My FHE #6: Ball and Chain

(In honor of Jared’s upcoming wedding, but not at all in the way you’re thinking! Read on.)

Grant spent a great deal of time dirt trail biking with Jared, Ruth’s older brother, building jumps and surviving crashes, which continued on to surviving snow boarding jumps and crashes, then rock climbing which ended up with Jared going to Emergency and subsequent surgery, and then they both learned how to play guitar to fill the healing hours. They would listen to the recording and then figure out how to duplicate it, with a few tips from Jared’s dad who is a classical guitarist. They actually got quite good and I loved to listen to them play and sing “Ball and Chain” (Social Distortion) or “The Man Who Sold the World” (Nirvana). Once his cousin Mike (who also suffered a serious injury on the bike jumps), was flying in for his company’s BYU recruiting and they planned to go snow boarding. Grant and Jared where jumping fences on their little bikes and Grant misjudged the frozen ground, resulting in a shin gash. I felt so badly he probably wasn’t going to get to go boarding with Mike, but with hope eternal, asked the doctor who was stitching him up if he could, and the doctor said, “Sure! … Just bring him back and I’ll stitch him up again.”

There are five big “outdoor” events that Grant should cover, and this is your reminder: the time you, Jared and Justin Burgon spent the night in the hut you built, complete with stove, on the mountain with the cougar waiting to eat you; the time you biked the Oregon trail from Wyoming to the coast with various Olsen clan; the time you biked around the Provo to A.F. Canyon loop alone in the dead of winter and actually had to stop for shelter at the Mutual Dell caretaker’s cabin; the time when you, Ray and Spencer survived the whiteout from the avalanche on Timp; and the time when you and Mike (again) almost died from exposure on Hood. I used to have a full set of pictures of the avalanche, which were surreally beautiful, but they’ve been pilfered over the years, and wouldn’t retain much of their glory anyway in the photo-the-photo process. I told Justin after the cat adventure that I felt badly because his parents would probably never let him go into the mountains with Grant again, but he said not to worry, he didn’t need their opinion for him to determine he’d never be going again!

These pictures are of Grant’s high school graduation celebration and his visit to Carl at Brenda and Mike’s, on the doorstep of Carl entering prison (the MTC) and heading off to France. Note Grant’s hat, another one of his attire oddities. ☺ The handsome young man in blue is Ruth’s brother, Jared.

Grant got his Eagle the previous summer on the verge of turning 18, and invited the littlest Scouts to help him clear part of the Great Western Trail on the face of Timp (runs from Canada to Mexico, and is 90% complete). He really didn’t care to get his Eagle but luckily for us (the parents who couldn’t), he had a Scout leader who convinced him, Mark Bezzant (one of then UVSC V.P.’s). Mark took the Deacons up to Scout Camp which is just into the pines at the base of the Grove Creek Springs basin, on Grove Creek trail, to camp the night before. Grant had to work so he biked up just as it was getting dark, arriving in a lightening storm, the steam from the exertion rising from him as he pulled into the camp, and the boys said they thought he was a ghost. (Reported by Mark.) The next morning he dropped down home on his bike to pick up his bobtrailer (of Mike fame) with food to meet them back up on the trail where they did the work. The deal was we couldn’t hold an Eagle court, so he got it sans any fanfare. (One of his badges was for doing something that would change the course of the ecosystem. I was the merit badge counselor, so maybe we “cheated” since it was not anything you could deem “green,” but he got it from the pond they built by diverting the water near their hut on Baldy.)

Might I add the “dropping down” for Grant was no biggie, whereas for most kids a hike like that would be an event not soon repeated. There was a season or two, he’d more often than not, bike up Grove Creek and down Battle Creek trails daily. Which accounts for his mission physical's pulse measurement of 52. Reminds me of his great great grandfather Andreas who purportedly thought nothing of a same-day walk/run to downtown SLC and back from P.G., and whose only recorded comment about crossing the plains was that it was good exercise.

Next installment - last Sunday in August.

The Churkendoose

I moved my music up to the top so you can readily turn it off. Then look at my link list above it and click on The Churkendoose. Underneath the picture (from the book), is a yellow button with a RH arrow. Click on it. Then listen to the whole entire thing!! (Nine minutes.) This was a huge favorite as a child and every child will love it!! It might have been too new to have been on Lois or Janeil's favorite list. It's the 'moral to the story' kind of tale, which came out in 1947 on a 78 LP record, which I still have. I was going to video it, but this one's a lot less scratchy.

