school's cheerleading captain (my daughter Elizabeth), so I had to handle this question carefully. I put the question back to AC by asking him to give his definition of a sport.

He started off with a requirement of major competitions at local, state and national levels. When I said "then it's a sport", he fired back a requirement that teams and individual awards identified a sport. Again, I guess cheerleading qualifies.

He was apparently trying to "disqualify" cheerleading as a sport, so he then ran through an interesting list of requirements: Hard physical training, injuries common, trash-talking and sabotage, referees(judges), moving on to famous "players and superstars" along with a huge fan following and lots of TV coverage. So far still in. Then he took another approach. "Has to be in the Olympics". I asked him how he really felt about football. :) Then he added things like constant analysis by so-called experts and former players, but not excluding "armchair quarterbacks". He even mentioned the endless post game review and sour-grapes.

The more he talked, the more clearly the thought came to me: One of America's favorite sports is Politics!!

Now, granted, it isn't in the Olympics, but there is definitely an element of politics at the Olympics, so I think it still counts.

Counterfeit Christianity

2008-10-30T19:04:00.003-05:00

Well, here I am again, and here we are just a few days away from a very important election for this country. I am still contemplating dedicating a new blog to my political viewpoints and feelings, but for now, I will make some points here. I know politics is a hot arena, and I do not wish to offend, but I do have strong feelings about the political dealings of this country.

One of my greatest concerns, as I have watched the movements and machinations of government, is that we, the American people, are becoming a nation of passionate, but ignorant voters. Now, before anyone out there gets upset, let me say that ignorance is not the same as stupidity. Ignorance is an absence of knowledge or experience in any given area. When we the people get our political news from short sound bites, bumper stickers, Jay Leno, David Letterman or Saturday Night Live, we are missing the boat.

That having been said, please refrain from using the word ignorant to describe people that disagree with you! Disagreement does not equal ignorance! From either side of our current 2 party mess. Ignorant describes the person who has never seen an actual bill, or looked at the voting record of the person they support. They just go by the last thing "their guy" said in the latest picture op speech. Ignorant describes someone who doesn't understand how our inspired system of checks and balances was intended to work, and all things good or bad are attributed to one man, one party or one government body.

Ignorant describes someone who doesn't see how taking one person's freedom today, in order to support a special interest group or political agenda, sets the stage for removing other freedoms down the road when the leadership changes.

The word socialism has been thrown around a lot in this current election, and there are many of us who feel like socialism is not the right direction for this country. Ignorant describes a person who claims to hate socialism but doesn't understand HOW everything they say and support falls into classic textbook examples of socialism.

A person who understands what is going on, and chooses to keep moving this way, is not ignorant! They make choices based on what they feel is the best for this country. We have the right to disagree! The trick question of the day may become.....will we always have the right to disagree?

With all of this buzzing around in my head, I got into a discussion with my son Justin, something which frequently happens while working together on the family chicken farm. We were discussing comments that he had heard, and questions raised by some of my students about what was so bad about socialism?

That is not an easy question, and our discussion came up with a valid reason for the challenge. Socialism is a great counterfeit.

Christianity, Judaism, moderate Islam and most other world "religions" have as part of their specific doctrine the idea that we are bound by faith to help those less blessed than ourselves. We are taught to search out the widow and the orphan and offer help. We are taught that the world around us is for our benefit, but that we must take care of it and treat it responsibly. We see that our association with like-minded people strengthens us in our resolve to live by "right" principles.

When Christianity or any of these benevolent religions is flourishing and strong, "righteous" believers will take care of the needs of those who can't care for themselves. But each of them has conditions regarding personal responsibility. There is little, if any, need for "administration". Merely constant admonition to believers to keep their own , and assistance in distributing the gifts of the charitable. On the other side, a person who refuses to try, who makes no effort to care for themselves, who functions as a leech on the group, is destined to be thrust out.

This is a very shorthand version of the system.

