At Home With Music

Staying home since March 2020, working at home this year, and loving home as a community — all have been elevated with music.  My patient wife Kay understands.

Classical music helps me be productive. 

Friday 4/17/1pm I enjoyed Ravel while proofreading for Florida.
I suggested to our daughter ... good music to inspire kids doing artwork or creative writing in home school — especially during beautiful, slow Adagio... movement of Ravel's 
Piano Concerto in G major

with Alice Sara Ott. 

Tues. 3/10/2020, Found a favorite from my former (YSA) piano repertoire: Debussy, Rêverie

March-May 2020, pondering at home, needing music to match my mood: Sergei Prokofiev, 
Romeo and Juliet (Suite)

Call of the Champions - John Williams conducting 

The Tabernacle Choir and The Orchestra at Temple Square, 
SLC Utah (“Life Elevated”)

grandson performing on our Cannon frontier piano

Peaceful Walk and Talk

Taking the remainder of the day off was the perfect plan.  This Memorial Day afternoon, I enjoyed a casual walk with a daughter and granddaughter to the Ogden City Cemetery.  We found our Rich ancestors’ monuments and markers, and a famous pioneer’s grave.  With perfect weather, loving young people, sweet recollections, and Dark Chocolate Oreos, I felt at peace.

We talked about my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  I am not a great storyteller, but it felt good to share a few memories I treasure.  The peaceful walk with loved ones surrounded by beautiful flowers, helped me feel close to my sweetheart Kay.  Better than I do now, she knows many who have passed, and likely shares stories about Hinckley and Cannon adventures.  Our Kay has a gift for making people smile.  I know — she helps me smile every day.

Real Vacations

Today was a boring staycation for me, “... involving day trips to local attractions” like Cut Hut and Deseret Book, in preparation for a little vacation (not far away).  Close friends were informed I was “mentally gone” — a key element.  I slept in, got a haircut (scary mask required), did the shopping and mailing, paid a bill online, and enjoyed a siesta — all on my simple to-do list.  How fun is that?

Not satisfied with staying at home in perilous times, adventurous folks are now going on virtual vacations without risk, in the comfort of PJs; (Google knows hundreds of possibilities, I noticed).  Being older, having seen enough already, I like to recall real vacations my wife Kay and I enjoyed together.  Some of the most memorable trips were with our children — getaways planned by their adventurous mother.  For real — I’m not making this up!

As a sampling ( I could write a book), just a few:

Disneyland ... via bus with extended family; (cousins remember Aunt Kay leading the singing)

Grand Canyon and Yellowstone with our youngest boy on a leash

Little Sahara Recreation Area — sand dunes near Jericho Utah, where Kay’s brother hauled a rented dune buggy for the big family to enjoy, and we tried to sleep in my dad’s Springbar tent
Arches National Park, camping with kids the first night beside the busy highway
Several trips to historic Nauvoo ... (my mother wrote the book)
Best cruise of a lifetime: scenic Inside Passage to Alaska (only adult siblings and spouses on that one — children missed an adventure)
New England, just the two of us — unforgettable!

FH Photos — Happy/Sad

Learning something new about people every day, I heard a young friend feels sad when she sees pictures of loved ones who have passed.  A joyful Christian who believes in life after death, she cannot tolerate the sadness felt when seeing photos of her ancestors who are (in her words) “no longer with us.”  The same applies to pics of deceased family members of her close friends.  Family history, I call it.

So, it’s possible some others similarly feel sad when I am happy to review images of those who are missed.  What do you think?  I learn to be more sensitive to others’ feelings and understand different views.  With regard to that, let caution and patience prevail.  I see additional need for promptings from the Spirit to avoid disturbing.

For years on this blog, I have been posting photos of our loved ones who have passed, especially my forever companion Kay, who brings me joy every day.  Seeing her smile brings back happy memories that help me love life and look forward to our reunion on the other side.  She and others we love are still with us in spirit, not far away.  I am grateful for their influence and Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness.  Family history — how are we doing it?

