Progress?

What patience my hubby has as he un-peels not sticking paint.

Progress comes in small steps

by not giving up...continuing.

Learning to control self,

making mistakes, starting over.

Talk about labor intensive removing four layers of white paint

Time to report on projects begun,

learned from though...not completed.

Removing four layers of paint

on the boat because it won't stick.

You can do it, keep trying palm tree!

Watching the palm tree grow more

fronds reaching ever higher skyward,

tomato plants struggling,,,still alive

producing a small handful of fruit.

Weeks and months for a few homegrown tomatoes!

Failure's not stopping...pushing forward

ever forward. Looking back to learn,

not to sink into despair or self pity.

You're alive, tomorrow's promise awaits.

To be continued, not the end...

Dealing with CLUTTER

Amazing how CLUTTER develops from just one piece of paper on your desk, then another and another. Until you can't see the bottom of your desk for piles. Although you know where things are in the piles, it's a messy environment to work in. So after procrastinating for weeks to clear off my desk, I finally did and organized my computer area once more. Now to work on some projects I've put off: a collection of my original poetry is first!

First, I cleared off the stacks on my desk then dusted-amazing how messy.

Ah, an inviting work area just waiting for my input, but there is more to do! 

My side work area gained more piles as my desk emptied, next project!

Not to mention my craft desk, it's like moving piles, some of it must go!

Then there's my hubby's desk, he's not as messy as me, but working on it!

Article #302 Ask for Help

            In teaching others how to write their life story in classes over the years, it’s amazing the EXCUSES that people come up with for NOT tackling this task: no one is interested in my story, I can’t spell anything, I’m not a writer, etc. No one stops to think about possible BENEFITS capturing in words their experiences could be for their family. How I wish my dad who died at age 29 would have kept a journal of his life. I’d love to know his feelings about me-his firstborn. What were his hopes  for my future, etc. I would ask you: How can you be so selfish to NOT leave something for your family of your life and your hopes for your descendant’s future? Any words of wisdom to share with them?

            Next to my computer I have a folder with funeral information, suggestions for my obituary, program, etc. plus a letter to my family telling them of my love for each of them. Consider your life story as a GIFT to your descendents. If you need assistance with this process, ask for help. Surely there is someone in your extended family-a cousin, sibling, grandchild who loves to write and would take your simple notes, edit them into an enduring legacy to be passed down for decades. Your life story is also a place to gather your photos and preserve them.

            There are unlimited resources in our modern world to help with this process: books on the topic, Internet sites, computer software, community education classes, etc. All it takes is the DECISION on your part to go forward, to make your life story a PRIORITY before it’s too late. It’s more important than the quilt you are making or the daily golf game that fills many retirement days. A feeling of achievement can come as you look back on your accomplishments forgotten through the years. The greatest contribution you can make is your example and your love preserved for your family to read and reread. Resolve to do this starting today. Make time in your busy life for this task and ask for help.

            Here are some questions to get you started thinking. What was your biggest accomplishment in life? Describe challenges you had and how you overcame them. What does your family mean to you? Any advice for the rising generation? Pitfalls to look out for, things to be grateful for, etc.? NEXT TIME: Keep it Simple.

Pioneer Party

Our church held a pie and ice cream social yesterday to celebrate PIONEER DAY!

We had a great pioneer display of quilts, books and photos

You could come in Western or pioneer costume or whatever??

Our featured speaker talked of Jacob Hamblin-pioneer settler of St. George

We had over 100 people come and lots of pies and ice cream!

Pioneer Day Again

July 24th, 1847 is the date the Mormon Pioneers entered Salt Lake valley to settle here. They had suffered religious persecution in Illinois and been driven out of state after state. In Utah, we celebrate this occasion as Pioneer Day. It's a big deal in my family as we have over 15 different families that come to Utah. FamilySearch.org has started a new service if you register for their free website and have Mormon pioneers they will link them to the Overland Trails site developed by BYU that has journal entries and other info on your pioneers. Here's a screen shot of what they found for me. Click photo below to enlarge. A few of my pioneers aren't listed but I have them on my family history website and have written many of their histories. I love all my ancestors but especially refer my pioneer progenitors.

Houses AGE Also...

The spout on our faucet broke off, here's a temporary repair job.

Good thing my hubby is skinny and knows how to fix plumbing.

Taking off the old faucet was a trick and labor intensive, also cleaning
out the stuff under the sink where we store our 72 hour water supply.

This was quite the job and took hours of labor to install after reading
all the instructions thoroughly, that's how an engineer fixes things!

Beautiful and new, only cost $120 for the faucet, zero for labor!

Increase Your VOCABULARY

As a writer and poet, I'm fascinated by words, and am always open to learn new words or better uses of words in my writing. I saw this chart on Facebook with feeling words, and was enthralled (new word for me) by it. Check it out and see if it helps you. Published by the Ohio Education Association. Here's a challenge, see if you can use a new to you word in a comment. Click on chart to enlarge and read it better. Good luck!

Article #301 Overcome Your Fears

            Some individuals are sure that their lives were too mundane to write about and wouldn’t be interesting to others or fear that  they lack the necessary writing skills to capture anything of value from their life. Writing your own life story or reading about your ancestor’s lives can help teach you many lessons indirectly whether it’s analyzing your own life or an ancestor’s. A grandmother who felt she never achieved anything of value because she only raised nine children to adulthood is mistaken about her contributions. Maybe you are too. Start writing about your parents.