If a certain word in it bothers you, then you are too! ☺ [Which reminds me, school districts have to have a pretty high level of filtering and I was asking a google question at work a few days ago with that word in it, as a verb instead of a noun, got the access denied message, which made me laugh so much my boss stepped in to see why.]

As to copyright rules, I'm assuming I am safe, sending you to the podcast URL, but regardless (assuming copyright laws are international):

From http://westudymedia.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/old-78-records/

Apart from their nostalgia value and their interest to musicologists, the very interesting thing about … ripped 78 records is the question of copyright. As you should know, mechanical copyright (that’s in the physical recording itself) lasts for just 50 years. In the original 1911 Act of Parliament, the 50 years started from the date of the master recording; in the revised 1957 Act, this changed to 50 years from the date of release. In 1987, it changed again: still 50 years, but from the end of the year in which the recording was made. Anything that came out before January 1 1958 is now out of copyright – that includes all of Elvis’ Sun records and some of his early RCA ones. In a few short years, the first Beatles record will be out of copyright – unless the law changes.

In July this year...[2008], the EU adopted a proposal that the 50-year term be extended to 95 years. The extension will only apply to recordings still under copyright when the law comes into effect – so anything out of copyright now will remain so.

Raygen Bella Scarborough

Our Bundle of Joy
Straight from Heaven
Born at 7:58 a.m.
Monday, July 6th, 2009
8 pounds 10 ounces, 19 inches
Summerlin Hospital, Las Vegas, Nevada




Pictures:









Her room











































Johnny's mom





















































Had to go to the NICU for a few hours due to too low blood sugar and temperature.





























Johnny's maternal grandma

[7/7/09 P.S. - Raygen has a heart murmer and was paid a visit today by a cardiologist who says it will probably close within a month or two but is too small to consider repair even if not. Mom and babe coming home tomorrow, Hayden coming tomorrow as well and will stay until Monday.]

P.P.S. -

I got there Friday night and Saturday we celebrated the 4th with one of the six Vegas fireworks shows and Jewel's great cooking. Orzo pasta salad with shrimp, oreo cookies (white frosting for some adults and electric blue for some others and Hayden), and other yummy stuff. We were also all amazed that she was up to the task.

There were a lot of tears at the hospital. Some from Jewel, worrying that she'd have to part with bonding time due to NICU demands as had happened to her with Hayden, lots from Johnny who let the wonders of God's plan leak out through his tears. Johnny is and will be a great dad. In the week I stayed after the birth he was fully vested in her care and keeping, very accepting and careful to follow the micro-managing he received, and talked to Raygen constantly. It was a pleasure to observe and I am very grateful Jewel has him in her life. There's nothing better in this whole world than a good dad (speaking as a daughter who had one)!

This event was a big deal on Johnny's side of the family, Raygen being the first grandchild. There are five male cousins, Johnny being second to the oldest and soon to be 29, and his brother Seth the youngest at age 24, Raygen the first child born to any of them as well. So there were a lot of unseen tears of joy as well in the extended family. One side hails from Georgia and the other from Alabama.

My FHE #5

Whew! Grant and Ruth must have gone to bed, haven't posted a FHE Flashback, so I'll put mine on a day late. Yesterday was loaded and I didn't get to it. My VT partner has been unavailable (gone, it turns out, and forgot to let me know), so I put it off as long as I could trying to connect. It's a busy workweek, so I made the rounds yesterday.

Here are several “dressing up” poses of Jewel. The white fake fur coat complete with a muff a neighbor made and loaned to Jewel while it fit her, and we “crimped” her hair. Her dad brought this bouncy ball home from the DI and it provided hours of pleasure. She got really good at maximum height, up and down the hall! The dog got lots of exercise, as well. Jewel would tease our little dogs relentlessly, then run off, and they would chase her, often scoring a bite in her behind or legs. I chose to not interfere, figuring it would cure her, but it never did.

Here’s a cute picture of sleep having overtaken Jewel and Grant. No doubt the movie was a Western and on the boring side. (J/K, but I did used to tease that sex in movies was bad but apparently killing people was just fine.) This is the kids dressed up for the baptism festivities involving Jewel turning eight, Grant almost 12. It was the one and only time Jewel had short hair as a preteen. We didn’t have hair salon trips in our budget, and it was very traumatizing for me to cut off her lovely, long hair! (What she requested for her birthday. She actually liked it [then]. For which I was most grateful.)

