The Elephant in the Room

In the 1960s we lived in northeast Indianapolis, a few miles from the gate of Fort Benjamin Harrison.  Fort Harrison was the home of a number of army schools as well as the finance center for the entire army.  The schools lasted anywhere from a few weeks to months.  Because of that, there was a constant number of soldiers moving in and out.  Because Fort Harrison was in our ward boundaries, it was not unusual to see unknown soldiers show up at church.  Many times, church times coincided with meal times for the soldiers, so going to church meant missing their meal on Sunday, so Mom and Dad routinely gathered up any strangers who showed up for church and brought them home for Sunday dinner.  We never knew how many people would appear for dinner, so Mom kept busy on Saturdays making salads and desserts to go with whatever ham or roast she planned to serve.  Eight extra dinner guests were not unusual.  The most was probably the two Sundays when a National Guard unit from Utah came to Fort Harrison for their annual training.  They commandeered a military bus to attend church and then parked it in front of our house during Sunday dinner.  There were about 30 of them.  No matter the number, Mom made sure there was plenty of food for all.  After dinner, the basketball hoop in the driveway was a great lure.




For a time, there was a vindictive sergeant who wanted to make sure soldiers couldn't attend church on Sunday, so he would wake them up at 5AM for KP duty.  One Saturday the soldiers were alerted that the sergeant planned to grab them the next morning, so a number of them left and showed up at our house about midnight.  Mom welcomed them and made them beds on various couches and the living room floor.

Most of the soldiers were destined to go to Vietnam.  Many of them remembered the kindness of my parents and kept in touch for many years.


One day, our family made a day trip to Turkey Run State Park where we had fun hiking.  As we returned and pulled into the driveway of our L-shaped house, I noticed something odd in front of our front door, which was somewhat recessed.  Nobody else in the family noticed.  "Look!"  I said.  "There's an elephant by our door.!  I got some funny looks from my parents, who I am sure thought I was hallucinating, and a very sarcastic "sure there is" from someone else, but I was right.  There WAS an elephant by the door.  One of our soldier friends, Jim Bondurant,  had mailed it from Vietnam.  He decided to ship it without a box, reasoning that if the shipper could see that it was fragile, they would be more careful with it.  It came with just a shipping label.

His reasoning worked pretty well, as the only damage was a small corner broken off the top.  Mom  patched it up and soon the damage was barely discernible.

 

Over those years, we met many new and wonderful friends.  I always felt we were fortunate that none of them were lost to us in Vietnam.  As for the elephant, it has been in my parents' living room ever since.  It made a wonderful plant stand.

The Iditarod Sled Dog Race and eternal goals

 During the 29 years I lived in Alaska, the annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race became a much anticipated event.  The race commemorates an event from 1925 when  the small town of Nome, Alaska, had an outbreak of deadly diphtheria.  A relay involving 20 mushers and around 150 sled dogs rushed the antitoxin to Nome in a period of a little more than 5 days, thus saving many lives.

The modern race is not a relay.  Mushers and their dogs go from checkpoint to checkpoint, enduring harsh conditions, to race over 1000 miles from Wasilla or Willow to Nome.   The race is run early in March.  Near the end of a long, dark winter, the Iditarod is  a nice break and a sign that Spring is on the way.

I think there are many analogies that can be drawn between the race and life in general.  It is not possible to run the Iditarod without a lot of preparation.  Mushers must have successfully completed a qualifying race.  They are also required to carry certain items with them to take proper care of themselves and their dogs while along the trail. Our lives also take preparation to reach our eternal goals.  As we prepare spiritually, we become more spiritually strong and ready to successfully get where we want our lives to go.

The race this year (2016) had a couple of notable events.  It is always wise to expect the unexpected.  Sometimes things go wrong for a time, but there is a reward for enduring to the end. 

Two mushers this year, Jeff King and Aliy Zirkle, had an unfortunate experience that might have stopped a less prepared musher.  A drunken snowmachiner seemingly attacked their teams.  In Aliy’s case, he circled back and made several passes, injuring at least one of her dogs.  Jeff was not as fortunate.  Several of his dogs were injured badly, and one died.  I wondered if that would be the end of the race for them…if they would scratch.  They each dropped one or more dogs off at the next checkpoint of Nulato, but they kept on going.  They were focused on the goal ahead, the finish line in Nome.  They did not let the distractions or discouragements of their situation deter them from their goal.   So it is in our lives.  Things happen…some good, some bad.  Our goal is eternal life with our Father in Heaven.  When we hit rough times and situations, we need to focus on our goal, so that we do not become distracted and discouraged.

During the end of the race, three mushers seemed to be taking turns in the lead.  Any one of them could have won the race.  At the second to the last checkpoint, all mushers and teams are required to take a layover of 8 hours before the last 77 mile dash to the finish line. The three top teams came into the checkpoint of White Mountain relatively close together.  The dogs were fed and rested as well as the mushers.  At the end of the 8 hour layover, two of the teams were eager to be off for the finish line.  They ran joyfully.  The third team didn’t realize that their goal was so close.  Shortly after the team left White Mountain, the dogs decided they were finished.  They sat down.  They did not have the information they needed to rally and finish their race.  By not enduring to the end and keeping an eye on their goal, they missed their potential for a great reward.  We are fortunate with the Gospel, to know that our goal is there, waiting for us if we but endure.

