I grow a vegetable garden every year. I love my garden. Master gardeners such as Seth Blood of Centerville and Bob Davis of Logan, now long gone, have inspired me over the years. This year my garden is as close as I have come to their high standard. I'm proud of my garden... downright boastful even.
But I do have enemies. Each year a family of cottontail rabbits live in the tangle of rosebushes which separate us from the Williams family to the south. Each year our cat Bandit proudly presents us with gifts on the doorstep, such as the bottom half of a baby bunny. Bandit single-handedly controls the bunny population for us. The rabbits generally content themselves with grazing on our lawn, and only occasionally have I noticed any nibling in the garden...and then never enough to get this old gardener exercised.
This year it was different. I planted my peas early. They were doing great when I noticed that a couple of plants had been nibbled at the end of the row. The nibbling turned into a feast and each morning more plants were destroyed. I started saying nasty things about those cute little bunnies. I even had a frank discussion with Bandit...offering huge incentives if she would take care of the critters. She didn't listen...the damage continued. It was as if some huge cut-worm had started at one end of the row of peas and was working its way down the row. When one third of the pea plants were gone, along with my cucumber plants, I got mad. Then I noticed that the critters had started on my last row of new corn shoots. I was furious. You don't mess with a proud master gardener. This was war.
One morning, as I was leaving for work, some movement in the garden caught my eye. There was this strange looking animal in my garden calmly devouring pea plants. It looked like a squirrel, yet it was too big for a squirrel. In fact it was as big as a cat... yet it did not have a cat's face...it did not appear to have ears. And it was brown with a grey face.
So I called our son Dan...the taxidermist...he's a wild animal expert. Let me put it this way...Dan's five year old son Asher, knows more about wild things than I do. As I started to described the critter, Dan just laughed..."You've got rockchucks dad". I really did not know much about rockchucks, so I looked them up on the web. That threw me into a panic... rockchucks, aka woodchucks are of the marmot family...they can get huge...like 40 lbs... they can decimate a garden...and they are hard to get rid of. We discussed strategies. We did not want to set a steel leg trap...we valued Bandit, the killer cat, too much. Dan suggested that we try his cage trap.
So I set up the trap and baited it with watermelon. There was nothing there the next morning, but when I came home from work, we had ourselves a rockchuck. It did not look too impressive. It did not look like it could eat a whole garden. It was, in fact, just a baby...and it was dead. In less than a day it had died of exposure. I gave it a suitable burial for such a bold adversary. The next morning I saw the big one again. It ran under my wood pile. I noticed that there were a couple of entrances to what WikiPedia said would be a series of connected tunnels. So with malice in my heart, I took my 1.5" irrigation pipe, poked it down one hole and turned on the irrigation water full force...and let her run...and run. I repeated the process in the second hole. That took care of the problem...no more rockchucks...or so I thought.
The Carlsons are our neighbors to the west. One day Jay called me and asked how the battle with the rockchucks was progressing. He reported seeing a big rockchuck run under his deck. Then he reported seeing a big rockchuck sunning itself on the roof of his neighbor's shed. I did not fess up to driving my rockchucks out of their home under my woodpile...onto his property...but I did loan him the trap. He had no success and after a few days returned the trap.
So I reset the trap but did not bait it. A couple of hours later I noticed that the lid had dropped...we had ourselves a big rockchuck. Dan had allowed me to use his trap on condition that I destroy any rockchuck which his trap caught. He had offered some creative ways to do the deed also. The problem was that Jay's grandchildren were out in his yard when I yelled..."Hey Jay...we got ourselves a rockchuck". Any malice aforethought regarding the demise of the rockchuck had to be tempered by sensitivity to the feelings of little children who asked... "Grandpa...what's the man going to do to it?" Grandpa Jay suggested that they take a drive up Green canyon and let the critter go. To me that was about as smart as letting Al Qaida terrorists go after capturing them red handed....they were bound to turn up again...and this is war. The more liberal viewpoint won the day. The grandchildren were pleased to report that Mr. Rockcuck ran off and lived happily ever after.
