“Battery exhausted”

My personal electronic devices are so smart, warning me to recharge. Before shutting down after working a few hours, they have just enough energy to alert, “Battery exhausted.”  As a user, I quickly respond.  At the end of the day (or a night’s work,) I too can feel it.  As an aging human, I recognize the need, but struggle to recharge myself – response not so quick.

Solar, grid, and car power do it for them.  Sleep, food, change of activity, prayer, reading, and good music re-energize me; (Google defines the verb: “give fresh vitality, enthusiasm, or impetus to.”)

One of my favorite movies is Chariots of Fire (1981.)

[In the UK] "... determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory ..."  – Google.
As a guest and athlete in Paris, Liddell delivers a Sunday sermon at church during the Olympic Games, quoting from Isaiah 40:29-31.

"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Memory Prompts on Mother’s Day

I miss my parents; today I especially miss my mother.  After they both passed on, my older sister lovingly organized things for distribution as the eldest daughter traditionally does.  To us siblings and spouses, she wrote about the upcoming family gathering and included a detailed list of “Parents’ Belongings Distributed” and “Inventory Items to be Distributed.”  I share a few in hopes of prompting memories of Mother on this special day.  I quote:

Set of Dicken’s books, set of blue Shakespeare books, and misc. antique books.

Cloth hanging birthday calendar from pantry door (gift from Kay.)

Llama rug from [CRT] condo entryway (from Ned’s mission.)

Swiss “house” music box.

Stones from Jerusalem inside inlaid box.

Two black fancy hand purses formerly belonging to [her mother and maybe her maternal grandmother.]

Misc. porcelain flowers, nut cups …

Antique wood chair with needlepoint “panda” seat.

Small wood standing “sewing cabinet” with fold-open top doors.

Carved African wood canoe with rowers.

Hummel figurines.

Carved olivewood Nativity set from Bethlehem with log backdrop.
Two paintings of Nauvoo (from condo dining area.)

African letter opener …

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

The hanging “red apple” decoration which Mama kept on the condo front door; (I didn’t dare throw it out in case someone like a grandchild is nostalgic about it!)

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

We know it’s not 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.

Kay & Ned surrounded by parents and grandparents

The Junk Drawer

Firstly, it's a misnomer (defined by Google as "a wrong or inaccurate name or designation.")  Things in junk drawers are not junk – that’s why they are kept for future use.  Junk, being useless, gets thrown in the garbage.

Secondly, the essential beauty and functionality of a junk drawer is freedom from organization.  Amazon.com offers a multitude of junk-drawer organizers.  I see four problems with those:

1. If organized, it's out of character and not a true junk drawer. 

2. Things want to be quickly thrown into junk drawers without thoughtful consideration as to which compartment is most suitable.

3. Reduced capacity.

4. Waste of money.

The best place for a junk drawer is the kitchen, which is the center of life as we know it.  Second-best is the shop in the garage or basement.  For convenience, I recommend maintaining a JD in both places.  The ultimate junk drawer for hardware was a shallow box on my dad's shop bench in the basement on Northcrest Drive.  As the center of attention, it rarely failed to produce just what a teenage man needed.  Dad and I relied on that priceless collection; (luckily out-of-sight, out-of-mind for my mother.) So that's where I was forever sold on the true, productive concept.

No use listing what may be stored in a junk drawer – mainly miscellaneous, little things that may come in handy someday; (I could add a pic of mine for example, but it would not be a pretty sight.)  Use your imagination, feel free, and kindly advise family members to resist the temptation to organize or discard items in junk drawers.  It happened in my shop once, and life was never the same after that. 

When your spouse says, “Look in the junk drawer,” as Kay did the other day, you know exactly where to go with confidence.  Enjoy the comforting feeling from having every needful thing, right where it belongs.

Box hockey game I made in Northcrest shop (The Improvement Era 3/65)

Easter Morning

I recall an Easter message delivered in General Conference of April 2007, titled "The Things of Which I Know."  Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said this as he testified of our Savior, Jesus Christ:

"On Golgotha He gave His life, crying out, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do' (Luke 23:34). His body was tenderly laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea. But three days later, on that first Easter morning, the tomb was emptied. Mary of Magdala spoke to Him, and He spoke to her. He appeared to His Apostles. He walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And, we are told, He was seen by some 500 others (see 1 Corinthians 15:6).  …  Mortality is but a stepping-stone to a more glorious existence in the future. The sorrow of death is softened with the promise of the Resurrection."  (lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/...)

I also know of these things.  On this Easter morning, I am eternally grateful to God for these truths.

