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Arbor Day 2014

4/27/2014

J. Sterling Morton created the first Arbor Day in 1872, 1142 years ago.   Thirty years ago Ogden City was designated as an official “Tree City” and began formal Arbor Day celebration tradition.    Last year, Ogden Preparatory Academy joined Ogden City for its Arbor Day celebration and this year we continued our emerging tree planting tradition.

Friday was Arbor Day and, I must admit, I began the day with less than a stellar attitude.   It was not a regular work day for me; I did not have to go to school; I would not be getting paid.   I had (still have) a thousand or so things at home screaming to be done and I did not look forward to supervising 70 thirteen and fourteen year olds all day on the river.    Last year I took 30 students and had a fabulous experience but the difference in group dynamics between 30 and 70 is huge.   I simply anticipated a tense day of student monitoring, trying to get them to work and keeping them from crossing the line that separates acceptable, fun behavior from unacceptable, goofing-off behavior.

I was wrong. So wrong.

It was a fabulous day. So fabulous. The kids were so, so good and worked so, so hard. I have never worked with a large group of students that has worked so hard for so long.   Generally junior high service projects have a small group of really hard workers, a large group of "social" workers (who chat as much or more than they work), and a small group of goof-offs who manage to look busy but really do not do much.     Not so with this group.    They worked hard.   HARD. Almost most all of them. All day long.    They worked in groups, they worked in pairs, they worked alone.   It was especially amazing to me to see them working alone.   When you see a kid digging through sod, pulling out gravel, shoveling dirt by him/herself you know it is work—there is no social involved—the student is there to accomplish a task.

Friday my students were there to accomplish a task…and they did.   By 10:30 they’d done everything the organizers thought it would take them all day to finish.   Two city workers told me that by 10:30 they’d done more than 400 Scouts had done during an entire day of volunteering two weeks earlier.   Those in charge brought in 100 more plants for my students to put in the ground and they were done with those by 1:30.   They dug holes, swung pick axes, shoveled compost, carried rocks, and planted trees.   When they ran out of things to plant, they pulled weeds, chopped thistles, and dug up dandelions.    Imagine getting a group of 70 teens to transition from tree planting (perceived fun) to weeding (perceived NOT fun) at the end of a full day of labor………..I did not think it would work but it did work and so did they, without complaint.   Amazing.

We stopped at noon for a half hour lunch and again at 1:00 for a half hour Arbor Day Celebration Ceremony.   Imagine 70 kids, sitting on rocks by a river, listening to the City Engineer read a proclamation from the Mayor. “Whereas…………….Whereas…………….Whereas………….Whereas………….” EEK! But, again, they were awesome. They sat quietly, listened respectfully (though there were a few tic-tac-toe games being played in the dirt), and cheered appropriately. And, when it was over, they went back to work, willingly.

Watching them, I fell in love with them. Every one of them. Individually. Little J, probably weighing not more than 75 lbs, jumping on her shovel head, trying to force it into the ground…….Big A, carrying the digging rod (that probably weighed almost 75 lbs) everywhere he went and using it effectively……R alone on the river bank, diligently digging a hole for his sapling……….The “A” team—O and J, two twig-like girls—manhandling a huge tree into an even larger hole…….S swinging a pick ax…..K and J on their hands and knees, patting compost into place…..B and J working together to remove a almost-boulder from a planting site……M with her FBI hat……..V in his filthy socks……….M in her flowered gloves……A, who had an acute ear infection and returned to school probably sooner than he should have, hauling compost in a wheel barrow…….A and G gently massaging a reluctant tree from its planting pot….

Watching them made my heart swell so much it ached.    Honestly. I wish you could have seen them.   I wish the world could have seen them.   People need to know who fabulous our youth are.

Teresa

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Because of Him

4/20/2014

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Because of Him........ What is possible because of Him?

When we watched this atypical, non-traditional, unconventional video clip (see below), Easter's gift became clear to us in ways we had not experienced previously. Inspired by the vision given us by the video, we made our own "Because of Him" tribute. (See below below.) We urge you to do the same.

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"I Feel Like It's Fine"

4/13/2014

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"I feel like it’s fine.”   Say it. Say it out loud.   Say it again.    It is a catchy phrase.   And very useful.    For Tanah it is an all-occasions response.

“Tanah, your dishes are not done.”
“I feel like it’s fine.”

“Tanah, Church starts in 10 minutes.”
“I feel like it’s fine.”

“Tanah, your hair looks great today.”
“I feel like its fine.”

“Tanah, it is raining outside.”
“I feel like it’s fine.”

And it is….fine that is!    Life is fine.   J

At his pre-mission physical on a Friday Chick learned he had an inguinal hernia.   [Inguinal hernias happen when a portion of the bowel protrudes through a weak spot in the muscles near the groin.]  The next Monday he met with the surgeon and on Tuesday he had surgery.    That was nearly two weeks ago and he still does not feel that it is fine. It happened on the Tuesday of his Spring Break so he spent the rest of Spring Break on the couch and most of this week on the couch as well.    On Monday he will have four wisdom teeth removed.   He probably won’t feel like that is fine either.