Since that day we have neither seen a rockchuck nor witnessed any damage to the garden.
I have often thought that there are wonderful lessons to be learned about life, in a garden. One can sense the reality of a Master Gardener in the universe...the pleasures of creation...and actually live some of the parables of the Master. I have also been told..."One can trust a man who grows a vegetable garden". Those are generous sentiments...but the fact is that this old gardner has developed a mean streak...I have malice in my heart towards some of our Father's cute creations. I am one gardener who cannot be trusted. I'm sure that our Father had a purpose when He created rockchucks...but I would still have to ask..."What were you thinking?" If it was just to test and torment vegetable gardeners...I would have to humbly submit...while whispering under my breath..."OK...but it's still war!"
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wegener Family Reunion Begins
No 1 daughter Shelly Johnston and her three children, Dusty 12, Megan 9 and Logan 8, were scheduled to leave Minneapolis for Salt Lake City at 1:00 PM yesterday. Due to the generosity of brother Andy, who is a Sky West pilot, they were flying stand-by using his buddy-passes. So 1:00 PM came and Shelly called to say that Dusty and Megan made the flight, but Shelly and Logan did not. They were then on stand-by for the 4:00 PM flight. They could not get on that flight either and went home to Lino Lakes. Logan was understandably..."not happy".
Kathie and I arrived at the Salt Lake City Airport in good time to meet Dusty and Meggie. Kathie was the designated person to meet the kids at the gate, so she was given a pass to get through security. When she got to the designated gate on the B concourse she was informed that she was at the wrong gate. She was directed to the E concourse at the opposite end of the airport. Airport workers were either completely unhelpful or falling over themselves to help her. Finally she was told that she had been at the correct gate to start with and that the plane had been redirected to the B concourse. She was exhausted when she made it back...and there were the grandkids. They had travelled in first class and were held back while the plane was emptied and only then allowed to deplane. They did not wait more than five minutes before Grandma Kathie found them. By then Kathie was totally pooped and panicked.
We drove into Salt Lake City, had dinner at Macaroni Grill...and got a parking ticket...it was 102 F. Do you see where this report is headed? On the drive down to the airport we passed a turned over semi which was blocking the freeway coming out of North Salt Lake City. The semi had been carrying a 110 ft long, 200,000 lb tank. The back half of the tank had been anchored to a set of wheels which apparently jack-knifed and tuned the truck over. Traffic was backed up for miles along all routes going north out of Salt Lake City.
On our way to dinner the radio reports were that two of the six lanes were then open, but traffic was still not moving. After dinner the radio reports were that another lane would soon be open, so we gave it a try, thinking that the back road (300 West) would be our best bet since some of the on-ramps were still closed. In ten minutes we had moved one car length...it was still 102 F. We debated our options. The one that sounded the best was the Park City route to the east and back to Ogden through Echo Junction. We figured that would only add forty minutes to the trip. So we backed into the parking lot of a fast food place and found a way out...drove south, then west...completely opposite to our destination...found the freeway and headed to Ogden via Park City. It was much more pleasant being on the move, than sitting wondering when and if we would ever get past North Salt Lake City. Fortunately we missed the semi which burned in Sardine Canyon and closed that road for an hour.
Apart from that...it was a great day...did I mention that it was 102 F in the shade?...that's hot for us...but who's complaining.
Shelly and Logan made the early flight from Minneapolis this morning and Kathie drove down to Salt Lake City again to retrieve them. We are now gearing up for lotsa fun and family frolick in August. Friday we will have a baptism for Tara Rose from Texas, Logan from Minnesota and Grayson from Idaho. We will also bless baby Skye from Logan. Then we will have dinner at the Logan Utah East Stake Bowery. The next day will be the big family photo shoot. Next week will be the reunion at Bear Lake. Immediately following the family reunion we will join Jeff and Kimi for their move to Pittsburgh and dental school.