Hill Aerospace Museum

Today we went to to visit the Hill Aerospace Museum near Hill Air Force Base.  We had driven past the outdoor display a few times, but I have never been inside before.

It began with an exhibit about the Wright brothers and looked like a collection of double-winged kites really. A docent came to tell us all about what we were seeing.  Mike and Roger nodded knowingly whenever he started calling the planes by letters and numbers.  I said things like, "Oh!  look at that silver plane over there with the cool paint job."  I don't speak letters and numbers.

It's hard to know which pictures to take, but some of the choices were obvious.  We had to have a picture of "Jolley Roger" in honor of my jolly Roger, but really I think the plane was named for a famous fellow surnamed Jolley.

Then we even found a plane clearly named for his sister!

Some of the planes had rather ferocious paint jobs, like the grim reaper, or whatever that toothed thing with the red nose is supposed to be.

When I was about 7th grade I remember that our class was taken on a field trip to  a factory in Indianapolis that made Allison engines....and here was an Allison engine, made right there in Indianapolis.

Some of the displays portrayed life on the homefront during times of war.  The blue star banners were displayed in homes who had family members serving in the war.  Multiple stars meant multiple people serving.   I still have the banner made by my grandmother to honor her future husband during World War I.  Sadly, sometimes the blue stars were replaced by stars of gold, which indicated that a service member in that home had given his life for his country.

Some of the displays showed ways that women also served.  Here are shown women working to repair a plane.

The planes filled the hall, from ceiling to floor, practically stacked on top of each other sometimes.

Planes and displays were from many time periods.  We stopped to look at a display from the Vietnam era.  The picture shows Viet Cong gear and a certificate honoring a Viet Cong fellow for killing an American.

Roger remembered his time serving near Da Nang.  He didn't realize that that service would impact him for the rest of his life.

We also watched a short video presentation about the war in the Aleutians and the difficulties of flying under the severe weather conditions there.

One area had portraits  of a number of famous aviators.  I even recognized some of their names, such as Jake Garn  and  candy bomber, Gail Halvorsen

It is a well done museum and worth checking out if you are in the area.

My Xylophone, a Gift of Love

When we are children, I think we sometimes miss acts of love shown in our behalf.  I came across one such thing recently.

At sometime I was regifted with a childhood toy.  I received it the first time as a small child, and again as an adult when my mother was giving away some of her possessions.  It was just a little xylophone which came with a booklet containing the directions for playing a few simple songs.  The little booklet has been gone for years, but recently a piece of paper appeared.  It was probably made about 60 years ago by a loving mother who knew I would enjoy having some familiar songs to play which were not in the little booklet.  The xylophone had colored keys, so my mother had carefully found crayons to match each of the keys and then had colored papers to tell me which notes to play for songs I knew and loved.  Sadly, most of the papers are long gone, but "The First Noel" and "Oh, Hush Thee My Baby" still exist.

The strips of felt which held the keys off the wood wore out and were carefully replaced.  I loved this toy as a child and am happy to have it again today for my grandchildren to play with.  Perhaps I should get out the crayons and do some more pages of music for them.

Brigham City Temple

Many years ago, school children in Brigham City attended school at Central School, just across Main Street from the Tabernacle.

Among those students were Ruby Kotter and her brothers and sisters.

Eventually the school deteriorated and new schools replaced it.   Central School was demolished, leaving an empty lot.

It was in October 2009 that exciting news was announced for the empty lot!  It was to become the site of a new temple.  Mom, who grew up in Brigham City was excited to hear the news and took an interest in the progress of the building.  Almost three years after the announcement, the temple was completed and dedicated.  Although we hoped to take Mom there, car accidents, surgeries, closures and other things interfered with our plans.

Today was finally the day.  We met at the temple at 1:45 and enjoyed our time there.  The workers there were kind and patient with us.  They provided assistance for Mom so she could hear.  We greatly enjoyed our time together.

Afterwards, we decided to go and enjoy Brigham City's best food before going home.

Two Little Girls

Many, many years ago, two little girls, Nancy and Linda,  came to live with their families on Adams Street.  They were the only little girls on the street, so of course, they were destined to be friends.  They played in each other's yards.  They sometimes ate lunch together.  When they were old enough to go to school, they started kindergarten together since their birthdays were just a month apart.

                                                                           Nancy

                                                                           Linda

When they were 6 or 7 years old, Linda's parents, who were avid square dancers, organized a square dancing group for all the kids in the neighborhood and taught them to square dance.

Then, when the girls were about 7 or 8 years old, Nancy's family moved away.  They thought they would never see each other again.

In high school, the girls found out they were attending the same school, so they had a year of school together, but their only common class was band.  Then Linda's family moved to another town.  They thought they would never see each other again.

In the meantime, life happened, until one day, they found each other on facebook.  They lived about 2000 miles apart.  They thought they would never see each other again.

