Nauvoo Spring

Despite recent snowstorms and a good chance of more this week, the weather today is great and the huge nursery parking lot is full.  Looking at the calendar, I'm certain the Wasatch Front is nearing the end of spring snow and the beginning of more popular weather.  (Snow skiers are in the minority by now.)

In a flash of family-history curiosity, I pulled out my parents' letters from Nauvoo, Illinois, which were typed and handwritten in the late 80's.  Janath Cannon, accomplished writer and hard-working missionary, found time to type this on March 31, 1988, describing signs of spring there:

"March is going out today like a somewhat shaggy lamb, with mild air but a threatening rain. ...  Yesterday was lovely here.  The squirrels, cardinals, woodpeckers, bluejays, blackbirds, and assorted other birds patronize Ted's tree-side feeder in ever increasing numbers.  We have plenty of corn for them -- we shoveled up several boxfuls from a bunch that was spilled on the road to the grain elevators.  Some tulips and violets are showing promise in our yard, and the grass is turning green all over the park.  Barges rumble past our front yard again and occasionally tie up by the granary."

"Gorbachev the Cat has become a wanderer and sometimes fails to come home at night.  Ted frets a little about that, and leaves the porch light on to entice him home.  (I think Ted misses that warm body on his chest during the morning news.)  But at least it's not like worrying about children still out after midnight."

"... Nonie and Maynard Sorensen are settled in.  The woodcarving studio is set up in the basement of the Cultural Hall and Maynard is scheduling evening classes open to the public, as well as his regular tour for tourists.  Nonie is working on her new production."

As usual, Mother closed with a handwritten P.S.:  "We hope you had a lovely Easter, ...  Please excuse our fractious xerox machine -- at least the computer and I are getting along these days.  Love you all, ..."

Ya Gotta Believe Me

Woke up at 5am, thinkin about my new pc laptop still in the box (already dubbed acer2) -- couldnt sleep!  Got right to work, following the kids' qwik-start directions (just look at the pictures.)  Barely containing my excitement, I put the battry pak in.  Then while pulling the pkg celofane off a hinge, I touched a button and accidently turned it on!  Wo! -- I'm not ready for Win7 until I plug the thing in like the picture shows!  A msft warning flashed on the 15.6" HD LED LCD: "You fool! Now look what you've done! What part of 'Connect to external power' don't you understand? See the picture, you dummy?!"  Trying to regain my confidence, I raced to unpak the cord and plug it in.  The sparks were impressive -- got power!  Hope it didn't do too much damage.  The bootup said "2 min." but I forgot to time it -- seemed longer than that, maybe because of that surge hitting the procesor.

Dutiflee letting the new sys take the lead, I named my pc NedAcer2, put in a clever password (myacer2) which no one would ever guess, and beheld the new desktop with little icons on the left side, kinda like this 5-yr-old acer1 which is still working (as we speak), and pics of 3 big acer laptops, like a permanent ad -- how do I change that?  Think it's called wallpaper, so search Help for that.  Then I thot the machine should be turned off while the battry charges up (who knows how long that takes?!) but I could not find a way to shut down like good old XP does.  So I chose the next best thing and put it to sleep; (how is that different than hibernation?)  So many questions, so few ansers.

So much for my latest 21st-century adventure outa my comfurt zone -- which reminds me: I skipped brekfast, so it's time for fast comfurt food to calm me down, like the mountain-biker muffins I got by snail-mail from Ogden last Monday -- very healthy and tasty! -- honest -- no joke this time! 
Now will someone explane all the little red squigly lines on my word doc?  Maybe a warm boot will get rid of 'em.

Irish Place-names

Just my luck -- I forgot to wear green for Saint Patrick's Day; but I did take time to read an appropriate blog post for the occasion.  It was written with Ireland in mind, by Juan José Valdés, The Geographer, Director of Editorial and Research for National Geographic Maps.  I recommend you go read the complete text and see the map at blogs.ngm.com (NGM Blog Central).

"English or Gaelic — What's in a [Place] Name?"

