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Arbor Day 2017

4/30/2017

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Some traditions should live forever…..or at least as long as a Sequoia tree.
 
Ogden City is an officially designated “Tree City”.   To earn its designation the city must spend $2/capita on trees annually and sponsor an Arbor Day celebration.   For the past several years, Ogden Preparatory Academy has been Ogden’s Arbor Day celebration.   Under the direction of Monte Stewart and his fabulous team of tree specialists, we are the celebration’s cast and crew.   We dig the holes, plant the trees, and spread the mulch.  We listen respectfully to the VIP’s that address us at the official ceremony and we applaud politely when they finish speaking.  We also gratefully and enthusiastically eat the boxes and boxes (and boxes) of pizza they provide for lunch.   It is all good.  ALL GOOD.
 
I tell my students planting trees on Arbor Day is an earned privilege; they must work hard to get the opportunity to work hard.     “Make no mistake,” I tell them.   “We are going to work hard.  You will be digging holes and moving rocks.   You will get dirty and you will not complain.  If you don’t want to work, don’t come.”    I also tell them that being Ogden’s Arbor Day cast and crew is an tribute to those students who have gone before, that we are invited back each year because we are respectful, responsible, high quality people.  “I expect you to honor our tradition,” I challenge them.  And I promise them unlimited pop and pizza for lunch.
 
Interested students are required to write a 200-300 word essay telling me why I should choose them to participate in the Arbor Day celebration and how they will behave if chosen.    Seventy-two (about 80% of my students) applied.   Following are excerpts from a few of their applications:
 
 “I have an apple tree in my back of my house.  So I am experienced in the field of planting trees.”
 
“I will not use the shovel inn correctly.”
 
“I’m not the best student in class but on field trips I behave.  I know how to take this seriously.”


“I have matured which means I would be safer and smarter if I was chosen to do this activity with you”
 
“I have no experience with gardening/tree planting.  I have never done anything like this before.” 
 
“I have never dug a hole so it will be a good experience for me.”
 
“‘Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.’  I am a leader.  I can behave myself.  I will be cheerful as usual but not as hyper and eccentric.”
 
“I will make sure to be a great OPA representative for my school and to make sure that we are allowed to participate in this project for years to come.”
 
“You could say I’m the Lorax cause I speak for the trees.”
 
“I will also be very grateful for the free food and make sure not to start any food fights.”
 
“I want to grow up and make a difference in the world.”


“Please Let Me Go.”
 
“I never planted a tree before but I hope it is fun.”
 
“I can dig nice holes with my masculine muscles”
 
“I am in weight training class and I am really strong.”
 
“I feel like it’ll be a rad thing to tell my other friends and family.”
 
“I should be selected because I love Mrs. Hislop.”
 
“I’ll be on my best behavior.  I promise.   If not, I’ll let you style my hair the way you’d like.”
 
“I think you should let me go to arbor day with you because I am a good guy.”
 
“I understand my behavior has a direct effect on how Ogden Preparatory Academy is represented and viewed by the public since we will be in a public area.   I take pride in my school and will not do anything to ruin our good name.”
 
“Planting trees is one big recycling project”
 
“I will feel like a blue collar worker even though I might not look and/or even be one, it will still seem fun to me.”
 
“The city trusts us with planting trees for them and I really want to prove them right.”
 
“Hopefully this essay is enough so please let me go and if you do thank you so much.  (I really mean it.)”
 
“I will act good because there is no reason to be bad when your given the opportunity to go somewhere and enjoy the environment and help out.”
 
“I always follow the rules and almost never break them.”
 
“I am going to surprise you with how hard I work.”
 
Oh man, I love these kids!!
 
They did not surprise me with how hard they worked because I know and love them.   But I think many people would have been surprised; the general public has no idea how wonderful teen-agers are.    The kids worked hard.   HARD.  And it was hard work.  And cold.
 
Arbor Day 2017 was cloud-covered and cold-plagued.    The breeze was not fierce but it was chilly and cutting.   At one point snow flurried around us and periodically throughout the day we could see our breath.   Brrrrrr!   Many of the teens were in shorts (no surprise) and few (maybe none) were adequately prepared for the cold.    However all of them, all, worked hard.  
 