The counterfeit is forced charity....Socialism. A governing body decides what is "rightfully" acceptable as a standard of living. They make arbitrary decisions as to what constitutes "too much wealth", and set in place means to take and redistribute any wealth accumulated beyond this point. They decide for the individual as well as society, what is acceptable in public discourse, in public behavior. This government entity decides how each person should live, and those who attempt to live beyond this are penalized through this forced charity.

Sadly, however, this counterfeit is fraught with problems, one of which is a tendency toward corruption. Those who amass great wealth feel they have earned what they have, and they will do anything to protect it, even to a point of skirting the laws and values that used to be dear to them. Think of the fable of the sun, the wind and the old man. The wind claimed it could remove the old man's coat faster than the sun. The harder it blew, the colder it became, the tighter the man pulled his coat around himself. The sun shone pleasantly, and the old man shed his coat to enjoy the warmth.

These who have worked hard for their blessings of financial wealth will be like the old man. The harder one pulls to remove their blessings by force, the harder they will try to keep control. Allow them the freedom to succeed, and promote the concepts of charity and benevolance and many will willingly give much more than you could take from them. Will all..? No of course not! There will be greed and selfishness, but no government program is going to remove that. Only a change of peoples' hearts.

The other danger of socialism, maybe the greatest danger, is a tendency toward apathy. Take the American dream. We believe we can succeed!, We have been taught as part of our American heritage that each of us can make our own way in this world, and we can be hugely successful, or we can flop. Our own hard work, education, ingenuity, and perseverance make us what we want to become. If I believe that I can become a multimillionaire, these things are possible in this great country! I will have to work my backside off, but it can be done.

However, forced "charity", socialism, takes away my incentive. Why should I work and slave to make my business or farm ar anything grow, when I know that beyond a certain point the government is going to come and take it away to give to someone not willing to try as hard? Why not just let the government take care of me as well? Why should I attempt to better myself, when the government ensures that I am only allowed to keep a small portion my success? Of course the flipside question is ...Where does the government get it all? You know the answer. They take more, by lowering constantly what is "acceptable wealth", or raising the tax on success.

Listening to a radio interview about what socialism is in this country, it struck me. Socialism allows those who see nothing better for themselves, who don't feel the motivation to achieve their own American Dream, to piggyback off others. A person who can't see anything better from their own efforts, may be perfectly happy to ride on the backs of harder workers, under the disguise of social programs and government assistance.

Those of us who still believe that charity should be from the heart, not from the Legislature, need to stand up. We need to educate ourselves and those around us to the dangers of counterfeits. These counterfeits rob us of freedom to succeed, but ultimately they rob us of our motivation. Other freedoms will follow, if we allow it to thrive.

Football Secrets

2008-10-27T20:50:00.002-05:00

Sometimes the power of a small phrase is astonishing. Case in point:

Our high school football team is struggling. They have had a bad couple of years, and they have fought hard to win the 2 games this year. Our homecoming game was this past Friday, and it was against a team that we can beat. The records on the season very similar; similar talents; should be a close game.

Several of my students play on the varsity team. I have tried to be encouraging, and as we were joking around and talking about the upcoming game, I had a stroke of silly genius.

In my 3rd year class, I have one our team's offensive linemen. He is a big kid, somewhere around 6'6", and I think he told me once about 280 lbs.(sorry if that's off). He is a very respectful student, good hard worker, and just generally an all-around nice young man. He is very likeable, and very competitive. We had talked in times past of the ability of the German language to sound harsh and angry, even if something pleasant was being said, just by speaking in a rough voice.

