Reflection written February 19, 2021

 

Back in the days before Google

– possibly before Travel Agencies

– I don’t know. 

It hadn’t dawned on either of us

to find a travel agency.  I

 don’t recall what grade I was in

– I’m guessing fourth. 

 

The students had been assigned to

make posters of any state of his

or her own choosing. 

I had narrowed my selections down to

Hawaii, Alaska and Colorado. 

 

My mom helped me with the wording and

addressing the envelopes. 

I think we sent my plea to the capital city at

each address. 

We probably had to go to

the library to look it up

– though I don’t know where exactly. 

The internet did not

exist at that time.

I believe I had introduced myself as

a student at East Midvale Elementary in

Midvale, Utah and I was

hoping to get some information for

an assignment I was doing. 

The state of Hawaii was first to respond.

I received brochures so many pictures to

go along with my inquiries. 

I finished my poster several weeks before

the due date. 

 

With only one week left before

our due date (I think we had

been told five or six weeks in advance)

I heard from Alaska. 

Not quite as many pictures but

enough to make another poster. 

I asked if I could make another and

was given permission for extra credit.

 

Two months after the due date I

received a lone pamphlet from Colorado. 

No included pictures.  What’s up with that? 

The state of Colorado shares a

border with Utah. 

I would think their response would have

come a lot quicker. 

I was most unimpressed.

 

Over the years I decided

Colorado meant delay. 

It didn’t matter the service. 

Mail, bus lines, airline connections or

what have you. 

There was ALWAYS

a delay. 

I personally had not viewed

a single exception.

I don’t know what the status is today.

It seems so long ago since

I sent anything or traveled myself

through Colorado.

Pretty state. 

Always ran late in my mind.

A Very Small Piece of Yellowstone Park

We still have not watched the video of my family in Yellowstone . Perhaps I will find more triggers when I go through the tape. The following was written at the end of 1979 

 

Minerva Springs

 

A dream of candy mountains,

drooping like melted wax on a huge candle  

different colors

poured into a [blender]

all cremated

and layered

Hot tubs on each giant ice berg stack

It looks as if the snow miser lives there

But the interior decorator is Mr. Heat.

to view more pics of Mammoth Springs see here

my original wording for blender was Osterizer as that is what I had always called it.  Our blender was made by the Oster company.

What Was God Thinking Calling Me?

             I had called to the RS presidency on September 8, 2019.  Two months into my calling I was called to the position of second counselor. By the time 2020 had started we were told that we would need to call a few sisters for a humanitarian committee though we did not have the final details of how it would be handled – activities would be held every other month by the activities committee and we would do service projects the other months and the humanitarian committee would provide the details.

Sisters were called and set apart.  The last four were set apart on March 8, 2020.  The committee never met in person.  No events were planned.  We were told that Church would no longer operate in person.  President Nelson had given that instruction before the stay-at-home order had been given.  We did not return to Church until ten months later.  Meanwhile, many sisters from both committees have been given other callings.  Our humanitarian committee is pretty much dissolved.  We have not returned to activities among any organization except for the youth who have been meeting since December I think.   

    Last week we returned to the two meeting schedule on Sunday. We don’t know how our activities will fit in at this time or if we will go forward with the humanitarian committee.  Perhaps the only purpose for our calling them was so that when the pandemic first went into effect they were able to make masks to meet the needs of those that didn’t have.

I remember admiring those that had been called to serve the young women in the last ward I had attended while living in Salt Lake.  We lived in a largely geriatric populated ward (Over 75% of all members were over the age of 70) and did not have many active youth.  In fact, I remembered only one boy being present on Sunday – though I think the girls may have gotten a bigger turn out for the Wednesday night activity than did the boys.  Sundays were sparse.  And yet, the presidency diligently planned their lessons and showed up to the classroom just in case. 

There were a few weeks that they had the opportunity to teach visitors or the new move-ins that we had for only a few months.  They loved their girls and rallied around those who were less active.  I don’t know how much they got out of their calling or if they questioned it – but it made a great impression on me.

