A new day

Thursday 6:15 AM Albuquerque. Timing is everything I suppose.

Today's reflection

About 6:15 AM. Walking East from our house. It occurs to me that it is indeed a "new" day. Each moment is for that matter "new". The light coming over the mountain will be gone, or at least different, in a few minutes but the good news is I have captured this moment here. One thought I have considered now, and for a couple of days ended saying "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid". The same thought suggests that our lives will reflect our faith.

A good thought for a new day and new week ahead.

"Off the Wall" today....................

I haven't posted a lot for a while. Sometimes the reason I don't post is that I figure I can't think of much to post about. Yesterday for example I figured I would go ahead and offer a recap of things that have taken place the last few months. Then I sort of went blank on what I would actually put down in black and white. Today I was standing by the door to the garage and noticed on the wall these signs that have been there for a long time. Looks to me like the best advice anyone could find is right there on the wall. So this blog is just "off the wall" today...........................

Guess this shows my intentions are good. I would like to recap the past weeks and months and add something interesting. It might take a few days......................

what on your mind probably shows.............or

Put another way..........................

A man is but the product of his thoughts.

What he thinks, he becomes

Gandhi

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and more about............Thoughts about Thoughts..........................

"It is throwing our life away, to think of the wrong things",

is council from a good book. Another way of putting it is that

"there are "no innocent idle thoughts".
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Add to this council the fact that we can only think of one thing

at a time and the reality that except for the time when we are

sleeping we really have no choice but to "keep thinking"

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Nibley in contemplating these things concluded

that having to think and then having to chose

our thoughts may be the essence of our mortal existence
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So then

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"If every choice I make expresses a preference;

if the world I build up is the world I really love and want,

then with every choice I am judging myself,
proclaiming all the day long to God, angels and my

fellowmen where my real values lie, where my treasure is,

the things to which I give supreme importance.

Hence in this life every moment provides a perfect

and foolproof test of our real character,

making this life a time of testing and probation. "

the Buena Vista

Guess this might be a more appropriate post for "Pioneer Day". John Davis Jones was born November 2 1831 in a place called "Yetgoch", which is Red Gate in Welsh. It was a a cottage on teh Llanybyther Mountain in the Parish of Llanllwne, County of Carmarthaen, Wales. It was Captain Dan Jones who made repairs to the ship Buena Vista in Liverpool and at 17 years old and alone without family John left from Liverpool. It took them 7 weeks and 3 days to arrive in New Orleans on April 18th 1849. As soon as all were off the boat and the things were unloaded the boat sank in the harbor. John made his way up the Mississippi River and then to Utah. He worked at one point in Mill Creek Canyon where I hope to be later this week and then moved on eventually to Malad.

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People have paid a heavy price to come to this country and this is a day that many went to war for the country are honored. Seems like this was a good message.

Memorial Day May 30th 2011

Hope is here, that's my choice

I was wondering what to post since it has been quite a while since I posted? This isn't always easy, and unlike a more talented person upstairs, I don't have a habit of posting real interesting stuff. (for example she has posted a lot of pictures of trees with leaves on the branches the last little while) On the other hand I had to chuckle since even though I had not posted anything in almost two weeks or so, I noticed from the site meter that gives me a weekly count on how many people look at my blog, something interesting. Guess a site meter is a little overkill since I don't open this blog up to the "public" and likewise since I seldom get more than an average of "one view per day", at the most. So here is the interesting news. Not having posted in a couple of weeks or so the last weeks recorded views per day went up 100%. There you go, no news is good news and attracts viewers on this station.
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So why did I post this picture of this poor sad looking tree. I guess it is all in how you look at things................................... which is itself a reasonable subject for this post. It is "our choice" how we look at things. The title for this tree picture could easily be "Hope". ...................................................................
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This is a strong tree

Good Roots

It comes from a long line of like trees

from Goodly Parents

It has strong Branches

It has with stood and faced a lot in it's life

It's is a strong tree, that is obvious

It knows who it is

It is "Hope"

It hopes for summer

Hopes for leaves

Hopes for Sun and Light

And better days will come

3 Moms and more

I have to think back a decade to being with my Mom but it is the memories from many decades ago that I reach for when I think of her.

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This time of year we hear "tributes to Mothers". Some tell of owing all that they are to their Mom. Some talk of the sacrifice and the warmth and love. Today Z and I were stopped at a light on the way back from picking up some trees to plant. The window was open in his truck and also in the window of a car we were stopped next to at a light. The mother in the other car was using the time on the cell phone. She was talking to her daughter and explaining how she should watch over the baby for 10 more minutes until she was there and then she just told here she loved her and hung up. It is good to hear people tell each other they love them. Families love each other. Moms love their families. The world isn't perfect but some of the good things that matter the most is that people do love others in their lives.

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I think that what may have been the most important thing that my mother taught me came from "allowing me to know her". She wanted very much to be accepted and understood. She wanted to be good at what she did. One the one hand I don't think for even one minute would she have considered a role for herself that was not focused first at her husband, family and home. On the other hand I know that she never stopped wondering if she herself couldn't have become something more. Her interests in music really were more than an outlet of expression but it was a search for identity. She not only loved the family and husband of her life but did also love very much her own parents and her husbands parents and all in those families. Even so I think she always felt that she may not have been enough in ther eyes. Even with her own father she always wished she was closer to him and I know she felt that she may not have been enough in his eyes.