While Chick lay languishing, Tanah, Grace, Miles, and I went south for Spring Break and it was TOTALLY fine.   We met my sister and her family in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park. Minutes after our arrival, everyone in the camp was saying “I feel like it’s fine.” It became the camp theme, the camp mantra, and the camp reality.   It really was fine, better than fine even.

Valley of Fire State Park is stunning in the spring, stunning, stunning, stunning.   Year around the Park’s rocks are amazing in their variety of colors; huge red rock formations next to yellow rock monoliths bordering rock layers that are purple or white.   The rock colors are vivid, the contrast between them distinct and striking.   As an added bonus, in the spring green makes a statement as well; green bushes, green grasses, and green branches.     Flowers of various sizes—specks, splotches, and splashes—decorate the green limbs.    Desert flowers, generally speaking, are not large and flashy; they are delicate and dainty….and relatively uncommon.   We walked through a desert meadow; it had not the lushness of a mountain meadow but was perhaps more striking for its rarity.    “I feel like it’s fine.”

Being outdoors was a cup filling experience for me. Being with my sister filled my cup even more.   Fine, fine, fine.

On the drive home from Las Vegas, Miles asked, “Mom, was I good with my little cousins?”   Before thinking, I blurted “Yes, Miles, you were WONDERFUL with your little cousins,” which was true; he had been great with them.   After thinking, I continued the conversation. “Why do you ask?” I queried.   “Because I wanted a compliment,” he said. Oh, the guilelessness of children! No wonder Christ loves them so much.   I want compliments too, which is fine I suppose, but I am not nearly so open about it, which may be fine as well…………

We’ve no more children on our place but we have 23 new babies.   Tuesday we brought home three little pigs and Friday we got 20 tiny chicks.   I feel like it’s fine.

Bringing home the pigs Tuesday night, about a block from our home, we passed a car fire; the car’s hood was up, the engine in flames, the owner standing helplessly beside his flaming vehicle.   We pulled into our driveway, Tanah leapt from the truck, ran to our kitchen, grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran to the grateful car owner who used the extinguisher to put out the flames.    The last of the fire disappeared just as the fire engine arrived.   Tanah is faster than a fire truck which….in this situation, I feel is fine.

Though I did not have a car fire, I certainly had car adventures Wednesday.   The adventures actually began in Las Vegas when our van began spontaneously locking itself.   Engine running or not, daylight or dark night, the car’s locks clicked themselves on episodically every 20 to 200 seconds.    Click, click, click.   It was not a problem at first, only annoying ; one can get used to the ever-present clicking sound.

It became a problem when the constant clicking ran down the battery and we had to jump start the van after each night of locking activity so Wednesday morning I drove the van to the repair shop and ran home.    That morning Janae needed me to witness the signing of her mother’s will. Fortunately, my mother was in my living room at the time, attending Book Club, so I borrowed Mom’s car and drove to Janae’s and back.   Then I needed to a car to run carpool. Fortunately Book Club was just finishing when that need arose so I borrowed Sister Biddle and her car, took them both to Midland Elementary, picked up the boys, dropped them off at their various homes, dropped Sister Biddle and her car off at her home and ran to home.   Later I needed a car to take Chick to the hospital for a follow-up visit with the surgeon.   Fortunately John Malan is almost always home so I borrowed his car for the hospital run, returned his car to him and ran home. When Cub Scout time came, I still did not have a car so Miles stayed home. At that point, I felt like it was fine.

Zorro is NOT feeling like it’s fine. I used sheep shears to shave him Saturday.   He has not come out of his crate since. Apparently shaving is a shaming thing for a dog.

Thursday I forgot to put on mascara before going to work.    Many students noticed that something was different but no one could identify what that something was.   “You didn’t wear your glasses today,” observed Angelo.   When I told him that he had never seen me in glasses, he was incredulous. “No really,” he insisted, “You usually wear glasses, don’t you?”    When I told second period the reason for my altered appearance, Reagan was aghast.   “How could you forget your make-up?” she asked.   In her world that was unbelievable and inconceivable.   In my world, it is fine.

Tanah and I traveled to Salt Lake City Friday to visit Dr. Jones, the bone tumor specialist. There is a spur, probably cartilaginous tissue, which is growing on the proximal tip of the previous tumor site; it has increased from a half inch to an inch in the past 18 or so months.    We decided to wait and watch it and Dr. Jones felt like that was fine.

In General Conference President Eryring said that he has been “a counselor to two living prophets of God. They are individuals with unique personalities. Yet they seem to share a consistent optimism. When someone raises an alarm about something in the Church, their most frequent response is “Oh, things will work out.” They generally know more about the problem than the people sounding the alarm…….They also know the way of the Lord, and so they are always hopeful about His kingdom. They know He is at its head. He is all-powerful and He cares. If you let Him be the leader of your family, things will work out.”    I love that!   Christ is at the head of His Church, He does speak with the prophet, He will be the leader of our families, if we let Him; and things will work out.   And I feel like it’s fine!!!!!

Love,
Teresa