Logan, my old stomping grounds, and Cache Valley

We had an excuse to drive up to Cache Valley and the city of Logan, where I grew up. Elder Higham, a little further to the north in Richmond, was reporting his mission from Brazil. He was a "greenie" in the city where we served. We had him and his companion over every Monday for dinner and we grew fond of one another.

The drive through Sardine Canyon was overcast, but the mountains, draped in snow were beautiful.

Coming out of Sardine Canyon into Cache Valley, the sky was still hazy.

On our way through Logan to Richmond, we passed the old Pioneer Tabernacle on Main Street.

It was great to see Elder Higham again. It was fun to "shoot the breeze" about our Brazillian adventures. We decided we will travel together to Elder and Sister Call's homecoming address when they return from Brazil next month. Elder and Sister Call replaced us as S&I Coordinators in our mission.

While in the area, we drove up to Frankin, Idaho, about ten minutes further north to check on Derek's land.

On the way back to the highway, we passed this store and throught it was hilarious, a reminder of days long past--a good place to buy furnishings for homes, new, existing, and future.

After the meeting and visit with Elder Higham and his family we drove back to Logan for dinner with my sister, Deanna and her husband, Cliff.

The back windows of their home have a beautiful view of Logan City.

The home I grew up in was a block away from the temple.

This is the chapel where I went to church.

We stayed until dusk when the temple lights turned.

Demise of an Icon

Barnes Bank is dying. It has been an Icon in our town since 1891. Up through 2006, it was ranked in the top five in the nation as being the best bank. We have banked there for the past 29 years. Last Thursday we went in and cleaned out our funds. It will close its doors February 12, 2010. Zions National Bank hopes to buy the building. We thought we'd take a couple of pictures for memories sake, while it's still BARNES BANK!

A new addition was built at the back of the bank a few years ago, and nine other branches were built in the state. We are sorry to see it go.

Prayer Flag from Nepal

Today I hung the prayer flag that Eddie brought to me from Nepal. It reminded me of the many prayers flags we saw when we visited Tibet, and the humble, sweet people that live there. I hung the prayer flag between the two Washington Hawthorne trees that are situated in the perfect spot in the back yard to shield our privacy in the warmer months from the neighbors behind.

As I hung it, I offered a prayer of healing for Ed, our dear friend Teresa in Texas who is awaiting breast cancer surgery, and for our children, relatives, friends, and neighbors who are in need of the gift of healing or have other concerns and need help of any kind. I prayed that my prayer and those on this prayer flag, now set free in the outside air and thus being released, would fly in the wind everywhere, to all those in need, and that God would answer these prayers.

As I said my prayer, a special, tangible feeling came over me. This prayer flag represents the faith and prayers of all people, of all nationalities, of all denominations. God hears every prayer offered by a sincere believer. Because of faith and prayer, God blesses his children.

As I took photos following my little ceremony, I thought that I had chosen a fitting place to hang my Prayer Flag from Nepal. These trees represent Mother Earth who gives life to all who inhabit her. Not only that, they are scarred having undergone trauma following heavy snowstorms that weighed down their branches, split open their trunks, and posed possible death. Never-the-less, they survived and the hundreds of birds that stay out the winter, find nourishment from the berries on their branches during these same cold winters that threaten and sometimes inflict harm to the trees.

Hence, my prayer flag hangs, to be tattered by winds and storms in order that these prayers may be carried to other places.

Ending the week well

I went hiking up the Bair Creek trail this afternoon. It's the first time I've been on this trail, which winds deep up into the canyon, in the winter. Winter hiking is so wonderful. I'm so glad I discovered it--thanks to Ed's gift of micro-spikes.

I didn't think to take me camera, but the creek looked very beautiful with shards of ice hovering over the outer edges of the banks. The day was overcast, but not too cold.

I met two other women hiking, and went with them for the last part of the hike to the second crossing. This hike lasted 2 hours.

