Weather Vanes

The weather seems to be syncing with my brain waves or my brain waves are syncing with the weather, but one way or the other we are both quite unsure of what we are supposed to be doing and seem to be blowing inconsistently hot and cold. Some mornings we start out at a chilly 20 degrees and by mid day the sun has come out and we are spreading our warming 60 degree rays only to beat against the window panes, by eventide, with rain and gusty winds. It's a little unnerving in nature but seems especially accentuated and pronounced internally as I struggle to work on my Personal Progress goals, one of which is currently being a peacemaker. I know--me? Crazy!  It seems that the more I focus on the goals at hand, the more aware I become of the uncomfortable temperature of my inadequacies making it feel like Spring will never come. My only hope is that the people I love will find the eye of the storm that is supposedly inside every tornado and stay safely there until the weather vanes stabilize.

My patriarchal blessing talks quite directly about choosing what talents I should develop and the "struggle, effort and discipline" that will entail. I received that direction at age 14--you'd think I would have developed at least a few of those talents by now, but I am just getting serious about the choosing stage. I think I have always been a late "Bloomer" in the really important things.=)

A new "For The Strength of Youth" just came out. When that happens I love to take the old version and compare them side by side, because I know how much time and prayer has gone into every single word. Eden and I did that together for the first half of the book Sunday afternoon. The sections on media and education were, not surprisingly, extended, but there was wording change in every area and a new section was added for "Work and Self Reliance". I'm excited to absorb it all.

One of Mikayla's good friends was ordained an Elder yesterday. He looked so bright and happy--definitely has that prepared missionary glow, but he is stir crazy to get going (another thing that was easy to recognize=). I told him to stay busy preparing spiritually. He's going to Antofagasta and is burstingly excited. I told him about Taylor, who has agreed to write him, so that will be fun. He'll be in Chile probably by mid-July and Jordan will be home two months after that. I never talk to him about it, but I am started to feel giddy--ecstatically giddy, anticipating. I think the last 6 months may turn out to be just as emotional as the first 6 months, but in a blissfully different realm for me and I can imagine a heart rending one for Jordan. I'm glad to be on this end.

So, I am reading the letters of E.B. White (the author of Charlotte's Web) right now. He doesn't seem to be a man who ever quite got a firm hold on what he believed religiously, but like all people, he did have strong feelings about some things which he didn't seem to recognize as religious. Those kinds of discoveries intrigue me. Speaking about civil liberties and the press to a friend he wrote, "...there is much that can be taught about rights and about liberty, including the basic stuff: that a right derives from a responsibleness, and that men become free as they become willing to accept restrictions on their acts. These are elementary concepts, of course, but an awful lot of youngsters seem to emerge from high school and even from college without acquiring them. Until they are acquired, the more subtle, intricate, and delicate problems of civil rights and freedom of speech are largely incomprehensible." I really enjoyed the wording and impact of the sentence about rights and responsibleness, and thought his taking for granted its basic-ness was intriguing. Great truth for thought. Reading a man's life letters is an odd experience, but is a truer autobiography, I think, than reflection--less engaging sometimes, but more insightful into the soul of someone and their progressions or recessions. Half-way through the book I have started skip reading letters, because as the author ages his language and some of his topics seem to deteriorate, but I have become kind of attached to him and his family and want to hang in there with him--partially-- to the end. At over 700 pages that is sometimes a chore and I don't know that we would have "got on" well, but there are some vulnerabilities and needs displayed in his letters that I occasionally recognize in myself and that has made me feel subjectively vested, not passionately, but more concerned curiosity.

Fred stayed home on Tuesday and worked from the house this week, to see if he could get more done without all of the added office distractions. I relished the idea so tried hard to keep focused on my tasks so that he would be productive. I didn't find it difficult at all but found that he needs a lot more small breaks than I do and he was the one who wanted to visit. It was nice to have that option and I so much enjoyed his company and even just his presence, even though we were doing our separate "jobs". I think it ended up being a good day for him as well. He mentioned trying it again this week. I don't dare hope for this to be a constant thing--but it is an incredibly fun thought and I will enjoy whatever extra time I can get.

Fred and I tried to go on a mini-date on Friday before Eden's stake Priest/ Laurel formal, but we didn't have much time and she needed errands run so we never made it beyond Walmart, which I try to desperately to avoid, because either I can't find what I need or the employees have no helpful information. That night we encountered both problems and by the time we made it to the front and saw the enormous lines and reconciled ourselves to the fact that we weren't going to get a date I was feeling irritated; Fred was feeling resourceful. He saw that the service desk wasn't busy so walked straight to the counter where a young man was standing, with the greeting of, "you look like a guy that knows what's going on!" The young man agreed to check us out and mentioned that we both looked familiar. I hadn't been paying much attention, but that peaked my curiosity so I looked at him carefully and saw nothing recognizable. Fred didn't either but good naturedly mentioned that we lived in Middleton where everyone looks familiar. The young man wasn't discouraged and kept questioning, "Did you by any chance live in Boise? Was it quite a few years ago? Did you live behind Gordan's? Is your name Bloomquist? It is a queer feeling to have someone mentioning details like that about you without stirring up any remote faint glimmers and so of course I was now intrigued--up close and personal. For the first time I thought to look at his name tag which just said Eric--still nothing, so I asked for his last name and when he said, "Goostrey", I let out an audible gasp, which he cutely imitated. It took me a few seconds to connect the little boy from our farm ward with the young man standing there, but what fun. At the age we knew him, he has changed much more than we have and I don't really know him (obviously), but I LOVE his parents and the things I learned about me during those years of association with them. Some people make such an impact in our lives, in such a short time. I think it was one of the few times in my life that I left Walmart more cheerful than I went in.=)

Since we didn't get a real date on Friday, Fred took me out on Saturday afternoon as well. We went to see, "Tin Tin" in a theater that was so cold that even with my wool coat and scarf on, I couldn't concentrate on much more than it being over. You McCall-ites will have to take that up with Bro. Denning for us.=) Even so, Fred enjoyed it as a fun afternoon diversion (which was about it's animated action/ adventure level) and then  we stopped for dinner at a restaurant just so we could warm up. It was fun and relaxing--and didn't even end at the grocery store. It landed me back at home with full reservoirs, adoring my children and feeling grateful for my blessings. I loathe going to town on errands but I guess I need to spend more time during the week getting my household all organized before the weekend, so I will get more of those kinds of dates. They should be a fundamental necessity.

Quote of the Week: "I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." -- Galileo Galilei

Father's and Daughters...

Sophie on Picture Day

Lily on Picture Day

Eden Before the Stake Priest/ Laurel Formal