It’s not our place to question why the Lord would give one a calling when surely there seems to be another who is more qualified or provide a calling that might be viewed as worthless.  No calling is worthless.  Each is needed no matter what the position.  I know some wards have struggled at fulfilling all the necessary callings while other wards seem to make up callings.  They are all inspired.  Oh, sure – there have been some called out of desperation rather than inspiration – but that doesn’t make it less important.  How blessed each of us is that we do have the opportunity to serve.  Even if it may seem pointless at times or if it is for such a short time that you wonder what the purpose was.  There is a purpose.  I think it’s something each of us still need to learn.

Memories of Hawaii

 I had gone to Hawaii with my paternal grandmother after I had graduated high school in 1980.  These two poems were written sometime afterward - I'm guessing that same year.

Banya

 

Twisted hands

move slowly

outstretched

and wrapped

around

each other

tied

and embraced

forming

a trunk

 

My Hat

 

Everyone admired

the pile of grass

I bought 

Originality

and personality

is what

I’ve got

I put it

       on my head

so everyone

would know

It says a lot

about me

everywhere I go

Friendship and Promises Triggers

             As I have gone through my box of poems I am finding more triggered memories.  One of my poems tells about a friendship that I had encountered with an elderly woman who lived five doors down from my maternal grandparents.  They all lived in the same apartment building in San Francisco.  I guess she was lonely and my grandpa asked if I would write to her.  I still remember her first and last name – although I have no idea or remember how to spell her last name but do remember how to pronounce it.

There was one simple poem about promises and under the poem I’d written a note about different promises I had made and kept.  One promise was to a friend who I called “Annie”;  I told her that I would take her to the musical “Annie” if it was ever playing downtown or at the University. 

I don’t recall the exact year.  I was thinking it was in the late 70’s.  Annie won Tony awards in 1977 so it would have had to been several years later.  There was a national tour in 1981 and so perhaps that was the year my mom and I had gone downtown to purchase five tickets for the Broadway musical.  (I know it was before the release of the pathetic 1981 film production) We paid cash. I remember having counted the tickets at least twice while we were downtown.  Five.  We counted five both times.  After we returned home my mom took them out her purse and there were six!  I think we called Capitol Theatre to let them know of the error but because we had paid cash we were told there wasn’t a way for the extra ticket to be verified.  Okay.  Cool.  We invited my grandma to use the remaining ticket.  We watched from the balcony and I remember being fascinated by how the scenery got pulled onto the stage and pulled off again. All of us loved the play.  It was worth the amount I had spent.

Valentine Tribute Technology

        I watched the latest episode of This Is Us aired on NBC.  This year the creators have included today’s invents – meaning the pandemic and restrictions thus the story lines include the mask and real life circumstances at the hospital.

https://www.nbc.com/this-is-us/episodes

The show starts out with the introduction of two new characters – Nasir and Ester – both immigrants to a new country in 1963. Who could this couple possibly be?  What in the world did it have to do with the Pearsons (the family members that are the main subjects of the show)?  Meanwhile the present focuses on family members who are either in the hospital or on the phone via video chat with those in the hospital.  

The next time we see Ester and Nasir they are married.  We don’t know how long they courted or were married or how many children they will have.  We know there is at least one toward the end of the show when Nasir is late coming home and Ester seems upset with him as he promised that he would be home at a certain time.  She asks him to talk to her as if she were their four-year-old son. 

There is a scene where the camera is taken off Ester and Nasir and Manual and Rebecca are the subject. I suddenly decided that Ester and Nasir must be his parents and perhaps they will bringing them more into focus.  But I was wrong.  Ester and Nasir Ahmed are real live people and not just a story line.  Nasir Ahmed’s vision is what connected the story into modern day.  He was interested in technology and creating a device with pictures so that in the future we would not only be able to make phone calls and hear the other person, but we would be able to see the other person.

