26 August 2012



“The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.” ~James Bryce

If Mr. Bryce is correct, then I have been reading some very worthy books lately.   Allow me to share a few thoughts……

In Talented Is Overrated; What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, Geoff Colvin presents compelling evidence to support his claim that innate ability, native intelligence and natural talent have very little long term significance in determining who will truly excel in any given field.  He uses extensive data and multiple examples to show that it is hours (about 10,000 of them) of deliberate practice that cause greatness.    Deliberate practice, i.e. practice that is specifically designed to improve performance, can be repeated a lot, has continuously available feedback, is highly demanding mentally, and that is NOT fun, leads to world class performance across the spectrum; in sports, music, business, entertainment, etc….

The good news about Colvin’s findings is that anyone can become great; we can all become world class performers in our chosen area.   The bad news is that we have no excuse for mediocrity; we can all become world class performers in our chosen area.

What will I “carry away” from this book?   A few things and several questions….

·         I need to join a writer’s group or take a writing class so that my writing practice becomes deliberate

·         I need to proactively work to build my memory skills; “I have a bad memory” is no excuse.

·         How can I share these findings with my children?   What can I share the empowering “I am capable of greatness” message with them?  How do I motivate them to endure the difficulties of deliberate practice?   Can I coerce them into practicing deliberately?   Should I coerce them into practicing deliberately?  

I have not finished the book yet but it is compelling me to action.   Perhaps I will let you know how it turns out.

I am also reading another book, The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, authored by several prophets of God, also containing words directly from Christ himself.   It teaches that race, color, gender, economic status, native intelligence, innate ability, and natural talent are not requisite to gain eternal life; we are all children of God and, as His children, are all heirs of exaltation if we will be choose to follow Him.   The choice is often difficult and following the path can be demanding but the promises are sure.

This week I was particularly struck by the stories relating to the Sons of Helaman.  Their parents covenanted with God NOT to use swords to defend themselves and their loved ones.   They prostrated themselves before their enemies and allowed themselves to be slaughtered by the thousands rather than break the covenant they made with their God. (Alma 24, 27)

One generation later, the sons of these courageous people covenanted with God that they would “fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they would never give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage…..they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives…”   (Alma 53:17, 56:47)

Parents and children made exactly opposites covenants with the same God….and both were blessed.    Parents went “home” to their Maker, praising His name and confident of His approval and their sacrifices influenced thousands of their angry, rebellious countrymen to lay down their weapons of war and seek peace.     Their children, young men by this time, courageously risked their lives in defense of their families and freedoms and they were miraculously protected, “…not one soul of them [Sons of Helaman] who did perish….now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army….And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith….”  (Alma 57:25-26)

What will I “carry away” from this book?  More things than I have time to write this morning (or this year, for that matter) however I will share a few things I learned from these passages and and several questions…..

·         Trust God.   Though the covenants made by the parents and children were opposite, the factor underlying the making of their covenants was the same.   They trusted God and so should I.    He will lead me to make the covenants that will bless my life.

·         Stay close to God.   In both situations, the people knew which course of action they should take because they sought God’s will in their lives.    If I seek His will in my life, I will be similarly guided.

·         How can I share these insights with my children?  How can I share the  “trust God” and “seek God” lessons with them?   How do I build their faith to the point where they have the courage and conviction to seek God, to trust Him, and to “do what is right, let the consequence follow”?    

I actually have read this book, several dozen times in fact, but I am not finished with it.  It is still compelling me to action.    Perhaps I will let you know how it turns out.

 “A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint.... What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.” ~Henry David Thoreau   

What I began by reading, I must finish by acting…….I have a lot of work to do!!!!!!!

Love, 
Teresa

P.S.  “Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” ~P.J. O'Rourke

“It’s easy to do good things when you work with great people.”    I don’t know who said it but, whoever it was has great insight. This week I’ve done some good things and have worked with some great people. 

Following are some quotes from great people, some of whom you may know and some of whom you may not.   Some of them I know and some of them I do not.

 “Are you pregnant?” our crusty-old-man neighbor asked me.   Darling John is so generous, so concerned about our welfare, so beloved to us, and so, so consistently inappropriate.   His next question to me was, “Can you get pregnant?”    Oh my.

Chick and I are the same weight and height.  We do not have the same body shape.  (No one asks him if he is pregnant.)

Chick drove me up Ogden Canyon.  The canyon was very scenic but not nearly so breath-taking as the drive we took on Interstate 15.   The canyon drive did not reduce my life expectancy one bit.

