Facebook Page Too

So far this year, I've taken a break from Facebook while moving from Bountiful to Ogden.  Having just enjoyed two days of General Conference, I visited Facebook for related posts by family and friends.  ( I recalled it’s a valuable tool often used by my older generation.)

In my two-minute visit, I loved a powerful post by my niece’s return-missionary son (handsome in his suit) who attended Conference in SLC yesterday.  Then I reconnected with an old friend my age I’ve known since young boyhood, who loves General Conference as I do.  (The talks give me positive momentum.)  A sweet group photo of Kay’s teacher friends was like icing on the cake.  I felt satisfied despite missing many wonderful posts. 

I wrote the following four years ago on April 4, 2018:

“Some leaders of our ward (congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) wisely use Facebook here in Roseville, Michigan.  As full-time missionaries, my wife Kay and I recently started using it [more] frequently to keep in touch with a few family members, friends, and Detroit mission associates.  Facebook is one of many ways we share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  ...  Now every week ... I see at a glance what's happening in the ward, the Church worldwide, our society, and the marketplace ...  And not to be forgotten: extended family and old friends – like what they think, share, and do.”

Tech Tuesdays

Independent living here in our Ogden apartments includes a variety of community activities designed for physical and mental health ... and fun!  For example, today I learned how to play Wii Golf.  Yesterday our young activities director asked me to help with her new series called Tech Tuesday, a weekly workshop to share technical solutions with residents.  (Tuesday April 5th, she moved it to Monday for a better fit; so we changed the name — OK by me, as I go with the flow.)

This should be interesting ... and fun, not frustrating.  Our lively, 91-year-young neighbor Norma agreed to help me teach email using a PC laptop; she’s a power walker and talker whom everyone admires.  (The same may be said of my companion Kay, who continues sharing on the other side ... with love.)

Sister Kay Cannon, 22 Aug 2017

office training, MTC Provo

RootsTech Tidbits

Since 2011, every year around this time, we participate in RootsTech, the worldwide family history and technology conference organized by FamilySearch International.  March 3-5 this year was the second all-virtual, free conference.  (February 26-29, 2020 was the last one held in the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.  I returned to Ogden by train that Saturday afternoon for my wife Kay’s 17th birthday celebration, where we connected with family and friends.  Two grand events in one day!)

The theme for RootsTech this year was Choose Connection, introduced by an amazing music video that made me smile every time I watched it.  We also saw videos of projects conducted by FamilySearch in countries around the world.  A fascinating session was led by the head of the International Council on Archives (ICA), about  “making humanity’s memory accessible.”  Several innovative organizations taught the importance of storytelling and preservation.  Conference content is archived and available for reviewing later. 

I was instructed and inspired to work on our family projects ... and choose connection.

One Day of Two

Here at our Ogden apartments, we celebrated this Tuesday of two’s: 2/22/22.  The new activity director, a fun-loving young woman, showed up in a light-blue, romantic-style tutu skirt with colorful paper 2’s all over it — so charming!  She kept up the whirling pace of serving round tables in the dining room and directing brain games in the activity room, confident as a ballerina.

This “Two-sday” reminded me of a couple — my sweetheart Kay & me.  The Q&A game I played tonight with neighbors asked the question, “What would you consider as a most romantic gift?”  That one was easy for me — “a vacation at Cannon Beach, Oregon” ... just the two of us.

What does “two” mean to you?

Frustration Breakers

Reflections prompted by the hyphenated word, frustration-breaker, found in Desert Companion 2/2022 issue:

After slow progress scanning and discarding historical material yesterday, I was frustrated.  Barely scratched the surface of all I need to do.  So, I joined the happy, Friday-night crowd skating at Bountiful Ice Ribbon — pocket change compared to the cost of night skiing I’ve done.  It broke my work frustration alright, and I didn’t fall.  

Last fall, my kick-scooter rides to our Bountiful Veterans Park were a frustration breaker (an open compound word like dinner table, for example).  I often went out around 9 or 10 at night to see the park features lit up and flags flying in mountain breeze.  The awesome scene and veterans’ names inspired me.

Throughout the last 24 months, nurturing love for my wife Kay and keeping an attitude of gratitude were great ways to break frustration.  Friendships and slowing down in my old age helped me as well.  I find value and relief in reflections.

Tracks on the other side

A few of my tremendous track memories:

Summer nights in bed on Second Avenue, hearing trains on the other side of town.

Riding with my grandfather to watch trains on multiple tracks by 400 West Street, SLC.

Watching my new model train come around the side of our 8-foot Christmas tree.

Feeling our townhouse shake as freight trains rolled on the other side of our Clearfield fence.  (My wife Kay was not so thrilled.)

High above old Mountain Green, hearing trains on the other side of Morgan Valley.

Biking along train tracks to the station near my end of Ogden River Parkway. 

Deciding which side of FrontRunner platforms would get me on the right train.  I stood by the track on the other side only once — brain fog.

Winter nights in downtown Ogden, waking up to hear trains on the other side of Wall Avenue.  I opened my studio window for more volume and a breath of fresh air. 

Just one way I keep track of my life by writing memories.  Someday I will remember them all with my sweetheart Kay by my side.

Month of History

February focus on history:

When my wife, Kay Hinckley, was born in February, I was three years old and able to speak one word, “cookie!”  In February 1968, Kay was serving a three-year mission with her parents and two older sisters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  I was in my second month of missionary training in the Provo Utah LTM, learning Spanish for my assignment to the Argentina North Mission.  In February 2017, Kay & I decided to sell our frontier home in preparation to serve a senior couple mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Also of interest to our family: “Black History Month honors the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history.  ... became a month-long celebration in 1976. The month of February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.”  — history.com

This month is a great time to write personal history and learn more family history.  I’m also reminded to read a book I bought about Lincoln, a favorite president who helped change the course of U.S. history.