It was a “wow” moment.  It was such a lovely tribute and I am so impressed that this moment of inspiration has been weaved into the story line as the cast members (as well as ourselves) are able to visit with one another through this great device that was thought up many years before. It has made a great impression not only for what Nasir Ahmed did for all of us but that it was captured in this television show and provides a sense of light in a time that has been too dark for so many.  Thank you Ahmed and thank you to those involved with This Is Us for presenting this experience to us in such a creative way. 

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a35539211/who-is-nasir-ahmed-esther-true-story/

For more information see here and here e.g.

I don't know if the story was meant as a Valentine's gift for Ester and Nasir - what a cool tribute.

Have I Got a Treat for You!

                 As I have been reading the scriptures I wondered where I had misplaced my personal scripture blessing.  I used to look at it often but realized I probably haven’t looked at it since we have lived in Oregon.  It isn’t where I thought it was.

        I found some “artifacts” and a letter addressed to my posterity about the contents of my pink ammo can.  What possessed me to paint it pink?  I don’t even like pink.  But at the time I didn’t appreciate the drab green although I think I prefer it to the pink that appears to be older than it is. 

        The note was written September 6, 1988.  I claimed that I had left a camera cassette which isn’t there but there is a VHS and the contents are the same as what is descrbed for the Minolta.  I suppose I could include another camera cassette but with different moments . . .

        The VHS tape includes recordings of a ventriloquist act featuring Ron Lucas.  It had been recorded off the Disney Channel.  Next was our family vacation to Yellowstone Park.  We saw more of the park than we usually do.  We returned home less than a week before the fires (here) 

I set the tape aside in hopes that Jenna and Roland will be willing to watch it with me. 

        My letter also indicated that there were two floppy discs.  I found only one – almost the same size as the one Matthew Broderick holds in this clip from the movie “War Games”.  

The caption indicates the contents are of my journal.  Perhaps.  Good luck finding a Brothers Word Processor from that decade or some other device to read it on.  My descriptions don’t even make sense to me.  I’m certain they will mean less to my posterity should they ever have the opportunity to go through it (well, Jenna has seen the contents – or some of them anyway).

          I have disc negatives of probably every picture I ever took with the short lived disc camera.  And a mountain of poems.  No expression magazine but homework/class assignments from 1979 and others I had jotted down.  What a joy that will be to go through. 

There are two collector pins not even mentioned – Clairol and Mary Tyler Moore.  Wow.  How’s that for a finder?

I also made the claim to a set of cassette tapes that contain contents of my mission. They were not in the can but I am 75% certain that I brought them to Oregon with me.  If not, they got pushed back in a closet in West Valley never to be seen again.  Too bad.  If I do come across them, I will include them with the memorabilia. 

I said I had included some kind of camera?  No camera but did find two flash bulbs.  Oh if only American Pickers would stop buy.  Laugh out Loud.  It’s actually quite pathetic.

But I do have poems.  Lots and lots of poems.  And I will share many of them throughout time.  Don’t you feel honored?

 As I didn’t find what I was searching for, I turned to some other ammo cans that kept natural color.  In one I found several photos.  Two had been taken of the sisters serving in Roanoke during September/October 1984 and March 1985.  I also found this picture that Sunny had created for all of her sisters 

and this one of me from my mission when I first arrived in Roanoke

“You Know Those Aren’t Our Chickens, Right?” and “This Ain’t No Poop Deck: Be Gone!”

         I don’t know how many posts I’ve created about the fowl creatures that come into our yard.  The turkeys were still around after Thanksgiving but seemed to disappear before Christmas.  The hens have seemed to multiply though their eggs have not.  I haven’t seen any roosters except for Mitch who seems to be the source of the “pighen demon” call.  Trying to sound like Bruce whom I thought had vanished but did see him the other day.  He’s not as annoying as Mitch.

        Jenna was told by the owner’s son that the black rooster was named Bruce.  I don’t know if he personally gives the animal names or if they really do have names.  They are not pets after all – except for maybe Miss Piggy who looks like she could win tons of blue ribbons for the tons of weight she must have put on.  Roland’s special name for the pig is “Chris P. Bacon” though not an original joke as I have heard it before.