These are two Halloween’s in a row, and the last time Grant went out trick-or-treating. He and his friends made masks at school and wore them. (Grant’s in the middle.) For years thereafter it was part of the decorations - I’d hang it on the porch light. Still have it. (The mask, not the porch light. J) I can’t remember who both friends are. One was Brent Francom I think, and the other was probably Tyler Humble or Justin Burgon.

Jewel’s room was redecorated only once in the 15 years she called it hers, and after the bed we added new carpet, window treatment and picture frames, hunter green and burgundy. The bed was a Christmas surprise, and you can see how pleased she was. Grant had bunkbeds which Jewel inherited. We gave them to some neighbors who were kind enough to come get them on Christmas eve after the kids went to sleep. I cooked up some reason for them to sleep downstairs. The next two pictures are a 1992 trip to the coast, and the cutie Jewel was enjoying with Janeil is Emily.

This last picture is one of several bikes Grant bought with the money he earned delivering newspapers for years and years. He had another one that was pretty fancy, a silver “trick” bike, and the last day of school the neighbors had a movie celebration and he left it on their lawn. Some questionable teenage male visitors of the family next door helped themselves to it and we assumed it was gone for good. One day, late that same summer, I got a frantic phone call at work from Grant, he’s in the kitchen upstairs and I can hear the pounding on the downstairs door! Those boys came back for a visit to that same house, Grant spotted his bike and just grabbed it and brought it home, inside the house. Luckily one of the neighborhood dads was home and noticed the commotion, and came to his protection until I could get the police there. The boys, in their arrogance, insisted that the bike was theirs, but Grant ID’d a hidden flaw which was good enough for the police to allow him to keep it (even though he didn’t know the serial number), and shewed the bad guys away. This bike he sold; the silver one he gave away to a boy who didn’t have a bike.

Next installment - last Sunday in July.

Happy Father's Day to

Grant and Johnny!

These are two of my favorite pictures of my Dad.

The cow milking one is out in what was called the "north pasture" in Manila. I'd go with him for the chore but there was this white cow that didn't like me (or enjoyed knowing I was afraid of it), and I'd keep my distance.

The other is from his honeymoon with Norma, and the back of the picture says "Vasilios Aloizos [name], Dodekanisou Neapoli Piraeus Greece," and it appears the picture was taken by a tour guide. Neapoli is near Thessaloniki. Piraeus is the southernmost town of mainland Greece, near Athens, built upon the site of the ancient city Boiai (King Boias was a descendant of Hercules). Patmos is one of the islands in the Prefecture of Dodekanisou. I wish I had Norma's journal. I copied one that covered before and after, but she must have kept it separately. Looking at the church tours, however, I'm betting theirs was similar - Athens, Corinth, then Cairo to see the pyramids, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee, Patmos, Ephesus, Piraeus.

From one of the poems he liked to quote:

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime

And departing, leave behind us

Footprints in the sands of time.

Footprints that perhaps another

Sailing o'er life's lonesome main,

Some forlorn shipwrecked brother

Seeing, may take heart again.

Let us then be up and doing

With a heart for any fate,

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

(Last stanza of the Psalm of Life by Longfellow.)

And this from a song he used to sing (we played it at his funeral):

To love someone more dearly every day,

To help a wandering child to find his way,

To ponder o'er a noble thought and pray,

And smile when evening falls, and smile when evening falls,

This is my task.

To follow truth as blind men long for light,

To do my best from dawn of day till night,

To keep heart fit for His holy sight,

And answer when He Calls, and answer when He Calls,

This is my task.

And then my Savior by and by to meet

When faith hath made her task on earth complete,

And lay my homage at the Master's feet

Within the jasper walls, within the jasper walls,

This crowns my task.

Aha! I figured out how to get My Task to "play"! No, I didn't accomplish it with any Mac built-ins, though no doubt I could - right Carl? I bought a CoolPix Nikon for the trip to Houston - no more flipping problems on my pictures with backwards words!

Couldn't find the song in the various lists, tried uploading it to get a URL assigned (did, but blogger wouldn't accept it), so then I made my Dad's LP record as a video. So there's nothing much to see, but if you want to hear it, turn off my playlist (If you haven't already) and click on the video! Hopefully I haven't unwittingly broken any rules, seems to me since I own the LP I can invite whomever to listen to it with me.... I'll have to reread Bednar on the matter! So on the extremely off chance anyone wants to lift it, I say no, you can't. J And yes, next time I'll stabilize the frame. (And move the clock!)

