Lost and Found

How can two of the most important things be lost in a small studio apartment?  I watch for them while unpacking and organizing.  A few months after moving all by myself and taking time to recover, I realized phone photos of container contents would have been a simple solution to my pathetic problem.

However, I am grateful for what I have found, including pills, food, my wife Kay’s journals, and my favorite paring knife.  With hindsight, lessons for future moves.  Finding my load is lighter with each “mission transfer”.

Consider what you learned from your moves.

To Learn More

January of last year, I had been listening to a public radio station, hearing commercial encouragement to, “Learn more at (whatever) dot com.”  (Posted about it.)  Now it’s still the thing — maybe more so.  “Information available at …”  What would life be like without the Internet and instant access?  (Really a rhetorical question.)

This year we can get a restaurant menu by scanning a QR (Quick Response) code on the table … instead of having a friendly waitress bring one with a smile and suggestions.  (The tip may be the same.)  Learn more about the deceased with QR codes adhered to cemetery markers.  Instead of printed information for instant reading on posters, it’s “in the cloud” via QR codes, now ubiquitous (everywhere) … to help us learn more … using a smartphone as usual.

FamilySearch Centers let you do it on Discover big screens to see ancestors, famous relatives, and facts about the year you were born.  It goes on … and discoveries are emailed to you.  Then ice cream may be served at the snack bar — one reason I will go to learn more.

Recharging

Are you old enough to remember personal devices that did not need recharging?  As a teenager I had a solar-powered transistor radio that only worked in the sun or artificial light.  Most of my life I enjoyed radios plugged into an electrical outlet (and had no Internet connection!)  In the 20th Century we had telephones cabled to a wall.  Until a few years ago, my favorite wristwatches ran on a battery that never died.  Starting with a “portable” in 1982, my computers were simply plugged into an outlet.  My wife Kay and I used disposable cameras for many years, being careful with our choice of subjects. 

Now it’s a challenge for me to keep everything recharged: my phone, watch, radio, laptop computer, Bluetooth headphone, desk lamp, flashlights, and camera (for a major project).  The list could go on.

More importantly, I need daily recharging physically, mentally, and spiritually.  Especially for Kay, recall our favorite place for renewal: Cannon Beach, Oregon Coast.  Exercise, rest, continuing education, service to others, prayer and scripture study work for me at home in Ogden.  Recharging should be so simple. 

Gratitude on Friday

Every day is full of miracles and blessings from Heavenly Father to help us endure and be happy.  Today goes way beyond the common “Thank goodness it’s Friday.”

Good Friday commemorates the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who atoned for all sins and pains of mankind, and died on the cross for us.  My eternal companion Kay & I are forever grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and for His Resurrection.  Because of Him, families are forever.  I deeply feel gratitude on this Friday.  We know Christ, The Lamb of God, lives and loves all of Heavenly Father’s children. 

Transcribed & Discarded

As assigned by Sister Johnson in personal history class at FamilySearch Center 2/28/24, I wrote a memory of school activity.  Discarding the handwritten scrap today, I decided to transcribe and post it for future digital reference.  ( I’ve done that with a few other scraps of paper since 2010.)

Lowell Elementary, where my father began his education, had huge playgrounds.  As a student there, I joined small groups of friends playing hopscotch, marbles, and baseball.  Bryant Junior High School and East High School were different.  I don’t recall seeing any playgrounds or sports at Bryant.  At East High, of course, I watched the amazing athletes and cheerleaders on the football field and basketball court.  I was lucky to count some of them as friends.

As a serious student, I was more into math and music — another story to write. 

Family history for Pi Day

As you know, the popular number pi is “… the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.”  — PiDay.org

Kay’s legendary fresh peach pie!

Grandmother Cannon’s gooseberry pie with plenty of sugar. 

Variety of pies at Hinckley Family Thanksgiving dinners.

( I could go on about my favorite pies.)

Our Kanab kids always celebrate special occasions including Pi Day … with its corresponding sweet treat.

Enjoy!

A Matter of Momentum

My favorite, like magic for my old age: running up and down stairs, two steps at a time.  Keeping up momentum that way since my youth.  Power walking — same effect.  My senior kick scooter, a Razor purchased three years ago, carefully going downhill, with momentum from gravity.  A new habit of rollerblading every Monday — my senior balance exercise, as I call it.

In junior high school, I did well in classes, but keeping up momentum for homework after walking miles uphill was a challenge for me.  My neighbor cousin, who walked home with me, wanted to get his done immediately.  David couldn’t relate to my procrastination.  Lingering at my house on his way home, he encouraged me to get started.  I’m grateful for his sacrificing some momentum to help a close friend improve.

The process of becoming a minimalist is served by momentum.  As I’ve previously confessed, overcoming OC collecting is a constant battle for me since a turnaround ten years ago.  I am happy to be blessed now with visible progress in this matter of momentum.

Listening to Love Too

A year ago on that special day, Tuesday the 14th, I was imagining how many love songs are repeated for Valentine’s Day.  Then I suggested imagining the sound of silence while “listening” to the love in your heart.  I still like to think one owns that music as something purely personal.

A favorite quote i often share:

“Music has power to provide spiritual nourishment. It has healing power.”

Daily Joy, p.31, c.2020, by Russell M. Nelson

A memory cherished today as in years past: my sweetheart Kay & I enjoyed many moments of silence while listening to love together.  We are blessed to own that ongoing experience ... without end.

