Travels with Brent, ?

Today started off with a walk.  2.8 miles. Wondered as I walked, about the mountains. Sandia Mountains are where we are. Just finished a small book. Travels with Charley.  John Steinbeck. Probably not what you would expect when you think of him. 

I like this picture of Kathy and I.  Smiling at each other. Last night in the Temple a very young couple was there. She seemed more like a teenager. Both were younger than Zach and Jenn.  The were at one point sitting just looking at each other. What a nice thing to do. Look at each other.  What happens when you do that? Are you one for a moment? Are you transparent? Do you know that you have a soul mate?  Do you feel like your ok.  Depends I guess on what the other person is reflecting? A smile is such a nice thing. 

Don't know for sure about this blog. I have posted on the blog for a lot of years. Not sure I could capture what I have done. Not sure what I might have said if I thought more than a couple of people would ever see it.  

Travels with Brent, I guess..............

Destinations..........................................

I got up today and spent some time looking on Pinterest.   I wanted to add a category and was looking for places that I had not been and would like to go.  I found a mountain top in Peru that was really interesting. 

It wasn't too long before I had got up and went out for a walk. Off the the East was the Sandia Mountains. Today was a good day. It was warm and it was really nice to be outside. 

I also spent some time on Family Search.  I was able to locate a number of names but I was frustrated not being able to find some answers.

One thing that stands out some as I look back over the last week is a couple of books I am "listening too" as I drive to and from work. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Colorado Kid by Steven King both have a lot in common. I finished Treasure Island and really enjoyed it. I am only a few chapters into The Colorado Kid. Both books are so really well written. It is just really a pleasure to read a good story that is well written. What a great talent to have. So as far as places I would like to go it I very well could find them in a well written book. I supect that anywhere that I went with KJ would qualify. 

Freedom

Today we walked through the neighborhood to attend a small event hosted by some neighbors. They each year on the 4th invite the fire department to bring a truck and all the neighborhood comes for the event. They have games for the kids set up on the street. The kids follow the fire truck for a few blocks around the subdivision and back. The event starts with a prayer, raising the flag, and everyone pledging to the flag. 

We are fortunate to live in America. 

What is missing here is my father.........................

What is missing here is my Father............. The house where he grew up, the hat he wore, one of the canes he used and a few watches. He got one of the watches from his dad as I recall. His parents lived in this house most all of their married life. My grandfather was blind in his later years and his cane was white with a red tip on it. He would walk from the front door to the barnyard across the street but he had to cross a road that was a highway. I remember many trips to this house when I was a boy. Dad would go to visit but to help. He put a roof on this house for them. He was always there to help them.  He was the one son that probably worked the hardest to help out and it was noticed not only by his parents but by his brothers and sisters who were glad that he did it but a little concerned that he just stood out doing it. 

Dad loved my mother. I remember over the years hearing from our church leaders that the greatest thing a man can do for his children is to love their mother. My dad taught us that. I didn't have to learn it from the church leaders. 

I have had the good fortune to have spent time with my sons as young adults. I had left our home and had gotten married by the time I was 20.  I didn't spend the time with my dad that my own sons spent with me as young adults. 

A lot of what I learned from my dad was through his example. He was not a complainer. He cared about his family and for him that extended to cousins and their families. He had a lot of things that were important value. 

I think he is proud of me and that is important. I also know that he might see the closeness I have been blessed with in my own sons lives so far and he would have wished that for us as I do wish it. 

Past the" use by date"

Today I was talking with a "friend" and he mentioned that I was for sure past the use by date? I was sort of shocked. Good thing I live with Kathy.  A lot of the stuff she has in drawers is past the use by date........................................

Time for....................

Kathy found this in Zach's room. It is a poem I have liked over a lot of years so it seems worth adding to the blog...................................

Take Time

Take time for friendship when you can.

