Mangled Cherries

There is not a large amount of time from the time cherries ripen to when they need to be picked.  The race between getting them picked before the birds eat them creates an even smaller window of opportunity.  I don’t like being in the yard when the sun is blazing nor do I have the confidence in myself to climb the hill.  But I have made a conscious effort to do my part this year.

Wednesday was my last day for subbing. Before I left the house, I took a bucket to the top of the hill to pick some cherries.  When the bucket was a third to half full, I made my way back down the hill and left the cherries on the kitchen table. 

          Yesterday I retrieved the cherry pitter from its storage spot and punched cherries for about an hour or so.  Perhaps the cherries weren’t ready after all as many of the pits remained attached to the cherries.  I would have preferred an assembly line but as Jenna was at school and Roland was at work, it was just me removing stems and pits.  I washed  (rinsed) before sending them through the pitter.  I checked pitted cherries to weed out more pits.  Rinsed pitted cherries.  Checked for more pits.  Measured 24 cups and filled three one-gallon bags. 

          Roland took out our last two bags of frozen cherries and combined with two cups of fresh cherries and made a cherry pie.  This morning Jenna helped me to pick some more cherries before I took her to school.  It’s her last day.  We picked until the sun made its way toward the top of the sky.  Perhaps I’ll pick some more tomorrow morning.

Dash #27 Ditto

                I don’t know that dad really had a motto he lived by.  The quote I remember him saying most were: “If wishes were fishes, we’d all have a fry” which is quite a mouthful for my dad. 

I believe his favorite word was “ditto” as it provided him a way to mimic someone else’s complete sentence.  

My dad was not a big talker

Field Day

Field Day is a way for the elementary schools to transit from the last week of school to beginning the summer vacation.  The idea is for children to have fun playing games and friendly competition. I remember volunteering for Field Day at South Kearns Elementary.  I believe I had signed up three different years.  I know we got rained out at least two years, but there may have been one room in which we were able to complete the competitions.

There were a parachute and relays, water games, racing with a spoon and keeping contents from spilling over.  I don’t remember being involved in another field day until yesterday as I had agreed to sub this week.  It felt weird going back after having been off for a month.  

I felt awake when I left the house but somehow grew tired after having entered the building.  I don’t know why.  Every time I entered a classroom I seemed to go deaf. I was constantly asking students to repeat themselves.

We didn’t have to go out for recess or take classes to the lunchroom.  Instead, we sat with the classes as they ate their sack lunches while watching a movie.  That gave a bit of time for the instructors to have their lunch before field day started.  There were both outdoor and indoor activities for each class to go to.  I’d been assigned to stay outside with the older kids for the first half hour before we switched up with the younger kids who started out in the lunchroom.

I don’t know all the activities that took place.  I had been assigned the station with the tether balloons and squirt cups.  It was so dang windy that the tether balloon wasn’t going to happen.  It also blew down the cups that we were supposed to set up and have the children squirt down with water bottles – which seemed fun for the majority of them who participated.  

I also saw a bubble station in which the wind seemed to work in their favor and dressing up and racing in oversized close.  Didn’t quite get that one, but the kids looked as though they were having fun.  I don’t know any other outdoor activates that may have been on the other side of the building. 

The indoors offered activities related to science.  The table I stood at offered this:

http://familyscienceandengineering.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GlueClueSample.pdf

http://familyscienceandengineering.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GlueClueSample.pdf

        

          Friday will be the last day of school.  According to Jenna, school should have ended last week but was extended to make up for the week missed in February.  I don’t know if that’s accurate as I remember that school was still in session when we moved to Oregon, and we did not move in until June 17.  I thought having school that late in the year was crazy – but I don’t know.  Perhaps they got a late start due to fire season . . . I know it wasn’t snow as the residents here hadn’t seen snow for eons until the year we moved in and have seen it almost every year since.

High School Musicals

          Hillcrest High has held some amazing performances throughout the years as well as some not so amazing.  Since I can remember, the high school plays had always had HUGE casts. If you were a student in band, choir, or the dance club, it was mandatory for you to be a part of the play.  I don’t know if it was just at Hillcrest or if it was the entire Jordan School District (now Canyon Schools) that made it mandatory.  I can remember going to only two other plays outside of Hillcrest – each in a different district.

           For instance, mom and I had gone to Kearns High to support a co-worker who was playing Jasper B. Biggler in the musical “How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying”.  Jasper’s personality was so identical to Jack’s that we didn’t really consider it acting.  We heard the same thing about the guy playing J. Pierpoint Finch.  That is pretty sad.