Lifestyle Change

Everyone goes through it — maybe getting older, moving to a new place, changing jobs, getting married, or focusing on service to others.  Lifestyle change is likely evident in your journal and personal history I hope you are writing. 

My lifestyle changed dramatically when I moved from The HR “independent living” last fall to a younger community downtown.  I became much more independent, lost 10 lbs, worked more, walked less, slept more, ate less, read more, talked less, and took up rollerblading.  Having made the change, I can devote more time to family and writing my book this year.  

Loving life.

Then there is life after death … without a physical body until resurrection; free from pain; possessing all intelligence gained during earthly life; together again with loved ones who have passed on.  That is a lifestyle change my wife Kay is enjoying, to which we can all look forward.

Her Enduring Influence

There is no end to my eternal wife’s loving influence on our family, friends, and this older man.  At age 18 my neighbor, Kay Hinckley, had served a three-year mission in Canada.  She was an officer at East High School, held a job at the University of Utah, and enjoyed a calling in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Outgoing Kay had unforgettable, positive influence on her amazing circles of friends, family, neighbors, and strangers.  Being the youngest of eight children, she helped her parents stay young (sometimes adding to their gray hairs).  A life filled with adventure!

Also a returned missionary, I was years older than Kay, but years behind her socially and in other ways.  However, she must have seen potential in me for improvement when we started dating as classmates in Music Appreciation at the “U”.  I was privileged to experience Kay’s love for life and her love for all that God offers to His children.  Her students in English classes were blessed by that, many continuing to be so inspired.  Sister Cannon also made long-lasting impressions where we served in the Michigan Detroit Mission.  The lives of our five children clearly reflect their mother’s positive influence.  And Kay’s beauty, famously with her engaging smile, also has me … “let me count the ways” .… forever falling in love.  

When the personal history of Kay Hinckley Cannon is written, a main theme throughout will be her loving, enduring influence on us all.  It will be a history influenced by Kay … with no end. 

Spanish Copies

Speeding up and slowing down — I see improvement in both when reading a Spanish copy of the Book of Mormon, an ancient record Joseph Smith translated by the gift and power of God.  Having read the book in English many times since my youth, I find the Spanish easy to understand now as I pick up the pace.  However, slowing down is more important to me in my old age, so I can receive new impressions about repeated truths and take precious moments to ponder.  Slowing down also helps me look up unfamiliar words and increase my vocabulary.  In particular, my study of Spanish verb conjugations in Argentina continues to pay back.  And just like that, it came to pass (y así aconteció); I am grateful (estoy agradecido).

Reading magazines published in Spanish by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also helps me learn and retain.  (The pictures are still my favorite part.)  And I see more bilingual, English-Spanish signage and printed material everywhere — educational for me and helpful for the Hispanic population of Ogden.  (My iPhone photo album set apart for that is filling up.)

I love the language — even better when combined with a little fast food.

Recalling Radio

In my early youth, a regular was Mother’s KWHO classical radio, especially Saturday afternoon Metropolitan Opera.  Great music had a lasting influence on me.  Around age 10, I recall hearing Patti Page (1927-2013) on our kitchen radio — probably Dad’s musical preference.  In 7th grade I was lucky to have my own radio to hear Nat King Cole (1919-1965) sing “Stardust”.  (Guess I was a romantic type at that young age.)  My bedtime view of the big-city lights combined with that 1927 song (Cole first recorded in 1956) formed a special memory.  I was also blessed with a solar-powered transistor radio my father gave me, which worked well at poolside while studying for school — seriously.

Country western music played a role in a favorite sales job, where my young boss kept us workers going all day with his radio station.  He must have known the customers liked it.  I learned the value of diversity in music tastes.  My medium-size Sony boombox served me for many years of recording radio to cassette tape, even with a broken antenna.  (We’ve come a long way since then.)  Years later I enjoyed a driving job (525 miles per day) with Sirius XM satellite-based radio … and got paid by the hour for listening to music and talk.

What was your favorite device or program?  And how is your playlist this year?

Classical 89 (a BYU radio station) on the Internet has been a great comfort to me, especially when I hear music my best friend Kay & I studied together for our class at the “U”.  Now using Bluetooth headphone, I also hear that uplifting music with fun commentary on WQXR New York and WRCJ Detroit radio stations.  I love how it purely cancels traffic and neighbor noise without my talking to a smart speaker.  Lastly, a bit of KSL NewsRadio talk once a week is always informative.  As I recall, radio never disappeared into history — it’s alive and well.

Peaceable Walk

Walking with my sweetheart Kay on sands of Cannon Beach, Oregon; sight & sounds of surf.

The Sacred Grove, New York, alone with Kay. 

Finding peace with Kay and our son Quinn at Ogden Botanical Gardens.

Strolling Ogden temple grounds with neighbors. 

Fun with Katie and kids on mountain hikes; “life elevated” on Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Walks with young families in Kanab red rock and Prescott National Forest.

The apartment halls and nearby McKay-Dee Hospital campus with Norma (92-year-old power walker), our friend since 2004 at Colonial Court.

Ogden City’s Glasmann Pond with my friend Jay (95) and Misha, the young Engage Life Coordinator who has gone on to different employment, sad to say.  (Missing her!)

Legacy Gold Medal Mile, as if alone — not really.

Walking peaceably with nature, family, and friends — good for the body, heart, mind, and spirit.  Always grateful to God for His creation and other blessings … with love.

Let personal peace prevail.