The hours fly swiftly, and the need

That presses on your fellowman

May fade away at equal speed

And you may sigh before the end

That you have failed to play the friend

Not all life’s pride is born of fame;

Not all the joy from work is won

Too late we hang our heads in shame.

Remembering good we could have done;

Too late we wish that we had stayed

To comfort those who called for aid.

Take time to do the little things

Which leave the satisfactory thought,

When other joys have taken wings,

That we have labored as we ought;

That in a world where all contend,

We often stopped to be a friend.

Edgar A. Guest

Worth Posting

My favorite little girl..................................................

Seven things

1. I have never been  really involved in sports and overall I have not had much interest in sports throughout my life. The exception was that in my Senior year in High School I made the Varsity Wrestling Team. With no prior background or participation in any sports I made the team. I took the 141 weight category and represented the school in maybe 1/3 or more of the events. For three of the smaller schools we played I won the match by pinning the other player in minutes. The biggest event was against the other home town High School. Many were there to watch. I lost.  The loss was hard. I think if I had spent 3 or 4 years in the program I would have been a much more formidable opponent in my senior year.  Wrestling was a sport I really liked and boxing has been one I have always liked. 

2. I took piano lessons for a least 5 years or longer in late grade school and junior high.  I just don't remember for sure. I took it long enough that I should have been better at the end than I was. The teacher I had was very traditional and just had a set way to learn and a set pattern of what to play........ that was boring. She would sit in her kitchen and listen to me play at practice through the closed door. I had no understanding of what I was missing until years after I had stopped the lessons. I never once played a song that I recognized or enjoyed.  I think I could have done a lot better. The quality of the teacher is important.

3. I have ran 13 marathons. I ran at least 10 miles a week for 25 years. Sometimes the mileage was much higher. For 13 of those years when I did a marathon I would have mileage that went as high as 70 miles a week. I don't know if I have enough mileage under my belt to have run around the world but I could have made it across the US and back for sure. Course it would have taken me 25 years or else I would have had to take a lot of time off.

4. In September of 1971 I listed on a sheet of paper 15 things that I had as goals to make me a better person. I rated myself on each of those goals at least once a year for 10 years and have looked at those ratings often. I rated myself again in July of 2013 and honestly felt I had improved each item significantly.

5. In January of 1978 I started a journal and wrote summaries of the events of my life. The entries were regular, sometimes monthly, and always were made several times a year through around 2002.  Even since then I have made regular entries.

6. Once when I was in junior high school I got in a fight with a fellow a lot bigger than myself. He knocked me down several times. When he beat me in that fight it was embarrassing. For some reason the experience left me understanding that it was just one fight and made little difference. I lost my fear to fight. I had a few other fights after that loss and won them.  Looking back at life, it in some ways, has all been a fight. I have lost count of how many times I have just gotten up and moved on. I have never feared a fight. Maybe I should have?

7. In 1971 one of my goals had to do with my desire to "learn" more. My efforts to learn more have been regular and sincere and to my thinking what I hoped for in growth was substantial. What I have learned over the last 42 years is that I need to learn more.

Instead of 7 thoughts just a thought provoking thought

A note to my good friend and companion

I remember when I was young, so was you
Time Stood Still
Love was all we knew

Look at us now
After all these years together

Look at us now
After all we have been through

Look at us now
Still leaning on each other
Perhaps me more than you

If you want to see
How true love really should be
Then just look at us now

Look at you
Still pretty as a picture
You light up the room when you enter

Look at you me now
Still crazy over you

Look at us both
Still believing in forever

A trail of people who made a difference

Today I got an email from a friend who lives in the Washington DC area.  He wrote about the full fall season, the impressive autumn array of deep orange and caramel browns while the leaves keep falling. 

Our back yard had it's "stunning few weeks" of bright red and some oranges but it is close to being over.  Our blue sky almost never fails us.  The mountains are "pretty good".

