https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-04-07/91-of-students-isolated-amid-COVID -19-girls-suffer-most-UNESCO-Pv4Hqqi2mk/index.html |
Saturday, March 6, 2021
What Now?
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
That’s Gotta Bite
Long before I was born my grandpa took
the opportunity to invest in oil lands.
From my understanding his investment had paid for a certain amount of
land which different companies would lease in order pump out oil and distribute
under their name. I had heard of Shell,
Amacco, Texaco and Conoco but there were many other names that I did not recognize. I don’t know how often checks were written
to each share holder but each check would bear the name of the company who had leased
the land.
After my grandpa had died the checks were made out to my grandmother. When she died she had made arrangements that each of her children would get 30% of the royalties and the remaining ten percent would be divided among her then eleven grandchildren. I never saw what my parents were getting, but the checks made out to us had always come with a mountain of paperwork. We had always found it to be such a great waste of money that it would often cost more to send the check than the check was often worth. Checks that were cut to my sibs, cousins and I would range anywhere from one cent to 35.00. Two digit dollars were rare. The average seemed to be two and change if I remember correctly.
At times we were offered to sell our property or lease it off to another company which also required a huge mountain of paperwork which included duplications that not only had to be signed but witnessed as well. Often we would go to the neighbors across the street and create an assembly line of signing and passing the papers. Often companies who had asked would change their minds as I suppose the size of the property wasn’t worth it – not among the grandkids anyway who had grown into twelve of us.
As the years went by the amount of checks had lessened – either we had sold the property off or the land had dried up or what have you – and had exchanged hands so many times that it was hard to keep track of where our checks might be coming from. I don’t think the amount was ever worth all the hoops we had to jump – particularly those of us whose names and addresses had changed. Most companies could either get my married name or current address but never both. Thinking that the address was more important I still get mail addressed to my maiden name. In fact, there was one address where we had lived that Roland was also receiving mail in my maiden name. I thought it was hilarious.
Anyway before the coronavirus hit the states but while the pandemic was going on in China we had an outrageous offer on our property rights. OUTRAGOUS on the part of the company – quite unbelievable for us. Corey had asked them about the amount on three separate occasions but was told the amount was correct. He decided to go for it but advised the rest of us to wait in case it was a hoax. It wasn’t a hoax. He got paid! And in turn the rest of us did too. I mean it would take several years to acquire enough pay checks to equal the amounts we had already sold for. This offer would have been at least forty. It was unbelievable.
The individual we had dealt with had
been so enthusiastic for acquiring all this property for his company. I sounded as if he had been more excited for
the gain than we were to sell. And then
COVID hit. I wondered what had become of
him or the company he worked for. Corey
learned that he is no longer employed with that same company but did not know
if it was because his choices may have cost the company (well, the pandemic did
– but that hadn’t even been a
consideration; what company is going to
say, “Oh, we can’t afford to
pay that much – there could
be a pandemic tomorrow and people might not purchase crude oil anymore”) or if it was
just because along with so many other companies in the nation layoffs were
necessary.
There have been so many who have
struggled in 2020 not just because of COVID but because of weather
conditions. People lost homes due to
floods and fires and other elements. And we remain blessed. We may not have a lot but I know we are
better off than so many others. For
that I am grateful.
Monday, March 1, 2021
Alexa Has Attitude
Jenna's rough drawing of what Echo and "Attitude" might appear as icons |
I think I have created a couple of
posts in which I refer to “Alexa”. We have two, an echo and one built into the
sound system for the TV.
Jenna had won the echo two and a half
years ago when we had gone to Salem for an open house for the online school
that Roland works for. We kept it over
the fireplace for over a year before Roland purchased a new sound system for
the television. He had a choice of
making it “Okay Google” or “Alexa”. I told him to go with “Okay Google” so the two wouldn’t
both activate at the same time but he chose not to listen to me and go with
Alexa and moved the Echo into Jenna’s room.
But her room is too close and both would activate – at least simultaneously.
We now have the Echo in our room and have an
alarm set to go off at 5:15 each weekday morning. Our room is located right
next door to Jenna’s and so often both will activate (depending on who is
making the request) though there is a four to seven second delay. Usually the information is exactly the same
but sometimes the Echo provides more interesting or need information whereas
the one built into the speaker has attitude.
I kid you not.
Jenna has tried drawing what she thinks in
her mind – the echo is a helpful student (probably kindergarten age as Alexa
had said she was five years in age) while the speaker seems more like a
teenager irritated about being interrupted while she is on her cell phone. There have been times that she has flat out refused
to respond. That isn’t nice. But seems to fit her personality. How can an “Alexa” device feel so much
different from the other. Jenna and I
like Alexa Echo but do not care for Alexa the other.
