Now there's something you don't see every day.

The internet is interesting if nothing. YouTube has certainly not changed the face of entertainment as much as it has broadened the audience on many levels (see Dante about levels). Anyway, I ran across this and just had to share. My fascination no doubt makes you wonder just how little it really takes to entertain me - and I can assure you it doesn't take much more than a box - or a little water.

More Sundial Bridge

Last Friday night the resident angel & I went to Redding so have dinner with the bishops & their wives in that stake. It was as much fun as I have had in quite a while. The food was great, especially the chili relleno cassarole (Sister Collins) and the oatmeal cake (Sister Jones of Weaverville). The people we met and spent the evening with were great also. It is always a great pleasure to be around bishops.

After the main event, we wandered off to see the Sundial Bridge at night (photos below). We had been told by the Garricks and by Pete/Mel that it is pretty neat, and it was. The only down side was all of the smokers hanging out there. But the weather was nice and the bridge was very pretty all lit up.

The view from the parking lot:

The bridge deck (you can almost here Darth Vadar's music playing in the background):

The sundial part:

And here's a video:

Things Springing Up All Over

Yesterday was a very productive day. We got a good jump on our garden, planting peas, lettuce, and spinach. But as you can see from the photos below, we already have flowers, etc. popping up, and before long will probably have lilacs blooming.

We also got the antenna up for the radio I purchased not long ago. This one came at no charge from my "elmer", Doug Reid. He keeps getting new ones and passed this one along to me as a starter. Unfortunately, the power supply that we thought would work would not (the radio will draw 15 amps and it maxed out at 5 for some reason), so I returned it and will continue looking. I will no doubt have an off-line conversation with our family's radio guru, Uncle Mike.

We finished off the day grilling hot dogs & turkey burgers on our little charcoal grill, but that didn't turn out quite as planned. But it was a fun, full, day.

This is a crocus, we think. Anyway, it is the first thing to flower in our new flower bed by the vegetable garden.

This is our little garden out front. Those purple flowers on the right have been doing well for weeks now, and everything is coming along.

These are our aloe vera plants that grow like weeds everywhere we plant them - and some places we don't. They are extremely beautiful when they bloom.

This is a shot of the antenna from the back yard making it look like it is coming out of the exhaust pipe.

And here is a good shot of it. It is on the peak of the house on the east side. Doug said it should work pretty well.

A Couple of Good Quotes

I know I have been delinquent in posting here - I have been reminded that even Saramarie has me beat on the number of posts this month! I don't know where the time has gone, but it has gone. This is just a quick note to pass along a couple of good quotes I saw on a forum this morning:

First from C.S. Lewis:
"He [the devil] always sends errors into the world in pairs - pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course. He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one." (Mere Christianity, p. 160)

The second from Oliver Wendell Holmes:
"I wouldn't give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity; I would give my right arm for the simplicity on the far side of complexity."

I particularly like the latter one. I have spent most of my life trying to explain complex things in simple terms that those unfamiliar with the technical aspects of things can grasp. It is not for the lazy or faint-hearted, and I am not sure how well I have succeeded many times. But it is a journey well worth the effort because of the blessings to one's self (clarity of thought) and to others (education).

Have a good Saturday, and if all goes well I may have photos to post tomorrow.

"Give Said The Little [Economist]"

In the 20th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Paul quotes the Savior as teaching that "It is more blessed to give . . ." Recently as I have traveled around teaching basic principles of Provident Living this has been one of the most important principles I have been teaching.

We are taught in Section 104 of the Doctrine & Covenants that everything belongs to God and that each of us is a steward over certain earthly blessings bestowed upon us by our Father. We also learn there that our Heavenly Father has prepared ALL things and that there is enough and to spare, but that it must be done His way. That way is that the rich [those with more of certain earthly blessings, not just those with financial wealth] are humbled by giving to the poor [those with fewer of those certain earthly blessings]. We are also cautioned that those who receive their abundance of an earthly blessing, and do not impart to those without will join the father of misery in an abundance of misery after leaving earthly blessings behind.

I have drawn some inferences from these teachings based on my limited experience of 54 years of mortal life: (1) That since God has indeed prepared all things, He has, and will, always make sure there will be those who are rich in some earthly blessing required by the poor. That is, that even as the Savior taught that the poor we always have with us, so too the rich we always have with us. (2) That each individual is rich in some earthly blessing. There is not one person who does not have something to give, some stewardship over earthly blessings. (3) Thus we are all expected to give that which we have to relieve the suffering of someone else; and that as we give, and to the extent we give, we are blessed with more earthly blessings, both of the type we gave away, and also of other types. This is the key truth taught by the Savior in the center parable in Matthew 25. (5) And "that's not all" - as we obey this and other commandments, we get another blessing that is both immediate and lasting - we get happy. The promise in the last verse of the second chapter in Mosiah is very true: "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness." (6) Finally, that given the truthfulness of all of the above, one of the most important things we have to give to others, is this truth: That it really, truly, is more blessed to give. So in how we live our own lives, and the way we help others, we must in all ways be helping them to the position (and disposition) to live giving lives.

I could go on - you all know I can, and do. But as is my nature, I actually told you that to tell you this: This morning we watched another remarkable BYU Forum. This one is on BYU-TV's Move Network on Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. Although the program guide says it is a devotional, it is not. It is a speech given by Arthur C. Brooks, an economist (and devout Roman Catholic) who has done quite a bit of research into the economic impacts of giving. It is well worth your while to spend some time listening to this fine presentation that not only presents the positive impacts (both financial and emotionally) that accrue to those who give (both financially and in service), but also at the end provides some insight as to how we are "the leaven which leaveneth the whole lump".