I had an idea. I told him I had a phrase, that if said just right, would give him a momentary advantage over his opponent. I gave him, in the harshest, yet quietest voice I could: " Du hast schöne Haare. Ich werde dir Blumen schenken". I promised him if he would say this with a growl, his opponent would lose his mental edge just long enough to get knocked on his keester. Well this student looked at me and said with raised eyebrows, " Herr Wahlquist, I can't say that. What if the kid speaks German, or he's an exchange student or something?" I told him that would give him an EXTRA edge. The phrase means "You have nice hair, i'm going to send you flowers". :)

Well, game night came and went. I heard on the news that weekend that we had lost by a score of 28-10. ( I should justify my absence from such an important event. I live 1hr 20 minutes from the school where I teach. This is due to running a family chicken farm, which needed my attention that night.) Not a fun homecoming! I decided to jokingly hound this lineman about not using my "secret weapon". When he finally came to class late in the day, I asked him why he hadn't used the phrase. To my astonishment, he responded, "I did Herr Wahlquist." I was amazed. He continued to tell me that he had only used the "hair" bit, and the other guy had hesitated and just as the ball was snapped said "Was that German?" He got knocked on his can! :)

Slightly taken aback, our big lineman helped him up (he's a good sport), and said yes. As they lined up again, the other guy indicated that he had lived for a few years in Germany. He still wasn't on his mental game. While he was talking to my guy, the ball was snapped, and one more time on his backside. :)

Well, this had not gone completely unnoticed by the other team. As they lined up one more time, somehow one questioned what the phrase meant. Well, my friend spoke english and said "you have nice hair." The other team's defensive line couldn't help laughing just a little bit, but their timing was off. The ball had just been snapped, and our offensive line blew the defense off the ball, and scored a touchdown!!

Too bad it was the only touchdown. Too bad I didn't give them a sheet of "useful" German phrases. Maybe we could have had a happy homecoming.

Sweet Rewards

2008-10-25T21:46:00.003-05:00

I was reading through one of Mom's posts this afternoon. It was one of those lazy Saturday afternoons, where the main jobs for the day had either been done, or been set to another day. I did some major maintenance on the farm, and some clean-up and dirt work to get ready for winter , as well as preparing for next spring's gardening. My other project needs one more good rain to help settle in some dirt where we are going to move the shed, so that I can start building Michelle's Dress Shop.

I didn't really have any other major projects ( don't know how that happened), so I sat and watched some football with Ian and Ben. Mostly I watched, they slept on the couch. Then I thought I would come look at some more of my family's blogs. It is their fault, you know, that I am even doing this.

I really enjoyed Mom's post about peaches and apricots. It did bring back a lot of fond memories. Those were some amazing production lines, and we sure enjoyed the fruits of our labor. But Mom forgot to mention one of the favorite results of those hot summer work days. Home made ice-cream. Naturally flavored peach and apricot.

My family has a long and close friendship with ice-cream. I don't remember specific events as a small infant, but we do have some pictures of my brother David with an ice-cream on his nose. I can only assume that I have a similar relationship with that cold and wonderful treat. Those summer trips to Utah were always highlighted by the fruit canning, the large amounts of fresh fruit and heavy cream, and the home-made cold gold.

I guess Mom is right, like always. We did learn to work. And we even learned that there is joy in work, as well as satisfaction in a job well done and a reward honestly earned. When we traveled to Toquerville, just north-ish of St.George, Utah, we had great examples. My grandparents were farmers, as far as I knew at the time. My Grandpa had been a school teacher, and they had always enhanced that career with whatever they could produce for themselves. In Utah they had a small farm (probably 15-20 acres?), and they kept cows, chickens, and fruit trees. They also had a big garden, which they planted near the house and watched with great care and energy. As a kid it always amazed me how much they could work, considering how old they were. It was just expected that anyone there would help in the garden, in the kitchen, and out in the orchard when needed. I loved spending time with my Grandpa and Grandma, so I think that helped make the work enjoyable.