Running Out of Options . . . Best Stay Put
After my eldest son’s wife passed away he was given options on how to continue. An aunt from his mother’s side had offered for him to come live with them on the farm in Freedom, Wyoming. His in-laws offered to allow him to continue living with them. Of course Roland offered for him to move to Oregon. I don’t know what it was that kept him in Utah. I personally thought Freedom would have been the best choice. Ali would have gotten to know cousins on the Warner side of the family. Biff told me that she loved cows (that was when she was two – I have no idea what her interests are at present - wolves?) and she would have had the opportunity to interact with them and learn the ways of dairy farming.
Eventually Biff met Claire and thus
stayed in Utah for her. They finally got
married. She had fallen in love with
both Biff and Ali. Ali doesn’t remember
Jeanie as she was only two years old when her mother passed. Clair is her mom – perhaps the
only mom that she will remember. Claire
didn’t want to move
to Oregon because she was licensed in whatever practice in Utah but does not
even work now from what I understand.
She spends a huge amount of time doting on Ali – lately at the
hospital. Ali has been in and out since
December. I recall Jeanie being in and
out of the hospital quite often after we met her. Could Ali be following in her mom’s footsteps?
I wonder how different things might have
been if Biff had brought her to Oregon three years ago or if he had gone to
Wyoming. It sounds like he and his aunt
are of similar mind. Perhaps Ali would
have been diagnosed with COVID in Wyoming as well – though I
think the exposure would have been less risky there than the wall-to-wall
population of people in some counties in Utah.
I don’t know. We can never know how differently life would
have been if we had chosen another path.
Now it doesn’t seem as if
either Oregon or Wyoming are options as Salt Lake and surrounding areas have a
wide option of hospitals and clinics.
They may be medically advanced in Portland – but Biff and
Clair cannot afford anything in Portland – not that they’d want to
come. I think as long as Ali remains in
and out of the hospital, they really need to stay put and take advantage of
where they are.
Friday, February 26, 2021
In the Blink of an Eye
I had made a purchase at Dollar General the other day. The cashier asked if I would like a bag. I had momentarily forgotten about the single –use-plastic ban that had been ordered just over a year ago.
Dollar
General gave out yellow bags before the end of 2019. Recyclable gray ones were ordered. They are not as appealing to the eye – nor do they fold
over to line the trash can properly. But
they are definitely sturdier. Five or
ten cents per bag is still less than a state tax would be.
I
get why it was ordered. There are so
many people who are concerned about the environment and will properly dispose
of trash. There are just as many who are
careless – some who just
let things fall where they land and don’t bother with disposal. Sometimes the litter is accidental – like when the
wind blows and carries said item away. I
honestly have seen more masks littering the parking lots and streets than I
have plastic bags or straws. But I’ve had firsthand
experience with the plastic bag issues.
Newborns
are placed in car seats that face the rear of the car. Today there are periscopes and cameras to
check on the child but is still not made available to all who have
children. If that did indeed exist sixteen years ago when Jenna was in that kind of car
seat, it wouldn’t have been
affordable to us as I imagine with many others who have children.
I
had run some errands and had allowed the front windows down far enough to
create a circulation but not so far down that it would affect Jenna – at least not
directly. Evidently there was enough air
to blow a plastic bag onto her face. She
wasn’t harmed,
thank goodness, but could have been if the car ride had been longer.
Plastics
pollute more than just the ocean. I know some people felt inconvenienced and
all too many seem to be upset with Kate Brown and some of her choices. But then COVID hit and I don’t think a lot
of people even considered the plastic ban as COVID is still a hot topic and
thus everything in 2020 seemed to center around the disease or fire conditions
and placing those that had become homeless due to the elements.
There
are still so many who seem to have it out for Kate Brown and the decisions that
were made. She had run under the
democratic party but it was my understanding that it was the Republican party
(or at least some of those who had been represented or claimed to be
Republican) had campaigned to keep her on – though her name was not on the last
ballot and so I don’t know what
that was all about.
It’s not like any
politician has had a course in how to handle a worldwide pandemic. I have no issues with Kate Brown or her
policies. I think she is doing the best
she can for the welfare of most everybody involved. I would not have her job for anything.