Then, Linda, an avid RVer, decided to take a trip for a reunion and to spend the winter in a warmer climate.  She discovered that her route took her near Nancy's home, so one day she stopped by!

                                                                 Linda and Nancy

They spent several days reliving old memories and reconnecting.

Now, thanks to facebook, they think it is just possible they will see each other again.

Yellowstone Getaway

Pretty much on the spur of the moment, we had a chance to take a short vacation to Yellowstone Park and environs, so we took it!  Because of the make up of our group, we required 5 bedrooms, so this cabin in Island Park fit the bill nicely.  We could easily have fit a few more.  The loft area had a bedroom with queen size bed plus 2 more queen size beds in the more open loft area and also a bathroom.  The main floor had 2 more bedrooms, each with a queen size bed.  The basement had a large family room, 1 bedroom with a queen size bed and 2 additional bedrooms, each with 2 additional queen size beds for a total of 10 beds...as well as a total of 3 full bathrooms, 2 washers and 2 dryers....not to mention the hot tub out in the yard.   Plenty of room for the 7 of us!  Our group included the two of us, my sister and her husband, their son, a former exchange student of theirs from Japan and my mother.

Once we were settled into our cabin, we were ready for a day of seeing the sites in the park.  I remembered the park from my childhood, but the park of today seemed quite a bit different.  The bears are gone.  We saw not a one.  I am sure the bear policies of my childhood were far different as everyone then openly fed the bears and it was not unusual to see them hanging around the roads begging for handouts.  Those days are gone.

We got to the park entrance about the same time as a bajillion cyclists on their way to Old Faithful, so driving the narrow roads was an adventure all by itself.  Once we got past the entrance the most common site was the bison.  They were everywhere, so we had to be alert for cars stopping to view them as well as an elk herd.

Eventually we got to to one of the geyser basins and set out on a hike to see a variety of little geysers, hot springs and bubbling mud pots.  There were probably more foreign tourists there than Americans.  For certain there were a couple of tour groups....one Chinese and one German.

The sounds of bubbling mud, boiling water, and small spouting geysers sputtered along with the excited chatter of Chinese and German tourists.

Warnings were everywhere that we were to stay on the boardwalks and not venture closer to the various features as the crust is sometimes very thin and could easily break under the weight of a person, plunging them into boiling water, and yet, at one area we visited a group of bison trotted right across the dangerous area.  It made me wonder how often it resulted in boiled bison.  They are difficult to see in this picture, but are brown spots right at the center of the picture.

Eventually we made our way to Old Faithful where we first visited the Old Faithful Lodge.  I thought the interior would make a wonderful movie set for a Lord of the Rings movie.  I can't imagine the hours of work it would take to make such a large and fanciful building.

Soon it was close to time for the predicted eruption of the Old Faithful geyser so we made our way to the viewing area to await the show.  Soon the steam coming from the geyser started to increase and then little jets of water burst out, eventually followed by the tall bursts of steaming water that this geyser is famous for.  We actually saw it from two different areas as we went back later in the day and say it again from the other side.

After watching it a second time, we decided to split up.  The more mobile members of the group set off on a 2-3 mile hike up through the geyser basin while the more mobility impaired members of the group did some shopping and then headed to a different geyser area to pick up the hikers.  As we were skirting one of the upper areas of the geyser basin, a man pointed over to the nearby hillside and to our astonishment we saw a large gray wolf trot by.  I had never seen a wolf in the wild before.  As the trail started to wind through the trees, we came upon this big bison near the trail, but he seemed to be busy eating, so we ignored him and just kept on walking.

By the time we reached Morning Glory Pool, my feet were getting a little tired, so I was looking forward to getting to the car.  At the pool, the boardwalk trail ended and continued as a dirt trail through the woods to get to the other parking lot.  We were almost there when we came to two more bison right on the trail.  They seemed in no hurry to move on and we couldn't really got around them because of the uncertain nature of the ground if we left the trail.  At last, we had to give up and go back the way we came.  We were tired and hungry by the time we finally reunited with the vehicles.

Throughout the park was ample evidence of the devastating fires that burned so much of the park years ago.  I was happy to see that so many new trees have grown up to take the place of the burned ones.  We saw many trees like this one with the new trees growing up around them.  It's no wonder they fell down with such a shallow root system.

I was interested to read this sign.






I remember this event well.  I was in Utah at the time with my grandparents.  My grandmother said she felt the quake even from that distance.  Of course it was devastating because of the mountainside that came down and buried a campground full of people, eventually forming a new lake, called Earthquake Lake.

The last thing we decided to check out before heading home was Grand Prismatic Pool. From the surface it was not all that spectacular, so along with a number of others, we started hiking up the side of a nearby mountain until we came to an outcropping of rock which was not obstructed by trees so we could see what it looked like from above.

The bluest water is the hottest.  As it cools various types of algae are able to survive, causing the color variations.

On our way out of the park, we stopped at Lewis Lake to have a quick lunch before heading for home.

No ordinary cold lunch for us!  My sister quickly heated up the broth for french dip sandwiches which we enjoyed along with freshly sliced tomatoes.

On our way south out of the park we also passed the majestic Tetons before seriously heading for home.