A Week of Thanksgiving

The past seven days have been abundant – full of blessings -- in more ways than I can describe.  So I name just a few.  My sweetheart Kay and I thoroughly enjoyed :

1) a piano recital feast in the Kaysville Tabernacle, by a world-famous concert pianist

2) Thanksgiving dinner with most (27) of the family in our cozy frontier home; (the antithesis of fast food, although Kay rushed me through third helpings, to join the family program); note: Kay is absolutely the best cook, and did most of the work – she is so amazing!!

3) freedom from Black-Friday (and Thursday-night) madness, as retailer discounts didn’t  budge us one bit, or two bits (= 25 cents)

4) sleeping late Saturday morning, fortunately missing the 6 a.m. second tsunami of sales

5) the annual Kaysville Nativity Celebration at the Kaysville Tabernacle and cultural hall, full of artistic international displays of nativity scenes and music

6) a senior-siblings get-together at Kay’s sister Susan’s gorgeous home in the land of Bountiful, with an abundance of pies, nuts, and story-telling by older folks like us

7) a 360-degree, surround sunrise this morning, starting another week of counting blessings; (actually, Kay enjoyed sleeping while I took photos for her to see later)

8) making cherished memories we hope to keep alive for years to come.

I thank Heavenly Father for His goodness and mercy, and for a loving, forever family.

The Morning After

Surprisingly, I woke up early, smiling with relief that Election Day is over, life goes on, and the sun will come up for another gorgeous day here on our frontier.  I feel refreshed by assurance that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings real hope and change, and we can find true happiness by applying it on a local level, namely the family. 

I am reminded that I can control personal spending, do my best to balance my budget, reduce debt, and be self-reliant.  I am grateful that our grandson survived four hours of surgery yesterday in a great world-class hospital, and we, the people, survived four years of political campaigns in the greatest nation on earth.

The morning after, do we remember how fortunate we are to live in the United States of America?  Let’s forget how political rhetoric temporarily divided our country at a time when we desperately need to solve problems together.  (In my advancing age, I find it gets easier to forget some things.  Being a senior citizen has its advantages.) 

During this month of Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for?  Now that I think of it, focusing on a specific plan, the morning-after is a good time to restart my gratitude journal -- and enjoy some healthy fast food.

Words: Fiscal & Monetary

Yesterday I took a picture of a sign on a coin machine at Walmart, which advertised: "Turn Your Change into Cash".  I didn't expect to use the photo, but realized today it's proof that I'm a penny pincher living in the past, because I still count coins as cash, even when facing over $16 trillion in debt.  Now, after a fast-food lunch break (grape juice, piece of bread, and a mini Hershey’s bar stolen from the trick-or-treat bucket), it motivates me to post my idea from July 19: [In the USA and other countries, is it a] “Monetary or Fiscal Problem?”

Over twenty years ago I became a volunteer teacher for Junior Achievement in elementary, junior high, and high school for four years.  The basic concepts we learned are basically the same today, including fiscal and monetary policy, which we hear/see often in the news media.

“Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs.  [As opposed to bad-mouthing success,] Junior Achievement programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action and learn the value of contributing to their communities.  JA’s unique approach allows volunteers from the community to deliver our curriculum while sharing their experiences with students.”   -- www.ja.org/about/

[One of many JA classroom-based programs I taught:]

“JA Economics® examines the fundamental concepts of micro-, macro-, and international economics. 

Concepts: Advantage, Demand, Economics system, Exchange rates, Fiscal policy, Government, Gross domestic product, Income distribution, Inflation, Investment, Labor, Markets, Opportunity cost, Productivity, Scarcity, Supply, Trade.

Skills: Applying information, Classifying, Critical thinking, Decision making, Giving reports, Graphing, Interpreting data, Math computation, Reading, Research, Taking notes, Writing.”   -- www.ja.org/docload/programs/scopeandsequence/2012...

(I didn’t find "monetary policy" on the JA site, but I’m sure it was and is taught.)  Thanks to Wikipedia, we can take fast gulps of the two words:

“In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (taxation) and expenditure (spending) to influence the economy.  The two main instruments of fiscal policy are government taxation and expenditure.  ... “  -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_policy

“Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability.  The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment.  ...”   -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_policy

(Not too fast to better understand what’s going on, I hope.  By the way, this one about two words reminds me of my first post two years ago (Oct. 20), titled “Words”.)

