Beneath the Wraps

            Near my daughter’s school is an assisted living facility – at least that’s how it is advertized.   I think it is more of a retirement home or independent living.   No memory care is provided (but there are many facilities that don’t have the memory care included). To me it appears that the residences are free to come and go.   I don’t know that for a fact.   It just appears that way.             Two months before the family assigned me the task of looking into care facilities I looked into the one close to Vantanna.   The man who showed me around was very nice and gave me a binder of all I had seen and the cost.   He encouraged me to look into other facilities but guaranteed that all would be more expensive.   And he was right.             I remember giving Core...

When I was Jenna’s age, I don’t recall Halloween being dragged out the way it is now.   At school we dressed up in costume and then there was trick-or-treating.   One day.  One night.  Not all week and all month.  Jenna dressed up in costume when she attended preschool but not with attending elementary. I don’t know of any schools who continue with that tradition.   Jenna’s school doesn’t. Before we moved to West Valley we spent a week of Halloween going to different events each day.   Jenna had dressed as a fairy – from full outfit to just wings. It started out with Sunny helping Jenna to create a wand – which we would use as a prop for her costume. There was the after school carnival that the high schoolers had put on for the children in elementary school, our own personal make-up party, a fall festival, and finally the trunk or treat.   We used to do an annual Halloween party in that particular ward, but I don’t recall ...

When I was younger I had a crush on Michael Cole  who portrayed the character Pete Cochran on the Mod Squad.  I was probably more in love with the idea of Pete than I was infatuated with Michael. Recently I watched an episode of the old TV Series and felt admiration all over again. Pete Cochran is a gentleman.  He opens doors for women.  He shows compassion.  This particular episode was shot in its final season around Christmas time.  An acquaintance of Pete asked him if he could watch his daughter for an hour.  The acquaintance said there was some business he needed to take care of but that he’d be right back.  Pete willingly took his daughter and kept on eye on her for several hours actually. Pete, estranged from his own parents, encouraged the little girl to pray.  She said that she didn’t believe in God and Pete’s answer introduced her to the world of hope.  I admired him for his carefully selected words.  And I...

I saw the leaves scurry quickly across the street when pushed by the angry wind which has been howling the last few days.  It appears that autumn is nearing its end this year. But we have been blessed with warmth and colors and really awesome weather for the most part.   Some trees remain in their brilliant state of gorgeous color while others have been stripped naked - skeletons ready for the harshness of winter.   I hope it's not a harsh winter like last year.  It was cold. Always so cold. Miserably cold.   And summer was unbearably hot. But autumn was awesome. autumn is awesome. Let us keep that awesome feel.   Mother Nature please don't strip the trees. Let them radiate throughout the year - without the wind, without the snow, without the heat, without the cold.

            My daughter LOVES arts and crafts.   In school she made a paper mask of a female skull.   She is quite proud of it and so wanted me to have my own skull, which she tried to make identical to her own.             She decided that when we boarded the bus this morning, we would hold up our masks over our faces.   She made up lyrics on the way to the bus stop and sung them to the tune “Carol of the Bells”             She made me learn her song before the bus came so that we could sing the song before we held up our masks.   I learned the song but told her that we would not be able to sing its entirety before boarding the bus.   And so she sung only the last line as we held up our masks.   Our bus driver laughed.        ...

            Jenna and I got on the more crowded bus this morning but I took the less crowded one back to the house.   I was actually the only passenger for the first three lights.   And I was thinking that UTA really missed out for not hiring Roland as one of their drivers.          He may have only applied that one time.   I don’t know if it even resulted with an interview or not.   Roland is a great driver.   I doubt he would be intimidated by the size of the bus.   He is a master behind the wheel in all kinds of weather.   He has exceptional people skills.   And I believe he enjoys driving.          Not me.   I remember taking the bus one time – cold wet snowy day.   I got talking to the driver about my job and searching for another.   He said that UTA was hiring drivers. ...

     Jenna and I got off the bus the other day.  It was raining – not a pouring rain, but the sky had definitely produced more than just a drizzle.  We needed our umbrellas (which we just happened to have).  The weird thing was that I also needed sunglasses.      It seemed to be raining north of 3300, but once we turned the corner and continued on our way to the south side, we no longer needed our umbrellas.  We were in the house perhaps only ten minutes or so when we could hear a heavy hail beating all around us.  I looked out the window to see the sun shining still.  Weird.      Yesterday was beautiful – though we started the morning wearing light jackets.  Janna and I took the train to Midvale and walked to the post office and made a stamp purchase and walked over to the library.  On our return I mentioned to Jenna that Ellen and Nate lived close to where we were. ...