A note from a  good friend who is now far away is very welcome. It is a little surprising and or less than what you would really hope for how many good friends just don't stay in contact. It takes an effort but mostly as I look back over the years I recall the people on the trail.

What is life and for that matter what will the eternities be like is a important question...............at least I think it is.  Mostly the answers you find are illustrated as a trail we took, a path we followed or even a trip. The pictures I posted today are on the trail. Even my friends pictures bring back memories of when I was there and my recollections. I don't think that life is just places, especially pictures. I don't think the trail is places or things. New cars are nice for a few days but most new things just become old things. The best part of the trail was and continues to be "the people" on the trail. 

Today's email was a good thing. A reconnection again of one that has been somewhat regular.  Emails make it all easier. I got a phone call yesterday from an associate from years past from Utah who was asking for recollections of a very good friend from my collage days. The friends daughter was looking for some insight into her dads  life. Her dad had been my very good friend. He and another friend had a great deal of positive influence on me in collage. I miss them both.

Thoughts this Sunday Morning

A good morning in ABQ

 

 

Thursday we went to the Balloon Festival. It was special shapes day. The day was perfect, except that the wind was blowing higher up so the balloons did not take off. It meant for a lot longer time to just walk through them as they were inflated on the ground. Even so it was a perfect morning in a lot of ways.

 

 

Today was the opening day of Albuquerque's 42 annual International Balloon Festival.   There will be over 600 balloons at the festival this year.  The sky was very blue and the air was crisp.

We watched LDS Conference today and enjoyed just being home together.  The conference messages were good. I took some notes and particularly liked the comments of Elder Debe. He said: "In the service of the Lord it is not where we serve but how" and "The past should be lived with but not in" and "The spirit of the Lord is not what we have done or where we have been but where we are willing to go".

President Uchtdorf's messages were really good and I liked his comment "Doubt your doubt before you doubt your faith"

Just Us

"We"........... went for a walk this morning.  Fall is in the air.  Last night I watched our 40 year video. Course it is 47 years + almost a month. Today we are not working in the Temple and we don't have anything in particular to do. That has a nice side to it. 

Kathy's blogs are a lot more interesting than mine. Course she has 800 + pictures on her I Phone and can't down load the new I Phone program until she figures out what to do with those pictures. On the other hand I suspect Riley shoots about 800 pictures every time she picks up a camera? Course these are all good things. I don't take a lot of pictures. I am planning on taking this post and sending it off to our family with Kathy's blog address on it in case everyone doesn't have it already. 

Somebody is inside

This sculpture reminds me of our life. I suppose we have something inside that we are trying to find. The  master artist is perhaps helping us. Back mid May 2008 a friend sent me this note.........................

Hi Brent,
All the best on Wednesday. 
I was thinking about you and it brought to mind the story of Ted Williams...
Coming up to bat on the last day of the season with a double header and a batting average of 399.6.
It would have rounded up to .400 and a lesser player would have asked to sit out.  Instead - Ted wanted to play.
As he came up the the plate for the first time - the umpire came out to sweep off the plate and said to him...
You can't hit .400 if you are not relaxed.
He went 5 for 8 that day to end the season with a batting average of .406.
He's the last player to ever hit .400.
Relax on Wednesday and be yourself and you'll get plenty of hits.
Best Regards,
John

It has been 5 + good years since that note. I made the job change that I wanted to. I may have revealed more of what is inside as life has gone on. So the question is, what's next?  I guess I have little choice but to relax and find out who is inside...............

 

 

 

KJ has to give a talk tomorrow about "Fathers" and she was able to pull up a talk she gave 20 years ago, also on fathers day. She likely will use a lot of the prior talk. When I re read it what stood out to me was her comments about her life growing up and her parents and what she valued that she learned from them. She remembered learning to drive in her fathers Studebaker.  Thinking back about about these type of cars I remember that there were ugly ones and then the one her dad drove was a good looking one.  We went out on a double date in one of the ugly ones. Probably our first date together?

