Pulling a Handcart in the Days of '47 Parade

I think I've never had my picture taken more times in a single day than I did on July 24, 2009, when I pulled a handcart in Salt Lake City's "Days of '47" pioneer day parade. I loved it. I loved smiling and waving at everyone.

Thank you so much to my friend John Lodefink for giving me the opportunity to have this experience! Thank you also to Karen Gillmore, who made my pioneer dress. Here's a photo of John and me at about 5:45 a.m that day.


John lives in Sugarhouse, and rather than loading his handcart on a trailer, he enjoys walking and pulling it to the parade route, through the parade, and then back home again. That makes about a 20 mile day. I wasn't sure I was ready for that, so I met him at Liberty Park at 5:45, where the parade ends. We pulled the handcart along the route in reverse, and enjoyed seeing the participants of that day's fun run go by.

When we reached the starting point, we pulled out some lawn chairs and relaxed for an hour or two before the parade started. During this time, I enjoyed meeting the son of an actual pioneer who had crossed the plains. His father had been a baby when he crossed the plains, in one of the last pioneer treks, and had fathered this man (who is now in his 70's or 80's) when he was a very old man himself.

What a thrill it was to wave and smile at the crowds. We were the fourth entry in the parade, and the first handcart, and so the spectators were excited to see us.

The part I wasn't prepared for, however, was seeing people begin to cry as they saw us, or seeing people wipe tears from their eyes as we walked by. In all the fun and excitement of a modern day parade, it's easy to forget the meaning of it all. But when people started wiping away tears, I remembered that our handcart and our costumes made us a symbol of the very high price that the early Mormon pioneers paid for their faith.

I felt honored to represent them that day.

Although I must admit feeling a little guilty to have people cheer for me, when I was wearing nice comfortable shoes, wearing gloves that would prevent me from getting callouses, and pulling a very lightly loaded handcart along a nice, smooth road for only 3 miles or so. I knew those cheers really weren't meant for me, but were for those early pioneers who sacrificed so much. Perhaps someday I will have the opportunity to pass those cheers along to those who truly deserve them.

Sacred Ground in Arizona

Think you’ve got a rough commute? The next time I want to complain about mine, I hope to remember the young Navajo man I met in Canyon de Chelly (pronounced canyon t’shay) this summer. He came running up behind my family as we hiked down the steep, mile-long trail from the rim of this mini-Grand Canyon to the canyon floor. Each morning, he runs down the trail to water and graze his sheep on the canyon floor; once the sheep are situated for the day, he runs back up the rocky trail so he can go to his day job. Then, he repeats the process each evening.

Canyon de Chelly, in eastern Arizona, is a sacred place to the Navajo people. It has several beautiful, impressive ruins, such as the 800-year-old White House ruins, shown here:

The natural setting of these ruins is so stunning, it's difficult to capture it with a camera. Here's another photo that attempts to show the enormity of the canyon wall under which they are built.
Here’s another view of the ruins looking down upon them from the canyon rim:
The White House trail is the only hike visitors are allowed to do without a Navajo guide. It’s a beautiful hike, although a little rocky. My sweet sister Laurie and her husband Klayne were tough enough that they even took their son Gideon in a stroller down the steep trail.

Here’s a photo of Klayne and Gideon at the canyon rim:
For much of the way, they had to carry the stroller, as you can see here:

But carrying the stroller didn’t dampen their enthusiasm, as you can see from this video taken while we were resting along our way back up the trail


Isn't my brother-in-law great?

Not only was the hike very beautiful, but it was fun to pass the Navajo people going about their business, including an older Navajo woman who said she was born in a house on the floor of the canyon.

Here are some of my favorite images from the experience.

My parents are the treasure at the end of this Canyon de Chelly rainbow:

Here's my sister Kristy, sitting in a rock cove along the trail.


Some of the interesting rock formations along the trail

My sister captured this photo of me walking through one of the tunnels along the way

She also caught me as I sat on a wall, taking a photo:

I was amazed to see big flowers blooming where this rock wall meets the dry earth.

I loved the contrast between red and green visible in this shot:

Sunset over Canyon de Chelly

I enjoyed visiting with the Navajos selling jewelry, pottery, and other art. I was very interested to learn that the Navajo people are related to the Athabascan Eskimos from central Alaska.