Miles fell in the driveway and ran to my arms, seeking comfort.   Lance, also seeking to comfort the child, asked “Where did you hit?”   Miles looked at his father as if Lance were stupid’s dumbest cousin.   “The ground,” he said.  Duh.

David Shannon wrote a fabulous children’s book titled No, David, No!  It is kindergarten level book about a Dennis-the-Menace type boy whose antics have him in constant trouble.  [The book has been Mile’s preferred read for four years now.]   We could write a similar book about our dog titled Stop, Zorro, Stop!    The dialogue would go something like this….  “Zorro, STOP digging holes in the yard”, “Zorro, STOP peeing on the lettuce”,  “Zorro, STOP climbing in bed with Grace”,  “Zorro, STOP puking on the downstairs carpet”, and “Zorro, STOP, eating socks…and shoes…..and furniture….and Nerf bullets……and sanitary napkins”.  

The No, David, No books ends with David in his mother’s arms, hearing the words “David, I love you.”  Our Stop, Zorro, Stop book would probably end in a similar manner.    Zorro ran five miles twice with me this week.    He lets Miles sit on his tummy and hog tie his legs.   He cuddles with Tanah.  Zorro may not be the dog we would have chosen to love but he is the dog we are learning to love.

Tanah has spent every spare moment this week working on her EHS, online Earth Systems course, a full credit course (year-long in a regular classroom) which she must finish before Wednesday and which she really did not start until late July.  She has learned a lot……….that El Nino is a quasi-periodic climate disruption that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean, that too much fertilizer kills algae, that she does NOT like taking online courses, and that, when one takes a class from one’s mother, it is not so easy to B.S. one’s way through assignments.  “I hate this,” she said.  I am so pleased that she did not say, “I hate you.”

Here are a few quotes to end on.

“Just because you are offended, does not mean you’re in the right.”  Ricky Gervais  (Chick-fil-A!?!)

“Unexpected intrusions of beauty.  This is what life is.”  Saul Bellow  (Sunrise, fresh cut alfalfa, singing birds)

“I personally think we developed language because of our deep, inner need to complain.”  Jane Wagner (Children doing chores)

“They say marriages are made in heaven.  But so is thunder and lightening.”  Clint Eastwood (BOOM!  CRASH!!)

“When you don’t know what you are talking about, it’s hard to know when you are finished.” Tommy Smothers (Some speakers in church…..)

“ My parents treated me like I had a brain—which, it turns out, caused me to have one.”  Diane Lane (I’d like to say this applies to me!)

“The truth needs so little rehearsal.”   Barbara Kingslover    (Honestly is the best policy.)

“Satan can take anything—ANYTHING—and distort it to our destruction; family, Sabbath observance, even temple worship can be used to destroy us if it becomes all-consuming and replaces our worship of Christ.    On the other hand, God, through the Atonement, can turn anything—ANYTHING—, no matter how horrific, how painful, how tragic, to our good if we will let Him.”    Wright A. Noel.   (AMEN and AMEN! And praise be to God.)

Love ya,
Teresa

                                                                                                                12 August 2012

Dear Loved Ones,

It’s been a FAIR-ly great week!

The Weber County Fair has come and gone (August 8-11) and so have two of our lambs, one pig, 10 blackberries, a cluster of green grapes, three plums, four double chocolate chip cookies, an apple tart, three jewelry boxes made from old Christmas cards, a pioneer doll, an “On Top of Spaghetti” cake,  and several gallons of sweat.

The lambs both earned red ribbons (too skinny) as did the hog (too fat).   All of the produce and baked goods earned blue ribbons.   Grace’s boxes also earned a blue ribbon.    Tanah’s plums, cookies, and decorated cake were chosen to advance to the state fair.   Grace did a fabulous job as a first time pig showman; many of the other pig owners complimented her on how well-muscled her hog was.   The judge also said it was very well muscled; he just added a “too fat” clause to his description. 

There was a rodeo at the fair but the rodeo that happened in our orchard Monday evening was far more entertaining.    That night loading Grace’s hog into the trailer was our Family Home Evening (FHE) activity.  All I can say is that it was a good thing we started FHE with a prayer because loading that pig into the trailer required a miracle.

