Jessica's farm

Visiting our daughter Jessica is a real cultural experience. She has done so much to improve the "ancestral" family home that people who have visited in the past would not recognize it now. We can only do so because we've seen the steps she has taken.

First of all she (and Jon who helped when he was able and available) eliminated all grass from the "courtyard", replacing it with flag stone. The raised part of the patio is still raised as you can see.

There are steps with a nice handrail leading up to the patio extension which faces out to the larger back yard and the lawn that Jessica went to great pains to level.

Here's the actual view from the patio extension better showing that part of the back yard that is still used primarily for play activities with a swing set and trampoline.

One of her newest additions to the back yard and sitting next to the patio extension is the earthen oven which is not only decorative but practical, too. While there this time we had personal sized home made pizza's backed in this oven.


Jessica has put a lot of work into her raised flower beds which truly are raised. They are high enough that she can work them almost without bending over. That doesn't eliminate all the work but does make things easier.

Part of Jessica's success, of course, is that she has involved the children. Here is Jill picking mature "purple" beans which look and taste like green beans when cooked but are a pretty purple on the vine.

Michael and Ben are showing off the newest hens in the coop. They haven't been "tamed" yet but the boys are quite used to handling uncooperative hens.

Before she showed off her latest acquisition, Jessica suited up in a proper beekeeper's outfil. Yes, her latest addition to the "farm" is a swarm of bees that she saw advertised in Craig's List. She got it for the cost of removing it and bringing the swarm home.

Here we see Jessica inside her greenhouse pulling up the wooden slats which are attached to the honeycombs in the hive. You can also see a white tube that extends into the hive and out through the greenhouse wall. This tube allows the bees free access from their hive to the outside work. I think Jessica said it took the better part of a day for her to train the bees to use the tube.

Jessica is showing us a piece of honeycomb which is growing at an angle to the board so that it won't be able to be harvested properly.

Here's another angle showing how many slots in the hive that Jessica had to remove to get at that hunk of honeycomb.

I am very impressed with the vision Jessica has had of the ancestral family home. It is so different from what Carolyn and I had but it works for Jessica and her family and that is what counts.

Meeting old friends

As I indicated yesterday, not only was it a meaningful day for Sage and her extended family, but it was also a meaningful day for Carolyn and me because of all the old friends we were able to see, meet, and sometimes even talk with one another. There isn’t a lot of time before or between meetings and visiting after you’ve entered the main chapel is frowned upon as being irreverent. We must have made a lot of people upset because we were greeting and speaking with people from 20 minutes before start time to start time.

Interestingly, anyone who knew us from 9 years ago greeted us like long lost friends. To be sure, there were many in that category but there were also a few who didn’t know us that well back then and didn’t have much of a relationship with us but they greeted us warmly as well. I believe that as time goes by our memory builds up a false or even hoped for relationship. And unless we really KNOW the relationship we play it safe by reacting as positively as possible. We hope we didn’t offend anyway but that’s a whole new topic area.

I must admit that the overwhelming concern from old friends was Carolyn’s health and whether she had gone back to work. I barely got a notice.

Sage's baptism

Today was a meaningful day both for our step granddaughter Sage and for Carolyn and me.

For Sage it was her baptism day. She recently turned 8, the age at which Mormons consider children capable of understanding right from wrong and old enough to appreciate the seriousness of making promises. To that end Mormon children from their 7th birthday on receive special instruction on the meaning and importance of baptism.

The ceremony is simple yet impressive, especially for an 8 year old. After a brief introductory talk about baptism (which in this case was given by Sage’s aunt Jenny) Sage and her grandfather Ed stepped down into the baptismal font which is about 12 feet by 6 feet and filled with warm water to about 3 feet in depth. All the children in the room crowded together at the edge of the font to see the event clearly. Ed then took Sage by the hand, pronounced a short prayer, and submerged her quickly but completely in the water. He began pulling her out as soon as she was completely immersed.

Ed and Sage went to the locker rooms where they changed into dry clothes. When they returned to the meeting, we heard another talk, this time by Aunt Jessica about the Holy Ghost. Then several Elders of the church placed their hands on Sage’s head, confirmed upon her the Holy Ghost, membership in the church, and other blessings the speaker deemed appropriate as led by the spirit.

Cake and punch were served down the hall after the meeting.

Congratulations, Sage!

Perry's Mission Bank

When we dropped by Perry's house to drop off Tim for a visit with his cousin, we saw a most interesting bank - plastic, semi-transparent, and in the shape of a 4 foot "lighthouse". Upon further inquiry we learned that it was a special bank in that Perry was using to start saving for his mission by collecting coins in his lighthouse. Hopefully, his potential supporters will also understand the metaphorical significance of a lighthouse in missionary work.


