Smart Philosophy

Required reading (as background for this) is my April 2012 post titled: EMC Pioneer “Blogger”.  “Our friend and neighbor for 15 years, Rowland Smart, was a legend in his own time, and we loved him dearly.  …  'Rowly' was nearly 90 years old, a WWII (Europe) and Korean War veteran, good Christian …”

In honor of the valiant veterans and members of our military on this Memorial Day, I share excerpts from Brother Smart’s three-page monthly message dated October 29, 1991, found in my manila file folder labeled "Smart Philosophy".  This one was originally word processed by an unknown assistant to Smart; spelling and language are preserved as typewritten, except one four-letter word repeated:

“During the Fall and Winter of 1943-44 when I was assigned to the 247th Radar and Searchlight Battalion, our outfit was Camp Davis North Carolina.  This camp was an anti-aircraft training center for training officers for the U.S. Army.  …  I can say one thing, it was real tough and hard doing 90 days of training both mentally and physically.  …  I used to say to myself.  BOY!  Is it worth the h _ _ _ they took to be an officer?  …  I was the communications Sargent in our outfit.  I saw to it that the 600 miles of wire was layed right and worked, and that the command posts and headquarter’s post were wired and the switchboards were installed.  …  We had swamps, rivers, and highways to get around or cross over.  …  when you get into combat, there are so many telephone wire lines that it is like a spider web on both sides of every road …  It was fun to get away and be on our  own.  It is like being in combat, but not being shot at.  …  We had night missions … they lasted from dark until about one in the morning.  …  down to the camp called Scears Landing … where we shot at towed targets pulled by a plane.  …  We furnished the big 60 inch searchlights that had a range of 30,000 feet, about 6 miles.  We furnished the big 268 radars that had a range from horizon to horizon.  …  When we left Camp Davis, we went to Camp Stewart Georgia and then to Camp Gordon for advanced infantry training and from there to Germany to combat as foot soldiers.  …  It was different now I was just a regular old “doe boy” foot soldier, hoping to get home in one piece and not in a coffin or part of me left over there in that h _ _ _ hole of a country where it never seems to quit raining or snowing.     I want to thank God that I got home safe and sound and all in one piece!”      – Rowland Smart

EMC Pioneer “Blogger”

The monthly messages would have made an extraordinary blog.

Our friend and neighbor for 15 years, Rowland Smart, was a legend in his own time, and we loved him dearly.  “Rowly” (or “Rowley”) was the only living early-settler “pioneer” I’ve known.  A great area in which to raise our five children in the 1980’s, East Mill Creek (three words, according to early inhabitants Kay and I knew) still had pockets of rural pioneer life, look and feel.  The most obvious was the Smart property on 39th South (SLC), where the owner, Rowland Smart, lived in the old white frame house he was raised in.  Kay and I were privileged to enjoy Rowly’s friendship, and to feel welcome in his home.  Entering it was like time travel back to the late 1800’s.

Rowly was nearly 90 years old, a WWII (Europe) and Korean War veteran, good Christian, never married, had no children, but frequently shared his sage advice on marriage and parenting.  This down-to-earth farmer was also generous with his garden produce and other gifts delivered in his old repainted blue pickup truck.

A regular gift was Brother Smart’s monthly written message, often in his unique cursive writing (on backs of used paper) for me to type up (correcting numerous misspellings while preserving his special “voice”).  Many were already typed by other helpers, and photocopied for friends.  As I recall, most were personal experiences – true (we believed) stories from his amazing life.  I still have them in Grandfather’s file cabinet (my OCH) and on floppy disks (right) for possible publication.

I have a feeling Rowly would approve of my sharing excerpts from his monthly “blog”.

The 1940 Census

Having heard it's coming soon, I checked Ancestry.com for news about the 1940 Census.  (I'm excited about family history!)

"The 1940 Census is coming April 2, 2012. 
The 72-year wait is over.  On April 1, 1940, there were 132,164,569 people living in America. And today, 87 percent of Americans can find a direct family link to one – or more – of them.
When the 1940 U.S. Federal Census is opened to the public this April, you’ll have a window into every one of those 132 million lives. Their names, where they lived, who shared their house, even where they were five years earlier.  And that’s just for starters.
Where do you think your family was living on census day, April 1, 1940?"
--- www.ancestry.com/1940-census

Kindle: Please See Ads!

For two weeks now, my ad-friendly Amazon Kindle e-reader has been prompting me while turned off (Kindle, not I):  "Please connect wirelessly to download the latest Special Offers."

So I have at least two choices here: 1. Drive for miles with Kindle to the library or McDonald's in town for Wi-Fi, since I don't frequent Starbucks 
( I can make my own hot chocolate here --cheaper).  2. Go to my basement, disconnect my cable Internet, connect it to my wireless router, turn it on, and wait for the router to establish communication with the worldwide whatever.  Valuable, attractive offers then download to Kindle in about two seconds --amazing.  What would you do if you could not wait any longer for advertising?

I actually like the ads, and jokingly tell people I would've paid extra to get the Kindle version that offers advertising.  Luckily I got it for a lower price than our friends who paid more for the ad-free Kindle.  What about color?  No, it’s not the model that’s on fire in the marketplace, but I love my black-and-white e-ink display for reading, and see no reason for me to pay more for color.  In fact, Kay and I love classic B&W movies, and recently enjoyed "The Artist" as well; (who would've imagined a B&W silent film could win Academy Awards in the 21st century?)

