Ground Squirrels and Airplanes

            The church has a pear orchard in Medford, Oregon.  Each year the church donates the pears to the food bank and those on welfare (see here)  The Roseburg stake (church boundary that I belong to) has asked its members to pick pears at least once a year.  Our assigned day is usually the third Saturday in August.  This is the fifth year that we (our family) have gone to pick pears for a service project.

            Each year we have tried to stay for more than a couple of hours.  Each year our health has prevented either Roland or I from wanting to continue.  The last two years were so filled with smoke, it was hard to breathe.  Last year I had filled my bag only half way before I’d make the long trek to the pear bin.  

I used to be in better shape.  I vaguely remember telling a couple that I would watch their kids if she would like to go and didn’t think about it again until Friday night. Oops!

taken last year

            My back was bothering me earlier on Friday morning.  I decided that I wouldn’t even wear a pear bag but just place my pears in either Roland’s or Jenna’s bag or perhaps even the missionaries who we had taken with us (and fed them as well). But Roland made it known that I was having back problems and I was assigned to do another job that was perhaps as equally important but I felt useless in my position.

            Volunteers were asked to stay on one side of the orchard and continue their climb until they were directed to turn, but volunteers were turning before they crossed the creek – which is where they put me – so I could direct people.  Trouble was that by the time they put me there, there were less volunteers checking in at the bottom and so I really didn’t have much to do except for sit there.  Yes.  They let me sit.  So that was a plus.  But I also really did wish to help pick pears.

            I figured the van could pick up passengers and drop them off and make its way around the orchard in just five minutes.  But it no longer came as often nor held as many passengers.  I think it passed me only five or six times before Roland and Jenna found me.  I did see the tractor with fork lifts on each end with the ability to lift two bins.   Odd.  I remember the tractor dragging a larger number of bins than just two.  I saw something similar to this my first two years:

not actual, but you get the gist

            This is what I saw this year:

  

not actual, but you get the gist

            We had left the house at four in the morning and I’m not fully awake at that time.  I did not have a jacket or a hat that would cover my ears.  Roland had asked if I needed my glasses, but I’d be wearing sunglasses and not reading.  Right next to my glasses was my watch.  I wish I would have grabbed it.

I was dressed for the heat and was cold and did not know where I was direction wise (I knew the location of east, north, west and south when I was living in Salt Lake, but have lost that since being in Oregon) and did not know which way was east.  Apparently behind me.  I saw the shadows move and purposely moved my chair into the sun (which is rare.  I am usually always looking for shade.)

            I had a beautiful view.  I looked at the moon which appeared like a perfectly circled cloud – slowly it faded into the background until it disappeared.  

The sky was never blue like the middle indicates;
the moon looked pretty much like in the middle
but kept on fading as the morning light shone.

My view reminded me a lot of seeing Salt Lake City from one mountain range to another – except for the foreground.  It was quiet.  It was pretty.  The sky was blue.  It wasn’t blue the last two years we had gone.  I had no idea how close the pear orchard is to the airport or to the temple, but could make out both in the distance.

my view from the red dot

            I think I heard the airplanes before I saw any of them.  I would watch a few of them as they headed west or northwest.  I would watch until they disappeared.  I didn’t see any from the south at all, but I could hear them. I saw a few seem increase in size as they made their way toward landing.

            Aside from counting planes, I counted ground squirrels after I noticed some movement across the creek.  

I also saw a confused bee frustrated at not finding pollen in the grass.  I hoped the orange vest I was wearing wouldn’t somehow attract the bee.

Water Fitness

        The largest sized classes 
take place in July.  By

mid-August the number dwindles

as there are several who

are instructors and have

already started their

        “back to school”.

There were only six of us

in the pool yesterday. 

          Usually toward the end of class

children will start staggering in

for their swim lessons which

follow our water fitness class. 

          There was no staggering and

I wondered if maybe they had

discontinued with the lessons as

several life guards may be

returning to school as well.

          Then they came.  A heard of

children entered just as our

class was coming to an end.

I guess that means summer is

          coming to an end as well.

I'm sad that Dottie is 
          no longer with us.  I 
think of her each time I 
          park as we would park in
the same area.  Her dogs 
          would always bark at me.
I miss Dottie.  I don't
          miss her dogs.

Dash #48 Wise Motto

I don’t know that it’s my motto or creed.  