The Chinle Holiday Inn where we stayed had a fun southwest decorating theme, including these dried peppers.

I had never heard of Canyon de Chelly until I read about it in the book “1000 Places to See Before You Die in the U.S. and Canada”, and I had to agree with the book: it was well worth the visit.

Murray Library Boyfriend

One of the best parts of living in Murray, Utah is being able to see a library employee named Danny each time you visit the city library.

If you are lucky, Danny will be sitting at the front-most circulation desk when you come through the door. He’s the young man who will say “Heeeey! You’re back!” and give you a big smile and nod as you walk through the door.

Sometimes, when people are really friendly like that, it can be easy to misinterpret their friendliness.

My sister Suzy was 8-months pregnant and had two toddlers in tow when she first met Danny, and he was incredibly friendly with her, impressively flipping the library books in an artistic manner as he checked them out to her. Suzy wasn’t sure if he was trying to hit on her or not, but thought “Isn’t it obvious that I’m in a relationship?”

But, as she chatted with other young mothers who go to the library frequently, she realized that Danny is friendly to all. One of Suzy’s young mother friends likes to say “I have to go to the library today so I can see my boyfriend there”.

I love people who are friendly like that, especially when you realize that they aren’t trying to hit on you.

I tend to be a friendly person too, and my intentions are sometimes misunderstood.

When I worked at the Church Office Building, I often warmly greeted the cafeteria employees there. One day, when I greeted one of the young men behind the sandwich counter, he said to me:

“I’m off the market”.
“Huh?” I replied.
“I’M OFF THE MARKET!” he spoke loudly.
“Market?” I asked, still confused.
“I’M ENGAGED!” he said with frustration.
“Oh! Wow! Congratulations!” I replied enthusiastically. Then I realized that he’d interpreted my friendliness differently than I had intended it. Ooops!

I’ve been on both sides of that mistake.

Anyway, I happened to see Danny at the library last night, and interacting with him was so much fun that it made me smile for about 30 minutes afterwards.

So, I thought I’d blog about him. If any of you happen to visit Murray, you’ll definitely want to include a stop at the library to see our collective boyfriend Danny, who, if you are lucky, will be waiting there for you.

Danny, thank you for raising the happiness level in Murray, one “Heeey! You’re back!” at a time!

Inspired by the Lady Utes

Although I know and love many sports fans, I’m not one of them. I’ll sit down to watch a sporting event occasionally, but usually do this only as part of building friendships with sports fans. “If I could change what I’m interested in, I’d really like sports”, said my cousin Heather, and I have to agree with her.

Despite this, this week I had the unique and wonderful experience of having dinner with the University of Utah women’s basketball team. My friend John is a season ticket holder and had been invited to the team’s year-end banquet; he kindly invited me to join him.

When we arrived, I was surprised at how few people were there, and immediately regretted my lack of basic homework about the team, because it was clear that we would be interacting with the coaches and players. We shared a table with the associate athletic director and the team's information director, and chatted with one of the assistant coaches, all of whom were incredibly gracious.

What made the event so fabulous, though, was hearing head coach Elaine Eliott talk about the season and the players. She is extremely well spoken, and despite my lack of interest in sports, I found her comments inspiring.

The Lady Utes started the season with a 1-4 record, and she spoke of how damaging losing games can be to a team’s confidence. Then she rephrased “Losing games can be demoralizing, if that’s the way you choose to react to it.”

She spoke a great deal about choice. She spoke about character. She spoke about effort and growth.

Her team chose to react to their difficult start (their first games had been against some of the top teams in the nation) in a charactered way, believing that although they had lost several games in a row, they could choose to make their future better.

And that’s what they did. They ended up winning the Mountain West Conference during regular season play, won the MWC tournament, and won the opportunity to participate in the national NCAA tournament.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”, a wise person once said. I keep relearning the truth of that statement. I saw it when I traveled to Central America with a microcredit organization; while their “outer” work involved providing loans and business training to help women pull themselves out of poverty, the heart of their job was to help the women BELIEVE in themselves. The first, middle, and last steps were always to build the women’s confidence in their own ability and power to choose a better future.

