Happy Birthday Melody!

Mel had a good birthday - celebrated a day late because we were both so busy we couldn't get around to it on Friday. We went out to Applebee's for dinner (thanks to a thoughtful gift). She received calls from all of the kids, and lots of Facebook  greetings from lots of friends and relatives.

I always like getting her funny cards, but I was outdone this year  by others. Below are some of the best ones:

My personal favorite, on the inside it says: Just What You Needed, Another Cheesy Birthday Card

And on the inside of this one: The Person Your Age Sees It As Bed Time

This one is just funny. I'm not sure why.

That Easter Morn

For years I have have wanted to go to the Easter Sunrise Service at the cross in the Sutter Buttes that is put on by local churches in the town of Sutter. I've been up to the cross on many occasions, but never at sunrise on Easter morning. This is mostly because I'm usually too lazy to get up that early, or have had Church meetings that take precedence. But today was different. The gate opened at 5am and my two friends and I arrived just after 6:00. They squeeze the cars in up there bumper to bumper, so you're there for the whole program, whether you like it or or not. I saw several of my students, a couple of less active members who live in Sutter, and a really lovely sunrise, which I've tried to share in the 5 photos below.

Now, I'm not crazy about rock-n-roll music at worship services - especially when played in the background while someone prays, as happened his morning. But the scripture recitation was quite good (Mark 15-16, from the KJV no less, uncommon among Christian churches now days). And the "spoken word" if you will, was similar to what we might hear or give at a ward youth fireside.

I took pictures of the lighted cross, but don't include them here. One of my friends pondered what people might wear as a symbol of Christ if he had been executed by say, the "rack" from medieval times, or a modern firearm. Hmm, I can't quite picture people wearing a miniature uzi or even little rack around their neck - but it does make one think about what we are really focused on.

As for me, I only know that Christ lived on earth and was the only begotten son of our Heavenly Father in the flesh. I know that he suffered the atonement in Gethsemane and completed it at Golgotha. I know that he rose again on the third day, quite literally with "healing in his wings" and that because of his incomparable gift, all of us will rise after death also. Then we will happily receive the glory we have chosen to receive (because we have proven ourselves worthy of it) and live forever. This Easter reaffirms these truths in my heart and in my mind.

Giants v. the Snakes

This morning (our first day of Easter Vacation from school), Mel & I started what will be this year's major project - giving the backyard a complete makeover. We moved all of the "firewood" (the stuff we use when we roast hot dogs and marshmellows over an open fire on the patio) out behind the back fence. Later, I moved everything off the patio in preparation for taking it out. Melody will move her rose bushes next, and I will weed-whack, the spray, and after it all dies, I'll rip it up and level it.

And, apparently in honor of the SF Giants opening-day game against the AZ Diamondbacks, we found a very lethargic (it was a cold morning) garter snake napping in our wood pile. Here you see his head tucked down, but when I picked him up, he managed to slowly turn around and look at me. I don't actually know if it was male or female, but it was about 2.5' - 3' long, and maybe a couple of inches in diameter, so it must have been eating well. Which makes me happy that I left it near our back fence - he should help keep the vermin population down.

I Can See Clearly Now

I had a little time this afternoon to ride my bike (actually, I've had time twice in the last 3 days, but had a flat tire - I fixed it yesterday), so I rode down to Boyd Pump. It was beautiful. The view below was taken from the top of the levee and looking at the familiar site of the Buttes.

I especially like the bare orchard with the new grass growing underneath. What looks like rain clouds in the distance were being blown closer and closer to me by a strong west wind on my ride home. It got pretty dark by the time I got there. Below is the river side of the levee just north of the boat ramp. All the purple wildflowers look really nice too.

And lastly, a picture for all my manly grandsons. The county is doing some work just above the falls that requires all kinds of heavy equipment. So here's a classic "Big Trucks" photo for Grant, Ian, Atticus, Emmett, and Henry.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Actually, up until a month ago this was one of the driest winters on record in NorCal. All kinds of people were crying drought. But with a little patience and faith, we are now looking at one of the wetter winters. Which brings me to my point. I did my Spring Concert last night with the school bands. The set up and take down for this event has become dramatically easier with the obtaining of the trailer you see below (okay, mostly you see the Jeep, but I'm coming to that).