        For the most part Jenna is the one who comes up with names for all the fowl who have wandered into our yard.  She says “Mitch” looks like the kind of rooster that are popular with oven mitts and other kitchen décor – but “Kitch” didn’t seem to fit and so she picked a rhyme that worked. 

        She calls the feather-duster looking one Cheryl – I don’t know why.  I’m guessing Cheryl and Mitch are roughly the same age as they had entered our yard as babies – well, not fluffy chick type babies.  They were obviously rooster and hen but very small in size.  I figure they are teenagers right now and Mitch is a cocky teenager at that.  He has not perfected his crow but I think he thinks he’s hot stuff.

This photo does not begin to capture how many chickens come into our yard

        Jenna has named the smaller orange hens Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy.  She calls the large orange hen Merida as she seemed to be the most brave about climbing up our deck and not bothering to run when the door was opened.  She just stays as though it’s her domain.  I don’t mind the creatures coming into our yard and even on our deck until they have decided that it is their personal toilet. That does not set well with me.

        Roland just cleaned all the poo off the deck with the garden hose and it reappeared the very next morning (less than 12 hours) and so I took the meshing net that had snared one of the chickens and laid it across the stairs.  They dared not cross it until they spotted Bonnie’s bowl with the chicken livers inside.  Jenna reported that they had crossed over to delect on Bonnie’s food.  Cannibles!!!

        Roland went to the feed store to purchase chicken food and a coop for them to lay their eggs in instead of under the porch – which they haven’t been doing but I doubt that Mitch has gotten around to impregnate the females who used to lay roughly three eggs each day (that is one for each of us if we don’t count Bonnie).  Our neighbors said we could keep the eggs if they laid them in our yard.  Okay, having them invade our yard as though it is a free-for-all territory is one thing – but enticing them to stay?  What is Roland thinking?

        We have purchase a lot of eggs over the years.  A LOT!!!  Even with only the three of us their small eggs are not enough.  So we still buy them.  Theirs are brown.  Ours our white.  

The darker yolk is from one of the brown eggs laid by the chickens
The lighter yolk comes from the white eggs we buy at the store

And we have been purchasing chicken parts in another county.  We feed those to Bonnie.  I don’t think Bonnie knows she’s eating organs that resemble those running around our yard.  The chickens don’t know we have a freezer full of chicken livers, hearts and gizzards.  If they did I’m sure they wouldn’t come around anymore. 

 Begging to Be Fed.

As though feeding them has ever been our job

Somehow they believe that it is.

 If they only knew.

So Disappointed With the Outcome . . . but not totally surprised

 He was acquitted

which means he gets to keep his title

which he should have never had

in the first place.

 

He did not represent America – or

maybe he did – the gain for

nothing part of the population,

those who wanted the frat party to

go on and on,

those who thought of themselves

more than others – if

others were considered at all.

 

He said he’d make America great again. 

What great was he talking about? 

Did he think the civil war was great? 

Did he think any war was great? 

Did he think lies and deception were valuable assets

to represent America? 

 

And what is up with those

who refuse to break away

from the Republican party? 

Those who believe that dueling is honorable

and that covering up crimes is for

the good of the people? 

How could this man be impeached

twice in one term and

not be convicted?

 

Apparently there are several

who do not honor the constitution. 

There are several who don’t think

we need it or any kind of law for that matter. 

Some have the attitude that

we should be a “free-for-all” nation

with no law.  Just live how we want. 

And if others get killed in the process –

oh, well.  As long as it’s not them.

Apparently that’s the sacrifice

they are willing to make.

 

I have thought about others

who have gone into hiding or

were taken to concentration camps

and the stay-at-home order really

doesn’t seem so bad. 

 

I would rather be by myself than

clustered with a bunch of people

under any circumstances – but especially

with so many experiencing so many emotions

such as anger, humiliation, depression, numbness –

those who rattle off at the mouth

when silence is necessary.

 

I hope he doesn’t run for president again. 