 

Missing My Favorite Andy

Dateline Provo [Utah] -- "Singer Andy Williams [84], whose golden tones made their mark in the 1960s and '70s, died Tuesday [9/25/2012] of cancer ... at his Branson Mo. home after a yearlong battle ..."  Outlasting many of his “fellow crooners”, he was still performing into his 80s.  [Kay and I were privileged to see his show in Branson not many years ago, and loved his singing, as always.]  Williams was a lifelong friend of the Osmonds, who made their TV debut in 1962,  [young boys] on “The Andy Williams Show.  ...”   – Deseret News 9/27/2012

Flipping through our vast collection, it was easy to find a Columbia stereo LP of Andy Williams: “The Academy Award Winning ‘Call Me Irresponsible’ and Other Hit Songs from the Movies”, including “Charade” and “More”.  The back of the jacket (still in original shrink wrap with a 50-cent D.I. sticker on it) is interesting: “Andy Williams’ voice reaches out through an easy smile with the warmth of a handshake – husky, easy, intimate.  He has an unmistakable way with a song and a way of lighting up the world around him in the glow of it.  Old favorites appear fresh and gleaming as newly minted pennies; current hits take on the warmth of old favorites. …”  -- Columbia (no date)

To this day I still soar with the memory of my favorite Andy Williams song, one of several that include the words “In her eyes, I see …”  But I have a problem, because I don’t remember the title, and Google has failed to find the song.  Help!  This drives me crazy!  Am I a hopeless romantic, or what?!  No matter what crowd I’m in, I’d never hesitate to unabashedly profess a love for Andy’s songs.  Three words really say it: “They move me!”

For five decades, it's been an unforgettable ride for me.  Thank you, Andy Williams, for developing and sharing your great talent.  May the family feel comfort and the love of Andy’s admiring fans and associates in the music industry, and be assured that he will continue making heavenly music up there.

I Will Never Forget!

The morning after, do we remember how the attacks increased patriotism and brought our country together?  Eleven years ago, yesterday.  I will never forget it!  Nor will I ever forget the unselfish sacrifice of so many on 9/11 and in the days and years that followed.

So Long, Summer Siestas

People ask me, “How was your summer?”  I reply, “It’s been a long, hot three months.” 

I’m ready to move on to a normal work schedule.  One thing I will miss, however, is the summer siesta.  Others have written about the health benefits of the afternoon nap, so you can Google it.  Speaking from personal experience, I’m convinced it saved my life! 

(This post wants to be fast, but not so fast!  -- a work in progress.)

In Honor of Pioneers on Our 24th

Here in Utah and other places where people celebrate the “Days of ‘47” (1847 – those were the days!) we remember the pioneers, some of whom are my Cannon and Rich ancestors.  I think it’s not just about the vanguard group of Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) who arrived in the Salt Lake Valley around July 24th (God bless them for their courage), but also the numerous pioneers of all faiths who followed in the fall of 1847, and in later years.

Pioneer stories are intrinsic (“belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing”  -- The Merriam-Webster Dictionary) to the history of Utah, as well as other areas all over the world.  Today I celebrate the pioneering spirit of people everywhere, in every era.

Some interesting stories are found in George Q. Cannon – A Biography (©1999, Deseret Book Company) by Davis Bitton.  “… Brigham Young and the pioneers arrived at the Salt Lake Valley in late July 1847, planted potatoes, and began laying out a city.  Back in Winter Quarters [Missouri River, Nebraska], where George Q. Cannon remained, a different kind of company was being organized.  Apostles John Taylor and Parley P. Pratt organized a wagon train made up of men, women, and children, the old as well as the young, along with cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens.  Not a lean, fast-moving unit like the pioneer company, it was a larger, unwieldy ‘community,’ a veritable moving city of 560 wagons, fifteen hundred  people, and five thousand head of stock …”   George [age 20] and his sister Ann were in Captain Joseph Horne’s fifty (“referring to the approximate number of wagons”).  “George drove a wagon.  In the same company was Mary Jane Dilworth, who noticed something unusual in young Cannon: ‘I never saw him waste a minute.  As soon as his oxen were unyoked and the necessary work done, he could always be found sitting on the tongue of his wagon reading a book.’  When he offered to teach his sister Ann from her schoolbooks, she claimed she was too busy – and later regretted the lost opportunity.  …  Because he had a gun, George must have participated in the hunting, especially for buffalo, that kept the company supplied with meat and tallow.”  (GQC, pages 52-53)

“George was one of those exhausted travelers” in the Horne section, who arrived in the valley "on 29 September 1847.  …  One of George’s first assignments … was to dig a grave for a member of his company who had died.  ‘The soil was absolutely without moisture and resembling brick dust,’ he later said.  …  We constructed a ditch to what was known as the old fort,’ George continued, ‘and though the distance was but short it took two days before the water reached there.’  …  Something close to two thousand Latter-day Saints in thirteen companies had arrived at the Salt Lake Valley before the end of 1847.”  (GQC, page 55)