I was not surprised by how hard they worked.  Nor was I surprised that several wore shorts.   I was surprised, however, by the “First Annual Golden Lorax Award” given to me at the official ceremony.   I mention it only because Monte’s post-presentation conversation was so endearing and the plaque itself so perfect for me.
 
“Did I spell your name right,” he asked.   “I told my wife at 3:00 this morning that I feared I had messed up.  ‘How do you spell Teresa?’ I asked her.  ‘Are there 2 r’s?  2 s’s?’ I was so afraid I’d spelled it wrong.”     Endearing.
 
He also told me the plaque was re-purposed.   “We found a box in our storage shed at the BDO that had a bunch of plaques it in.  So we took one, sanded it down, and put your name on it.   It was in shed 13B.  You should write it on the back.”  [I did.]    Perfect for me.
 
Such was Arbor Day 2017.   Endearing.   And perfect for me.
 
May OPA’s Arbor Day tree planting tradition live forever…..or at least as long as a Sequoia tree!


[NOTE:  Student photos are published with parental consent.]

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Four men and a tree
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Two girls and two grins
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Oh my!
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Some things just need to be done by hand
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"Just my shovel and me"
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Working the end of a shovel
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Working hard and hard working
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Notice the snow flurries!
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Yikes!
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Take that!!!
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One shovel-full of dirt at a time...
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Did I mention that it was cold?
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Yep, REALLY!!!
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Nothing like running through a park with a pick ax.....
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Compost to go
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Friends and trees forever
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Superman or Green Lantern?
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Momentum = force x mass
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Hum.....
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Warming frozen fingers
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Friends warm each other in many ways
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Cold hands, warm ears
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A re-purposed plaque is perfect for me
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Whaaaaa-whoooo!
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Give us a hand!
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Home Again!

4/22/2017

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s“God the Father wants His children home again, in families and in glory.”  (President Henry B. Erying, April 2017)
 
Home again!!  Heavenly Father is not the only one who wants His children home again.   Earthly parents want their children home again too and this week those wants were realized, for me and for my parents.
 
First my parents…..
 
Spring break in Las Vegas and Seattle enabled Utah visits for both my brother Wright and my sister Marjorie and their families.   Having children and grandchildren in the house to wake up at unreasonable hours with un-talented, off-key singing made my father’s day.   Having children and grandchildren in the house to worry and fuss over made my mother’s week.    Creamies (Gram and Grandad’s favorite treat) and teasing (Grandad’s favorite pastime) were present in abundance.
 
Good times were had.  Dad showed us antique saddles and modern roping techniques on Antelope Island, Grace demonstrated dance moves during half time at a donkey basketball game, and Wright helped me find a relative—Miss Cowper, born in 1530 in Shelf, Yorkshire, England—for whom I can do temple work.   Miles and I hiked to the top of Ensign Peak with Wright, Carole and girls, Miles, James, Spencer, and Jacob fed string rays with Gram and Grandad, Marjorie and I went for a bike ride (NOT 65 miles this time), Grace and Aliza did not get to chat enough and MacKay and Talmage joined the boys for Poker and Capture the Flag games that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.    Even with the early morning hours (both staying up and getting up), the never-satiated ice cream appetites, and the incessant teasing,  it was not too much.   I think it is safe to say that we all eagerly anticipate our July family reunion.   (Those who disagree may manifest by the appropriate sign.)
 
Now me….
 
Chick came home this weekend and his furry face is a welcome sight here on our Hislop Half-Acre….and not just because we put him to work….which we did.   Though I did not awaken him Saturday morning with un-talented, off-key singing, I did put him directly to work when he woke up.    We planted peach trees (Chick and I), fixed the secondary water (he and Lance), mucked out the chicken coop (me), stacked branches in the burn pile (Miles), and shaved Zorro.     Now the hair on Chick’s face is longer than the hair on Zorro’s face….and Chick likes it that way.   Zorro is not so happy about it.
 
It is wonderful to have Chick home, if only for the weekend.   He and Miles and Grace enjoyed discussing Words of Radiance over dinner and I love enjoyed listening to them. The funny thing about the conversation was that I have read the book and had nothing to add to the discussion—I only vaguely remember the plot….Gotta love an aging memory!—and Grace has not read the book and had plenty to say…Gotta love the Hislop ability to B.S.!
 