I also saw the satisfaction they had when the work was done. That's why I would beg to have Grandpa wake me at 4 am to help drive the cows down to the milking barn, where he and my father would teach me how to milk a cow, without spilling a drop. They taught me the importance of treating the animal with care and gentleness, and we had many conversations about important personal and spiritual things. At least that's what my memory says. I couldn't tell you a single specific topic, but I know those early morning milking efforts were more than just a chore. we would then cart the big milk cans up to the house, where we would help grandparents get them strained and into jars for refrigeration. We repeated this process again at 4 pm. Later we would enjoy fresh whole milk with every meal, and that wonderful sweet,rich cream poured generously over piles of that fresh fruit.

The only way to make it better was to make it ice-cream. And even that was work, but boy was it worth it!! Mom and Grandma would work together to prepare the cream and fruit mixture, or vanilla or occasionally chocolate. Dad and Grandpa and usually all the kids would get out the big freezer. This was not one of these namby-pamby 1 1/2 qt. electric jobs. These were the big boys! 5+ qt. canister, hardwood barrel type, hand-cranked freezer. Oh, yeah. And I think Grandpa had 2 of them! Once the goods were in the machine, Dad and Grandpa would start cranking. We all took turns, and as we got older, the boys would make a contest out of who could make the last few turns. (As ice-cream freezes, you know, it gets harder to turn). Then we would line up to sample as Dad took out the dasher, and buzz with anticipation and kid frustration as he closed it, covered it, and buried it in more ice and salt, for the curing process. Dinner came first, with all it's preparation and clean-up.

Looking back, what a lesson I learned from ice-cream! We worked many long and hard hours, sometimes messy, sometimes even "gross", and it was all for something that would have to wait til later. It wasn't unpleasant. It wasn't even unfair. It was just the nature of good things. Work before rewards. Rewards less important than satisfaction in a job well done. Job well done, no matter what! Now, can I have two monster sized scoops, please. Both flavors!

Stealing a classroom

2008-10-24T23:18:00.006-05:00

You know, I was just killing time today, waiting for my sophomores to come back from a pep rally that I did not get to attend, and I got to thinking about something to blog.

I know, I should have been grading tests or something, but it wasn't as much fun.

I had been reading some things another teacher had posted outside their classroom, and it reminded me of my own high school days. Civics class had written up their idea of a student's bill or rights. It was enlightening to see the ironic combination of ideas that included total personal freedom, and no personal responsibility, while adding the very tricky concept of "universal care-giving".

I guess we were all kind of idealistic in our younger years, and we didn't always see (sometimes by choice), that the great ideas we fought for were extremely impractical, if not downright impossible, save for a totalitarian, yet benevolent governing body, and a purely selfless society. HA! Too many greedy and power-hungry people involved!

Thinking about zealous youth, I had promised elsewhere, that I would tell the story of stealing a classroom. Before I begin, however, I have to include a disclaimer.

Please repeat after me, and then have a witness sign an affidavit to the following:

" I hereby acknowledge that the following account, although true, is in no way meant to encourage me to try such behavior, and I furthermore acknowledge that any such attempt is in no way a reflection of Scott Wahlquist's (hereafter known as "Herr") negative influence on my teenage zeal to make all things right and equal and "FAIR" in the world, regardless of their apparent propriety or even 'legality' .

"I also hereby agree that I hold "Herr" harmless in the event that I should try such antics, and receive the subsequent penalties I so richly deserve."

"By continuing on in this blog, I agree to the terms set forth in the previous paragraphs."

Now that we have the legalese out of the way, let me set the stage.

Most of the following events took place my senior year in HS, Foothill HS, Bakersfield California, to be exact. ( I had learned so much from my freshman antics). The goal of all our stunts was to drive home the point that double standards for teachers and students were unfair. Oh The irony, huh?

My senior english teacher, Mr Brackley (whom many of you in my family will remember), was a bachelor, probably in his early to mid 30's when I was there. He might have been older, but I don't remember thinking of him as OLD, and definitely anyone over 35 was. (sorry Mom and Dad)

We had tried many times to convince him that we seniors deserved some special treatment. We thought we should be allowed to ignore the rule about food and drink in the classroom. (I guess that came from the fact that we had English right after lunch, and frequently were trying to wolf down the last bite or slurp down the last of our Big G....... oh wait, watch out for unpaid endorsements, right?) we didn't see the harm in finishing our lunch during the first few minutes of class.