Hogs, unlike sheep, horses, and cows, do not respect fences or humans.   In their minds (people say that pigs are smart), if they can see daylight, they can go there, wherever there may be.    The hog could see daylight through the woven wire fence so he tried to go through it.    A cross wire got caught between his upper and lower jaw (kind-of like a bit on a horse’s bridle), effectively stopping his advance, so that did not go so well for him.

The hog could also see daylight in the gap between Lance’s two legs so he tried to go through them.   There was nothing to stop his advance so that did not go so well for Lance.   Picture, if you can, a 250 lb. hog pushing its way in-between Lance’s legs.   It completely lifted him off the ground and took him for a ride.  He was facing backwards, the hog was moving forwards, and both of them were squealing.   I still laugh thinking about it.

I don’t laugh when I think about getting the hog up the ramp into the trailer; I pray……..in thanksgiving.  The trailer stands 2 feet of the ground.   The hog’s legs are only 1 foot long.   The board we used as a ramp was too short, too steep, and too flimsy but, somehow, it worked.  After giving Lance a ride and me three bruises, the hog calmly walked up the ramp into the trailer.   It was the only time it was calm all evening; the moment we closed the trailer door it went hog wild again.  

One of Tanah’s Facebook friends said, “Summer should get a speeding ticket; it goes so fast.”  My summer has certainly gone fast, so fast, in fact, that it is over.   Monday I return to school.  wow.

                                                                                                                               5 August 2012



I called 911 at 11:11 last night.  The dispatcher told me to evacuate the house.  Tanah grabbed her bird and turtle, Chick left his shoes, Zorro followed us unwittingly, Miles put on his rain jacket, I picked up my  book, Grace asked for the phone so she could text Kali, and we all paraded out onto the dark lawn.  [I had turned out all the lights; not sense adding wasted electricity to the problems we already had.]

The fire engine parked in front of the house.   We greeted the two firemen in the driveway and then waited in the driveway as they entered our empty home.    Ten or so minutes later they joined us on the outside.   “Your home is full of CO [carbon monoxide],” they told us.  “Someone from Questar Gas will be here within the hour.”

Children listen.   While we waited on the lawn for the firemen’s verdict, the three oldest children begged to use the smart phone; each wanted to text and/or post on Facebook.   “But Mom,” they said to me as I protectively clutched the cell phone, “life is the stories you can tell!”   Children do listen……at least sometimes.   And, yes, life is the stories you can tell.

So, I guess I will tell the complete story.

After watching Roy City’s fabulous 23 minute fireworks display from the hard-to--beat view in our back pasture, we returned home and readied ourselves for bed.   Soon thereafter the carbon monoxide monitor went off.    And off………and off……..and off.      I found the monitor manual (only one of the night’s many tender mercies) and, under the section “What to do when your monitor goes off”,  read  “1. Call 911.”   Seriously?

I really did not want to call 911 but could think of no other safe alternative.    I hesitantly described the situation to the dispatcher and she firmly instructed me to get the heck out of dodge (or evacuate the house, whichever was easier).  

We evacuated, the firemen came, and the Questar gas guy was contacted.   Chris (Lance’s brother) came and took our children to his home for the night, and I sat in the driveway, reading my book and waiting for Lance and the Questar gas representative to show.

Eventually they both arrived (independently, not together) and explored the house (together, not independently).    Though the highest concentrations of the poisonous gas were found near the water heater, the source of the problem was the stove.   [Carbon monoxide is approximately the same density as air—1.205 kg/m 3 at 20 degrees C, 1 atmosphere vs 1.165 kg/m 3 —so the gas followed the air currents in the cold air return.]

There are two main sources of carbon monoxide in homes:  1) leaking of combustion products (chimney blockage, broken flue , car exhaust accumulation)  and 2) the cooling of the combustion process (flame not allowed to burn at full vigor).     I had put a 5 gallon bucket of crystalized honey in a huge canner (16 inch) filled with water.   The canner completely covered the burner unit, limiting the oxygen supply, and causing the natural gas to burn inefficiently.   I ended up with a 5 gallon bucket full of liquid honey and a house full of carbon monoxide.     The air around the stove’s other units, when lit, had 2 parts per million (ppm) carbon monoxide.  The air under the big canner, when the stove was lit, had 400 ppm carbon monoxide.     Evacuation is considered when readings are 70 ppm; evacuation is demanded at 200 ppm.

We turned off the stove, opened windows, got the reading to 41 ppm, and went to bed. 

And that is the end of that story……..but not the end of the week’s stories.