As nice as the trailer is, it's not covered. And that's the way I want it - except when it rains hard on a concert night. So I had to leave all the equipment and instruments at Andros Karperos School where we do our concerts (the old K-8 schools where I teach both have very tiny MP rooms that are not big enough to hold the huge crowds, 600+, that come to our concerts), and hope the rain stopped by this morning. As you can see, it did.

The kids really played well at the concert. My Inter. Band played a piece called Slide and the Family Bones (yes, it's a reference to Sly Stone and his relatives who had a very good Funk/Rock/Jazz fusion group in the early 70's) which is a trombone solo number. We had all the trombones from every group play it with them. The Adv. Band did some great music. I was especially pleased with their performance of a new number called "Moscow, 1941" which is meant to describe through music the Red Army's defeat of the Germans outside of Moscow during WWII. And they knocked people's socks off with a version of "Amparito Roca" (a Spanish march) which is very technical, and very fast, and very exciting.

Of course, all this music talk brings me back to the Jeep. I had hoped to get a vehicle that had an mp3 port so that I could use my iPod to listen to music and talks. But when I got this rig home I discovered that it actually has a 24GB hard drive I can use for such things. I've loaded much of my music and talks onto it, and I do use it.

Alf Hall is a Puzzle to Me

I found this photo of my great grandfather Alf Hall (my grandpa Hall's Dad) in some files that my brother Mike uploaded to Google Docs sometime ago. Of all the photos I've seen of my ancestors, I think I resemble this one somewhat. None of the others have even been close

A year or so ago I was buying puzzles for Grant to get into (he loves them, and can focus his energy like no kid that age that I've ever seen before). There was a different kind of puzzle there too that allows you to use a personal photo, then makes a map using the 300 pieces that come with it so that you can make you own puzzle from the personal photo. You can re-do it over and over again using different photos.

I thought that was pretty cool, so I bought it and have put a few together. The one above of is my good friend Alf in puzzle form. I don't know if he would approve or not. But I have often thought over the years that I am more like my grandpa Vern than I am like my father (and probably getting more like him every day, to my wife's chagrin) so who knows, maybe I got a portion of his Dad's qualities as well. And not just the dark hair and heavy eyebrows.

When Do You Think?

The first time I remember being asked if, and when, I spent time pondering (the scriptures, true doctrine, the teachings of the prophets, etc.) I was an Elders Quorum President and the stake president was doing the asking. It caught me by surprise and I didn't have a ready answer so I fumbled something out, and he seemed willing to let that suffice. But it got me thinking about just when, and how much I really think about important things.

And actually, it surprised me how much time I spent doing that sort of thing.

The next time someone asked me that question (again it was my stake president) I was serving as a bishop. I was a bit better prepared this time, but unfortunately it came at a time when I felt nearly overwhelmed by the duties of my calling, caring for my family, and work at school. My first reaction was: Man! when am I going to make time to do that? Fortunately, this time the stake president was my brother, so no offense was taken at my response.

But as before, when I pondered the reality of my ponderings, I realized that even with everything I was doing, I still spent time pondering, and thinking through events, situations, teachings, and scriptures. Just not perhaps as much as I should have, or would have liked to.

The third time I was asked that question, I was the stake president, and it was asked of me by a member of the Seventy. This time I was ready. Here's what I said. . .

My favorite time to ponder and think is when I run. Now, I don't particularly like running. I've never been very good at it, and the older I get, the slower I get. But running requires just enough physical effort for me to focus my thoughts. Walking and riding a bike are okay, and I do some thinking then, but it's much easier for my mind to wander when I'm doing those activities.

Most of the time when I run I write talks for Church meetings, link scriptures together in chains, consider what various experiences in my life have taught me - and of course I think about my family. Now, there are other times when I ponder and peruse in my head things that I have written or memorized. When I read the scriptures, and when I pray are certainly other times; but also when I wake up in the night, and sometimes when I'm just sitting doing nothing. It's just that those last two things don't happen very often.

So when do you ponder? When do you think? And what do you think? For me, inspiration - even revelation has often come. Answers to what I should say, and how I should act, almost always come during my pondering. I highly recommend it.