Well, Mr. Brackley would have none of it. Yet he always had a cup of coffee, which he refilled out of a thermos at least once during our class. We had already tried curing this habit by dropping Alka S.. (oh watch out, endorsements again) into his coffee cup while our cheerleader friends distracted him (remember my post about love life?) That was great fun, but not the point of this post.

We also felt it unfair how harsh Mr. Brackley was about restroom passes. He actually had the gall to expect us to use the facilities on our own time! Was he aware how hard it was to get to McD, or Taco B and back to school in the short 40 minutes we had for lunch? There was no way to get lunch, get back, find parking and still use the restroom. I mean, come on!? What's 5 more minutes for your favorite seniors?

To add insult, he would usually come open the door for us, let us get started on our assignment, and then disappear down the hall to the restroom!!??!! That just had to stop!

Well, we had an unwitting ally to our evil plan. Our Physics teacher, ....... I just can't come up with a name.... was also well known to do something that was against good judgement, if not school policy. He always left his classroom unlocked and unattended during his planning period. He would go into the inner lab used by the teachers to prepare for class experiments. we determined that we could hold a dance, and he probably would be unaware of it. He was right across the "hall" in the next wing over.

So, one beautiful day, with our plan in place, we waited while Mr. Brackley calmly opened the door to let us in. As one of us watched him disappear down the hallway, the rest of us removed everything from his desk, carted the desk to the physics lab, and then replaced everything on the floor in its proper order, as if the desk had simple fallen into the floor. Even the coffee cup and thermos were in their rightful place. Everything else that moved also went for a walk.

When Mr. Brackley came in, he went to the board and started to write. We were sitting in our places, where our desks should have been, writing as if nothing were wrong. We watched for what felt like 5 minutes before he reached around blindly for his coffee cup, and discovered the emptiness. His facial expression was priceless. After several minutes of blustering, and threats, and finally promising not to punish those responsible, he convinced some to divulge the location of his classroom. Some of us "model Students" volunteered to go carry it back for him.

This was not the end of our stunts with poor Mr. B, but it was definitely the grandest. He may not have felt it at the time, but you know, we all liked Mr. B. We learned much about English Lit., and we had some great times, but mainly we learned that life doesn't have to be fair to be enjoyable. Sometimes the blatant unfairness of life leads to some of life's silliest, and fondest memories.

2008-10-23T21:48:00.003-05:00

It may take me a while to figure this out. I have spent enough years learning how to form a halfway decent paragraph, that it makes me crazy to type one, and then have it all jammed together. If you know what I mean, and how to fix it, please enlighten me. Like I stated in my first post, I am partially computer literate.

Just to drive my point home, I put three hard returns between "literate" and "Just".
Isn't this FUN? trying to re-learn an old skill?

(two more hard returns) I really do love computers. I love to hate them. As a child, computers were some new-fangled, sci-fi gadget that only the government, rich people and a few businesses had. In High school, we only saw a small handful of computers outside of the main office, and those were not available to the students. The year after I graduated high school was the first year students were given access to the new computer lab. I think it had a grand total of 3 computers. Wow!! Look how far we have come.

(two more hard returns) In college, I learned a bit about these new toys, and even went so far as to take a semester course in programming BASIC. It was fun, I learned a lot of things, but the most I ever really accomplished, as I recall, was a program that would draw a figure, and then move it around the screen in random patterns until I hit enter or space bar or something. Then it would "blow-up". I should have been a game programmer. I hear some of them make millions.

My first home computer was probably one of the biggest purchases of my adult life. It was not the top of the line, but you technofiles out there will understand that in 1988, $2,500 would get you a pretty good computer. It had a lightning fast 386 kHz processor, and no RAM, but it had a whopping 40 MB hard drive and 2, COUNT THEM, 2 floppy drives.