Gotta love the garden as well.   Last week was the 15th so, as promised, I have included farm photos.    Sweet!   (Well. Maybe not sweet yet but it will be sweet when the peas, peaches and pears are ripe….)
 
Home sweet home…..   Family is what gives home its sweetness and God is who gave us families. 
 
“God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be--
This is how He shares His love, for the fam’ly is of God.”
[“God Gave Us Families”, Words and music: Matthew Neeley]
 
I am so grateful that God gave us families and I am so grateful that He wants us back!
 
Love,
Teresa

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Grins and glares..... Lookin' forward to those teenage years!
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This is the type of saddle Mom rode.
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This is the type of saddle Dad learned to ride on.
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Swing and.....
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,,...catch!
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Hislop Garden, April 15, 2017
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South side
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North side
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Berries and west orchard
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Peaches
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Carrots
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Beets
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Apricots
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Peas
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Spinach
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Lettuce
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Every day the neighbors rooster hopefully hangs out on the outside of our chicken coop, seeking an entry into the hen house
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Esther, shorn, also hangs out hopefully.... Surely there is grain in the bucket somewhere!
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Three little pigs
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Three show lambs
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Chick's happy fuzzy face
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Zorro's unhappy, not-fuzzy face
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You Might Be in Trouble When....

4/9/2017

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You know you might be in trouble when you pass a snow plow on the way to your campsite…..
 
Miraculously (and for the first time ever), spring break for Ogden Preparatory Academy, Syracuse Arts Academy, and Weber County Schools fell on the same week.    Also miraculously, given the need for snow plows, we enjoyed our spring break camping trip to the Escalante area.
 
The weather forecast predicted lows in the mid 40’s Fahrenheit and highs in the mid 60’s.  Driving south from Roy towards Kodachrome State Park the temperature indicator on the truck kept falling…..50’s…..40’s…….then 38……35……..33 degrees.   About 7 p.m., as we drove through the driving snow, it became very obvious to me that the temperature was not going to go up; we would not be seeing the predicted 42 degree low.
 
How low can it go?   Well, pan of water left out overnight had a crust of ice on it as did the puddles we drove through on the way to camp.   Though the overnight temperatures were below freezing, we did not freeze.   Not quite.
 
The first night Grace, Cierra (one of my Mia Maids), and I set up camp in snow flurries while Lance and Miles hurriedly drove 60 minutes to Escalante so they could watch the NCAA championship basketball game (Miles’ first experience in a bar….).   I was cold (COLD!) in my sleeping bag until Lance returned to camp, about 11:00 p.m.  Though we did not share sleeping bags, we shared a common sleeping area and even through two bags—his and mine—he warmed me.    Heartened (and amazed) by the difference snuggling with Lance made, I invited Grace to snuggle with me when cold inspired her to call out to me in the early morning hours.   Close together, like three spoons in a drawer, we made it through the night.
 
We were better prepared the second night.    Temperatures dropped to 29 degrees F but we stayed warm—mostly. Grace started out in our tent as did Cierra and Miles slept with Hamilton in his tent.  I slept pegged to Lance, Grace slept pegged to me, and Cierra slept through Lance’s snoring.   Lance put his soda pop into the cooler “so that it would not freeze” and all was good.
 
Better than good actually.   It was great.  GREAT!
 
Our first day’s plans to hike Zebra Slot canyon were changed when we learned the water in Zebra was chest high.   No thanks.   Instead we ended up taking a leisurely stroll along Deer Creek (Burr Trail Road).   The creek meandered through cow country and we meandered beside it.   Miles found lots of things to throw in the creek, Cierra found lots of things to take pictures of, and Lance found an arrow head.    The sun warmed us and the wind left us alone.   Nice.
 
Hamilton (my nephew) joined us the second night and accompanied us on the next day’s grand adventure, an adventure that would have been difficult, if not impossible, without him.    We invited him because we adore him, not because we thought we would need him.   As it turns out, he was both adored and needed.    [My knees just don’t lift my body weight anymore ….]
 
Peek-a-boo and Spooky slot canyons were phenomenal.   PHENOMENAL!    Peek-a-boo started with a 10 foot cliff.   A few hand and foot holds gave those who are agile a route up and provided levering niches for those of us who need boosts.  [Thank you Hamilton!]  At the top of the wall, a 3 foot deep, water-filled pothole challenged Hamilton and Grace to stay dry (they did), caused Cierra and Miles to roll up their pants, and gave me an excuse take advantage of my Chacos.   
 