Chick went to scout camp this week and had a fabulous time playing chess.    Lance and Miles stayed in Roy this week and had a fabulous time watching Olympics and movies (The Smurfs was not Lance’s favorite) and sleeping.    Grace, Tanah, and I went to California this week and had a fabulous time exploring Monterey Bay.

Despite a bumpy start (the plane circled Monterey Bay twice, searching for a hole in the fog, gave up, flew to Fresno, re-fueled, and returned to Monterey Bay), the trip was smooth sailing.    While I attended ESSEA (Earth Systems Science Educational Alliance) meetings, Grace and Tanah bonded with California.    In the early mornings, later afternoons, and entire evenings we all bonded with each other…and with California.

I called Lance and asked him if the girls should go on a whale watching tour while I was in my meetings.  He said, “@#!! YES!” so  I handed them my credit card and wished them well.    

They found company offering a three hour bay tour.    Grace negotiated  the deal—they were both charged children’s fare, a $20 savings—and Tanah signed the credit card.  [When asked if the card were hers, she said told them it was mine but reassured them that she signs for me “all the time”….  I hope this is not a prophecy.]   

When I next spoke with them they could hardly speak.    Words flowed from their mouths faster than a rip tide; they were so excited.   They saw a blue whale (Earth’s largest animal), multiple hump back whales (too many to count), huge sunfish (whose dorsal fins bear slight resemblances to shark’s fins), and two leatherback sea turtles (an sighting that occurs only once or twice a year, the captain assured them).   Their boat was a small one, a huge advantage in their eyes because they were able to ride the waves (like a roller coaster) on the way out and, once out, were able to see the animals from the front deck instead of having to fight for rail space like the people in the big boats had to do.  

As Grace completed listing and describing the ocean’s wonders, Tanah added, “And there was a really hot guy.”

“There was?” Grace said, puzzled.

“You were standing right next to him!” Tanah exclaimed.

“I was?” Grace said, puzzled.

Ah……the difference between 12 year old and 14 year old girls!!!

While in Monterey, we also:

·         Paid 10 cents for every shopping bag we used.  It’s a new law designed to prevent waste.

·         Visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Sea otters have 1 million hairs per square inch of fur; more than a cat has on its entire body.  They also eat 25% of their body weight daily.   If the average human did that, it would be the equivalent of 23 pizzas a day.

·         Saw seals, sea lions, and sea otters swimming and “sun” bathing.  (We did not see much sun.)

·         Spent hours on the beach, racing waves, grabbing sea shells, and touching sea anemones.   Each jagged sea shell was a treasure, each sticky sea anemone a delight.

·         Grace ran 5 miles for the first time.   I invited her to join me for a morning jog along the ocean trail, assuring her that, at my pace, she would have no trouble running five miles.   I was right.

Now we are all back home.   When we got home, the girls could not wait to tell Lance about their whale watch and the boys could not wait to tell me about their adventures; Miles about the “five USA girls who one the gold medal” and “Phelps who thought he won but lost at the very, very end and then won a different race ‘cuz he told his teammates to give him a big lead and they did” and Chick about his camping chess matches.     

Friday afternoon we watched “The Sound of Music” at Hale Centre Theatre.    Cooper, Allie, and Sallie joined us.   At show’s end Cooper asked Miles, “Did you like it?”

Miles responded, “Better than I thought.”

Cooper agreed, “Yea, if only they would have cut out the songs.”

As for me, I loved the songs.   In fact, I have loved the songs for a long time.   As a young girl (who grew up without a T.V. in the home), I played the Sound of Music record (large, black, plastic disk) over and over again until the songs became a part of my soul.   I did not realize what a huge influence those songs have had on my psyche until I listened to them again this weekend.    I heard the themes, recognized them as themes that have influenced my life’s philosophy, and feared that I have failed to share those priceless life philosophies with my daughters.

“Climb every mountain!”  (Pursue your dreams, even if it means going on a whale watch tour without your mother)

“I have confidence in confidence alone, besides which you see, I have confidence in me!” (Strike a deal with the ship captain.  Sign for your mother’s credit card.  Jog five miles for the first time.)

“These are a few of my favorite things” (Playing in surf, gathering sea shell bits)

“The hills are alive with the sound of music” (As are the waves, the bark of seals, and the cry of gulls)

Maybe I need not fear so much after all.    The Sound of Music’s message is being passed on.   Thank heavens they did not cut out the songs!

Love,
Teresa