I’ve seen it also in my weight loss and fitness efforts. Your thinking controls about 98% of the results you get. What you say when you talk to yourself about mistakes you’ve made or challenges you face, is what determines whether or not you will be successful.

I loved watching the season highlights film, which was full of exciting moments, although I was sad to see that the arena was mostly empty at their home games (at away games, the arenas appeared to be full). Coach Eliott did not say one word about that lack of support; instead, she focused on what she had control over, which is building the people she worked with, and building an excellent program.

I was delighted to receive a T shirt from them, which I will start wearing to my weightlifting class. When the class gets tough and I don’t think I can or want to do it, I hope to remember Coach Eliott, and draw strength from her example of chosing the charactered path towards growth.

Drive-By Shooting

“Sometimes, when you are a man, you like to wear stretchy pants in your room, just for fun.”

-Nacho Libre

Sometimes, when you are a tourist, you like to take photographs out the window of a speeding car, just for fun.

The risk, of course, is that you’ll get photos like this:
This is a photo of the Washington Monument. Really. Trust me. Can’t see the Washington Monument? That’s only because it happens to be behind that street post just then.

Here’s another shot of the Washington Monument I was able to take a few seconds earlier:

Similarly, here’s one of my shots of the Jefferson Memorial:

And the shot I was able to get a second later:

All the folks on the steps were gathered there to enjoy the free entertainment that is part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Here’s one more drive-by shot that shows some of the beautiful blooms:

One of the disadvantages of taking photographs like this, is that you are setting a bad example for children nearby who would like to borrow your camera so THEY can take a shot out the window TOO. When six-year-old Ada asked if she could borrow the camera while we were on a shuttle bus at the National Cherry Blossom Festival, I agreed, but only if she kept the camera inside the window. Here’s the shot she captured:

She’s did a good job, didn’t she? Especially since I only let her take one photo instead of letting her snap, snap, snap away like I had been doing!

Here’s a little video of the airplanes landing at Reagan National Airport that I was able to capture from the shuttle bus. (By the way, the name of the place is Haines Point, which I said incorrectly in the video).

Sometimes, when I’m taking pictures out the window of a speeding car, I’m not doing it just for fun, but because that is the only way you can capture certain shots.

Like this one of a unique aircraft we saw flying around near NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as we were returning from Chincoteague Island, Virginia.

The day trip we took to Chincoteague Island gave us several interesting drive-by photo opportunities. At one point, we got lost and found ourselves in a trailer park. I was pretty impressed by how people had started with a simple trailer, and built houses around the trailer as they could. Here’s a shot of one of them:

I was also interested to drive by this house built on the end of a dock.

While we were at the beach at Chincoteague Island, I was able to capture this shot of a surfer there. This is a very hardy surfer, since it was very cold.

(I must admit, this was NOT taken from a moving vehicle like all the others were. Because it was hard to capture, however, that makes it worthy of this blog post, in my humble opinion. It was hard to capture for two reasons: 1. The surfer himself had a hard time catching a wave. 2. I had a hard time catching him catching a wave. So, I got lots of garbage photos out of it, just like I do when I’m drive-by shooting.)

Here’s one more shot of the surfer:

I crossed the border into Virginia several times, and most of the border crossings had a nice “Virginia Welcomes You” sign. On our drive to Chincoteague Island, though, a gas station had a very different type of sign, a confederate flag that said “The South Starts Here”. I didn’t have my camera then, but I was able to get a drive-by shot of it on my way out of Virginia, where it said “The South Ends Here”. I haven’t spent much time in the South and so I don’t know how confederate flags are received there, but in my mind that wasn’t a welcome sign…it seemed more like an un-welcome sign, especially for African Americans.

By the way, I was interested to learn that this area was the birthplace of Harriet Tubman, and was also the location of many of the "stops" on the Underground Railroad that sheltered fleeing slaves just before the Civil War.

But I digress. Back to drive-by photo shooting.

Finally, here are some of the shots I took of the bridge over the Chesapeake Bay as we were driving across it:

I liked being able to capture both cars and boats in a single shot:

I liked the sense of movement in this shot:

I liked the sky in this one:

And this one has an interesting portion of the bridge:

In conclusion, Nacho Libre and I would like to dedicate this post to digital cameras. Without them and their no-cost delete functionality, drive-by shooting wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Life Lessons Learned from Children

I spent this past week on vacation in Maryland with my sister Julie, her husband Randy, and their five children. It was a joy to be with them. The experience of traveling with children aged 7 and younger reminded me of several life lessons that I had forgotten in my grown up world.