I used it for school work, and some games, and wondered on many occasions if it was just a very expensive toy. I probably should have spent more time with Word-perfect and Microsoft word in those early days.

Now, I carry around my neck, a device which is more capable than 6 of that first computer, and I am still generations behind. My portable brain is the best filing system I have. The files are neat, they are compact. I can browse through them in just a matter of seconds, and I don't need to worry about moving floppy discs from one drive to another to move, copy or edit the "papers" I keep in those files.

I love computers.

ps I must have come close to figuring this out, because this one is better. But...... but......but I don't know what it is that I changed! AAARRGGGH!

Teenagers!!

2008-10-22T22:33:00.005-05:00

Teenagers! You can't stand them, but you're not allowed to shoot them! As a teacher in an American high school, I am daily reminded of this dilemma.
Don't get me wrong, I do actually enjoy spending time with teenagers. They are great entertainment. How any of us survived beyond our teenage years is actually a mystery. I remember my mother saying many times, particularly those times when I was causing some kind of trouble, that I would have children just like me. Well, I have 2-3 dozen! Students, smart, cynical, and full of mischief. Remind me to tell you about stealing a classroom sometime.

I don't remember being an overly troublesome child, and I was certainly not the most problematic teenager the world has ever seen, but I must have been doing something wrong for Mom to wish "myself" on me. I was never even intrigued by drugs, and being Mormon, alcohol and smoking were also never an issue in my teen years. I was just shy enough that my "love life" was limited to group activities and the occasional awkward date request, immediately followed by the (now apparent) lame brush off excuse. "I think I'm going to be sick that day." I wasn't so oblivious that I completely missed those, so I didn't do any real dating in high school. Maybe I was aiming too high. Cheerleaders, student body leaders, prize winning scholars, singers, dancers, etc. And strangely enough, many of them were in my circle of friends, and we were always out doing things together, groups of 10-12 or more. Strange huh?

Anyway, I digress........I must have done some stupid things to make my Mom wish such terrible things on me. I remember the one and only time I "ditched" (cut, sloughed, skipped, whatever) a class. I was late for my German class, and the German teacher was a strict "old" lady from East Germany. I thought I would be better off absent than late. I ran around the corner just as the bell rang, so I froze. Hey what do you want?! I was a Freshman!

I sat there for 2 minutes debating in my head what I should do, and then my friends, who were a year ahead of me in German, came out of the door. They were headed to the library to study German. ( can you see it coming? I know, I know, what a rebel!!) I went to the library with my friends, and studied German while ditching my German class!

My Mom picked me up for lunch that day. Didn't usually happen. ??? She asked me how German was going. ....???...... how did she know? Was she psychic? Had she tuned in to my rebellion that morning? I was mortified, stupefied and probably qualified as "stupidfied". I lied.
I said German was great! She asked what I had for homework. I told her some random page number from the book. She asked when it was due. I was sweating bullets. I told her the next day. She said nothing, and took me home for lunch.
When I got back home that afternoon, she reminded me about my German homework, and handed me a small packet of worksheets. To my bewildered expression she explained that Frau Silbermann actually only wanted me to do the first worksheet, but since I was so interested in the textbook pages, I could do them, too, along with the worksheets for the entire week. Oh, and by the way....They're due tomorrow!
Mom, thanks for helping me to see the error of my rebellious ways. I never skipped a class again, and I went on to become that German teacher dealing with dumb freshman stunts. Take the kid who missed class the day of a test. First period, starting at 8 am. That is rough!! Well, we have a legally mandated policy that requires us to give a make-up test if the student has a valid illness. (called in by a parent is enough) Next morning student x shows up, claiming to have been sick in bed, and asks about the test make-up. What's a reformed rebel to do? I asked him how the game went. "What game?"

"The street football game you were in, that had to get out of the road as I drove home from work yesterday afternoon.?