All About Reaching Out

Seems to me, the term has been used more often in the last year than before.  Must be natural now for texting and e-mailing on smartphones. 
I imagine “reaching out” happened in our premortal life, and surely when Eve approached Adam; but when did we start using the English-language words “reach out” to communicate it?  Does the term have a different meaning than “get in touch” or contact?

One urbandictionary.com answer, to be taken with understanding of the source: “This has become the new cliché for yuppie types or any pseudo-intellectual types … that think it sounds special.”

Another with obvious, personal bias: “A sort of sweet-talking, cliche [cliché] term used by … employers to give you the impression they have some particular vested emotional interest in helping you …”

(Whatever4947484646486 April 17, 2012)

More enlightening: Quora.com/Why-do-people-use-the-term-reach-out…

"The best answer to any question"

Diction and Word Usage, Phrases, Jargon, English (language) ...

Q: Why ...?

A: "reach out used to have the sense of attempting to contact someone who is extremely reluctant to be contacted . Lately, people use it to simply mean contact someone you either don't know or haven't talked to in a while.

The old meaning of reach out is best demonstrated in the Four Tops song 'Reach Out (I'll be There)'  [1966 – see dailymotion.com/video/..., and wish we had as much energy!]

The new meaning can be heard in just about any HR department:

We reached out to Tyrone Slothrop about working at Yoyodyne."

Another A: Jeff Wright, "Multiperspectivalist and native speaker of some American English Dialect," reaches out to clarify with this simple response: "To get to the bottom of this question would be a suitable PhD topic for Sociolinguistics. Even so, a definitive and singular answer will be elusive because word usage is a result of the interplay of many factors, both personal and social.  ...  The way language works in a culture is quite analogous to the way consciousness works in the brain -- a large number of possible meanings are present in the pre-conscious and then condensed to have the appearance of a single unitary construct. ...  Several of the answers express revulsion for the phrase because of its use in corporate marketing starting in the 1970's.  ..." 

(So ...... that's how it works.  Now I get it.)

I suspect “… Reaching Out” is still a work in progress while I get in touch with more answers.

Romantic, "forever" outreach at Albert Dock, Liverpool, England

Reaching out to beloved dog K... 20 Feb 2014

Many meters of outstanding outreach in UK, Aug 2015

She reaches out with graceful, loving drumming.

About Phi on Pi Day

When the library book first caught my eye, “… the Story of Phi” had me thinking "pi" (pronounced pie, like my favorite – Kay's fresh peach pie.)  Yes, today is officially Pi Day (famous ratio = 3.14…) with bakeries, Pizza Pie Café, and others offering deals on comfort food I love.  And yes, I do get carried away with the thought ...

However, I wanted to post the relatively unknown phi (pronounced fee or fai/fie) – “the world’s most astonishing number,” according to author Mario Livio.  Phi is commonly used to denote the number 1.61803…, known as The Golden Ratio (Livio’s book title, ©2002.)  As interchangeable names, he also uses Golden Section and Golden Number.  Livio explains that the Golden Ratio is an irrational number, meaning it “cannot be expressed as a fraction (as a rational number) …”  It’s mathematical, but it amazingly applies to art, architecture, botany, photography, human anatomy, psychology, musical instrument design, and order in the universe.  He quotes Pablo Picasso, “Painting isn’t an aesthetic operation; it’s a form of magic designed as a mediator between this strange hostile world and us.”

The book is an astonishing tour of world history as it relates to mathematics and phi.  With meticulous detail, it reinforces my personal conviction that real beauty in this world is by divine design to please mankind.

Entrance to the Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve, an unusual wetland.

Little List for Little Boy

He was short for an 8-year-old – helpless against the gang of small-town bullies and his older brother.  To make it worse, his loving dad and great protector was forced to leave for WWII battle against the Japanese.  A caring priest gave little Pepper an "ancient list" to teach him how to be powerful through faith in God.  In the movie “Little Boy” (2015) it seemed to work, of course.

Ebert's all-seeing Christy Lemire and other professionals provided perceptive, scathing reviews.  (Google defines scathing as “witheringly scornful; severely critical; synonyms: devastating, biting, cutting, searing.”)  Kay and I were fortunate to enjoy watching "Little Boy" on Netflix last night before I had my eyes opened by a big anti-faith know-it-all.

Regardless of the film's supposed failure to properly entertain fellow Americans, I see power in the short list:

Feed the hungry

Shelter the homeless

Visit those in prison

Clothe the naked

Visit the sick

Bury the dead

Befriend __________  [an enemy]