Late evening decorating

Our kids who live in Sacramento just 4 or 5 miles from us have been really good about stopping by on a regular basis to mow the lawn or take out the garbage or some other task that needs doing.  But there are things that we forget to tell them about.  Recently we cornered them when they dropped by in the evening without even having a chance to change their clothes.  We've somehow lost our battery operated drill which complicated things a little but made us appreciate the help even more.

Speaking in church

Having done just about everything I could think of to discourage our bishopric from inviting me to speak in church again, I was really surprised when one  of the counselors still found it possible to ask Carolyn and me to speak.  We talked yesterday and they haven't called us yet to talk about our membership so I can only assume we didn't say anything terrible.

Actually, I think both of our talks went well.  We certainly got a lot of comments and pleasant feedback from many members of the congregation.  I actually enjoyed the experience.  I usually do if (1) I have enough time and resources to write the talk, and (2) the subject matter is something I know something about or at least feel comfortable discussing with others.  This probably couldn't have been better.  (1) We were asked on August 15 to speak on August 29 giving us a full two weeks to prepare during which we had no major distractions.  And (2) my assigned topic was "Dealing with Adversity" and Carolyn's was "Provident Living".

Carolyn is almost a textbook example of provident living, her family has lived providently since she was born, and the Church has a website called provident living just in case she needed more ideas.  I would never want to get into a no-win argument with someone about whether he or I have dealt with the most adversity but I do feel like I've dealt with enough that I can speak with some confidence and experience.

The problem I had is that Dealing with Adversity is, as I explained to the congregation, the Universal Condition.  Virtually all the books,  plays, and movies deal with adversity or deal with people who are dealing with adversity.  My problem was staying within the time limits of our talks while still saying something meaningful.  I prepared what High Councillors call an "accordion" speech because it can be expanded or contracted as necessary.  I could have spoken as long as 20 minutes but had only 12 minutes.  I cheated and ran over 3 or 4 minutes but still had to cut out 5 to 6 minutes of the talk.

Music Therapy

At our Arden-Arcade last Friday we listened to  board certified music therapist Rachel Firchau from McConnell Music Therapy Services describe what Music Therapy is and how it can benefit people with Parkinson's Disease (PWP).  Ms. Firchau first used some lovely rhythm instruments she had brought along She showed how music through rhythm can teach anticipation, timing, and selective listening skills.

She also showed a video demonstrating the effectiveness of music theory on consumers with gait problems such as mine.  A Person with Parkinson's who attempts to walk while listening to a drum or some other rhythm instrument will find his gate synchronizing to the instrument.  A properly adjusted instrument tends to smooth out gait, eliminate freezing, and reduce hip contortion.  And the improvement in gait is likely to persist, remaining with the patient for a week to 10 days.  I found it similar to the "marching stride" encouraged by my physical therapist.

Camp Nauvoo 2010

Our Activities Calendar wouldn't be complete without the annual ward  outing to Camp Nauvoo.  In the past, we've been assigned our weekend on a rather random basis so we might have a weekend before the spring thaw or in the middle of the fall rains.  This year it fell on the last weekend in August which is statistically probably the best weekend of the year.  So we were looking forward to a good-sized crowd from our ward and possibly some overlap with the singles ward in our stake.  We did have nice if somewhat coolish weather, a fair crowd, and no one from the other ward.

When the person who had accepted responsibility for MC-ing the activities for the weekend had a death in the family it left a big hole in the plans.  Carolyn scurried around to find substitutes such as re-using the "win it in a minute' props and ideas from the Young Men's program and some song sheets from prior years.  I don't think anyone suffered or had a bad experience at camp because of the program change.  It might have even been better because of our relaxed schedule.

I had an interesting time trying to get around in my power chair.  First of all, I was interested to know how much of the camp would be wheelchair accessible or, alternatively, accessible with my walker.  I was surprised at how accessible the camp was.  The main problem was getting to some of the cabins and to the fire ring bleachers.  I had no trouble, however, getting volunteers to lift it over the bridge.  The meadow provided some interesting challenges as I tried to "off road" it.  Some dips and trenches were sufficient to stop me in my tracks but usually I could find a side of the dip short enough to allow me to climb out.  But my chair probably got its best ever workout.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - General Comments #6

Without a master plan family members sometimes took the path of least resistance.  For many that meant  hanging around the cabin instead of joining in one of the expeditions.  That, of course, had its own troubles. But for the most part the kids got along well with each other.

After three days, families began developing their own agendas and it didn't matter if there were some duplication of visits.  When you see something a second or third time you see lots of things you did't the first time.

Thanks again to everyone who participated.  I'm sure you all made your best efforts of time and money to make this reunion a success.  Whenever someone wasn't with us, you were missed. Thank you, all!!

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 8 The dispersal

I think we had no idea just how much time a whole week of family camp is, especially when you spend it in the relative luxury of a vacation mansion or a timeshare condominium.  Add to that the fact that South Lake Tahoe is not a large tourist center with major entertainment and you have a lot of time on your hands.