Upon further inquiry I was told that this bank wasn't "working" as if that was obvious. Most banks just sit their holding the money within and this one certainly seemed to have that capability. But then I saw small electrical parts inside - one of which looked like a make switch that closes a circuit when something metal passes through - say a coin. No one complained when I started taking the lighthouse apart and started asking for equipment. Some of the equipment was available. For others we began thinking of alternatives. It's always a challenge working with others' equipment, Even if well-equipped they're not the equipment you're used to and this was no different. But the more we stripped aside layers of wrapping and plastic, the fewer tools we needed. We finally got to the level where the tools matched the job and we commenced to fix the switch.

Lee suggested a way to get right at the problem without any fancy equipments. Shortly thereafter we had all the pieces back together and Perry had a bank that worked. Now we'll see how many people will drop a coin to see his bank "work".

Backyard picnic for Memorial Day

These pictures are just to show that we did indeed have a backyard picnic for Memorial Day weekend. However, it was hot enough that most of us ate inside and we sent the young uns' outside to play and make all their noise.


Josh had a great time in the sand box which made it twice as puzzling that he was spending most of his time dumping or throwing the sand out of the box.

We appreciated Richard's contribution to the meal. It wouldn't have gotten cooked had he not diagnosed an empty propane tank and switched it with the full one in our garage.


Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of all the helpers in the house who were making salads, setting tables, preparing the food service etc. Everyone pitched in to have a great holiday picnic.

Filliing the China cabinet

One of the problems with upgrading your furniture, especially if you add drawers, shelves, or other storage opportunities is that you feel guilty until they are filled and serving the use for which you bought the thing. The problem is exaggerated when the storage is visible or highlighted.


Thus, for the two weeks that our new china closet was sitting empty in the dining room, it fairly called out "Help, fill me! Arrange me! " And it took twice as long for the short tour or whenever we explained to people that we only recently obtained the closet.

So it was with some delight that I saw Carolyn coming home with the necessary hardware to display dishes and bowls. As a wise recruiter of talent, Carolyn knew that she'd have a daughter and two daughters-in-law over the Memorial Day weekend who could help her move much of her china and silverware to the new china closet.

So, as you see the china cabinet is no longer empty. In fact it is so full that we're going to have to consider a second one for all the leftover stuff.



And this is how it fits into the room.

Towel Warmer

Before

After

Of all the "practical" gifts we've ever gotten, this heated towel racks seems to be about the least practical. In fact, I think I've only seen heated towel racks in a European hotel and that was over 30 years ago.

Here's the installation crew Richard, Joshua, and Steve. I peeked my head in from time to time but mostly I just left them alone. Their biggest problem was the same as mine - trying to decide which dry wall hardware to use and how to get the old stuff out of the wall.

Prop 8 & judges ruling

Well, it's over! (again)! Or is it just another step in a long, halting, jerky road to equality? The California Supreme Court ruled that our recent election and passage of Proposition 8 is valid and (for the time being) it is illegal for same sex marriages to be officially registered in California. I join dissenting Justice Carlos Morena and the ACLU in expressing concern that we may have turned around and stopped protecting rights for those who need such protection.

Equality of California is already working on their strategy and war chest for a big fight in 2010. My guess is that the leaders of the Mormon Church are likewise evaluating what they did right in getting the proposition passed. One would guess that they are probably also evaluating the public relations issues that were raised and the problem all churches have when becoming political - alienating some of its members.

I believe that we are close to the "tipping point" politically when many more states will suddenly through their supreme courts or through their legislatures pass Same Sex Marriage Guarantees. But religiously we are not yet at the tipping point so most states will just as rapidly "revert ". The trend seems to be eventual approval of Same Sex Marriage unless there is a religious revival, which is not out of the question.'' I think it is more likely that people in states with SSM will discover that nothing much changed after all. Like equal rights for women and equal rights for blacks, equal marriage rights will lift as all up rather than lift some of us up at the expense of the others.

2009 Jazz Jubilee

The 2009 Jazz Fest at Sacramento is over. This was the first year where we attended only the performances where and when we worked as volunteers. We had a full ride pass to 3 full days of shows and we were only obligated to volunteer for half of that. Still, we decided we'd rather spend time with kids and grandkids instead of listening to more of the same music. For one thing, they did a better job of mixing up the bands so that we got a decent selection of different sounds. Last year we had so many "All Star" bands that have to sound the same since they're all trying to "match".

Probably the most interesting performance was the "Patriotic Show" put on in our venue by the band "Night Bloomin' Jazzmen" who have a long relationship with the JazzJubilee. You've never heard the Star Spangled Banner until you've heard it played Dixieland style. And as one part of their program they played the songs of each of the armed forces, asking beforehand that each member or former member or fan of the particular armed force branch stand when their song is being played. This is not an uncommon exercise but it is uncommon for people to stand halfway up, start to go do again, back up, look around for confirmation, etc. It wasn't easy to identify all the songs.