I do have a stone tile over the fireplace 

that has the verse from Jacob 6:12

Good Motto

The Power of YET

          I like having people look me in the eye when we’re talking.  It annoys me when the person I’m talking to seems more focused on a toy, tablet, or another device.  For years I just thought of it as rude.  Yet over the years, I have learned that some people pay better attention when they seem focused on whatever they may have in their hands. 

          Jenna is one of those people who pay better attention when it appears that she doesn't seem to be focused at all.  She gets annoyed with people who don’t realize that she’s paying attention when she is.  I have already created a post about her ability to talk and listen at the same time.  It boggles my mind that she is able to do that. 

          Nobody ever learns at the same level – though it didn’t seem so obvious when I was a youth as it does now.  Some kids need the fidget spinners or to doodle in his/her notebook while the instructor talks.  It’s frustrating as a teacher to feel like a student is not paying attention – and surprising when that student can participate even though it appears the mind is elsewhere.  Jenna may be participating in class discussions while doing origami, but what about the students sitting near her who seem to be more interested in what she is doing than what the instructor is saying.

          Within the learning environment, we run into distractions all the time.  How do we handle these distractions while trying to create the feeling of equality though none of us will ever feel equal?  We’re not.  We are all different people learning at different rates, sharing our likes, sometimes tolerating our dislikes or not.  We fight to be equal but can’t seem to accept that we’re not.  Schools seem to be short-staffed, classes too crowded, school too small. . .

          I had experienced with different titles for this post.  The title I chose came from the topic given by one of the counselor’s of the stake president who had come to speak to our ward today.  He gave examples of pupils who would whine  “I CAN’T learn math”, “I CAN’T understand these vocabulary words”, “I CAN’T pass the physical”, “I CAN’T get a job”. . . . but he told us to ponder these things and realize we can make these things happen. “I CAN’T learn math . . . Yet”, “I CAN’T understand these vocabulary words . . . Yet”, “I CAN’T pass the physical  . . . Yet”,  “I CAN’T get a job . . . Yet”

          On Friday I had a job interview at the Wild Life Safari.  I met with two of the accountants and the director of human resources.  Roland and I had gone over some possible questions that they might ask me and some questions that I might ask them.  I wasn’t able to hear all the questions as the fan seemed to be louder than the person sitting across the desk from me.  It was the shortest interview that I have ever had in my entire life.  I know I didn’t do well.  I know I had missed some of the questions.

          Aside from working with unpredictable children and possibly animals (although the position I was applying for wasn’t directly related to the animals), I don’t generally allow myself to become distracted when I am working a job the way I do when I am at home.  However, in the exact moment, I was asked if I ever get distracted,  I was – enjoying the air but not the noise of it.  I definitely need to get my hearing checked.  I answered yes because I obviously had been distracted at that moment.  If I had said no I think I would have come across as dishonest.

          I thought I was there for a payroll position but it was for accounts payable which I have never done before in a professional manner.  I’ve paid my own personal finances – which ironically is partly why I had picked the accounting major to begin with – so I could better keep track of my budgeting so that bills would get paid on time.  Of course, I didn’t think of that until just now.  I didn’t consider any of the methods that Roland had suggested after the fact.  I wish I had the same confidence in myself that he has in me.  He is always disappointed that no one company has hired me on the spot. That's not even realistic for me at this point in time.

          The thing with Wild Life Safari is I had responded to an ad that had been posted only an hour before and was contacted that same day for an interview.  That was exciting.  Wild Life Safari is a non-profit organization. I was really excited about that – being able to work for a non-profit than a for-profit organization.  The questions I asked had to do with the organization itself.  I did ask one accounting question.  I forgot to ask how many are staffed at Wild Life Safari. Or approximately how many accounts I would be dealing with.  Or why the position happened to be open.  I really would like to be a part of their team, but I think I blew it.

          I still have a job through the school district.  I have already had a personal request to fill in for one of the aides at Coffenberry.  Just nothing in accounting . . . yet.  And that’s okay.  My job hunting and interviews are only a learning curve.  One day I’ll get better at it and maybe have the desire and confidence that Roland does.  Maybe one day I will be able to do payroll with the school district.  Just not YET.

Heavy Clouds

It’s Saturday

My plans were to sleep in

But the skies sent a pouring rain

POURING

Between 3:30 and 4:00 and

Again at 5:00

I wasn’t ready to get up

Perhaps I will return to

Slumberland

Sometime later today.