Lesson 1: The English language can be quirky. Have fun with it.
One day we were driving through an intense rainstorm, and my 7-year-old nephew Peter started talking about how not only was it “raining cats and dogs”, but it was raining “saber tooth tigers and golden retrievers”. Here’s a little video of the moment:

Lesson 2: To remember a new vocabulary word, use it in a sentence right away.
“Do you know the meaning of the word avast?”, Peter asked me.

Peter is a little walking dictionary and encyclopedia, which is very fun. He talks about characters in Greek mythology as if they were his neighbors, and knows the meaning of all sorts of words, even ones that his Aunt Cindy doesn't know.

Peter graciously taught me that "avast" means “stop”, and was often said by pirates. So we all did our best pirate imitations, saying,
“Avast aarrrrrgg!”.

The next day, I was pouring milk for 6-year-old Ada, and when she’d had enough, she forcefully said “Avast!” And, of course, I knew exactly what she meant.


Lesson 3: “No” is a very versatile word, useful on many different occasions.
Paul is 18-months old, and is a little sweetheart. He’s also a bit of a tease. He’s just learning to talk, and one morning when he was a little frustrated because he had dropped his water, we had this conversation:



Lesson 4: Often, it’s the small things that bring us joy.
I had forgotten how fun it is to wear curlers. And a tutu. And your favorite color, PINK. Six-year-old Ada and three-year-old Mary Joy reminded me of this.


They also reminded me how fun it is to ride around on a baggage cart.


And Peter reminded me how fun it is to wear stickers that come from supermarket produce on your forehead:

Lesson 5: Live in the moment.
One park we visited had a rope that was used to block off traffic, and the kids had the idea of turning it into a jump rope. I would have missed this fun moment without their influence.

Lesson 6: Happiness is helping people who are smaller than yourself.
I was impressed by the way 7-year-old Peter would buckle his younger siblings into their car seats each time we got into the car. Six-year-old Ada was also very helpful. Here she is helping her younger brother Paul:

Lesson 7: Express your affection to those you love.

Three-year-old Mary Joy obviously loves her baby brother Levi:

I loved seeing 18-month-old Paul running his fingers through his mother’s hair as we watched the LDS Church General Conference.

Lesson 8: If life doesn’t go as planned, adapt.
We had packed and planned for warmer weather, but some days were downright chilly. One way six-year-old Ada adapted was by layering her clothing, like this:

We also adapted by having lunch in the back of Randy’s car, which turned an ordinary picnic into a memorable adventure.

Lesson 9: Take joy in the beauties of the natural world around you.

Mary Joy loved listening to the sounds of the sea in these shells.

The girls love all flowers, even the ones you can pick in your lawn:

I had to smile at this young boy’s description of some of the unique things you can see in the sea:



Lesson 10: A nap is always a good idea
We went to the timeshare office to use their wireless network to watch the LDS Church's General Conference. The office had wonderful window sills, perfect for a kids play area: or even better, a nap:

Lesson 11: When in doubt, improvise.

That's what 3-year-old Mary Joy did when it was her turn to read during the family daily scripture study time. Randy has downloaded the Book of Mormon onto an iPod touch, and each child who wanted to read had to wash his or her hands before getting the privilege of holding the iPod and gently touching it to scroll down through the verses.

When it was Mary Joy's turn, she gently held the iPod in her hands, and then, since she can't read yet, she just made up a scripture herself. "And it came to pass, that there were good people and there were bad people..." she started off as she looked intently at the little screen. She continued for a minute or so, and I was very impressed with her ability to use the language of scripture to make up scripture on the fly.

Lesson 12: A loving family is the best security you can find in this world.

Lesson 13: Parents of young children are true heroes.

I was so impressed by Randy and Julie's devotion to their children, as I watched them change diapers, sacrifice sleep, patiently guide and train their children, and plan activities so their family could have fun together. I don't think I exaggerate when I say that parents of young children are heroes, as they are the ones who are shaping the future and building our society.

At the same time, they are maintaining their own loving marriage; I loved this photo I was able to capture of Randy and Julie flying kites together on the beach.