Kathie and I arrived at the Salt Lake City Airport in good time to meet Dusty and Meggie. Kathie was the designated person to meet the kids at the gate, so she was given a pass to get through security. When she got to the designated gate on the B concourse she was informed that she was at the wrong gate. She was directed to the E concourse at the opposite end of the airport. Airport workers were either completely unhelpful or falling over themselves to help her. Finally she was told that she had been at the correct gate to start with and that the plane had been redirected to the B concourse. She was exhausted when she made it back...and there were the grandkids. They had travelled in first class and were held back while the plane was emptied and only then allowed to deplane. They did not wait more than five minutes before Grandma Kathie found them. By then Kathie was totally pooped and panicked.
We drove into Salt Lake City, had dinner at Macaroni Grill...and got a parking ticket...it was 102 F. Do you see where this report is headed? On the drive down to the airport we passed a turned over semi which was blocking the freeway coming out of North Salt Lake City. The semi had been carrying a 110 ft long, 200,000 lb tank. The back half of the tank had been anchored to a set of wheels which apparently jack-knifed and tuned the truck over. Traffic was backed up for miles along all routes going north out of Salt Lake City.
On our way to dinner the radio reports were that two of the six lanes were then open, but traffic was still not moving. After dinner the radio reports were that another lane would soon be open, so we gave it a try, thinking that the back road (300 West) would be our best bet since some of the on-ramps were still closed. In ten minutes we had moved one car length...it was still 102 F. We debated our options. The one that sounded the best was the Park City route to the east and back to Ogden through Echo Junction. We figured that would only add forty minutes to the trip. So we backed into the parking lot of a fast food place and found a way out...drove south, then west...completely opposite to our destination...found the freeway and headed to Ogden via Park City. It was much more pleasant being on the move, than sitting wondering when and if we would ever get past North Salt Lake City. Fortunately we missed the semi which burned in Sardine Canyon and closed that road for an hour.
Apart from that...it was a great day...did I mention that it was 102 F in the shade?...that's hot for us...but who's complaining.
Shelly and Logan made the early flight from Minneapolis this morning and Kathie drove down to Salt Lake City again to retrieve them. We are now gearing up for lotsa fun and family frolick in August. Friday we will have a baptism for Tara Rose from Texas, Logan from Minnesota and Grayson from Idaho. We will also bless baby Skye from Logan. Then we will have dinner at the Logan Utah East Stake Bowery. The next day will be the big family photo shoot. Next week will be the reunion at Bear Lake. Immediately following the family reunion we will join Jeff and Kimi for their move to Pittsburgh and dental school.
Monday, July 28, 2008
The World is Great...BUT...the Sky May Fall
Most people are appalled by the negativity of the press. It is as if reporters are looking only for the negative...actively promoting a false reality that our lives must really stink. These are the people who fundamentally hate the USA and everything for which it stands. Kathie and I laugh when the press has to report something positive...because it's so painful for them...they just can't do it, without adding a "BUT"....as in..."New report suggests the world is great...BUT...the sky may fall". I decided some time back that I ought to start recording the BUTS...but...I did not have a good forum. This blog affords us the opportunity...so I will start with today's news and keep adding. We take The Herald Journal and USA Today so we will identify headlines by date, page and either HJ or USA. If you should run across a good example, share it (with source information) and we will add it to the list.
Logan life expectancy No. 8 in US...but...city misses spot on AARP's healthy towns list. HJ: 28 July, 2008, page A3.
Study: Teen suicide rate down slightly, still high. CNN Sept 2, 2008. Submitted by Missy. This is "good news about bad news"...or...as Missy says...the glass half-full or half-empty scenario.
Logan life expectancy No. 8 in US...but...city misses spot on AARP's healthy towns list. HJ: 28 July, 2008, page A3.