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If my Mother could look into the heart of my wife she would be so proud. She would find much that she would understand and love. My Mom seems so proud in these pictures. Her confidence is strong. Her life is in front of her. She knows who she is. These two Mom's have so much in common.

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There are three Mom's that I have posted. For the third I would ask that she always remember her Mom. Remember that her Father loved her Mother. Tell her family who she is and who she loves.

Green

Mj and I were out Sat Am for a walk. This area is one I really like. It is an area that just a couple of weeks ago when we went by this with JN it was really brown. A big change for the good.

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Spring and Fall are both pretty great.

notes on the day

Went to the Zoo this afternoon. Took some time off. The better pictures were taken by KJ. On the other hand these are exclusives. Only on station bjazz46 will you find these animals posted today. I did take some others but they didn't turn out too well.

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Nice Zoo here in ABQ.

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Nice day

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....................................no questions answered here

Today is another day very different from this picture. Sunny. Blue Sky. Perfect weather. Good reasons to "like being here". Even so I often wonder why we are here? Looking back over 60+ years for me it is 7+ of those years that we have been here. I wonder what it would have been like if we had never come to ABQ? A lot has happened in these years. The conclusions as to what it has been worth........ change from day to day. Even when it seems like it may have been just a "hard period" in our lives, there always are openings in the dark sky. With the openings in the darkness of the moment, are bursts of light that shine and show through. Those bursts of light and bright spots are indeed the things that just would not have been the same without our coming here 7+ years ago. Maybe a "bright spot" would be some "real humility" that has been found here? Not very humble to meniton it I guess but more about that later. Maybe another bright spot of light would be "a more clear look at the real world" that was found here. Since the church has always been a big part of our lives I ought to consider it as a bright spot but it wouldn't be fair to say that it is better or different here but then the role and value of the Temple is more clear here, at least for me, and probably in and of itself that fact would be enough to make it all worth it to have come here.

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The question of how exactly it may be better to be here if it is, is not easy or even possible to figure out right now as I write this. One answer might be found as we consider where else it would be best to be. The answer to that may be "where you might make the most difference to someone specific or to others in general, or even just to oneself". What you can do that would make the most difference then becomes the question.? What makes more of a difference to our self or others may have less to do with where you are as to who the others are. Who you are with. Of course the problem is that it doesn't seem possible to be "with" all those that you would like to be with.

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I sometimes look through pictures that span my own lifetime and our families lifetime as I try to figure out what to post. Looking at those pictures can bring back those occasions as if they were just yesterday. Then of course they were, just yesterday. What a surprise that such a long time is really so little time at all. 7+ years can easily seem a lifetime.

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Having mentioned "real humility" early in this blog I suppose that is a deeper subject than what I have said about it so far. I have read many many books on individuals who seem to have perfected themselves, improved their own and other peoples life, and gained some spiritual insight and help. When you spend a lot of time reading about these kind of successes it can have the opposite effect on yourself than what you hoped. Instead of becoming better or more "in tune" and receptive to some spiritual insight you can easily become just too aware of how far away you really are from those seemingly good goals. It can leave you depressed. On the other hand one lesson I think that can be drawn from the experiences of others learned about in this way is the real need for some intensity and effort in reaching out and gaining some spiritual direction. Maybe when we really really need some direction or we just need to want to feel closer to the spiritual side of life enough to really make an effort to draw closer and then with that effort it is when you do "draw closer". It takes some additional humility to do this. You don't get direction and promptings and insight into what you need to be doing, without some efort and of course thinking less about yourself. Being here for 7 + years has been a help in gaining some humility but I don't think anything that I have put down here would be any proof of that claim. Wanting to answer the question everyday about whether this is "the place" for us probably only makes it harder, or on the other hand maybe it brings the light shinning through it all, more into focus, sometimes, maybe...................................................

Just us guys walking today

Today's walk had some new company. I took one picture. Course certain people have taken probably 1000 pictures or will have by the end of the visit. Hope to see some of them.

Scotland, Cambodia, London, Japan

I have not, "in the past", been hooked on specific blogs and made a habit of looking at them regularly. The exception would be family blogs. I find I have some time Sunday AM that I didn't have before and have gotten in the habit of looking at some specific blogs.

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Cambodia, a couple on a mission, London, the same except he is a cousin, Japan, both from the point of view of a neighbor who works there a lot and takes great pictures and an occasional look at a mission president we know about. Then too not really a blog but a weekly or so newsletter from Nauvoo, again a couple on a mission. It is interesting to see first hand a lot of things that otherwise we would not see. The pictures above are from Scotland and Cambodia. No need to guess which is which.

Trivia?