Personal responsibility

2008-10-20T19:07:00.003-05:00

Well, here I am again! I have played with the set-up, I have made my first posting, and I am trying to think where I can go today.
As I was thinking about the computerized world we live in, and during a round of frantic grading, my mind was drawn to some conversations I have had with colleagues and parents over the last few years. I may have forgotten to mention, I am a teacher. I have been in the public school for 10 of the last 15 years. I started teaching German in American Fork, Utah. I love the German language and culture, and I really do enjoy sharing that love with my students. I taught in Utah for 7 years. I moved to Arkansas, and walked away from teaching for a while. (Another long story for another time.)
I took a 5+ year break when several things lined up to create a life change. One of them is the most significant thing I want to mention today. That is responsibilty.
I had reached a point in those years that the internal politics in school, and the atmosphere and attitude outside of school were making the teaching less enjoyable. Teachers around the country are scrambling to keep up with an ever growing volume of new regulations and requirements. We are all required to keep ourselves on the cutting edge of our profession. This is a good thing. We are falling behind as a nation, when compared with the success of other nations' students. But I have to say that we can require our teachers to all earn Doctoral degrees in their respective fields, and it will change very little in our success rankings, until we change some major things in our society.
We as a country have fallen into an ever-present attitude of "it's not my fault, it's not my responsibility". Just look around you for evidence of this. We injure ourselves doing something completely stupid, and we want to blame anyone but ourselves. We run through the house with scissors, fall and get stabbed, and we want to blame the manufacturer, because they didn't make the label big enough that said, "Hey stupid, don't run with scissors, you might get stabbed if you fall!!" We see report after report of criminals who get injured committing their crimes, and they succeed in suing the homeowner who is now double victim of the crime. We allow our students to get by with the least effort possible, because we are uncomfortable holding back students who haven't mastered the curriculum. Teachers can only do so much here, withour direct parental involvment.
We answer to the lowest common denominator in our schools, and wonder why we don't seem to be achieving more. ????????
We have tried for so many years to make everyone equal, that we are slowly succeeding in making everyone mediocre. When this comment makes you uncomfortable, consider this: Was your first response to wonder what the Government can do to fix this? What the educational system should do to fix it? How our teachers should change this system?
Then you are not alone. If there is a problem, but it is not our fault, it is not up to us to solve it, right? As evidenced by our growing Federal and state level programs to make everyone equal; financially, educationally, socially, etc., we have many who would like everything to be the Big Brother's responsibility.
The only way we can change this in our society, is for parents, teachers, preachers, mentors, friends, family, et al to recreate a worldview where we each have to make our own way, and we believe anything is possible. Hard work and perseverance will be rewarded with a feeling of accomplishment, and that is more important than "rewards", but the rewards will also be there.
Let's bring this country back to it's powerful roots! We can accomplish anything we set our minds to, but not if we expect someone else (particularly government) to get it done for us.

THAT'S THE CHANGE WE NEED!!

2008-10-19T19:15:00.000-05:00

Greetings! Here I am, doing something I never would have predicted.

I am setting up a Blog! I have never considered myself computer illiterate, but I have likewise never been truly computer saavy. I love to hate computers, like so many of you. They can be the greatest tool, and sometimes a wondeful toy, but much of the time they are just the greatest aggravation in my life.
I have usually been one or two "versions" behind the latest advances, but not so far that I still use a Commodore 64, for those of you who even remember those.
I recently ( being about 3 hours ago) came back from a family get together out in California, where we celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. There had been much discussion about the prospects of blogging being a way for a widespread family tree to keep in contact with each other.
As I went through the steps to set this up, I had to come up with my Blog title, and it occured to me. I am the 5th of 9 children (perfect middle), married to the 2nd of 3, we have both crossed into "middle age", (hopefully not as bad as the "Middle Ages"), and we currently live pretty close to the middle of this great country.
So, welcome to musings from the middle.