"... our maps generally list official place-names first, followed by their secondary name or names in parentheses. Take Ireland for example…"

"According to the Republic of Ireland's constitution, the Irish and English languages share official status. In the Gaeltacht, or predominantly Irish-speaking regions, only Irish place-names have official status. ... In the non-Gaeltacht areas, you will find that English is the official language. Simply put, just about every single place-name in Ireland has a dual name: Gaelic (English) in the Gaeltacht regions or English (Gaelic) in the non-Gaeltacht regions. That equates to nearly 1,000 place-names displayed ... [for] Ireland."  -- blogs.ngm.com

Again, I thank Wikipedia for providing an easy reminder:

"Saint Patrick's Day ... is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland."  -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki

I hope you're wearing green, and enjoying healthy green food (probably not the fast type today, although I did enjoy a quick, leftover tossed green salad.)

Allegory/Parable/Proverb

This post is a work in progress with basic building blocks waiting for mortar and finishing touches.

This morning's Sunday School lesson on Matthew chapter 13 was educational.  Debra's list of words on the board got my attention:

Fable, Myth, Allegory, Parable, Proverb

(Here I add a word she used as somewhat related:) Mystery

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [I cannot copy & paste]:

fable (noun) : a fictitious narrative or statement: as

a: a legendary story of supernatural happenings

b: a narration intended to enforce a useful truth; expecially : one in which animals speak and act like human beings

WhiteSmoke Online Dictionary [easiest for me to use]

myth [noun] 1. a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people

Synonyms: legend, fable, fairytale, allegory, parable, saga, story, fiction, tradition, fancy, fantasy, superstition

allegory [noun] 1. a short moral story (often with animal characters)

2. a visible symbol representing an abstract idea

3. an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor 

-- WhiteSmoke

parable [noun] 1. a short moral story (often with animal characters)

2. (New Testament) any of the stories told by Jesus to convey his religious message; "the parable of the prodigal son"

Synonyms: fable, allegory, lesson, moral tale, story   -- WhiteSmoke

proverb [noun]

1. a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people   -- WhiteSmoke

lds.org / Scriptures / Study Helps / Bible Dictionary

(Parable and Mystery are the only words on the list that are defined in this Bible Dictionary.)

Parables. (1) Most teachers, especially Oriental teachers, have used some form of parable in their instruction, but none so exclusively as Jesus at one period of his ministry. During part of the Galilean ministry the record states that “without a parable spake he not unto them” (Mark 4:34). From our Lord’s words (Matt. 13:13–15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10) we learn the reason for this method. It was to veil the meaning. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds.

(2) The word parable is Greek in origin, and means a setting side by side, a comparison. In parables divine truth is presented by comparison with material things. The Hebrew word, mashal, which parable is used to translate, has a wider significance, and is applied to the balanced metrical form in which teaching is conveyed in the poetical books of the Old Testament. See Matt. 13:35.

(3) ... The application of a parable may vary in every age and circumstance. But if the original meaning is to be grasped, it is important to consider its context and setting. The thought to which it is linked, the connection in which it is placed, the persons to whom it is addressed, all give the clue to the right interpretation.

John has no true parables, but presents two allegories: the good shepherd (10:1–16), and the vine and the branches (15:1–7).

Proverbs, Book of. The Heb. word rendered proverb is mashal, a similitude or parable, but the book contains many maxims and sayings not properly so called, and also connected poems of considerable length.

Mystery. Denotes in the New Testament a spiritual truth that was once hidden but now is revealed, and that, without special revelation, would have remained unknown. It is generally used along with words denoting revelation or publication ...   -- Bible Dictionary

All-around Alliteration

As a brief break from this mundane Monday morning, aforesaid alliteration is my free fast food for the day -- hopefully done without being awfully obnoxious.  It's like "Peter Piper picked a peck of ..." -- you know the rest of the always-alliterative story.  My mighty Merriam-Webster desktop dictionary defines it as "the repetition of initial sounds in adjacent words or syllables" -- (Twitter?)  WhiteSmoke's digital dictionary disappointingly defines the verb alliterate: "use alliteration as a form of poetry".

