Its Bak to Scool

Memories have faded, but feelings are still there … of first days of school … fear, anxiety, excitement, friends, bullies … lovable teachers uninhibited by surprise-evaluation SS systems.  A fast memory search (quick! … before I totally lose it!) recalls nap time in preschool, nap time and playing store in kindergarten (northeast corner of basement), learning to read Dick & Jane and write words in first grade (Miss Nash, I think, next to the cold-storage room where I helped carry crates of chocolate milk), more reading in second grade (Miss Cottam (sp?) in basement south side), singing in third grade (upstairs south), learning arithmetic (times tables) in fourth grade (upstairs east side), and searching the library for science fiction books in fifth grade.  After that, I watched my avenues school burn down one summer night (name withheld to protect the innocent) … huge, exciting, not too sad (should’ve been – my father attended that historic SLC school) … so sixth grade was downtown within walking distance (uphill both ways when snowing, of course.)  I only remember being superior at 6th-grade mathematics. 

Beginning junior high school was the biggest change, coupled with our summer move up the hill to the big house with my private view of city lights (temporary one-year residence while I helped Dad build a new home nearby) ... a long walk to Bryant with friends.  As I vaguely recall, we had seven classes each day!  I think my favorite teacher was Mrs. Yost for English, where I wrote my first book report (memory is clear here:)

“Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint is the first novel in the Danny Dunn series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The book was first published in 1956 and originally illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats.”  – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

By eighth grade I was adjusted to the new life … my boy-girl-party year with a close group of clean-living friends who loved to dance .. best year of K-12, as I vividly recall.  (Maybe my memory isn’t so faded after all.)  Ninth grade favorite was algebra, taught by Mr. Allen (I'm quite sure), whom I will never forget.  I also loved ninth-grade early-morning seminary taught by Francis L. Urry, who played the role of Lorenzo Snow in The Windows of Heaven.
– en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_L._Urry

Dear old East High – what can I say …  My favorite class was the awesome a cappella choir …  I will never forget many performances I enjoyed with my beloved choir directed by the legendary Lorraine Bowman; (recalled in my "Christmas Choirs" post December 23, 2012.) Max Pinegar was my very favorite seminary teacher; I just saw that he passed away last February, and will be greatly missed.  Special memories ... dedicated with all my love to Sister Bowman and Brother Pinegar.

Whew!  Not too fast to surprise myself with details dug up from the deep.

  

Photo courtesy of Google Images and mybetanyc.com

Photo by Ned Cannon at Concord School of Philosophy

Temple Open House

Words cannot adequately describe – certainly not in this quick post.  Before today’s tour, we already know the renovated Ogden Utah Temple is built with the finest design, materials and workmanship available today.  All that the public sees inside and throughout the grounds surrounding the temple, invites everyone to come unto Christ.  That is the purpose of temples, for the living and the dead; saving ordinances for both will be performed therein, following the rededication 21 September 2014. 

During our 43 years of marriage, my wife Kay and I have attended a number of public open houses for temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Today we meet good friends, our former neighbors in Ogden, to take the tour across the street from where we all lived in the morning shadow of the temple which was originally finished in 1971, and dedicated in January 1972 by Joseph Fielding Smith.  We cherish our memories of those four years, and the two previous years on the east bench of Ogden, near historic homes of many of Mother’s family.

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued a news release with interior photographs of the renovated Ogden Utah Temple ...  The general public, including children of all ages, is invited to attend an open house.  Admission is free, but reservations are requested."  – ldschurchtemples.com/ogden
See templeopenhouse.lds.org/tickets for Open House Reservations.

Last Thursday we had the privilege of serving as ushers at the open house by our former home.  The five-hour shift was an experience that Kay and I will never forget.  After the half-hour training, and hours of standing as “smiling, silent sentinels” in various locations inside the temple, we felt physically exhausted but spiritually renewed.  We loved seeing all kinds of people of all ages … many families with beautiful little children and great grandparents … who were eager to walk (or ride in wheelchairs) through that extraordinary edifice.  As I looked into their eyes, many responded with a grateful smile, reminding me they are all my sisters and brothers – children of our loving Heavenly Father.

Notepad & I or Me

Tough decision.  This is about my favorite computer accessory and me, you see.  Notepad and I have a long-standing love affair since 1996.  Kay and I got it on a new PC with Windows 3.1, a crude attempt by Microsoft to copy Apple's amazing GUI (graphic user interface) I'd used for custom production since the late 1980's.  So, undecided about the title, I include both personal pronouns.

Lean and mean, Notepad frees me from constant attempts by programmers to correct me, shape me, and otherwise force me into their ideas of what writing should be.  I prefer free-form writing without bells and whistles to distract the user.  Thank goodness for a word processor that does not process me to death. Furthermore, Notepad takes text from anything that can be selected and copied to the clipboard memory, and removes the ... (what's a nicer word?) – codes and stuff I don't want.  Notepad and I can then copy the clean (ASCII standard) text to Word, website builder, blog, e-mail or whatever.  My favorite keyboard commands (another subject for another post) keep hands where they belong, not straying to reach for a mouse unnecessarily.  Old-school, but faster and easier for some elders who are slow to abandon the good old days.

Notepad is searchable and transferable (1996 files open in Windows 7, and I assume on Win8.)  Great for documenting family history work and keeping a journal (F5 key inserts time & date.)  Way better than a typewriter or phone! Oh, and did I mention its lightning-speed launching & saving, and leaner file size?  (I grow old waiting on Word.)  Sorry, Microsoft – I don't need or want your cute Sticky Notes.

As a team, Notepad and I are a work in progress, as is this post.  If I had a photo of us together, the caption would read (my standard :)
"Notepad and me".  How sweet it is – like icing and the cake!