In the evening, we drove to Bryce and Kate's for a bowl of chilli and to see Chad, who is visiting from Portland. He came to snowboard and see family and friends. It was a really nice evening. Ed came over for the dinner part and then drove himself back home.

Another great hike.

January 7, 2010

Today the weather gave Northern Utah a break from the gray sky, smog, and bad air. I took advantage and drove to Antelope Island to hike the Lakeside Trail, a hike I missed with my hiking group last Saturday.

When I left Kaysville, the temperature was in the 30's. As I was driving over the causeway, it dipped to 14 degrees. When I reached the Bridgerbay campground at the start of the trail it had risen to 15 degrees. I knew was I trouble because I hadn't thought I'd need my face mask. My body stayed warm during the hike with my layering but my face got chilled from the slight wind that was blowing. I had brought a woolen scarf, but it wasn't as effective in keeping out the cold as the mask would have been.

It was a beautiful hike. It began along the eastern part of the lake and looked out onto one of the other islands.

The path was barely covered with snow--hardly enough to justify the use of my micro-spikes.

The island terrain reminded me of a moonscape with grasses sticking up here and there amid the rocks.

I saw bison tracks and pies on the trail and wondered if I would come upon one during my walk around the lake.

On the west side, the path had only an occasional patch of snow. The sun came out and the water shimmered. About halfway or so along the trail, I did spy Bison--a group of them. A herd of about ten were grazing up ahead on either side of the trail. The biggest one became alert and stood there watching me. Knowing that Bison can pivot 180 degrees in a second and be into a 30 mile per hour run, or so, in 2-3 seconds made me decide to turn around and go back the way I had come. Walking along a trail, alone, with Bison a few feet away on either side of the trail did not seem like a good idea to me. After I made this decision, and began walking away from them, the one that was watching me went back to his grazing.

I also saw two different flocks of small black birds, and two jack rabbits. One startled me while I was in a thoughtful reverie, scurrying off to the right. I guess, I startled it, so it startled me. Then, as I was almost back to the car, I saw a man on horseback and another very large jack rabbit bounded up the hill. I thought it was the man's dog at first, but it's stride was smooth and long. It was very fun to watch.

The batteries quit on my camera, and I did not have any spares, so I was not able to take more pictures. My hike lasted about 1 1/2 hours, not what I had hoped for with my $9 entrance fee, but at least I can say I've been there and enjoyed our nice little island in the winter.

Greeting the New Year, 2010

Written January 7, 2010

Can't believe we're ten years into the millennium. Writing a 20.... doesn't seem so strange anymore!

Ed and I tended Kimball (overnight) on New Year's Eve. He went to bed at 9:30 and I followed at 10:30 p.m. Good thing. He woke up at 2:00 a.m. on New Year's Day. I tucked him into bed with me and he went back to sleep, but I didn't. Ed did look out his window at midnight and watched the neighbor's fireworks across the street. Well, maybe next year we'll do a party, when Ed isn't so sick.

We are into the "Medicare" thing. Spent the whole day yesterday (no fun) sorting, organizing, and adding up all our 2009 medical bills--info we need in order to apply for VA benefits for Ed. The folder is about two inches thick (there were a lot of bills.) If he gets accepted, we think it will save us a ton of money on premiums, co-pays, prescriptions, future surgeries, etc. If not, then another bout of surgeries like we've experienced these past 15 months would break us.

I want to go hiking in the worst way, but the inversion this past week has created terrible air quality. So, I settle for Step Rebok (the best workout on the planet, by the way) and a recumbent bike ride. Gained a few pounds this past year indulging in way too many Haugen-Das ice cream bars. Have managed to lose a couple and maintain, but still need to shed a some more.

Have watched some of our Mr. Bean movies--hilarious! Always need a good laugh now and then.

The start of my next project: scanning, editing, and incorporating old photos into family histories. These photos were badly torn and scarred. I cleaned them up with Iphoto tools on my Mac. Eventually will buy a better program for doing editing.