The phase, "I spent a month there one night" was used by Kramer on a Seinfeld episode called "The Merv Griffin Show". George and Kramer were talking. GEORGE said "So they're flying the tiny instruments in from El Paso" KRAMER answered : El Paso? I spent a month there one night.
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Yesterday I got a note from one of the guys who worked for me the summer I worked in El Paso, course I ought to say I spent a lifetime in El Paso one summer.
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Another guy I used to work with came by to talk a little today about his next job move. Another one I used to work with changed companies today and called to tell me. A guy that worked for me 8 years ago sent a note last week. I suppose you have to decide at some point was the experience you got in the name of "getting experience" reall worth it. Sometimes it seems as though the people you meet along the way make it worth it and then sometimes you wonder where they all went. Even when a lot seem to pop up more seem to be long gone. It would be useful to meet some of the folks in "another life, "I think".
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The mountain is in El Paso by the way. Kind of reminds me of the place.

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I guess I will just title today's post "Trivia". Trivia it is indeed but then on the other hand at least it is of some interest to me, I think?

Same place that we saw him last time................

We stopped this morning on our Saturday walk to say hello to this buffalo. He seems to always be waiting for us in the same place. Exactly the same place for that matter.

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Yesterday I went out and lightly jogged for 4 miles. Today it was probably about 3+ miles but in both cases it was farther than I had gone in a long time it seems.

Some just bring "hope"

Summer will come...................

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

- Isaiah 40:29-31

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The 13th Article of Faith

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We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul - We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

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- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

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I am pondering the idea of "hope" some today. Where does it come from? We have hope that the tree will again regain is leaves. We have hope in a better day. We find hope when we leave our place and step out into the world. We know that "He" can indeed give strength to the weary, but how does he do it. My conclusion is that "He" uses people to bring "hope". Some people just by knowing them bring us "hope"

Could these thoughts be original, or maybe I just read that somewhere

It has been a while since I read King's book "A Memoir of the Craft - On Writing". I like the note in the inside flap of the cover,

"If you don't have the time to read,

you don't have the time or the tools to write."

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When I read this I figure I ought to be a better writer if for no other reason that that I have found a lot of time to read. I would agree that the more that I read the more I want to and when I give some thought to "reading" it leaves me with some questions about why it helps one to "write". The easy example would be to pause here and mention why reading is important and to draw on a book by Harold Bloom titled "How to read and Why?" and mention the quote from the book that sort of ties in here. Bloom answered he question by saying:

Why Read, "Because it Matters".

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So now that I have practiced what King suggests, drawing on my reading to write this, I still wonder where one finds an "original thought".

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Do "original thoughts" exist? That is an interesting question and might be worth some focused writing. I don't see any original thoughts in the politics of the day or our times in general. The news doesn't bring original thoughts to focus but the news can and does seem to make people think that it is all new. Original and unique problems they have brought to our attention. Guess that is good writing. Guess we should be saying thank you. Drawing from the old and making it sound different pretending it is original. Guess Fox News and CNN, and any thing titled news, is a good example of why both the statement from King above and from Bloom are both true. No on second thought it probably has more to do with King comment than Bloom's. The fact that I found something to write about from Bloom illustrates the point. Using the statement is of more value than the statement itself. Finding a comment on "What Matters" is after all just a way to be creative, or pretend to be, rather than finding what does matter.

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Another conclusion from all of this might be that the news probably doesn't matter as much as what you have spent your life filling your mind with. King seems to be implying just that. Of course I am putting some words in his mouth here. He suggests you can not write, or I would suggest be creative in your writing or thoughts, or hope to find something original, without reading or looking at what already was presented as original. His point suggests that compared to having read about something the flip side would be turning on the news and being sold on the originality of the completely un original.

Saturday sun Day

Today and especially yesterday have been sunny days. Went for a walk in my short pants. Felt the sun on my face. All good things.

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Such a Day, What a Reflection

March 10th ...Happy Birthday to my daughter. I looked for some "memory" type pictures that might help bring attention to this day. The best one was the picture of what is most important to her. It was indeed her reflection that was the picture.

It isn't easy to think of Katie without thinking of her smiling

Her kids are special and she is reflected in them.

It is really something to be a father and have a little girl.

Two very cute, very important special people in my life

How did that little girl become a full partner in helping her family so early in her life. She was a friend from the beginning

A dad has a short, short, time where he be with a young lady of such elegance in a picture like this. Such an adventure with such a young lady.

This picture reminds me of her "social side" but it also captures her mother service and love. She devoted her own life, like she later did, to her own children............... above all else.

Like the lady in the middle................

yes indeed, imitation is a sincere form of flattery............ Most who come to this blog will recognize where the picture came from. Some, or at least one, will recognize that quicker than the rest. I was taken by this picture and pondered it for a while. I like the idea that it is indeed "an idea unfolding". My thoughts on it, not that anyone asked, starting with the women in black and white suggests that our "day to day" is or probably just becomes "black and white" and this starts and marks an expression of escape from the "day to day". The lady in black and white shows us her thoughts starting with the pure white on her head. The pureness of her attempt at thought then evolves and changes, (perhaps which each blog) and pesents itself in new color and form. Not just color but several varieties of "her self". What she becomes is still her but each time a very different, "her". Guess that is what a blog does for us.....................