Thanks to the Johnson family for a wonderful vacation, and for a reminder of life's important lessons.

Prayer, Moose, and the Northern Lights

It was the last evening of my trip, and I still hadn’t seen two important things in Alaska: the Northern Lights and the moose that frequently visit Ray and Rebecca’s yard. Just before I went to bed, Rebecca joked with me “If you see the Northern Lights and a moose before you leave, I think I’ll have to join the Mormon Church! That will mean that your prayers are really working, since it’s so unlikely that you would be here for the volcano, the aurora, and a moose without divine intervention!”

I HAD been praying to see the Northern Lights, or aurora. That night, though, I also prayed that if the aurora came, I would wake up for it. I’d been sleeping with my bedroom curtains open, even though Rebecca had told me that the aurora was not bright enough to wake you if you were asleep. So, I prayed that I would wake up anyway.

I went to bed at about 10:30 p.m., and about 1:30 in the morning, I found myself suddenly wide awake. I looked out the bedroom window, and sure enough, there was a huge arc of white light across the sky, from horizon to horizon. I was thrilled!

Since the Northern Lights can move quickly, I didn’t take the time to get dressed. I just threw on boots, put a coat over my nightgown, and ran outside. (Ok, I must admit that I did take the time to make sure that I did NOT lock myself out of the house again. I was pretty sure that getting locked out of the house and needing to ring the doorbell at 1:30 a.m. would definitely destroy any chances I had at winning the “House Guest of the Year” award!)

It was beautiful. You can see the different forms that the aurora can take on this website here:
http://asahi-classroom.gi.alaska.edu/aurforms.htm

I was seeing the homogeneous arc, which is the least active form of the aurora (meaning it doesn’t move or “dance” like the other forms do). I stood there and watched it for as long as my nightgown and I could stand to be in the cold. I took several photos.

I went back to bed and woke up again at 2:30 a.m. The aurora was still in an arc across the sky, but was now significantly wider than it was the first time, and seemed to be broken into separate strands, or whisps of light, instead of a solid arc like it had been earlier. Again, I went outside and took pictures for a few minutes.

At 3 a.m. I went outside again, but now in addition to the arc, there were several large “folds” of greenish-white light in the sky above Ray and Rebecca’s house. To get a good photo of that, I needed to walk down their long driveway.

I thought about that for a minute. Rebecca had told me that when Ray’s kids were waiting for the bus each morning, she would never let them walk down to the end of the driveway, because that took them across a path that the moose who frequently visited their yard would take. She liked them to stay closer to the house until they saw the bus, to minimize the chances that they would encounter a moose as they waited.

I remembered how Rebecca joked that if I saw both the aurora and a moose, she’d join the Mormon Church. As happy as I would be for Rebecca if she joined the Mormon Church, I really did NOT want to meet a moose in the driveway in my pajamas, and so I prayed as I walked “Please don’t let there be a moose in the driveway tonight!”

My prayers were answered and I didn't meet a moose. Sorry Rebecca! ;-)

Rebecca and Ray got up at 5 a.m. so Ray could prepare for work, and the aurora was out again then. This time, the large arc was gone, and the aurora took the “Rising Vapor column” form—it was a big green vertical stripe of light, which moved quickly and within a few minutes folded up like a scroll and was gone.

Once the aurora was gone, Rebecca took this photo of me in my boots, coat, and nightgown, to help me remember the experience.


Unfortunately, none of the aurora photos I took turned out. (I definitely need to get a tripod and figure out what I’m doing if I want to take night shots!)

The good news is, my friend Elias who I met on my earlier Aurora Viewing tour was also watching the aurora from a field in Fairbanks that night. Here are some of the images he captured:


The aurora has different colors, depending upon which gas in the atmosphere is being hit by the electrons of the solar winds, and the altitude of that gas. This website explains how the aurora gets its different colors: http://asahi-classroom.gi.alaska.edu/color.htm


Here is the Aurora in one of it's more active forms:


I feel very lucky and blessed to have seen the aurora, especially since the only reason I was still in Alaska was because of the eruption of Mt. Redoubt. I also feel very lucky to have friends like Rebecca and Ray. Thank you both so much for the wonderful Alaska experience I enjoyed with you!