Will Rogers Follies

I haven't posted, I haven't done much of anything for 2 months now except go to work and work on the play I am directing, "Will Roger's Follies, a life in Review" - to say that it has consumed my life is but s mere exaggeration. I eat, drink, sleep, dream, work, sew, order props, with the scenes, the music and dances of this production running through my head. I can't complain - as I volunteered to do this. About 15 years ago, Mark and I saw this production at the Capitol Theater. I just fell in love with it at the time and have always wanted to do it here. Oddly, for being a Broadway Musical that won 6 Tony Awards for best musical, best choreography, best costumes and on and on. Not very many people have ever seen or heard of it. Will Rogers was an icon in American history. The only person to ever speak at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in the same year. Here was an individual who was a down to earth, common man who never got past the 5th grade. Yet he wrote a newspaper colum, had a weekly radio show, movie star, vaudville star. He touched shoulders with Presidents, kings, religious leaders, as well as the common folk. In his simple, every day way he is known for a host of amazing quotes:

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there!"

"A fool and his money are soon elected."

"All I know is what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance!"

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we pay for!"

"Buy land, because they ain't making any more of it!"

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."

"I never met a man I didn't like!"

"Everybody is ignorant, just on different subjects."

"Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will go twice as far."

"I have a scheme for stopping war - No nation is allowed to enter into one until they have the last one paid off."

The play will be great and I will be glad I did it - but I won't take on a musical ever, ever, again that involves so many people, so much time, so much everything! But I love it!

Conversations from a Hospital

Jordan's room is about where you see the man on the left!

Not that I have been trying to evesdrop. . .but when you end up in waiting rooms, hospital rooms, and cafeterias you suddenly become a captive audience. . .wanting to or not. I have found these conversations most interesting. Sadly enough, most of these conversations are not happy ones. Maybe it is just because we're in a hospital and people are a bit more stressed being here. I've just been shocked that most of these talks I hear are not on a positive, building up nature. Its made me think. . .are the topics of my conversations ones which are of an edifying nature, joyous, uplifting and heart warming? Probably not! Here are some swatches of these conversations:

(Four elderly adults - all Hospital Volunteers (that's inspiring however!) - eating their lunch). Yea, I'm too old to be doing this any more, but you have to have some reason to get up in the morning, get yourself dressed and go out into the world. If I didn't have to do this, I'd never leave the house!

Then the conversation turned to their married children and the various stages of divorce/custody battles they were all in - who their children's lawyers are and was it worth their children switching to another lawyer ending in the comment: I just don't know why they both can't act like adults.

(A "couple" - unsure if they are married or not, obviously well to do). Woman: No, I do not want your father here. This is my son's day, my time with my son - you should respect me and my time and what is important to me! Man: My father is what is important to me, if he wants to be here he will be here and you will be respectful of me and my father. (They both spoke Italian as well - maybe this was some cultural thing, I don't know) So his father came in, she was solicitous to him, they all went in to talk with the doc after the son's surgery, all went up to his room, everybody "looked" and "acted" happy.

(An elderly German man, very heavy set whose wife was having surgery accompanied by his two very impatient daughters) These were repeated conversations over 2 1/2 hours of the daughters telling the dad he didn't know what he felt, he didn't know what was going on, he didn't know what his wife was going through, he wouldn't be making any decisions - and "of course we love you." These were more than loud, more than enough!

(Young man in his late 20's. My first impression of him was, he must be a doctor. He was waiting for his wife to have a relatively minor procedure for which she would need to stay over night. I believe she had a pacemaker or something similar implanted. He was in the waiting room for all of about 1 hour. The cardiologist came and they spoke in medical terms for awhile, things went well, she'll be released in the morning, she will be in recovery for just a bit and he could go to her room and wait. He left and returned about 1/2 hour later and began to behave in a very "greater than thou, I'm a doctor sort of way. (I guess I've seen too much of that in my life time!) He yelled and screamed and demanded to see his wife. He was politely told she was still in recovery and he was not allowed to go in there. I AM A PHYSICIAN, I UNDERSTAND HIPPA, I WORK IN A HOSPITAL, I WANT TO SEE MY WIFE. When he was calmly told to go back to her room and wait, she would be there shortly, he went berserk through his brief case, pounded on the elevator doors. . . .maybe its what we all feel once in awhile, just don't vocalize quite like that.