I hope that if he does he will lose

by a landslide.

I hope I will have passed

to the other side if

he should win.

His win will never be

my win.

Examples of Ministering Angels

             Too often I will get several interruptions whenever  I am trying to read (any book I'm interested in) or write a post for my blog.  I failed to go into detail with my last post.  It was there when I initially sat down to create it.  After four or five interruptions I read what I had and felt satisfied that it was passable – but it does seem to be uncompleted as there are no examples.  I will now share the example that brought to mind the subject of ministering angels (aside from the latest read in the Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants schedule).

            Over the years Corey has posted many things on facebook that have touched me – his latest with his experience of a cat whom he and Joh named Milagro.  I don’t have either of their permission to share their story but will do so without it. (If either would like me to take it down, I will do so.  If you are reading this and it is the end of the month now chances are great that neither of them saw any reason to remove)

            It has been at least two years since they found a tom cat in their backyard whom they would leave food and other comforts.  He appeared to be a stray as sometimes he would come all scuffed up and beaten – most likely by another cat.  And they would clean him up and offer comfort as best as they could without letting him into their house.  First of all, they saw him as an outdoor cat who might not be comfortable inside but also because Corey and Joh had three female cats living inside and did not know how they would react to the male or how he would react to them.

            They eventually named the cat “Milagro” which is a Spanish word for miracle.  They saw the cat as a miracle as he would disappear for weeks at a time and neither Corey nor Joh knew if the cat was still alive.  He outlived many moments of being torn up or matted and seemingly unhealthy.

            It was Milagro that brought their fourth cat, Gabriella, into their lives.  She also needed attention to clean up her wounds or appearance or whatever may have been wrong with her.  Corey and Joh cleaned her up and took her to the vets and eventually adopted the bundle of joy.  They will always be grateful to Milagro for bringing her into their lives.

            I don’t know when exactly that Milagro had disappeared from their lives.  Corey had been off facebook for quite a while and so I don’t remember the details as he  had not posted anything while he was on his facebook break.  Quite recently Milagro made another appearance.  I believe he was mangled and had obvious health issues.  Though Joh and Corey were still reluctant about bringing Milagro into the house, they couldn’t watch as Milagro suffered.  Thus they took him to the vet and were given medicine.  They also purchased a chip so that they could keep track of him should he disappear again.

Joh made a special place for Milagro to be in the house and away from the girls.  They cared for him and did not let him go until the medicine was gone.  Meanwhile Joh had posted pictures of Milagro in the event he did belong to someone.  They did receive a phone call.  The cat’s name is “Cookies” and while Joh was on the phone with the owners mother he could hear a girl’s voice in the background saying, 

"Mommy, I never prayed, but last night I decided to for the first time."

Ministering Angels. Corey. Joh. Milagro.  The inspiration that Joh received to post Milagro/Cookie’s picture.  The answers to a young girl’s prayer. And that is only one example.

Ministering Angels

 

          Who or what are ministering angels?  Angels are not necessarily heavenly beings.  Angels come in forms of next door neighbors, friends in the community, even strangers.  I may have related the experience that Roland shared with me about a time in his youth he had picked up a peer who had either been later for work, stuck in the rain, missed the bus . . . or whatever.  We don’t know her story only that she was grateful that Roland had “rescued her” and still thinks about how he saved even to this day.

          I have been grateful for many occasions when others have served me – such as giving me a lift or changing a flat tire when I have been stranded or coming to my rescue when my family has been in need of food.  We have had many angels serve us and we in turn serve others – often those we had not even met before but feel prompted to pay it forward and will continue.

          I had shared a TikTok of a woman praising the Mormons in her time of need during Hurricane Laura.  She referred to them as angels.  We have had many angels assist one another through the fires and rebuilding homes and an incredible outpour of giving.

Sometimes angels can come in the form of animals.  They can lift in ways that some humans cannot.  They provide a sense of unconditional love. I am grateful for all the angels that have been a part of my life and I am grateful for the opportunities that I may be an angel to others.