Memories for Mother’s Day

A review of previous posts for Mother’s Day brought sweet memories to share.  I am eternally grateful for my angel wife Kay, for her parents, and for my parents.  They all sacrificed so much for our children and me ... with love.

Mother's Heavenly Music (5/11/2014)

Somehow she must have known what it would do to me.  ... a frequent warm feeling of gratitude when I hear great classical music.

Memory Prompts on Mother’s Day (5/8/2016)
I miss my parents; today I especially miss my mother.  After they both passed on, my older sister lovingly organized things for distribution ...   I share a few in hopes of prompting memories of Mother ...

Two paintings of Nauvoo 

African letter opener …

Old [portable] typewriter in black case.  [A special granddaughter lovingly received it.]

...

There are a lot of smaller … “treasures” which could be shared with the grandchildren for mementos.

We know it isn’t leftover things that matter most, but memories are so precious.  I thank Heavenly Father for my amazing mother, who continues to care for and help guide the family.  Her saving mission goes on.  Like great music she led me to crave, my mother keeps giving with love.

Grandma Kay, loving twin grandsons

Five

How special is the number five?

Thinking about five on this fifth day of the fifth month, I am reminded of the human body, divinely designed with five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot.  Five senses help us survive and enjoy life: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.  (Who knows what our five senses will do for us in life on the other side?)

My wife Kay & I are blessed with five children, who are all amazing adults.  Three daughters-in-law and two sons-in-law make a total of five loving spouses.  They definitely deserve an exuberant, virtual “high five”!

Words of inspiration are received in five sessions of every worldwide General Conference.  Also in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we learn from five works of scripture, including the Old and New Testaments contained in the Holy Bible , and the Book of Mormon — Another Testament of  Jesus Christ.  We know that the prophet Moses was the author of five books that bear his name: “The First Book of Moses called Genesis” through “The Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy” in the Authorized King James Version.

Although I try not to dwell on fast food, we can’t forget Five Guys (made-to-order ... plus free peanuts), a favorite of the young elders in our Michigan Detroit Mission (2018).  In fact, I plan to visit Five Guys in The Junction, a leisurely five-minute walk from Farr Better Ice Cream across the street from me.  (Would you eat a cool dessert first or last?)

Hey, give me five!

May We Meet in May?

Here I am, “staying home” in Ogden, the city we love.  My sweetheart Kay & I enjoyed the simple life here in Colonial Court Apartments from 2005 to 2009, followed by home ownership again.  Taming the Layton frontier was a challenge for eight years until we sold to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  In November 2018, returning home to a studio apartment and the simple life was a natural choice for me, as my wife Kay’s mission was extended to the other side.  We are blessed to know that life continues at home for both of us and our family.

Throughout 2019, my favorite meeting places away from home were Crown Burgers and Rio Grande Cafe in downtown Salt Lake City.  Conveniently located near FrontRunner train stations, they provided a pleasing place to meet with SLC friends and family without my fighting the freeway.  The food was fantastic ... and fast.  Sadly (it should go without saying), they have been closed for two months because of pandemic guidelines.

The Ogden FamilySearch Center and our spacious CCA “front room”, where we comfortably entertained guests and neighbors until those social places were locked “to keep us safe”, should be open again for gatherings this summer ... or next May.  Meanwhile, my favorite meeting places are the curb in front by the temple and the parking lot at Farr Better Ice Cream across the street.  Both are conducive to sharing comfort food, an essential element every day now.

May we meet this month at Farr’s ... or even sit down in Even Stevens Sandwiches nearby?  Can we foresee a new normal in May — dining in Sonora Grill, reading in the library, and browsing in Deseret Book across the street?  We expect to wait another month or two for churches, temples, and FamilySearch Centers to open.  That will be the day for some heavenly get-togethers.