We were the last shift which meant taking down and clearing everything away but the site chairman's family showed up, doubling our manpower and cutting the cleanup effort and time in half.

Why Jazz?

Recently, as a Jazz Festival volunteer, I was sitting at the information table when a middle-age gentleman with a bit of an accent that I couldn't identify asked me where all the dancing was. I explained that most of ballroom venues had dance floors off to the side of the stage and that they were usually used by a dozen or so couples depending on the appropriateness of the music. But where are the "big" dancing going on, he persisted. When I picked up the program to see if I could answer his question he humphed with a "You don't know, do you?"

Later he came back to ask if I liked Jazz. I began to reach for my program when I realized this was more of a personal question and truthfully I had to admit that I prefer my jazz in small pieces, that two hours is about as large a piece as I really enjoy. He then went on to explain the reason for his question. He assumed by my apparent age that I had grown up in the rock & roll era, an era that rejected their parents music which was swing and jazz. So why was I now working at the Jazz Festival. I didn't know whether or not to tell him that if I weren't volunteering, I probably wouldn't pay good money to attend the Fest. And, in fact, my music of choice was not rock & roll but country and popularized folk (a la Kingston Trio, Limelighters, etc.). Carolyn joined our conversation but the gentleman seemed no more satisfied with our answers than he had been about the dancing.

His assumptions have me wondering though. Do we really imprint a certain type of music when we're young and continue through life liking that sort of music or do we change as we grow up and encounter various music types? What is it that influences our taste and preferences? And just why was I sitting there listening to music I wouldn't have paid to hear?

Parkinson's Disease Support Group

I think it's going to take a while for me to warm up to the PDSG closest and most convenient to me. The group meets the 4th Friday of every month and I've now attended two meetings which I understand were pretty typical. Last month we had a speaker talk about alternatives to mainline medications.

This month we simply went around the room introducing ourselves and how long we have been diagnosed. The group coordinator used the introductions as windows of opportunity to introduce support in the community for persons with PD or their caregivers. That made it a very uneven meeting with some people holding the floor for 20 minutes or more while the res of us barely got through our introductions.

With luck I can hit a few more meetings.

A rolling walker - a rollator

While I can get around with a cane almost everywhere I go, I can still avoid using one around the home if I'm really careful and am willing to slam into a wall or doorway every once in a while.

The next stage will probably consist of a walker/cane combination and I don't think that is far away. I have used a rolling walker twice now at my volunteer job at the library. I am convinced that I need something like that. I have already asked my doctor for a "rolling walker with four wheels and brakes'. I haven't heard back from Kaiser or their Medical Equipment Company yet either.
The next stage will probably consist of a walker/cane combination and I don't think that is far away. I have used a rolling walker twice now at my volunteer job at the library. I am convinced that I need something like that. I have already asked my doctor for a "rolling walker with four wheels and brakes'. I haven't heard back from Kaiser or their Medical Equipment Company yet either.
Big Lots! had a clearance sale on one of their high end models. I took Bobby's model over there to compare and decided that although this one was 50 dollars cheaper, it was NOT $50 less value. I could almost buy 2 of the Big Lots! Rollators for the price of one at Sams Club. Yes, I bought it- so I am ready for whichever way the Kaiser reviewers go.

A Little Jazz in My Life

I thought May was going to be a fairly carefree month. Even the monthly ward activity was planned to be "Family Game Night" with little preparation needed from our committee.

Then, all of a sudden, poof the month is more than half gone and the rest of the month is already scheduled.

As the title to this entry indicates, we are once again involved with the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee and once again assigned to the Sheraton Hotel Ballroom. The difference this year is that we are actually in charge of a team rather than just being a part of it. I should clarify that - Carolyn is in charge of our team. She's been pretty excited about contacting all the potential members of the team while at the same time working on plans for ward and stake activities for the church, and two family reunions and a special trip to Long Beach for Sage's baptism. I don't see how the lady does it. I mean she's still working full time.

We'll keep you posted about the Jazz Jubilee although it may not be live coverage. Oops, I just read that the official title this year is Jazz Festival. Jubilee was determined to be too "old fashioned".

Carolyn's new hobby

I think Carolyn has had an interest in "make it yourself" jewelry for some time but has never had the tools at the same time as she's had the interest and time, especially time. Redesigning her wardrobe following stomach surgery has increased her interest. She is now a regular model for ear rings and necklaces.

So it was only a matter of time before she collected some equipment and supplies to begin crafting some of her own pieces. It didn't hurt that Joann's had a sale recently. I'll be reporting from time to time on her finished products.