Study: Teen suicide rate down slightly, still high. CNN Sept 2, 2008. Submitted by Missy. This is "good news about bad news"...or...as Missy says...the glass half-full or half-empty scenario.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Master Potter
2008 has not been a good year for my sister Beryl..."Lady B" to me. She was diagnosed with cancer, went through surgery, which was followed by chemo-therapy which ravaged her body. Her family and friends gave her wonderful support...people prayed for her...and since Lady B lives in Australia and I live in the USA, prayer was our only resource. It was a tough time for Beryl. I'm sure that only those who have walked that walk can understand.
The distance issue was an immediate frustration for me, because had I been there, I would have asked Lady B if I could give her a priesthood blessing. So I emailed two of my good LDS friends Scott Winslow and Joe Grinceri in Perth, who accepted the request to give her a priesthood blessing. They had never met Beryl but they laid their hands on her head and gave her a blessing...a blessing of good health and peace of mind as she started her ordeal. Beryl appreciated it...I appreciated it.
So the latest word from Lady B's physician is that she is "cancer free". Isn't that wonderful? What is equally wonderful is that Beryl and I have opened a dialogue about spiritual things. We have never really discussed our common beliefs about God, but she opened that door with sweet expressions of gratitude for her medical team and the faith and prayers of family and friends in her behalf.
In a recent email she sent a copy of a story titled "The Tea Cup". It is a story about the master Potter...a parable about the love of God. I'd like to share it.
The Tea Cup
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and the shop they visited had a beautiful teacup.
They said to the shop assistant, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it over to them, the teacup spoke suddenly."You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me, rolled me, patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'
"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said,"and suddenly I was spun around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'
Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'
Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better', I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'
Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'
Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and I couldn't believe it was me. 'It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'
'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any colour in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held.
Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.
Moral: God knows what He's doing for all of us. He is the potter and we are His clay. He will mould us so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfil His good, pleasing, and perfect will. Let this story remind you that God has a perfect plan for your life. He may need to place some obstacles in your life to strengthen your character, so that you may be strong in the days of greater adversity. Don't get discouraged when you feel like the heat of the struggle is going to burn you. God knows exactly when to pull you out and deliver you from that problem and when He does you will be much wiser and stronger than you were before. God knows your inner strength and ability to be strong even in the midst of a problem.
~Author Unknown~
The distance issue was an immediate frustration for me, because had I been there, I would have asked Lady B if I could give her a priesthood blessing. So I emailed two of my good LDS friends Scott Winslow and Joe Grinceri in Perth, who accepted the request to give her a priesthood blessing. They had never met Beryl but they laid their hands on her head and gave her a blessing...a blessing of good health and peace of mind as she started her ordeal. Beryl appreciated it...I appreciated it.
So the latest word from Lady B's physician is that she is "cancer free". Isn't that wonderful? What is equally wonderful is that Beryl and I have opened a dialogue about spiritual things. We have never really discussed our common beliefs about God, but she opened that door with sweet expressions of gratitude for her medical team and the faith and prayers of family and friends in her behalf.
In a recent email she sent a copy of a story titled "The Tea Cup". It is a story about the master Potter...a parable about the love of God. I'd like to share it.
The Tea Cup
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and the shop they visited had a beautiful teacup.
They said to the shop assistant, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it over to them, the teacup spoke suddenly."You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me, rolled me, patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'
"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said,"and suddenly I was spun around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'
Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'
Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better', I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'
Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'
Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and I couldn't believe it was me. 'It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'
'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any colour in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held.
Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.
Moral: God knows what He's doing for all of us. He is the potter and we are His clay. He will mould us so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfil His good, pleasing, and perfect will. Let this story remind you that God has a perfect plan for your life. He may need to place some obstacles in your life to strengthen your character, so that you may be strong in the days of greater adversity. Don't get discouraged when you feel like the heat of the struggle is going to burn you. God knows exactly when to pull you out and deliver you from that problem and when He does you will be much wiser and stronger than you were before. God knows your inner strength and ability to be strong even in the midst of a problem.
~Author Unknown~
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