Going back to hot chocolate: If I’m lucky, Kindle will offer half-price on Starbucks’ Double …  [2/27/12 review:] "Your Hot Chocolate (Double Chocolate) is like getting a big warm hug on a cold morning!"  [I'd love both!]  [1/20/12 review:] "Perfect for setting by the fire and watching it snow outside."  [He/she probably meant "sitting", as opposed to placing the drink by the fire.]  -- reviews.starbucksstore.com

Now my morning chocolate break is over, and I haven’t even drunk any.

our daughter's car buried in NE Pennsylvania

"They're Gonna Wanna Know"

Yesterday I heard a national financial news reporter repeat the phrase several times until it perked my interest.  The point was that investors will want to know more about online-review service Yelp Inc., which plans a $100-million IPO (initial public offering) (per WSJ online), before they risk their money buying shares of stock -- (like I'm "gonna wanna know" if any GOP candidate can defeat Pres. Obama in the election.)  I'm also "gonna wanna know" (pause for a breath ...) what are the American people and their elected representatives who are working hard at playing politics … thinking (or failing to think)?!!  

As I read today’s Standard-Examiner front-page headline "Aubree Jo's Law stalls", I couldn’t wait (and didn’t want to dwell on another non-fast-food topic) to combine it with the above, which is related in a minor (no pun intended) way.  As reported fairly by Loretta Park, the bill which passed the Utah House unanimously “on Feb. 14, states that courts cannot discriminate in a custody dispute based on gender, race, ethnicity or religion.”  A “concern came out of the blue” (I wouldn’t use that figure of speech in this case), so they are working on a nice compromise.  “California has a similar bill, … but has expanded the word gender …”  It appears the Utah Senate must either delete the word from the bill, or legally define the word to be more inclusive, and avoid a future problem.

My 1998 Merriam-Webster Dictionary has two definitions of gender:  1. any of two or more divisions within a grammatical class that determine agreement with and selection of other words or grammatical forms.  [The other appears to be, but really isn’t simpler:] 2. sex.

Maybe the M-W editorial committee saw the writing on the wall 15 years ago, and decided not to expand that second definition, recognizing our changing culture.  (I’m almost afraid to look at the 2012 edition to see how “progressive” it is.)  I’m thinking we will eventually have three sets of definitions to cover the English language: traditional, legal, and this-is-life-now (the-only-constant-is-change) set.  I wrote about language change 11/30/11, as I see it happening every day. 

Enough of that heavy fare -- let’s lighten up!

Primary Purpose

To share a little personal history: I remember Mother playing the organ for our weekday (3:30 Wed.?) Primary meeting in the historic Twentieth Ward chapel.  I was probably around six to eight years old, and felt proud that my mother had such talent and prominence in the church.   Besides the music, my only other memory of that Primary is sitting in an upstairs classroom, hearing stories of prophets and Jesus.

My favorite songs were "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus" and "I think When I Read That Sweet Story" (about Jesus and the children); I still love them.  On that subject, Kay loves her calling as Primary song leader, but her favorite job was Primary president in East Mill Creek when our children were young.

“The Organization of the Primary” (from the August 2009 Friend magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

“Many years ago, Aurelia Spencer Rogers, a mother of 12 children, was worried about the neighborhood boys. [Sound familiar?] ... Sister Rogers decided to speak with Sister Eliza R. Snow, the Relief Society general president. Together, Sister Rogers and Sister Snow decided to create an organization called Primary. President John Taylor suggested that boys and girls attend. The first day of Primary was held on Sunday, August 25, 1878, in the Farmington Rock Chapel in Utah. There were 215 children there. Today, 131 years later, more than one million children from all over the world belong to Primary. The main purpose of Primary is to teach children the gospel of Jesus Christ. …”  -- lds.org/...history+of+primary

One of my favorite jobs in the church was nursery assistant when our youngest daughter was in it; (not just because we got treats --cheese and crackers, cookies, etc.)  There were unforgettable spiritual rewards from nurturing and teaching the littlest ones about our Savior.

“A Tasty Literary Dish"

Opening one of several copies of our Cannon history book this morning, I made two discoveries: (by pure luck of the draw?) it happens to be my personal copy given to me by my Cannon grandparents, with a full-page note written by them to me in 1968; and inside the cover was the pre-publication advertising flyer with Mother’s editing marks penciled on it (always trying to improve, even after publication).  The Cannon Family Historical Treasury, copyright 1967 by George Cannon Family Association, was a work of love by a number of dedicated writers and editors, including my mother.  It is truly a treasure, worth far more than the deluxe hardcover pre-edition cost of $3.75 per copy; (the price soared to $4.95 after publication.)

The folded, legal-size flyer has the usual section with comments by prominent people (“What they’re saying about the book”), including this one by Winnifred Cannon Jardine, Deseret News Food Editor (need I say why it caught my eye?):

“This 400-page, beautifully-illustrated book has all the ingredients for a tasty literary dish – romance, intrigue, conflict, and humor, plus high inspiration.  It should be a bestseller.”

It was!