I think I will be more careful of my conversations in public.

. . . thanks dad

(This story is told in behalf of Mark, the fly fisherman!) On a beautiful day, with fly pole and rio grande king in hand, Johnson Creek called.

He fished and expert fly fisherman that he is . . . . some 36 or so could not outsmart him!

While fishing up the creek through the brush, the willows and the trees. . .

hanging over the creek are wild raspberries!

With berries in hand

He looks to heaven and smiles . . .thanks dad!

. . .and now the rest of the story. When a young man Mark, Frank and Grandpa went fishing the wee Mammoth. One would start fishing while the other 2 walked up stream. Each would leave a "flag" on the bush where they started. As you fished up to the "flag" you would take it and walk on up the creek past the other two fishermen. This way you did not fish through an area which had already been fished. Mark and Frank kept passing each other, but they didn't see Grandpa. After awhile, they decided they'd better go back and see what happened to "dad." They walked for awhile and came around the bend. There sat Grandpa, a smile on his face, and eating wild raspberries!

. . . Part of a legacy. . .

Sunday we had an amazing Sacrament Meeting talk. A local sister spoke about the history of the "South Chapel." It was moving, inspiring, informative and everyone in attendance left feeling they were "part of the legacy." Recently, a man from out of town asked this sister the significance of the South Chapel. She replied, "It is the heart of our community." Not until her talk was finished, did I realize how really true this statement is. In 1904, the impossible and unlikely happened; 14 individuals moved to the top of "White Mesa" to a dry, desolate, waterless, barren spot of land. They were doomed; as "there would never be enough water to support a community." It was named Grayson and the "Grayson Branch of the Bluff Ward" was born. They convened in a tent just north of the current location of the South Chapel. Just a few years later with 96 members it became the Grayson Ward. The South Chapel was constructed through the tremendous faith and sacrifice of early Grayson/Blanding members. It was always an act of faith on the part of these very humble and poor (as to things of the world) people to provide the means necessary to do build/remodel what is the South Chapel. The current edifice consists of 3 phases; the original part which was the chapel, balcony and cry rooms (which had folding wooden doors which opened for over flow) and stairs down to the "lower part." The lower part was a big room, a rec room of sorts. This is where "Jr. Sacrament Meeting" was held. Yes, Blanding did it's own thing and under the direction of their Bishop, they had sacrament meeting in the lower part for the children and "regular" sacrament meeting upstairs for the adults. (In later years "Salt Lake" made it know that children needed to sit by their parents and learn to be reverent in Sacrament Meeting. In later years there was a kitchen, a few classrooms, a baptismal font added. (Prior to that the baptismal font was a cement font in the furnace room). The last addition was the gym we now know. Some interesting facts: Except for the gymnasium; all the materials and workmanship of the South Chapel were "home grown." The bricks were mixed, formed and dried in a kiln from local materials by local people - wow! The original rafters were being debated by the building committee of the church which ultimately settled on using 2 x 4's. One of the local brothers objected and said that 2 x 10's were needed, alas the building committee prevailed and the winter after completion, the roof began to sag. The local brethren then went up into the attic and one by one shored up the rafters attaching 2 x 8's to every 2 x 4. When the addition of the kitchen and baptismal font and classrooms was done, the church required $2,500 up front from the Blanding Ward in order for the Church to agree to let them begin. There was no money and the Bishop went to the building committee and said, "Our members are too poor to contribute this kind of money but I promise, if you will allow us to go ahead with construction without this money, there will be money left over." Against policy, they allowed the building to begin. The Church paid for 80% of the project and the local ward paid for 20%. When the project was finished, the church found that the Blanding Ward had contributed too much to the total project and refunded them . . . .$2,500. This building really became the center of the community. The "lower part" because the first local theater and they played silent movies for the Blanding members. With the advent of "talkies" the ward purchased a projector and movies for some "good family entertainment" and the movies were moved upstairs to the chapel . . . .yes the chapel! The projector was in the balcony and the pews provided plenty of seating. This remained the community theater until after World War II when a local returning soldier suggested buying the equipment from the Church and opening what is now known as the San Juan Theater! When the need arose for a high school, the South Chapel and its classrooms fit the bill and San Juan High School was born. Basketball games took place in the "lower part." Opposing teams disliked playing in Blanding as they couldn't "arch" their shots or make long passes due to the low ceiling! There was a bell tower and the bell rang on the hour and half hour as well as 15 minutes prior to church meetings and other events. Then some of the surprise information for me and that was there was "the Blanding Ward" until the early 1950's when 1200 + members wouldn't fit any more and the North and South Wards were created. There were these two wards until the late 1960's. The South Chapel was the ONLY chapel in Blanding until 1 year before we moved to the area - I had no idea! The 4th Ward was created and the North Chapel was built in 1976. Here I supposed it had been around forever when we came on the scene! So I feel part of the legacy of that building. It has provided a place of worship for our family for some 27 years. Love, sacrifice, faith and testimony are part of this building and have been demonstrated to me and my family.

