a memory of music on new year's eve

Alex on Lake Baikal

Alexander Schreiner, the longtime Tabernacle Organist who retired 30 years ago, proudly displayed a tapestry of an organ on the wall of his South Temple apartment. He told me that organ produced the best sound. Now as 2007 draws to a close, I'm also hearing strains of music that exist tonight in memory and imagination.

Among the melodies are It's a Boy Mrs. Walker, It's a Boy from the Rock Opera Tommy, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, and Ring Out Wild Bells. Back in 2004 I posted this entry and tonight I'm listening with deeper appreciation of music, text, bold ideals and a creator to make it all possible:

"Ring Out Wild Bells by Alfred Tennyson includes eight stanzas, not just the three I've sung for years in the hymn with music by Crawford Gates. Here's the complete poem.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night,
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Seven Communication Secrets

This study largely affirms the culture I work and live in. We're not perfect at these by any means, but I'd award some points in all six areas if I were judging this as a contest, which in a way it is. Watson Wyatt Study Reveals Six Communication 'Secrets' of Top-Performing Employers The study identified these six practices of high-performing companies:

1. Focusing managers and other employees on customer needs
2. Engaging employees in running the business
3. Helping managers communicate effectively
4. Leveraging the talents of internal communicators to manage change effectively
5. Measuring the impact of employee communication
6. Branding the employee experience

I'm adding a #7 because I think it's relevant and because I prefer odd numbered lists. And the seventh secret is:

• Encourage the development of projects and processes that organically engage the first six. The stuff that goes on behind the scenes to pull of following annual event is an example of what I'm talking about: Winter Chairty Drive

growing at the senior games

I've now participated in three years of the Senior Games, the Huntsman World Senior Games held each year in St. George. Such an event. 10,000 athletes from 50 countries. Men and women who are thriving and striving and inspiring. More about this later.

flowers for a veteran

I liked the first night of The War: A Ken Burns Film. It sure made me think a lot about my step-dad who died back in August. He was a Navy officer who fought in the South Pacific. He's written extensively about his life, including his years at war. I'm glad he got his take down on paper, but I wish I'd captured his voice and image on video. Mom's left his voice on their answering machine. I've heard it a couple of times lately. It's good to hear him again, even if it is recorded. I keep thinking how much he would enjoy this new series from Burns, but perhaps he's looking in on it even now from a considerably different vantage point. I hope so.

warming up

Emma Lou Thayne gave me this great tip for writing. Before you start to write something, just warm up. You don't just launch into a tennis match, you hit a few balls first. At swim meets there's always a warm up time. Swimming for 15 minutes and then sitting around for a few hours before you compete didn't seem all that useful. But I did it anyway. And today as I swam both at lunch and after work, I realized that the earlier event did help the later one. So now I'm using the blog to warm up. I'm going to be doing some other writing tonight, but for now I've at least got my fingers moving on the keyboard. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Yes, Truman, that's typing not writing. But even typing helps. The fingers do feel a little warmer. The words do flow a bit easier. Oh the magic of just transcribing the words you hear. It doesn't happen to me very often, but then again, how often do I take the time to warm up?

Wasatch Crest 2007

 

 

  Every year Dave and I try to hit the Wasatch Crest at least once. Last year we didn't make it, but on July 24, 2007 -- Utah Pioneer Day -- we again rode the crest. It was a beautiful, cloudy day. Hot in the valley, but just perfect on the mountaintop. While the big crowds watched the floats at the annual Days of '47 parade, we saw clouds floating by as we joined a parade of mountainbikers headed across the crest.