           At Hillcrest, it was also mandatory to see the play if you took certain classes.  I remember being graded for my commentaries which included sets, performance, choreography and overall production.  I must have given feedback on the plays themselves.  Kismet and Brigadoon?  I dare you to give me just one memorable song from either musical.  It did not help matters any that the sound system sucked and so I missed a lot of dialogue and overall didn’t understand the stories themselves. I often wondered why they would torture both performers and audience members with unfamiliar musicals.

           When I was a sophomore, the Hillcrest production was “My Fair Lady” a musical I actually enjoyed.  Costumes were nice from what I can remember.  The sound system was not the greatest at that time and seemed to have worsened each year I was there.  The drama teacher had told us of an incedent that had happened during the production of “My Fair Lady” – though I don’t know if it had taken place in my sophomore year or another year prior to that.

The joke was suppose to be between two members of the band.  I’m thinking one may have played the French horn.  To make the scene pass quicker, he said with an announcer’s voice: “Here they come out of the pen, the race is on.  Up in the lead is Madman Dasher with Snoop Dice riding his tails.  Oh, this race is close. Trailing behind is Blue Scarlette” – I don’t know what names were used for his horses or what was said exactly.  The point is that the “joke” became public knowledge as the words spoken had somehow reached the boy’s instrument and the mike had picked up the sound from the instrument.  Thus even though everyone on stage had to pretend to be watching a horse race and the only sounds the audience was supposed to hear were the horse hoofs, the words of the false announcer could also be heard.  It probably was a different year as I can’t imagine that poor sound system (which could barely pick up individual voice) could pick up something over an instrument.

           Over the years the sound system and productions improved when Corey had attended school there. He played the part of Marcellus Washburn in the production of “The Music Man”.  At that very same time Jenny, who attended Highland High, had landed the part of Sarah Brown in “Guys and Dolls”.  Jenny was another co-worker from Snelgroves.  She shared her enthusiasm with everybody saying, “Come to my play”.  “Music Man” and “Guys and Dolls” both fell on the same weekend and it turned out Jenny could only go support Steven during Hillcrest’s opening night and Corey would be able to attend Highland’s closing night.

           There isn’t room on the stage for 200 kids to performs, and the choreographer had started putting students in the aisle.  Thus during certain numbers, the audience could watch students dancing next to them in addition to the ones on stage.  Brandy and Jenny, who had come to Corey’s performance together, sat wide-eyed as they watched the dancers move in sync.  One commented that the choreographer must have used a whip and chain.  The participation of cast members at Highland was nowhere near the student body at Hillcrest.  When the play was over Jenny said, “You can come to my play if you want to.”

           Several years later Hillcrest put on its own production of “Guys and Dolls”.  I remember mom getting upset when a couple of kids behind us started talking rather loudly.  The guy had said to the girl something to the effect of “I can’t believe you dragged me here”.  I could see the displeasure on my mom’s face.  I leaned over to her to tell her that I believed it was part of the production.  They weren’t talking about seeing “Guys and Dolls” but were performing and referring to the revival that was part of the story.

          Once again, Hillcrest chose to put on another production of “My Fair  Lady”.  Kayla was involved with choir at the time and so had to be in the play.  The school had decided to divide the juniors and seniors from the sophomores.  The oldest group was assigned to find costumes to wear at the horse race while the sophomores had been assigned to dress like “serfs”.  At first my mom felt anger that students might feel “labeled” as to their assigned clothes but decided finding a costume for a poor commoner would be easier than some ritzy outfit.

           My favorite production seeing performed at Hillcrest High was “Fiddler on the Roof”.  The special effects they had were so awesome.  And at the end when they are all leaving was so effective as each cast member would leave the stage and all of them were walking down the aisles as though they were really leaving. 

Dash VB#3 Values & Beliefs

Do you feel your beliefs and values are shared by most of the people you are surrounded by each day?  Or do your beliefs set you apart from those around you?

The answer to both questions is “Yes”.  Allow me to elaborate:

Less than half of all those living in Salt Lake are LDS.  Not all LDS are active.  Though many wards have great support and members work well together, there are just as many whose members may go through the motions each Sunday but may not carry it out the remaining six days – like the “Come Follow Me Program”  -  I’m just curious.  Although I have good friends in the Church who really do live a Christian life 24/7,  I didn’t often feel my values were the same as others living in Salt Lake. As a whole, I usually felt so uptight with the hurriedness, the crime, profanity, dysfunctional relationships, etc.  I was part of the minority – which is not a bad thing.  Evidently, I’ve been part of the minority my entire life but was unaware.