The Bear
Here is a less than flattering poem I had written about a substitute teacher that I had only heard about but had never encountered until my junior year. She reminded me of a school marm from the turn of the century - and I don't mean this century. Subs have it hard because there is always at least one student who acts up and ruins it for the rest of the class. Today's feature:
The Bear
If you painted her last name
You’d have a picture of a “Bear”
Or the ancient braud herself
The decrepit lady with blue hair
We see the old grouch
Come back year after year
Why, this lady is so old
She went to school with Shakespeare
She was born to be a teacher
She knew that from the start
And after years of teaching
She bought a genuine handcart.
She taught [near] little reservoirs
And on the Mississippi plain
One of her students was Samuel
Know to us a Mark Twain.
When she came to Jordon District
Not knowing how we’d feel
She traded in her ragged handcart
For a second-hand automobile
She never had a date
Nor did she ever kiss
Nor did she ever get proposed to
For her name is still “Miss”
But if we’re nice to her
She’ll be nice to us
But if we’re obnoxious
She’ll put up a fuss
Jordon School district had problems
Added on, we could tell
When the old lady came here
With a name that fit her well.
Thursday, February 25, 2021
The Worth of Souls
I came across this poem in between paying bills and studying the Doctrine and Covenants:
Trash
is a collection
of once
possessed [items]:
The
doll
who used to stand proud
and amazed everybody
is
now worth nothing
because its face is cracked
The sports shoes
that won every game
has
a hole
allowing
the big toe to come through
The
flower pot
that
contained some of the
prettiest flowers
is
now broken in two.
None
of these are worthless
unless you
let them be
I imagine it was written in 1979 or 1980. I hadn't given it a title at the time, but did give it a title on the 17th of this month. I call it Self-Worth.
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Where Shall We Go?
Roland has to take his vacation days or lose them. He keeps on asking when and where we shall go. He has a desire to go to North Carolina to see his mom who was supposed to come see us in May of last year – but because of the pandemic wasn’t sent.
There’s still a pandemic. We are not in the clear. It was announced this morning that while some
counties have advanced from extreme to high risk, other counties have been set
back – ours for
example. We were at extreme and went to
high risk but have been told that we are entering extreme again.
I remember when we were told that the
state would reopen in phases. There
would be four phases. I don’t know of any
county in the state who has gone beyond phase two. I don’t wish for it to sound like I’m living in
fear. I think there’s a difference
between fear and being cautious. Roland
will say that he needs to get the vaccine and then he will turn around and ask
if we want to go bowling. I refuse to go
bowling during the pandemic. Heck, I won’t even get
into a public pool right now. How my
body has missed that during the summer.
Before we went to New York last
summer, we prayed about our decision.
Opportunities had changed. Same
thing today. I told Roland that even if
we book something we don’t know how
things will be in three or four weeks.
We don’t know how
they will change tomorrow. It’s good to make
plans – but as there
are so many “if” factors right
now. Not only is there a pandemic but
several states are experiencing tremendous weather conditions.
I suggested we just stay around
here. It would be fun to see more of
this state and parts of Washington.
Again, we have no guarantees that we would be able to find lodging. Even so, could we trust it? How many layoffs have resulted due to the
pandemic? I don’t think
traveling at this time is a good idea. I
don’t think all
the uncertainties would amount for a great vacation – and yet I am
an adventurous. I always retell
situations of the unplanned and perhaps disastrous.
Roland gave me a scenario of another who
is older and Roland asked if he wasn’t worried about COVID to which he
received the response, “I can’t stop living.”
I don’t think of the COVID in that same
regard – certainly I
want to live my life – but not at
the expense of my family or my religious beliefs. God sent plagues to His children in Biblical
times. He tested them. I feel like by
going on vacation, by going bowling, by engaging in activities the way that I
did before, I am failing the greater test.
I may survive my encounters. I
may have the time of my life. But what
greater blessings will I have missed by giving in? Even the church itself has not reached phase
four. Who am I that I am better than
that?
COVID is still a problem. It hasn’t gone away. We know people who have tested positive for COVID. We know of many who have been hospitalized. Some people just seem more tolerant somehow while others still have not accepted that all of this is real and that we must proceed with caution. We have a picture of ourselves with Joh's mom in our house when they dropped by 2 and a half years ago. She passed away because of COVID.
I am so grateful to President Biden and his messages of hope and encouragement. Sometimes when I watch or listen to him, he looks and sounds like a general authority. There is compassion in his voice that we have not had for the last four years. How different things might have been if we had had a leader who set an example for us to begin with.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
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.
Monday, February 22, 2021
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.
Sunday, February 21, 2021
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.
Saturday, February 20, 2021
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