 A writer or group behind the scenes at CNBC is exceptionally eccentric, atrocious or adept at alliteration, depending on how you feel about it.  Cynical "Squawk on the Street" co-anchor Mark Haines tends to expand on it in jest, just barely tolerating it, including "Commodities Corner".  Then there's this morning's "Facebook Frenzy" Faber Report: some value the company at $65 billion!

Advertising apparently loses little love for alliteration -- as Angie's List, for example.  "Founder" Angie Hicks appears on a full-page ad in Fast Company 3/2011, headlining "Ridiculously reliable reviews on roofers, ..."  Productive products are named alliteratively, such as Fujitsu's ScanSnap S1500 scanner for documents (what I need for my proposed paperless office.)  In the Fast Company 3/2011 issue on "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies", SynCardia places 20th "for giving artificial heart recipients room to roam".  Brett Beach and McCollum's Madecasse is 50th "for building a bean-to-bar chocolate company ..." (making my favorite fast food!)

For family fun sometime, have the children exercise their thinking with alliteration.  By not resisting research, they could learn engaging English or some splendid Spanish -- a paradisiacal, parental paradox.

Zig's "Lost Child"

Since 1978, Zig Ziglar has been one of my favorite writers/speakers.  That happens to be the year he wrote the book, Confessions of a Happy Christian. In my paper recycling process I found an old photocopy of a page with this subtitle, "A CHILD IS LOST".  It reminded me of a documentary I recently saw about the history of the national AMBER Alert; (nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted in 1996.)

"My friend A. C. Carlson, from Minneapolis, sends this thought: When we hear the words 'a child is lost,' a chill falls over many loving, caring people. Hundreds of people who do not know the child will throw themselves into the search for that lost one. Many of them forget all other responsibilities and search for hours, sometimes throughout the night. They look in the wilderness, on mountaintops, in waterways, and any other place where they feel the child might be. Yes, the words[phrase] 'a child is lost' sends chills through many compassionate people. Yet, as A. C. points out, we're living in a world where there are millions of lost people, some of them next door. These lost people surely rate as much love and concern as the lost child. Yet, somehow, because the urgency is not there, we have a great tendency to ignore the lost, especially if they are 'lost' next door."   -- Confessions of a Happy Christian ©1978 by Zig Ziglar.

Dickens re. Christ

In May, 1956, Mother gave me a classic little book, The Life of Our Lord,
"written for his [eight young] children during the years 1846 to 1849 by Charles Dickens", never to be published. "He set it down in his own hand, for their eyes -- and their eyes alone -- ... at about the time he was completing 'David Copperfield.' " Hours before his death, Dickens wrote a letter ending with this statement: "I have always striven in my writings to express 'veneration for the life and lessons of Our Saviour, because I feel it; and because I rewrote that history for my children -- every one of whom knew it ..."

"For eighty-five years the resulting manuscript was sacredly guarded as a precious family secret."  Just before Christmas of 1933, Dickens' youngest and last living child died.  Sir Henry wrote in his will: "I ... bequeath to my wife the original manuscript ... on the following trusts: 'Being his son, I have felt constrained to act upon my father's expressed desire that it should not be published, ... but if they [my wife and children] decide by a majority that it should be published, ...'  [They] 'assumed the right to permit its publication, and 'The Life of Our Lord' by Charles Dickens is thus given to the world.

THE PUBLISHERS."

-- foreword (pages 3 - 8); "copyright, 1934, by Simon and Schuster"

As a personal letter, Dickens started the book with "MY DEAR CHILDREN,

I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable, as He was. And as He is now in Heaven, where we hope to go, and all to meet each other ..."

This is one of my favorite examples of Dickens' style of writing in his "letter" to the children:

On the Sabbath, "... when Our Saviour went into one of their [the Pharisees'] churches -- they were called synagogues -- and looked compassionately on a poor man who had his hand all withered and wasted away, these Pharisees said, 'Is it right to cure people on a Sunday?'  Our Saviour answered them by saying, 'If any of you had a sheep and it fell into a pit, would you not take it out, even though it happened on a Sunday? And how much better is a man than a sheep!'  Then He said to the poor man, 'Stretch out thine hand!'  And it was cured immediately, and was smooth and useful like the other.  So Jesus Christ told them, 'You may always do good, no matter what the day is.' " (page 38)