What a great quote, at the moment in my sidebar, soon to disappear:

Let us all resolve, first, to attain the grace of silence; second, to deem all fault-finding that does no good a sin, and to resolve, when we are ourselves happy, not to poison the atmosphere for our neighbors by calling upon them to remark every painful and disagreeable feature in their daily life, third, to practice the grace and virtue of praise. – Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)



A few gratitudes to note:

I'm grateful for a tight house. Haven't had the heat on in ages though it's currently 57 and has been in the 50's nightly with rain four days in a row now. My flora is taking it on the powdery-mildew chin, however, so these week-old pictures are I'm sure as good as it's going to get this season.





And here's a couple just now, both from the same bush, after the latest downpour, amazingly beautiful considering that row of bushes go back to the sixties and also survived the fire (right next to the totally incinerated garage):







My knee is doing better these days, for some reason, for which I am grateful. Probably from wearing my Zcoil shoes every day in Houston and every day of our recent Utah School Nutrition Association Conference.






And lastly, I get to be the sacrament meeting chorister tomorrow!

My Sunday FHE #4

This is Grant letting his pride and pleasure show in regard to his only-child status finally ending.  He always hoped he’d get a sister.  She pretty much ruled the roost, as you can see.  Next is Jewel opening her presents when she turned two, and the next is a late fall visit to Silver Lake way up the north fork of A.F. Canyon.  I actually made that outfit in the birthday picture, which I thought turned out very cute (she’s checking out her birthday patent leather shoes).  My career ended however after making several shirts for Grant when he went to Kindergarten, the very same cut but with different combinations of fabric (the “stretch n’ sew" era you might recognize in the picture). When he came to contemplating first grade he very carefully and kindly pointed out that he’d sure like to have just store-bought shirts like the rest of the kids.

Grant was always perfectly fine about including Jewel in his activities. If his friends gave him any trouble over it, we never heard about it. Grant is directly behind Jewel in this picture with his friends, two sets of brothers. One set lived through the field north of us and Jewel was friends with their sister Andrea, whom she called “E-a,” and so E-a she became even in her own family. Once through a facing window Grant spied E-a on her back porch clad only in her diaper in the dead of winter. He was very worried. I kept saying I was sure she’d get cold and go back in, or her parents would discover her shortly. Finally he said, “I can’t stand it!” and marched out the door, up the street, to usher her back inside the house. This propensity to care for others never ended. Once, perhaps five years down the road, in another neighborhood, Jewel was as usual tagging after Grant’s crowd and they were out in the field. (You should always try to rear your children by a field - much better choice than a playhouse!) Suddenly the door opened and Grant shoved Jewel inside, advising me to keep her in the house because Jeff and Ray were swearing! Jeff and Ray were brothers, one had “accidentally” shot the other one with his b-b gun and the retaliation got a little out of hand.

Next is Grant, hauling off his Christmas stash, and helping Jewel ride her birthday trike safely.  Then Jewel and Grant posing at some historical marker out west.  The next two pictures are what they chose to wear to the annual Strawberry Days children’s parade.  Jewel is in her gymnastics outfit, and Grant is wearing the cape Norma made him, with his pet rat on his shoulder, and the sign says, “Wilbur, the Amazing Rat.”  (What happens when you take a picture of a picture - I’d love to learn if anyone knows how to flip it short of a picture of a picture of a picture!)  Norma was a talented seamstress, made her daughter’s wedding dress and even made suits for her husband. Grant wanted a certain cape for Halloween, black on the outside and red on the inside, and so she offered to make it.  It was part of several costumes and then I used it for years in Primary (with a heavy cardboard black top hat I made to go with it and we used on the Christmas vacation snowman).  Norma was the best grandma Grant and Jewel could have.  Almost every time she saw Jewel she would give her a hug and say, “Are you as pretty on the inside as you are on the outside?!”  Notice Jewel looking on, in the snake picture -- she was also welcome at cub pack outings.  [Ruth, is that Mark next to Grant?]

The saguaro cactus came from Arizona in 1976, courtesy of their dad who didn’t know he could have been arrested and dramatically fined for bringing it home when it was a few inches tall. When we moved to P.G., it was in the basement apartment and got so it wasn’t doing very well, missing the sunlight, hence the “waistline” from putting it outside and getting sunburned. It survived all of our kids’ growing up years at home, then got sick and died (circa 2003). Missed them, probably! This picture was taken while it lived on the staircase landing. Once, the Rawlinson cousins came to call and the kids were running up and down the stairs, as kids are wont to do. Jewel slipped on the way down, and got a number of spines stuck in her arm. She kept it to herself until they left, figuring her dad would send the company away. Some of the barbs broke off under the skin and we could feel them year after year.

Next installment - last Sunday in June!