          Here, in the entire state of Oregon, the LDS population is less than 4%.  In Myrtle Creek at least half the population share standards, values and beliefs that are common enough to hold to the community together.  Overall I see people who serve others, who are concerned for others’ welfare, and who live Christ-like lives.   Oh, I know not everybody does.  There is still evidence of crime, profanity and dysfunctional relationships.  But I haven’t been uptight or experienced the stress that I did while in Salt Lake.  I miss my friends and family that I left behind.  I value the friendships I have made in Oregon.  I am more at peace.

       Of course, some of my beliefs are different than those around me.  As I explained in this post, my views on death are different than the average. The LDS church is the only I know of in which the talks that are delivered during the meeting each week are given by members of the congregation and not the same minister each week.  In fact, I will be delivering a sermon tomorrow in my ward.

 Many of my values are based on religion and the way I was raised.  I'm grateful for my values.

Thank You for Making Them Bigger

Thank you bags are

not twice as big as

other grocery bags, but

large enough that

they are a perfect size for

our bathroom waste baskets. 

Yesterday morning Roland

decided he would collect

the garbage all throughout

the house. 

He removed the

“Thank you” bag and

replaced it with a Wal-Mart – which

sinks down into the can each

 time I have tossed in waste. 

I like THANK YOU bags.

Dash ES#3 elementary teachers

How many of your elementary school teachers do you remember?  Did you have a favorite?  Least favorite?

        I had three different teachers in kindergarten alone.  The names in order were Mrs. Cannon (I don’t remember her at all but had recorded her name in this post) Miss Nelson (I have no idea what the correct spelling was) and Ms. Wambsley.  I may have liked the first two okay, but hated Ms. Wambsley (I can’t remember for certain if she was a Miss or a Mrs.  I would imagine a Miss as I can’t visualize anyone would purposely pursue a marital relationship with the witch)  I must have mentioned somewhere that she was so horrible that even the parents didn’t care for her or unique methods of teaching – or attempting to rather.

        My first-grade teacher was Mrs. Godown I believe.  There were four first grade instructors – each new to the district the year I was in first grade.  They had never worked together before.  And as the program in our school was unique compared to other schools (here) it created more of a challenge for each of them.     

     

        Second grade.  Mrs. Bryce, Miss Brian?  Something like that.  I remember having liked her last name and associating with her appearance for I thought she was pretty.  That is all I remember.  But wait a minute . . . I remember a teacher named Mrs. Shurtleff.  I remember making nametags.  We were supposed to draw pictures to represent parts of our name.  For example, she had drawn a “shirt” and a “leaf” to represent her name.  I don’t think I had her for homeroom however.  I don’t know what I had her for.

          My third-grade teacher was Mrs. Taran.  Interestingly enough she had transferred schools and taught my cousin in second grade just a few years later.

          I think I remember Mr. West the best of any of my instructors.  He was fourth grade and I really liked him.  His wife had a baby that year.  I’m thinking he was their first.

          I used to know my 5th-grade teacher by her maiden name before she got married, but am now uncertain if she was Miss Tolman or Mrs. Tolman as I have forgotten the other name.  She had asked all the girls in her homeroom class to serve at her wedding.  There were 16 of us and so we served in shifts 8 girls at a time.  Miss Morrison, I think and then Mrs. Tolman.

          I don’t know if Mr. Hadfield, my sixth-grade teacher, had been a drill sergeant. He seemed to wear an authority badge that spelled FEAR.  He wasn’t directly mean to those who minded but did have a reputation.  There was a rumor that he had tossed a student across the room by his ears.  Whether the rumor was accurate or not, I don’t know.  But I could totally see it happening.  Not only did Mr. Hadfield seem capable of it, but the student was a delinquent who probably ended (or is ending) his life in prison. 

          I wish I could find the school pictures that I scanned.  Perhaps I would see some other triggers – like what instructors I had for math, science and reading.  I also might be able to figure out if my answers are correct.  Ms. Bryce/Bryan for instance.  Perhaps she had really been a first-grade instructor the same year as Mrs. Godown.  And I remember a Mrs. Preece (sp) as the shortest instructor as she would often appear lost in a sea of students often taller than she.  I might have had her for reading.

        I am grateful for the opportunity I had to be part of a "pod" system rotating among various instructors in each grade.  I think all schools should teach that way.  I also thought it cool to have a picture of the entire grade rather than just a specific class.

