Beneath the Wraps

         Jenna and I would have made the 7:36 bus yesterday morning, if we hadn’t had to reenter the front door to get her hat and pocket my cell phone. I figured it would be less than a fifteen minute wait for the next one.   I was wrong! We stood in the cold for 25 minutes before we saw the 8:51 ( finally !) – which passed us.   The 8:06  was right behind and stopped for us – and just about every stop between where we got on and where we needed to be dropped off.            I don’t know why the driver waited three to five minutes before turning around at the college.   Both buses were running late.              The  8:06 driver was a bit ticked off that he had to stop for everyone that the 7:51 driver had missed.   He seemed to take it out on the token machine as he kicked at it several tim...

         I don’t know if I had met Kelly prior to the being called to serve on the activities committee.  The first activity I remember being involved with was a “food storage/budgeting made-fun activity” Kelly played Betty Barker and I became the emcee who drew the names of contestants and invited them to “come on down”.          Even then she was struggling with the Church and her family life – desiring to connect the two but feeling torn with her beliefs.  Her husband showed no sign of ever wanting to be involved with the Church or even anybody who belonged to it.  Perhaps Kelly wasn’t even active when they met but gradually came around with a desire for having God and direction in her life – perhaps not necessarily the “Mormon Church”          That was five years ago.  And she continues to battle with herself and her maintaini...

Roland gave our middle son, Tony, the nickname “Donald Duck”.   Too often Tony flies off the handle about situations he can’t control or doesn’t understand.   I told him that he needs to pray more often.   That didn’t seem to go over too well. Prayer has been a part of my life forever.   I always had example of prayer.   My sibs and I were taught to pray.   We said individual prayers.   We said family prayers.   We prayed over the food.   We’d start family home evenings with prayer and end with prayer.   We said morning prayers.   We said prayers before we went to bed.   Before and while on vacation.   It was just something conditioned in me.   I don’t know that I ever questioned it.   Perhaps I didn’t always understand it, but I do now and have for such a long time that it’s hard to remember if/when I questioned prayer. Oh, perhaps there were times I prayed for something specific and felt my pra...

Ester doesn’t get to visit with Bill and Kayla’s kids all too often. She is their second cousin once removed on mine and Kayla’s side.   They are seventh cousins on Tony and Bill’s side.   Ester will always sit with the adult closest to the one holding B.J. Ester Loves looking at this little human who is smaller than her (though that’s bound to change within the next two to four years I think;   Ester’s small) Randy and Carrie have a dog.   They did not name him Iron Chops, but that is what I call him.   Even though he is still a puppy, he is three times bigger than Ester and oblivious at knocking over anybody or stepping on body parts.   Ester likes to watch him from a distance – tightly secured in someone’s lap and not anywhere near the same floor that Iron Chops occupies with his very long body. Highness is our dog Ester Loves him. Highness is old and s...

I read a book a while ago and started a post about author Jennifer Armstrong.   There is such amazing passion in her writing .   Well, I’ve only read three books thus far.   But I feel the need to post something – and yet haven’t felt inspired to write.   So here is a short post that was started eight months ago, but never really finished. The first Jennifer Armstrong book that I read was The American Story which gives a brief summery to so many who contributed to American history.   I love her passion towards history and for accuracy.     Currently, most of the books I read are geared to children.  Every once in a while I will try one geared to the adults, but always come back to books that are geared to the youth.  There were two Armstrong books geared to adults that I checked out from the library.  One about the Mickey Mouse Club and one about the Mary Tyler Moore television show.   Though I had no...

I vaguely remember reading a story about a young boy who had the honor of traveling with his father to see the Christ child – or perhaps it was that he wanted to go, but was too young to make the journey.   I don’t remember when or where I read it.   I hadn’t thought about it until yesterday when Kristen gave this years first lesson in Relief Society.   Such a beautiful lesson.   I don’t know why I had never connected the dots before. Kristin started out her letter with a video portraying the wise men who had traveled for over two years before they reached the Christ child – who was a child and not an infant resting in a manger.   I remembered being told that “they found him in a house” but had never really considered the long journey they had made.   I had forgotten how I had read about the anticipation and excitement and the long wait. We read from the Bible Dictionary and Matthew 2.   We looked up the words Magi and Three Ki...

“Ring Out Wild Bells” (found here ) has got one of the most mournful tunes I have ever heard in my life.   If it isn’t the most mournful tune in the hymnbook, I would guess it’s at least in the top three. To top its already mournful tune, it is being played on the organ – which in my opinion is one of the most mournful musical instruments and so the two put together sounds like a procession to a dark funeral. The chorister was not impressed with the lack of volume from the congregation and suggested we try again.   The brother behind me uttered, “Well then pick a different song” Needless to say, I was in full agreement.   It wouldn’t bother me at all to have that hymn completely thrown out of the hymnbook.   But then again, I have only heard it just once a year.   For me, personally, once a decade would be plenty. I visualized a setting as one would find in a Charles Dickens story.   It’s rainy and cold and everybody is dressed in black...

         Roland had come home early on Wednesday.   He probably shouldn’t have even gone in.   He slept most of the day.   He needed to.          I took Jenna to the library for the afternoon countdown.   I have been to the library on December 31 st before.   But the last day of 2014 was different.   The library was overly quiet – except for children in the library.          It wasn’t crowded.   Less crowded than I have seen the WV library – EVER. Roland had told us to leave early in order to get a good parking spot.   I honestly don’t think it would have mattered what time we left.   The turn-out wasn’t as good as it had been the last time we had gone for the New Year/afternoon countdown. Jenna decorated a hat and asked me to finish her noise maker while she went to participate in games.   I wishe...