Vegetables, Ventriloquist and Perfect Weather

         

          We had lived in Douglas County less than two months the first time we had gone to the DC fair.  I know we overspent.  It was worth the smile on Jenna’s face.  It seems like there was more distance to cover that first year than this year.

          Though the fair is held every year, we have not gone to it each year.  I think it was just a matter of lack of funds in 2016.  Jenna and Roland went for a few hours in 2017.  The elements that surrounded that year were hot and smoky and I chose not to go.  They  had dressed vegetables and were gone for just a few hours.

          I don’t know that Jenna had even considered last year as she and Roland were performing in Robin Hood.  This year she decided she wanted to go and we would take Marie.  But then again, Marie drives and her old fogie parents would most likely wish to leave before they did and so we drove in separate cars.

          On Thursdays before a certain time, patrons may dress a vegetable in order to get free admission to the fair.  I guess it’s an annual event, but as the page was dated 2018 we weren’t sure.

          Roland had started the one in the middle and Jenna added the body.  She also added a potato to her own and made the one on the  right.  Mine is the one to the left.

          Since Marie was coming with us, they decided on a new approach for another vegetable – replacing a doll’s body with a potato.  Looked a bit like one of Sid (from Toy Story)’s creations. 

I liked the baby looking one (joined creation) the best but it was also the heaviest.  I had added a sock to mine.

          Jenna and Marie left about twenty minutes before we did and made it into the fair with their two potatoes.  Roland and I had to pay to get in as the two pumpkins had been left in Marie’s car.

          I took pictures of some of the creatively “dressed” vegetables that were on display.  Though I saw Jenna’s final creation, I did not see her other which Marie had entered as her own.

          We caught up with the girls who were watching ventriloquist, Steve Chaney.  Of course, Jenna volunteered to go on stage to be a human puppet.

          The weather was perfect – well, maybe not for the fairgrounds, but for me -  I don’t recall ever having gone to the fairgrounds before when the skies showed signs that it might rain.

          The fair somehow seemed smaller in size than it had five summers ago – but perhaps it was because we weren’t packed in like sardines.  Sadly, a lot of vendors did look bored.  Enjoy it while you can.  I suspect tomorrow will be a madhouse.

Let’s Compare

         Compare means estimating or measuring a difference or similarity.  For instance, you may compare the prices that are in one store compared to the prices in another.  Or you may notice the name brands generally have higher prices than the brands you have never heard of.  Albertson’s used to have a knock off brand called Janet Lee and Smith’s Food King had actually marketed one called “No Name” if you can believe that.  Today the most common knock off that I am familiar with is “Great Value” found at Wal-Mart.

          I’ve compared my life to Salt Lake with the one I have in Oregon.  I’ve compared the library systems, the transportation, the road conditions, and education.  I am always comparing the weather to itself.

          We may test the waters by first getting our feet wet.  We may practice for events that may or may not come to pass – for example, we have prepared backpacks in the event that we do have to evacuate with only a moment’s notice . . . we haven’t had to use them however and don’t really know if we are as prepared as we think we are.

    

     

          Sometimes the actual event does not have the same results as did the drill.  For example, the fire drill compared to the evacuation that I discussed in this post

          We compare how we think we should feel to how we felt or would like to feel.  We compare how we look  - we compare to ourselves, to others, supermodels, celebrities.  We compare our brains to others.  We compare our lives. We compare our size, our shape, our skin tone, our weight, our hair . . . .

          We compare the time we spent in school learning a trait or skill to finding a job in the real world where your schooling time does not count as “years experience”.  We compare others success or luck to our own.  There have been a few days in my life which I have compared to Alexander’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

          I have noticed different personalities within different cartoons.  For example, I think the Peanut Characters all represent a different personality.  Lucy is the uptight controlling personality.  Charlie Brown is the one who may allow himself as a doormat; his intentions are noble, but he often allows himself to get bullied. Schroeder is so focused on his music that he doesn’t pay much attention to anything else.  Linus represents wisdom – even with his blanket.  I have also compared Winnie-the-Pooh characters to different personalities in this post.

          We compare the taste of food.  We describe the taste by comparing to familiarity.  We compare how food is prepared.  We compare cooking styles.  We even compare how it looks to how we think it should look.

          We liken the scriptures to our own lives.  Often instructors will teach with a modern day twist comparing the scriptures to the latest movie or works in literature.  Jesus made comparisons through parables.  We make comparisons to help ourselves learn – to grow and develop.  We use analogies.