By this last day of the reunion we have already lost Ed, Tiffany and family, Richard, and Steven and Lisa.  And we've "lost" 3 of our vehicles so packing up the leftover food and all our other travel stuff was almost as hard as it was packing the stuff in the first place.

Carolyn & Arnold with grandson Tim

Jessica & Jon with Jillian, Ben             Lee and Staci with Perry, Libby

        and Michael                              Sage and BrookeNatalie 

    

Natalie with Joshua and                              Philip & Jenny with

     Nathan                                              Gavin & Colin

Both the time-share and the mansion had 12 o'clock checkout times so our first priority was to get breakfast over and then pack the cars.  Jon, Jessica and family headed south back home while Lee and his family stopped at Dog beach and Donner State Park on their way to Sacramento.  Natalie and Jennie caravaned on their way to Sacramento.  Carolyn & I just enjoyed a leisurely trip home and a few minutes peace and quiet before the grandkids started arriving for 3 more days of vacation.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 7 Stars and more

Lee suggested that since the Perseirs Meteor shower occurs this week, and especially since the dark SLT sky makes sky watching so much, that we all stay up late or get up early to watch This is a relatively rare meteor show.

So last night almost all the adults and most of the kids stayed up until 11:00 when we piled into our cars and headed out for the community college play fields.  We found them brightly lit without a soul in sight.  Fortunately, we had a backup spot in the nearby park parking lot.  We all sat or lay on the blacktop and looked straight up into the starry sky.  There was supposed to be a shooting star about once a minute but we were seeing them about once every five minutes.  Still, that was impressive.

That, of course, made almost everyone get off to a slow start today.  Those kids who didn't make it to the trout farm a couple of days ago did so today.  Our group then headed for the southern tip of Fallen Leaf Lake and the trailhead to Glen Alpine Falls.  We expected the falls to be dry this late in the year.  However, this has been a rainy year. As a result many in our group were able to hike the river bed, rather interesting terrain.

Steve and Lisa said good bye to the group and headed down to Lakewood where Lisa's parents have been taking care of their bunnies.  The group continues to get smaller.

Word from Ed and family is that Tiffany now has the same sickness that Camdan had which pretty much eliminates their coming up tomorrow..

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 6 More beach time

When you're staying close to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, it only makes sense to spend some time enjoying a beach on that lake and enjoying the lake itself, if possible.   The lake is really inviting for sailing but only one of our group (Lee) has sufficient training and experience to run a boat with 1 or more passengers.  So while he shuttled swimmers so that everyone could experience the thrill of the open sea, the rest of the group had a reprise experience on  the warm sandy beach.  This time the group was better prepared with sandwiches and drinks.

Unfortunately I have come down with a case of diarrhea so I stayed back at the cabin trying to catch up on the blog and also trying to teach myself how to use photoshop.  We're hoping to make a collage of photos for the reunion remembrance photo this year.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 5 Hiking, Fishing, Swimmiing

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Today was a good example of the difference it makes when a family ans what it wants to do and carries out those plans compared with a family which discusses and discusses before finally doing something.  The first family might end up  seeing and doing more things but at the expense of making some of the family feel frazzled and still in need of a vacation.  The other family misses out on some opportunities but everyone feels a little more relaxed.

For those who were ready and willing to get out of the house early, today's first activity was a 1 mile hike to Vikingsholm, a home built on an island in Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe.   The home is interesting to see and visit and admire the Scandinavian architecture.  The hike from the road down to the water level is rather pleasant but the hike back up is a bitch.

The second activity, or first for those who got up later was a "catch all you can pay for'  trout farm.  The first were literally jumping at everything going into the pool.   The only limit was what you could afford to pay for and how many times you can stand knocking a fish senseless.  It isn't quite the sport that many of us learned in childhood but then it takes a lot less time and energy.

And finally, to wrap up our day we invited all who wanted to, to come over to our time-share and enjoy a dip in the pool.  Some were too tired from prior activities while others were just not into fishing or eating fish.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - General comments #5

Things we definitely did right;

Brought several games to be played in the evening.  Different levels accommodated the teens downstairs and the adults on the main floor.

Each family was given a day's menu assignment - breakfast and dinner.  Lunch was up to each family each day.  The menu was selected from the famous Loveridge Family Cookbook.

Jigsaw Puzzles (500 piece) were left for people to complete when they were bored of everything else.

Things questionable:

Hit and miss Planning.  Some people had spent a great deal of time researching the local offerings on the Internet while others had no clue about what they'd like to do.  On the other hand a little randomness in the agenda leads to some inventiveness.

South Lake Tahoe Family Reunion - Day 4 On the beach

Having seen 3 beautiful days in a row at SLT, we decided it would be a great time to actually visit the lake, spend some time on the beach and give those who wanted it a kayaking experience,  Unfortunately, we had not reckoned with the wind.  It started out as less than a gentle breeze, more like gentle puffs of wind that gradually grew stronger and more invasive.  It didn't seem to bother the children  playing in the sand or those sleeping in the lounge chairs.  But those who braved the lake found that rowing the kayak upwind was considerably harder than downwind.