Word: Service

Roland has always told the boys that all businesses consist of product, knowledge or service. Services might include daycare, mowing lawns, yard work, and hotels working as maids, in reservations, waiters, chefs, bellhops, etc. There are also cleaning services and service providers like phone and internet.  Just about every product business has customer service.

Service: the action of helping or doing work for someone.

      We give service through the church or community.  Some of the service projects we have done through the Church include babysitting, painting, cleaning, and weeding to name a few.  We have also had community service projects that involve sprucing up the park and cleaning up Main Street.  There are community services sponsored by businesses that allow seniors to go to the movies once a month.  There is community service in which hygiene and medicine are taught to the poor.  There is also service given like the many who volunteer at the fire department or the library. The library offers Wi-Fi service.

Service: a ceremony of religious worship according to a prescribed form; the prescribed form for such a ceremony.

I know several man and woman who have dedicated their service by being in the military.  Another word for the military is the service.  I know many more who have given 2 years of service to fulfill a mission usually for the church, but I know someone who will be serving in the Peace Corp.

     We also have services such as funerals, baptisms, or sermons. These types of services are to show honor.

Service: a periodic routine inspection and maintenance of a vehicle or other machine.

      There is road service, car service, and service stations. Public transportation provides a service for those who wish to commute but do not wish to drive.  It is discouraging when a bus passes me because it is out of service.  It is discouraging to reroute my commute because the road is closed due to service.  It is also discouraging when my cell phone has no service. 

Service: a system supplying a public need such as transport, communications, or utilities such as electricity and water.

I remember being impressed with the service we received from Rocky Mountain Power.  We now use her sister company Pacific Power.  I also remember the service provided in both West Valley and Kearns with plumbing and controlling water flow.  I am grateful to have services such as utilities and the internet.

I am grateful to those who give of themselves willingly to serve others.  My mom, my dad, a pharmacist, Roland, Jenna, this community.  I made a mistake in this post saying I had “scratched the service” it should have said “surface” instead of service.  Or was it really a play on words?

Final Assignment Turned in

Whenever I have watched the Food Network series “Chopped” I think how challenging it would be to make food that is going to please all three judges as they have different opinions about why something is good or bad.  It’s pretty much the same thing with turning in assignments to different instructors.  Some are sticklers for the APA.  Some won’t accept anything written in first person.  Fortunately, I have had many, like me, who prefer the first person to boring textbook narration.

          In each class I have had, the instructor has encouraged the students to use the writing center.  Again, there is a huge array of people that have their opinions on what makes for a good assignment and what doesn’t.  Granted, I realize two days work is NOT a lot of time for a proper paper, but I cannot wait until the end of the week for the writing center gets more backed up.  I want to have my paper now.

          I have friends and a brother who are familiar with my writing style and understand what improvements can be made.  I would rather go through them than the writing center first of all because there is instant gratification on my part, but also because I can communicate with them better than I can an unknown voice.

          I think for the most part I have used the writing center when it is required.  I have learned that I can just submit my assignment and not have to make an appointment to talk with the person who is checking my paper.  I don’t have a voice for it right now anyway.

          So I submitted my initial paper on the 28^th knowing fully well that there was a need for improvement (there will always be room for improvement) and the first person to correct my paper suggested I make transitions and lose my beginning quote.  Hey, I had a class with the dean of English who is the one who had suggested the quote idea.  

          But I went ahead and changed the quote and added transitions and ended up taking out a paragraph.  I resubmitted it.  The second person to check my paper was a stickler for APA references and suggested I add more resources.  I ended up deleting two more paragraphs.  

          I’ve been told that the writing center will still be available to me even after I graduate.  How does that work?  In order to submit my paper, I have to provide the name of my class.  There isn’t a space for comment or explanation.  It’s your class, an option of eight reasons why it is being submitted, and submit your paper.  It’s not as though I can say, “Oh, this is for my blog.  Some of my readers seem to be bored with my style – not to mention all the spelling and grammatical errors.”

          I realize that it may be easier for a third party to critique my assignment as she has no investment in me personally.  It can also be constructive and useful to me if I will accept it.  It’s my last class.  It’s my last assignment.  I know I need to improve.  But I doubt it will be through the writing center anymore.

State Street Flood and Olympic Run

Someone posted this link to facebook yesterday. 

Wow.

I remember filling sandbags. 

I remember standing on state street and

looking at the river.  

I remember standing there the

following year as the

Olympic Torch was being passed. 

I believe it was Senator Orrin Hatch  

running on State Street. 

I remember thinking how surreal that was

as the path he was on was

under water the year prior. 