          Speaking of scriptures,  I like having two or three open books to compare verses side by side . . . there are some of us who still use books.  And how many times have we compared books to tablets or modern day technology?  Finding information on Google is less time consuming than looking up information first in the card catalog and with finding the book and then in finding the information in the book itself.

          In 2016 somebody compared our libraries to being on life support.  Voting “no” on the November ballots would pull the plug while voting “yes” would keep the doors open.

          We tend to compare the past to the present and find the pros and cons with each.  We compare the growth, the technology and the paths we have taken as individuals, as a country, as the human race.

          Two comparative posts that really stood out to me are this one as I felt had a lot of good quotes about self esteem and self worth.  I love the quote about not comparing “our behind the scenes moment to somebody else’s highlighted reel”.  So often we measure ourselves by how we are seen by others.

        and This one as it compares Christmas symbols to our beliefs in Christmas – though many are just legends it is great to have “meaning for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear” to verify the reason behind a symbol that is used such as the candy cane and Santa Claus

          I suppose I don’t really need to explain further or give more examples.  We’re all guilty of comparing probably often.

What Color is the Sky?

When I woke up this morning, I looked out the window.  The skies were gray and there was a haze which hid my view of the towers.  Was that fog or smoke?  I was not the only person who had wondered.  How long would the sky be grey before it turned blue?

On Saturday Roland and I had gone to Roseburg.  The closer we got to the city, the more overcast the skies.  We went to Home Depot.  Surprised we were not there for long before we traveled across the city to a store we had never looked at before.  Still overcast, but when we came out of the store, it was like we had entered with the weather of one day and left the store on a completely different days as the skies were blue, no clouds whatsoever and hot.

I enjoy going to the pool when it is overcast because there are usually fewer people who show for the workout.  

The fire is 65% contained now.  I haven't seen the blackened over 13,000 acres that remain.  I will get the opportunity later on this month.

And some other pics of clouds

Dash #23 Peggy Bird

          My mom’s birthday is June 29^th.  Our neighbor, Peggy, had been born on June 28^th.  Mom had been raised in San Francisco, California while Peggy had been raised in American Fork, Utah.  Peggy already had one son when she and my mom were both pregnant with Danny and me.  I was born at the end May and Danny was born in early June.  We were raised together by both moms. 

Until Jimmy was born in 1970, there were six of us:  Daryl, me, Danny, Patrick, John and Matt (in that order).  We would spend time together doing different things. They’d invite us to go on outings and do things with them.  I remember camping with the Bird family when Jimmy was just a baby.  I remember going to the amusement park with them.  I also remember Patrick and I going to Birds’ house after school after mom had gone to work for a few weeks.  I also remember staying the night when my brother, Corey was born.

I remember going to the American Fork Steel Days parade with the Birds almost every year even after Corey and Becky came along. There is one picture of Corey sitting between Jimmy and Becky, and though the other two are smiling, Corey looks bored out of his mind.  I don’t know if Kayla was around then or not.  Kayla is mom’s youngest and Becky is Peggy’s youngest and the only girl.

During the 60’s, Peggy was mother earth as her home always smelled of molasses cookies and gingerbread.  It appeared that she was always baking.  I loved the smell of her house.  She and mom would take turns driving four of us to the Deseret gym so that we could learn how to swim.  One day the car had a problem while we were on the freeway.  I was just a kid and hadn’t paid much attention to what was wrong or the cause.  My only memory of that time was seeing two “hippies” or long-haired youth assist Peggy with the car. It was in a day when the word “hippy” signaled a bad vibe for some people.  I knew their assisting was not a bad vibe.

If ever Peggy went shopping in whatever shops surrounded our area, she was never satisfied.  According to my mom, Peggy believed that Chipman’s department store in American Fork had everything and anything she could possibly need and would make the trip to American Fork just to acquire whatever it was.  Mom said she told me that she had gone with Peggy one time so that she could discover what it was that drew Peggy to Chipman’s.  Mom said she had expected a glorified K-Mart or something and was actually unimpressed with the size of the store or not appreciating the selection.

I don’t know how old Peggy was when she decided that she would go to work, but I suspect it wasn’t until after Becky had graduated high school.  Peggy left behind her mother earth and became one of five curators at the church museum.  She was the only female. 

She is quite well read and knows her church history.  Very knowledgeable.  A feminist.  I have learned a lot through her over the years.  I appreciate her more now than when I was a child.  I am grateful for the friendships that we have established.