When Roland and I were on welfare, and we would get food from the bishop’s storehouse, I would bring home several bell peppers as Roland likes to cook with them and Jenna loves to eat them raw. But there were times when I sensed that the peppers might spoil before they were used.   Our Relief Society president (at that time) was among the best (if not the best) cooks in the ward.   I remember asking her if we could freeze peppers.   She said I needed to cut them into strip and   blanch them first.   There must have been a puzzled look on my face as she continued with a definition of blanching. I am to place the pieces in boiled water for three minutes and then lay them out singly on top of a paper towel (she lines them onto a cookie sheet) before packing them up for the freezer.   So a couple of nights ago, I noticed several small peppers (some honestly so small they may have passed for jalapenos or chilis)   and so I b...

Before Jenna turned five she was introduced to Isaac – a cousin to Paula – who, at the time, was Biff’s platonic girlfriend.   Roland asked Isaac how old he would be (or what age he’d just turned – I forget what time of the year it was) We both figured at least nine.   Both of us were quite floored when he answered seven..   He was too tall to be only seven. He was actually quite tall for nine.    Surely Jenna and Isaac were more than just two years apart.      Isaac’s mom was involved with an Easter tradition.   Every year right after Church, the children would look for the plastic eggs that the adults had hid around the yard – her father’s yard to be exact.   Paula had outgrown the tradition and had asked Biff to bring Jenna so that Isaac and Paula’s brother weren’t hunting for eggs by themselves.   So from 2009 to 2012 Jenna has always done Easter with Isaac and his family.       ...

Hank and Stewart can look at the same tree and see it in two different ways.   Stewart will see a tree.   You can climb it.   You can sit under its shade when there are leaves.   Hank will visualize what that tree can become – what can be built with it. Our theme this month is on “becoming more Christ like”.   My first lesson was on parables, why Jesus taught in parables, and perhaps the class could share some of their favorites and why. Hank let out a sigh.   “I HATE parables!”   he said.   “I just don’t understand them.” Stewart said he likes them.   Not only are they entertaining, but you can also learn something. Why did Jesus teach in parables?   The Pharisees had condemned him from teaching.   Threatening him with prisonment, I believe. But this is the answer he gave to his disciples: “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven . . .” – Matt 13:11  ...

After we got Highness (our dog) we went and got him tagged and I went online to change the information on the chip (though I don’t think it’s taken) and somehow lost the tag within the first week or two.   I sent off the renewal fees this morning – but I’ve been informed that he is to wear his original tag.   He had four of them hanging on him this morning.   And now there are two – the newest being the one given for his rabid shots. When our first dog, Houdini, escaped, animal control picked him up all too often – though we did occasionally receive calls from others who had found him – those that took the time to find the information attached to his collar. We loved Houdini.   But we just couldn’t afford to bail him out of jail.   He was a good dog, but apparently some saw him as a threat.      Highness is a good dog overall.   I’m surprised he hasn’t spent time in jail.   There was only one time when animal control...

I love Love LOVE this book.  I think it’s the best piece of historical fiction that I have read EVER . . . Kristin Levine did a lot of research before writing this book found in the juvenile fiction.  Originally she thought she would do a story on the Little Rock Nine but as she was doing her research she learned about the WEC (Women’s Emergency Committee) and the STOP (Stop this Outrageous Purge) and the battle of Segregation/Integration and the closing of schools that followed the Little Rock Nine. The author’s mother had left Little Rock in 1954 – three years before the nine were admitted to Central High.  She hadn’t had a first hand experience in the events explained in the story. The story is told through the eyes of Marlee, a twelve – thirteen year old white girl who makes friends with Elizabeth – the new girl who is light enough to pass for white, but really she is what was then referred to as colored or Negro.  Today we say African American...

When I was younger there were two bus routes that I could catch on State Street near my mom's house.  The #7 to Highland or the #5 to Parley's way.  One of them went all the way to the zoo - but I don't know which one. When I was working downtown, the route names or destinations had changed.  There were four busses that ran along State Street between 6400 and 100 South.  I could catch the 25 Midvale or the 22 West Sandy where I had caught the two mentioned in the first paragraph.  Or I could walk over to the mall to catch the 24 East Sandy or 12 Murray.  It wasn't that big of a deal to walk from 6400 to my mom's house.  And even though 25 and 22 were closer, I preferred the coming home on the 24 only because I didn't have to cross the street to go back home. Thus far Jenna and I have been fortunate not to have to cross the street when we have ridden to school.  We even have the option of catching a bus near the school without hav...