We crawled, scrambled, shimmied, and waded (some of us) up Peek-a-boo slot canyon, followed cairns over to Spooky’s mouth and then crawled, shimmied, and slid down it.    Peek-a-boo’s narrows were more varied—lots of twists, turns, arches, cavities, and tunnels—while Spooky narrows were narrower—a mere 10 inches in some places.  Both canyons were incredibly y phenomenal.  Yep, that is the word for them.   Phenomenal.
 
 
All-in-all, It was a phenomenal trip…..Miles loved the slot canyons, loved listening to Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance (audio book), and bragged about not complaining about hiking.  [Generally if Miles is hiking, he is complaining.]    Lance, who likes camping just slightly better than he likes getting cavities filled (he loathes dentist office visits), did not murmur either.    In fact, he was warm both of body and personality.  Cierra cowboy-ed up; “I learned to face my fears with laughter,” she said.   Hamilton was a gracious superhero and Grace an equally gracious super-heroine.     
 
You might be in trouble when you pass a snow plow on the way to your campsite…..and then again you might not.  It just might be a phenomenal trip after all.
 
Love,
Teresa

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It got cold at night.
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If the cup could walk, it would be walking on water....
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This soda bottle was not put into the cooler.....and it froze.
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The scrubby is frozen in the dish water while the dish soap joyfully sits on top of the water.
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The "mud" puddle froze too.
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Sunrises and red rock are beautiful at all temperatures
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Good morning America! How are you?
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Look at the arrow head (middle)
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Don Quixote...with ear buds.
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This looks like a spider...but it is not.
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This looks like a jack rabbit...and it is.
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Trailhead
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Cierra and her first cairn
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Lance and his famous wall impersonation. (Ask him to tell you the story.)
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Up the initial 10 foot cliff....
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....and into the water hole....
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....without complaint.
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Yoga?
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Grace and Hamilton ran up the sand dune
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Most of us slid down the sand dune....
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...one of us tumbled down it.
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PHENOMENAL!!!
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The Three Little Pigs

4/2/2017

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Once upon a time there were three little pigs; two whites and one belted.    Born a couple months ago on a farm in the Midwest, they arrived in Utah, with 26 buddies (27 total pigs) on Friday morning, March 31st.   They spent the day hanging out in a stock trailer.   
 
In the early evening, a group of excited kids and interested adults gathered at the stock trailer.   The kids, 27 of them, drew numbers to determine their pig selection order; #1 got first pick, #2 second pick, and so on.    Mr. Miles Hislop drew eleventh pick and selected a belted gilt.  (For those of you who don’t speak pig that means he chose a female pig whose black body has a wide white stripe around the middle.)   Mr. Cooper Hislop who is beginning his first pig adventure, was the twenty-third pick.  He chose a white gilt.   Miss Grace Hislop, veteran pig owner, drew out at #27 and did not need to pick.   She took the last pig, a white barrow.
 
The three little pigs rode to their new home in the back of the Hislop van.  (If anyone has a shell that fits a 2003 Ford F150 truck, please contact Lance Hislop.   He is actively seeking one.)    After a wrestling weigh-in (weighing pigs requires wrestling as it is not something they do willingly) and a lot of squealing (the neighbors came outside to see who the Hislops were torturing), the pigs settled comfortably into their new home.
 
The traditional three little pigs’ story ends with the pigs living happily ever after in a house made of bricks.   Whoever wrote that story did not know pigs.    A house made of bricks would not make pigs happy.    This chapter of the three little pigs story ends with the pigs snuggled luxuriously in a bed made of straw….and they were very happy!
 
POST NOTE:   The Hislop kids were very happy as well.   They love their pigs.   Miles spent both sessions of Saturday’s LDS General Conference watching Conference on a smart phone while hanging out with the pigs in their bed of straw.

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Arriving home in the back of the van...
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Weighing the pigs is a wrestle...
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The wrestling weigh-in..... Is that a full Nelson?
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Miles and Zanahoria
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Cooper and Aliza
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Kiss a pig!!
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Three little pigs happily snuggled in their bed of straw.
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    Author

    Teresa Hislop
    thislop@msn.com

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