Nature of the Workplace

Based on a few fast notes Emailed from iPhone6 since last March:

Beautiful, usually calm, inspiring.

Seeing God's loving hand in His marvelous creations.

Being surrounded by trees, shrubs, and other perennials.

Focus on learning products and facts while serving customers..

Asking an expert.
Feeling joy from helping my fellow men and women.

Google defines variegated: "BOTANY (of a plant or foliage)

having or consisting of leaves that are edged or patterned in a second color, especially white as well as green.

synonym: multicolored"

Bedbug killer spray on sale @ half price.

Honking horns to lock doors in the expanded parking lot.

Walking/running far-out, dusty roads to see what's "in back."
Cool downpours needed by everything and everyone.

Observing what some people do to make dreams come true.

Guests asking for dwarf trees and shrubs that won't grow too much.

Shorts and more shorts. Mostly shorts, no matter what the weather. 
And T-shirts, of course.

Bald heads burning under hot sun; sunglasses looking cool, however.

Female Pagan Pokémon player looking for holly; (the plant has "origins as a Pagan practice" according to one unopened search result.)

Shopping and wandering – frequently a fun family affair including dogs.

Kids playing hide-and-seek among shade trees.

("Hide-and-seek or hide-and-go-seek is a popular children's game in which any number of players conceal themselves in the environment, to be found by one or ..."  – Wikipedia)

Big cookies donated by Nurseryman Cutler; homegrown fruit and homemade salsa (with tortilla chips) shared by other generous workers.

Ice cream freezer in front "for employees only."  (A boy asked the price of our ice cream.  Sorry.)

Mid-July work a great break from vacation preparation.

Tuesday 5pm: "Where are my sunglasses?"

"Oh – I'm wearing them.  Duh!  It's been a long day."

Super Saturdays 8pm:  Feeling grateful to arrive home and see Kay.

Working Naturally

A work in progress, selling at the nursery since last March – "I'm lovin' it." (My big hat goes off to McD 99-cent cheeseburgers and Kay's apricot jam sandwiches for keeping my energy level up within our budget!)

As I've commented many times, "Nice customers and employees with whom I work."  Forget retirement – who needs it?  ("A 20th-century concept," I say.)  Serving, learning, walking, running, lifting trees into trucks – it all keeps me young, I think.  And I truly feel blessed. 

Pioneering Continued

While we enjoyed a family trip in the Midwest last month, visiting Church history sites, the folks in Utah celebrated Pioneer Day around July 24th.  (More fireworks than ever, I’m sure.)  Kay and I hope our family, wherever they were, gained greater appreciation for the sacrifices made by the early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As Brigham Young’s vanguard company of 148 pioneers approached the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847, a group moved ahead to scout a route and prepare a wagon road through Emigration Canyon.  On July 21st, two leaders caught sight of the valley and the Great Salt Lake.

A month earlier, on Monday June 21st, another contingent of 130 persons had begun the trek west from Winter Quarters.  Charles Coulson Rich was in charge of his own company and the militia for that entire camp.

[A work in progress, to include excerpt from Charles C Rich by Leonard J. Arrington, ©1974, Brigham Young University Press.]

Looking Back on the Fourth

“It was necessary that George Washington should be raised up, that the battles of the Republic should be fought, that the Colonies should be emancipated from the fetters of the mother country and declared free and independent States.  Why?  Because God had in view the restoration of the everlasting Gospel to the earth again ...”

(George Q. Cannon, 15 Aug 1869, Journal of Discourses 14:55-6)

“Battery exhausted”

My personal electronic devices are so smart, warning me to recharge. Before shutting down after working a few hours, they have just enough energy to alert, “Battery exhausted.”  As a user, I quickly respond.  At the end of the day (or a night’s work,) I too can feel it.  As an aging human, I recognize the need, but struggle to recharge myself – response not so quick.

Solar, grid, and car power do it for them.  Sleep, food, change of activity, prayer, reading, and good music re-energize me; (Google defines the verb: “give fresh vitality, enthusiasm, or impetus to.”)

One of my favorite movies is Chariots of Fire (1981.)

[In the UK] "... determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory ..."  – Google.
As a guest and athlete in Paris, Liddell delivers a Sunday sermon at church during the Olympic Games, quoting from Isaiah 40:29-31.

"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Memory Prompts on Mother’s Day

I miss my parents; today I especially miss my mother.  After they both passed on, my older sister lovingly organized things for distribution as the eldest daughter traditionally does.  To us siblings and spouses, she wrote about the upcoming family gathering and included a detailed list of “Parents’ Belongings Distributed” and “Inventory Items to be Distributed.”  I share a few in hopes of prompting memories of Mother on this special day.  I quote:

Set of Dicken’s books, set of blue Shakespeare books, and misc. antique books.

Cloth hanging birthday calendar from pantry door (gift from Kay.)

Llama rug from [CRT] condo entryway (from Ned’s mission.)

Swiss “house” music box.

Stones from Jerusalem inside inlaid box.

Two black fancy hand purses formerly belonging to [her mother and maybe her maternal grandmother.]

Misc. porcelain flowers, nut cups …

Antique wood chair with needlepoint “panda” seat.

Small wood standing “sewing cabinet” with fold-open top doors.

Carved African wood canoe with rowers.

Hummel figurines.

Carved olivewood Nativity set from Bethlehem with log backdrop.
Two paintings of Nauvoo (from condo dining area.)

African letter opener …

Old [portable] typewriter in black case.  [A special granddaughter lovingly received it.]

The hanging “red apple” decoration which Mama kept on the condo front door; (I didn’t dare throw it out in case someone like a grandchild is nostalgic about it!)

There are a lot of smaller … “treasures” which could be shared with the grandchildren for mementos.

We know leftover things are not what matters most, but memories are so precious.  I thank Heavenly Father for my amazing mother, who continues to care for and help guide the family.  Her saving mission goes on.  Like great music she led me to crave, my mother keeps giving with love.

Kay & Ned surrounded by parents and grandparents

The Junk Drawer

Firstly, it's a misnomer (defined by Google as "a wrong or inaccurate name or designation.")  Things in junk drawers are not junk – that’s why they are kept for future use.  Junk, being useless, gets thrown in the garbage.

Secondly, the essential beauty and functionality of a junk drawer is freedom from organization.  Amazon.com offers a multitude of junk-drawer organizers.  I see four problems with those:

1. If organized, it's out of character and not a true junk drawer. 

2. Things want to be quickly thrown into junk drawers without thoughtful consideration as to which compartment is most suitable.

3. Reduced capacity.

4. Waste of money.

The best place for a junk drawer is the kitchen, which is the center of life as we know it.  Second-best is the shop in the garage or basement.  For convenience, I recommend maintaining a JD in both places.  The ultimate junk drawer for hardware was a shallow box on my dad's shop bench in the basement on Northcrest Drive.  As the center of attention, it rarely failed to produce just what a teenage man needed.  Dad and I relied on that priceless collection; (luckily out-of-sight, out-of-mind for my mother.) So that's where I was forever sold on the true, productive concept.

No use listing what may be stored in a junk drawer – mainly miscellaneous, little things that may come in handy someday; (I could add a pic of mine for example, but it would not be a pretty sight.)  Use your imagination, feel free, and kindly advise family members to resist the temptation to organize or discard items in junk drawers.  It happened in my shop once, and life was never the same after that. 

When your spouse says, “Look in the junk drawer,” as Kay did the other day, you know exactly where to go with confidence.  Enjoy the comforting feeling from having every needful thing, right where it belongs.

Box hockey game I made in Northcrest shop (The Improvement Era 3/65)