 

 Talks are somewhat like good books. The good ones make you think of things you associate with the words. Good fathers is probably a worthy subject today. Both Kathy and I had very good fathers. They both loved their wife very much. That can make up for a lot. It sets a good example. Probably it is worth more than most other things. Time spent with a father is pretty special but who he treats his

wife may, in my opinion, have more of an impact on our lives later on.

 

What seems especially important as I ponder this is how different our life is when our all of our parents are passed on.  The memories change and continue to change. 

 

 Today I think of my father and I am reminded that he always seemed to be happy with his life. His happiness wasn't just a "positive attitude" type of thing. Not that a positive attitude is bad? I do think that it isn't really all that "good" if it is not deeply rooted. Some people seem to really be happy or positive and don't have to apply any rules to their outlook. My dad had a positive attitude in that he seemed to enjoy his life and it seemed to come from deep within. 

 

I can't help but think of my brother when I spend time thinking about my father. At least today that is the case. My brother seemed in some ways to really enjoy his life. He had some challenges but even so he reminded me of my dad in that I think he just enjoyed life. I know he loved his kids and family.  He seemed to always be willing to reach out to me. He was probably the one that needed reaching out to but then he would jump on a plane and come at the drop of a hat, if I asked him too. I wish I had asked more often.

 

I have wondered why my father was happy. So having said this here is some insight. Wondering about things like that is not a Rx for happiness. It can lead to being less than positive. I do think he really valued his family but in particular I think my dad always really felt he was luckily to have my mother for a companion. I saw that same thing in KJ's father, Hal. I have always felt that way about KJ but as I get older and see so many changes in what I had thought were things and relationships that defined me and now do not, I find that KJ is the core of my focus and I treasure that.

 

No Rage Just Light.........Song of Tonight

By Brent

 

Land and  Sky, reach out

Embraced by the Old, tonight
Touched from within, with Light
Our New World, like the Old
Gone from sight

 

Memories, sometimes dim

Free in the land, no need to hide
Dancing with wolves, and the light

A Fathers memories, and past Friends life
Friends eternal,  companion, wife
Life  so short, families right
Truth  eternal
Desire only.................to do right.

Back .........................

 

 

This particular metal buffalo has made this blog before.  The reason that it is worth posting today is that it represents a longer walk than I have taken in at least 10 months. It has been encouraging to get out for longer walks and even light runs. Since my challenges in January it has been much harder to "come back". I found along the trail a complete new house that had been built. The day was perfect. The air was perfect.

Nothing Much

 

Long weekend. That is a good thing. I am looking forward for Monday. I wondered what I might blog today?  Absolutely nothing comes to mind, of much importance. My short term plan is to go out and walk and perhaps run for a little. My longer term plan is to think about Monday. I am reading a new book about the autistic brain. It is a little complicated but still interesting. I also bought a book about digital cameras for beginners. It was kind of exciting to buy it and the book. The excitement was in the reality that both were about things I didn't know much about. Guess in a way there is always something new if you look. Where to look can be a challenge. The book is holding my interest. I am finished with the magazine. Finished with the blog for today. Absolutely

I am Back or pointed in a good direction or just happy to have had a good day

Today is a good day, so far. It started out with a  walk, Jog, almost run, on the front end. The sun was warm. The air was fresh. I started out walking and then started to jog. Almost ran a few times. I keep the pace up for a mile plus. This is not a big deal but it is the first time I have done this in almost a year. I didn't reach a "runners high" but I could almost feel it coming. I felt some sweat and it was just a wonderful experience. I am sitting her typing this two and half ours later and I don't really have any pains. I am back. Course I am not sure where I have been. It really has been so hard to get back. I don't want to not be able to jog and even run.

Mothers Day can cause you to look back..........................

since we had a wedding recently I had an occasion to look at the bride and groom on the recent wedding day by the cake, then one of Katie and another of "us" on our wedding days.  I have been blessed...........................