Beta Testing Family Search/Family Tree

Totally "out of the blue" on April 24, I received an email saying I had been "selected" to try out the new Mormon Church sponsored Family Search and Family Tree Programs in what is known in computer language as "beta testing". Of course I have no idea whether 200 were asked or 200,000. It would be interesting to see how high the participation rate was.

Although the first email said we'd be thoroughly instructed before starting the beta test, the only instruction I saw was in the program itself which has lots of context sensitive help. Now beta test programs are supposed to be pretty clean as opposed to alpha testing when you expect all sorts of bugs. And it was interesting for me to compare these programs with CADDIS, the system that was supposedly going to be so great for the regional centers. That was truly an alpha test judging from the errors which were easily found.

The script used was very different. With CADDIS we were only supposed to enter specific data in specific fields and we still got errors. With the church programs there was a general instruction such as "find a person who divorced shortly before dying" and its up to the tester to actually locate such a person.

There were 19 pages of testing instructions but a person would have to be close to crazy to test it all or so excited by the pending implementation.

After what seemed like a very short time for beta testing (about 10 days) we were asked to complete a short survey then directed to the Production Version of the program. I think that is another indicator of having a really clean program.

Look, it's a cinnamon candy!

No, it's a flying saucer!



No, it's a hummingbird feeder.

The replacement hummingbird feeder that Lee and Staci got me for Father's Day looks quite different from ones we've had in the past. At first I thought it hung by a tube then decided that was just a strong copper wire. Then I thought that you filled it from the center opening so it was meant to be filled in place. But that would make it difficult to open and clean. Turns out the red part with the yellow flowers flips off easily revealing a large, clear dish for filling and cleaning. All the weight is supported by the large copper wire which should have no trouble doing so.

I'm not sure how to send out the invitations for the neighborhood hummingbirds to know that we're open for business again. Once one bird finds us, it doesn't take long for word of mouth to get around.

Cam's First

Birthday Party, that is! We had a quiet little family dinner at Vientos restaurant or at least as quiet as Camdan would let it be. When the time came to enjoy his birthday cake, we were back at Ed & Tiff's so he felt a little more at home.


Here, Camdan and his mom are discussing some of the finer points of blowing out the birthday candle.


"Ummm, I think I like this sort of people food."

"I KNOW I like this kind of people food. I hope there's enough."


"Uh, oh, there's more than I expected. I'm going to have to find more places to stuff it."


"Well, I did it. No one will ever know I've been eating chocolate cake. And they're all laughing at my little hat trick with the plate. Shucks, that ain't nothin' special."

Camdan really did balance the plate on his head with a little spin and some frosting to help make it stick. And when he saw us all clapping about it, he joined in the clapping as well which made the plate fall over. He promptly put it back on. What a ham!

Googling our Ward Council

Not too many months ago, I was the Ward Executive Secretary. My responsibilities were heavily weighted to organizing the agendas for the various Sunday meetings that the bishop had with other leaders of the ward in different configurations. I thought I was doing a pretty good job by getting agenda items from the various leaders, keying this all into a Word document, and making sufficient copies for the actual meetings.

But our current Ward Executive Secretary has gone one further and used two features of Google that I have never seen used: Google Docs and Google calendar.

Google Docs simply provides a place for all authorized people to deposit/delete/change a collaboratively created document. In this case it is the meeting agenda. So each of the attendees has some say in the agenda. The bishop has the final say by reviewing and publishing the final agenda. But neither the bishop nor the executive secretary has to re-input something that is already in the system.

Google Calendar works very much like the Microsoft Office as far as inviting participants, getting RSVP's or rescheduling requests. In fact the program is a not just a little intimidating.

I for one will be interested to see if our newly sustained bishop can keep up the use of technology.

My new art piece

You may have noticed in some of the pictures describing the delivery of our new dining room set that there is a new and somewhat unusual art piece in our entrance hall. While Carolyn made the final arrangements for delivery of the dining room set, I wondered around the showplace floor and was immediately struck by this piece of art.

Each of the little triangles or quadrilaterals is a mirror. They're cut and placed with the view of pulling the observer in to the center mirror. It looked rather large in the store but on our wall it is much smaller.


It could easily become a local landmark.

Volunteer depreciation

It is a rare company that, once having used volunteers, can go back to doing without their services. So valuable are volunteers as a work force that many companies plan their paid operations around the volunteers schedules and hire paid coordinators to keep the workers and volunteers happy.

But even if rare, there are such companies. I'm familiar with one which recently ran into a bureaucratic requirement for annual training for all volunteers providing service. A couple of employees had difficult meeting at the times specified. Instead of accommodations being made to ease their difficulty, the company just summarily dismissed them. Now we're short-handed and having difficulty meeting the service obligations