Happy is . . . .

This may seem like a weird post, however happiness has been on our minds a great deal as of late. I have asked myself questions such as "What does it mean to be happy?" "How do we know if we are happy?" "Is happiness a 'learned' thing or does it just happen?" "What things make you happy?" "Is 'happiness' necessary to mortality?" (Not to be confused with joy) I consider myself a happy person - just not sure how I arrived at that point or stay at that point. Its food for thought!

LIFE - - - - IS

Life is. . . New Grandbabies! New Grandbabies being blessed!

Cupcakes!!!!

Grandbabies Birthday Parties!!!

First Birthdays!

More First Birthdays!

2nd Birthdays!!!!

More Birthday Partieis!

More Cupcakes!

A few UPS!

A few DOWNS!

Life is. . . good!

My Mom

My Mother's Senior Picture

With Mother's Day on the horizon, I couldn't help but take a moment to tell everyone about "my mom." The older I get (wait let's change that to the more mature I become) the more I realize what a remarkable woman my mother was and how extraordinarily lucky I am to have such an amazing woman for my mother. My mom was the youngest of 7 children (her brother just older than she was died as an infant), born and raised in the wilds of Nevada. She spent her growing up years in Ely and was a youngster during the depression, and a teenager during World War II. Both of these experiences as well as being raised LDS in the gambling, ranching, mining community she did, served to shape her character. A shy, rather reserved individual, she mustered up the courage to leave Ely at the ripe old age of 18, get on a bus with her bag and move to Salt Lake City, where she secured herself employment with an attorney in the Boston Building. She found herself roommates and lodging and started out life there. Her boss was a taskmaster, demanding, particular, and requiring perfection of his employees. (Wouldn't my mom have loved a lap top, Microsoft Word with spell check!) She spoke of the long tedious hours of typing, and re-typing and not making any mistakes; of longer than long days, over-time without over-time pay and of the sheer joy of my dad telling her boss, "My wife doesn't need to work, I will support my family, Anna is finished." My mom married quite young, just 19. She was the perfect wife and mother. She had her hands full with four babies in 4 years! She mopped her kitchen floor EVERY Saturday night, the last thing, after everyone had gone to bed. . .oh and did I forget to say that it was done on her hands and knees, because mops just "pushed the dirt around." My mom didn't learn to drive until she in her late 40's, yet she always managed to take us to church, fulfill church responsibilities, participate in the Republican party, be a faithful visiting teacher, a member of the VFW Women's Auxillary and more. She was an excellent housekeeper, a wonderful cook, she was thrifty, smart, her home canned food was beautiful, her flower gardens had no weeds. She supported my dad in his work responsibilities by attending social events,at the army base even though it was outside of her comfort zone. She opened her home to her mother and father in law as my grandpa had lung cancer. She cared for her mother-in-law for nearly 10 years. She was a widow at the young age of 52. She was a temple worker, she served a mission ie a proselyting mission in her 60's having both older sisters and younger sisters as companions, she was a beautiful quilter. She instilled in me the desire to "quilt" for my loved ones and carry on the tradition of baby quilts. She was a devoted faithful friend. She loved her children and was proud of her children. She was a beautiful grandmother. She was patient, kind, diligent. She NEVER spoke ill of anyone. She also died young. She taught me so much of what I know. The greatest compliment I could give my mother is that she had an undying testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bore that testimony to her children and grandchildren in word and example; and I was lucky enough to be born her daughter. My mother is an example of the influence of a faithful woman on future generations!