With a little encouragement, Kathleen Giebel of St. George told me some of her childhood experiences. I took notes as we talked, then edited her remarks.  She remembers the strong example of her mother and told me…My dad died when I was 5 months old, so my mother had to go to work to support us. We lived with my grandmother in New York City. The only way to get around then was trolley cars, later there were trains then buses. I remember my mom had two suits to wear to work-one green and one brown complete with a little hat and matching shoes and purse.

           Once a year mom would take out a small loan and use it to take a vacation with some girl friends around the country by train or car. Then she would pay the loan back and take another loan the next year for another vacation. This was in the days before airplane travel, but it was a tradition that gave my mom a break from her hectic work and life in the city. She traveled all over the United States and to Mexico. I didn’t go on her trips but my mother took me to museums and  places of interest in NYC. Later when I grew up and married I traveled to many distant cities with my husband Ken for his work.

Challenge yourself to beginning writing down a few family experiences you remember with your parents. Don’t worry about editing your writing, just write down some ideas you’d like to share. Later, you can ask a friend or family member to help edit your writing to correct any errors and make it more interesting. But, it has to start with YOU. Another quote from Alex Haley: In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. NEXT TIME: Ask for Help. 

Early Morning Visitors

Summer is continuing with its heat and a little monsoon relief. I'm hiding out in air conditioned spaces writing and working on the computer. I may even clean off my desk one of these days. Ah, LAZY SUMMER. 

Doves are enjoying our recovering palm tree which is doing well.

Golf course without golfers at sunrise...

Birthday activities-continued

Cedar Breaks from elevation 10,000-its 68 degrees up here.

Amazing colors in the rocks as seen from viewpoints above.

Simply breathtaking-God's handiwork and art in nature's beauty!

Navaho Lake a reservoir high in the Cedar Mountains

Many trees have died because of the beetles disease. 

Looking up at Cedar Breaks from below on the highway. 

Heading back down the canyon and homeward bound....

Birthday Activities

Hubby surprised me by cooking an omelet for breakfast!

How nice to have someone else cook and do the dishes! 

A dozen yellow roses of Texas greets me on my birthday!

Then it's time to escape our heat in St. George and head to the mountains.

I forgot there are green trees and coolness in the Cedar Mountains

Brian Head ski resort has a fun summer lift up Navaho Mountain 

Amazing coolness and light breezes greet us at the top of the world

The view below is breathtaking, love the red rocks of Utah

Lift tickets were reasonable only $6.50 each for Senior citizens-us!

Going down while watching mountain bikers race down trails below.

Happy Birthday to me again...

How could it possibly be that I've lasted 74 years so far?

Lots of experiences have taken place through the years.

Some I wouldn't want to repeat and others I cherish.

Years of watching my family evolve and change.

Developing new talents and teaching others.

Growing in my understanding of the gospel plan.

Surviving and trying to thrive from challenges,

Never giving up––enduring to the end, whenever that comes.

Article #300 Learn from the Past

            You can learn from your past, but it takes effort sometimes to trace the history of unknown ancestors. Rose Eddington of St. George, tells us about the difficulties she had trying to gather information about her father’s side of the family because he never talked about his parents. Rose was able to find out later that her dad had mixed feelings about his father who deserted his family when they were traveling cross country leaving his wife with three children to support. Later, the mother and her daughter died in the influenza epidemic in 1919 leaving the two sons alone. Rose’s father the oldest son married, and helped his younger brother enlisted in the Navy. A sad story and easy to understand why Rose’s dad didn’t want to talk about his past.

It wasn’t until years later that she learned more of her father’s ancestry from a step brother who shared the history of her 2^nd great grandfather Reuben Phillips: Born of Welsh descent, he was born in Tennessee. Well educated, he taught school for one year, married and started a family. He moved his family to Little Rock, Arkansas then to California where they settled first at Clements near Stockton and built a home. Eventually they moved to Oregon and bought a farm. After a few years they returned to Cambria then moved to Los Angeles.

His grand daughter Stella Phillips describes him thus: He had what is called wanderlust––never living too many years in one place. As they were pioneers, in a wilderness, they had to begin at the beginning, which was a necessity––building a house. When a girl married in those days, she took upon herself an almost impossible job. Besides the needful housework and cooking, there was also the spinning and weaving, supplying the whole household with clothing. There were no sewing machines, so everything must be done by hand. A mother was busy from dawn until the wee small hours, then up again at dawn. Reuben Phillips and his wife were Christians in the Baptist faith. I have seen Father Phillips so full of the love of Christ and his teachings that he would laugh happily to himself. I loved to hear him talk. His wife was more quiet.

The first step in gathering your ancestor’s stories is to check home sources. Contact relatives that might have information or old photos to share. NEXT TIME: Share Your Past. I’m looking for stories about your parents to publish in my column. How did their lives effect you? What important principles did they teach you? Leave your family history in a comment.

Monsoons are HERE!

 Can it be drops of rain falling on our hot desert home?

Soak in the moisture for it will soon be gone and only a memory.

Thirsty sandy soils and dry leaves welcome the refreshing rain.

Lightning and thunder announce the arrival of the monsoons!

Even our  jeep gets a welcome car wash as a cloudburst arrives.

Enjoy the welcome refreshment of our respite from the heat.