French Toast

  A couple of weeks ago nothing sounded good for breakfast but french toast. The dog also liked the idea.

visionary thinking - three views

At my son's commencement at the University of Utah we were advised, "We don't have to keep up with change—we have to keep ahead of it," by Thomas S. Monson.

At my daughter's BYU commencement we were advised, "America is still the country of a second chance. Most of us end up needing one," by Dick Cheney.

At my daughter's alternative commencement were asked, "Are our schools and our churches and our families places where we learn how to transform ourselves, where we are free to apply the lessons of history in the present, and where we are rewarded for thinking and not merely obeying, where we can be creative and thoughtful and human?" by organizer Ashley Sanders.

All three of these thoughts are about visionary thinking, looking foward even when "Plan A" doesn't go as expected, and asking ourselves tough questions as we seek our ideals. I'm glad that I heard the speakers at all three events, and that I'm still pondering how this all fits together.

dry creek canyon

The creek in Dry Creek Canyon is indeed dry, but the canyon is beautifully green. Got this shot on Friday's lunch hour ride.

proud papa x 2

It's not everyday you have child graduate from college, but in the last couple of weeks I've enjoyed a double dose of proud parenthood with a daughter graduating from BYU and a son graduating from the the U of U.

The Provo celebrations on April 26 included an honor's graduate luncheon, watching and listening to the Dick Cheney speech on radio and TV and then attending the alternate commencement and hearing from Pete Ashdown, Jack Healey and Ralph Nader. Oh, and Nader applauding "the BYU 25"--which included a certain young woman who shares my last name.

Then on May 4 we were back in Salt Lake for the University of Utah commencement with Thomas S. Monson (glance backward, reach outward, press forward), a brief break to walk around the Huntsman Center and then back inside for the Engineering convocation. Yes, it was great to hear from all these famous folks, but for parents (and probably most of the graduates) it's more about the walk than the talk. Great, earned, hard fought, well celebrated, long suffered, patient, enduring, passionate, purposeful, peaceful walking of the walk of the new college graduate.

So we're three down with two more to go with the college grad program. Their school choices are as different as their personalities--a pediatric nurse, a software engineer, a writer of memoir and feminist studies. We'll have to wait a few years for the other two which may involve business, language, art, medicine--or perhaps none of the above.

happy 95th birthday

Wow, Dad, you're 95th birthday is this very day. Can you believe it? 95 years since the sinking of the Titanic. 95 years since you made your appearance in Oak City, Utah. We know so much about your first 51 years. The death of your mom. Your love of livestock and agriculture. Your going to the circus and coming home to try to tricks on grandpa's horses. Your mission to Germany. Your finishing college at the U having started it as an Aggie in Logan. Your work for the census bureau that led to another bureau, the FBI. Way to put that German to good use. Your meeting our mom. Your marriage. Your career. Your daughter and then me, your son. Your stockbroker years. Your curiousity. Your gentle ways. Your love of color, creativity and mom. Your impatience with the unimportant. Your patience with me and all that mattered so much. The vacations, the Christmasses, the family reunions. The tapercorders and movie cameras and 16 millimeter projectors borrowed from a friend. The diagnosis you didn't want to believe. Your will to "beat this thing." That last summer and such a fall, such fire in the leaves and in your heart. That last Halloween. The last time we shoveled snow and drank hot chocolate. JFK in Dallas. Our president dead and you in the hospital the next day. Thanks for asking me to pray. I'm still praying, daddy. I wonder what you've been up to all these years. Have my teens, twenties, girl friends, hobbies, hopes, marriage, children, college, careers, anxiety, depression, scholarships, photos and music---have all these passed in just minutes for you? Have you seen it all or just read my blog? Happy birthday, dear Dad. I hope you'll visit soon in another dream like the one on Aunt Susan's back porch on Kayland Way, and let me know if my hunch is right, or just wishful thinking.

post 5K greetings

Ran the Salt Lake Marathon's 5K yesterday. A great experience, and a particularly refreshing race when compared to the beautiful but much more difficult Canyonland Half Marathon. Today I'm a little stiff and sore, small price to pay for the opportunity to run freely, joyfully the short distance from Liberty Park to the Gateway.