Any guesses who this might be? (Hint: She is very close to me.)

Take a guess at this one. (Hint, a very close relative of mine.)

Winter Hiking, December 26, 2009

I have joined the Davis County Hiking Group that I learned about on Meetup.com.

This was my second hike with the group, but first one in the snow. Here we are about to depart up the mountain above North Salt Lake. I am at the far right of the picture, in the aqua blue jacket. It was very cold at the start of the hike, about 12 degrees F. Brrrrrr!

At the start of the trail a snowman greeted us. The snow around him didn't seem to be disturbed, so I supposed he came to the trail on his own. Oops! Is it not a snowman but a SnowLady?

Someone on the hike knew his geology. These are ridges of the shoreline of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville. They are not manmade. Pretty interesting!

Deer were spied below the trail several times.

After two hours of hiking we reached the top which looked to the south and Salt Lake City. The cloud cover is really smog, but it made for a pretty picture. Most of the other hikers stopped here at this spot overlooking Salt Lake City.

Conversing at the top. I hiked up the steepest part of the mountain with no trouble at all because Ed had given me a set of Micro-spikes for Christmas to put over my hiking boots so my feet can grip icy trails. I love them. They provide me with a whole new world of hiking--winter hiking. I also love my beanie, it has a visor on it

A little ways further, and the lookout showed the eastern mountains and valley.

I said I wasn't coming all this way just to stop short, so I plunged on ahead and a few people followed me.

It was much warmer going down, and I began shedding layers.

The snowman, err, I mean snow lady said goodbye as we reached the bottom of the trail. She looks a little brighter now that the sun has come out. The entire hike took three hours.

Signs of Winter

Ed came home from the hospital the day after Christmas. The snow started coming and didn't let up for days. After a couple of days, he thought he felt well enough to go outside and give Cyndy instructions on snowplowing with the four-wheeler. After she got the hang of it, she thought it was a lot of fun (and considerably easier than using the snowblower.

The Washington Hawthorne trees in the back yard are loaded with red winter berries. We get a lot of "visitors" that feed off those trees and it's fun to watch them through our patio door

CHRISTMAS EVE 2009

This was a different year for Ed and Cyndy. For most of the day, Cyndy was in a frenzy tying up all the loose ends of Christmas--last minute shopping and exchanging gifts opened from the previous day for the right sizes, delivering a few goodies to neighbors, getting end of month bills paid, tidying up the house, etc. At the end of the day she dashed to the hospital. There, the two of them spent a quiet Christmas Eve together singing carols and telling Christmas stories. There were only two other surgical patients left in the entire hospital, most had gone home that day, so there was an extra meal left over that the nurses gave to a hungry and grateful Cyndy. The day before she had brought a small lighted tree into Ed's room to brighten things up and bring some Christmas cheer. After all was said and done, the evening turned out to be a rather nice one.

CHRISTMAS DAY 2009

Cyndy spent the morning at Bryce and Kate's home watching Kimball get his "big" presents from Santa, Mom, and Dad. The parents had fun helping Kimball play with his new toys.

This one's from Santa:

From Dad (who else?) (Hint: if these videos don't play right away, click on the gray arrow on the bar in the center and move it slightly to the right and the movie will begin.)

Truck loaded with blocks from Mom.

One more gift from Mom and Dad for Bryce, a new pair of shoes, arrived in the mail Christmas Eve, so he got to have one more present to open.

After eating Breakfast burritos that Kate made, Cyndy left for a visit to her sister, Mary, and then the hospital. It was a very quiet afternoon at the hospital until about 5:30 p.m. when everything happened all at once--Bryce, Kate, Kimball and Derek came to visit and Kim and family called from Texas. The hospital went lax on the rules because it's not the "traditional kind of hospital, it's a specially hospital. So, they allowed more than two visitors and children.