I couldn’t find a picture of the

torch being passed on state street, but

here is an article that maps out the run.

There Goes Our Disneyland Fund

Our biggest reason for moving to Oregon was so that I could breathe.  I didn’t wish for my family members have to listen to me hack out my lungs or gasp for air – and yet this month has seemed to defeat the purpose.  Yesterday I spent the majority of the day in the emergency room – first the waiting room and then a small section in another room divided by curtains.  I thought Dial-up AOL was the slowest thing ever.  They are speed demons next to Urgent Care.  And Urgent was five times faster than Emergency.  Granted, it was Memorial Day and there was nowhere else to go.  Most of the patients there didn’t seem in bad enough shape to require emergency care.  I heard three or four of them just chatting away as if they were there to socialize.  I clung onto my head so that it wouldn’t roll off or explode.  I suspect I was dehydrated as I had left large evidences of my DNS at different Urgent cares that Google had said were open, but were not.  I didn’t realize that it was possible for me to throw up that much when I really hadn’t sent that much down.  Half a yogurt.  Perhaps a third a bottle of water.  My stomach hurt more than my head.

At first, the cool air coming from the ceiling felt really nice.  Throwing up really wears me out.  I was hot.  I was panting.  However, I did eventually get cold.  Roland offered to go out to the car and get a coat for me.  A coat?  I don’t have a coat in the car.  He brought a jacket that I had never seen before.  I asked if it was an early birthday gift.  He just smiled.  Someone in the ward had given it to him to give to me.  I still don’t know if it’s a birthday present or not.

Funny how I was cold and the woman on the other side of the curtain was complaining about how hot she was.  It sounded as though she had many of the symptoms I had experienced on Mothers’ Day.  I was sweating then.  I am usually always hot.  It is rare that I get cold.  I have been blessed with cool weather to suffer through.  Wish I could enjoy it more.  It has been the perfect temperature overall.  But this month has been extremely painful for me physically.  I am starting to get better again.  Let’s just hope it sticks this time and doesn’t resort back to something else.

I feel bad that my emergency bill is going to be costly.  I think they charge by the hour.  I’ve been wanting to take Jenna back to Disneyland for a while now.  She would also like to visit Universal.  We would also like to take someone who would be willing to go on rides with her as there are many that I can no longer do comfortably.

Should get busy on my discussion and assignment for my class as I have to make the Writing Center part of this week’s assignment.  I will need proof.  I hate that.  So I will write the thing and turn it in ASAP.  I’ll submit the assignment but I won’t make an appointment for a live session.  Those have been painful experiences.  Like I need more pain to deal with right now.

I found a message on my phone from Tony and Ester.  They had called to sing “Happy Birthday” – Ester echoed a little “Cha-cha-cha”  It made me smile.  I shared with Roland and Jenna and they smiled too.  

Dash #28 George Bird

                George Bird passed away the first week of March.  All of his biological children were with him in addition to most of his grandchildren.  I use the word “biological” to set apart those that he physically raised and the countless many who thought of him as a dad or a grandfather as he influenced many and made such a positive impact.

          A couple up the street had named their youngest son after him.  The couple’s granddaughter (who lived next door to Birds) refused to believe that George was not her real grandpa.  He had a special bond with many of the neighborhood children.  I, myself, had come to think of him as a second dad.

          He and his wife, Peggy (who I will be writing another dash post about) lived across the street from my mom.  They have always been great friends.  George learned that our families had bonds even before their connection in Midvale.  Turns out George’s dad and my Uncle Faye were good friends.  He had more information on my biological grandmother’s side than I did (see here) 

          George kept busy.  His hobbies included carpentry, quilting (though I don’t recall his taking it up until after he had retired) and service – not necessarily in that order as I imagine service would be first.  I just remember his carpentry assistance when he installed some shelving units in our bathroom and repaired a false drawer that my nephew Kimball had pulled off.  The quilt he made for Roland and me for our wedding still covers our bed (see here).

          George told a lot of corny jokes.  One of my favorite memories is when he would ask my brother, “What is your name, Corey?” and Corey would report to my mom, “He (George) is a nice guy, but he can never seem to remember my name.”

          I wish I could have attended his final service and paid my respect.  He evidently had Alzheimer’s in his final stages of life.  That would have been difficult to witness and I’m grateful that I do not share memories for those final stages as I had already had to deal with something similar with my own mom.

          George and Peggy had gone to the assisted living on a regular basis before my mom passed.  I have always valued their friendship and feel so honored having the opportunities with them that I’ve had.