The Watery Hike

At long last I have had both the time and technical expertise to get this post published. And with any luck more will follow. On the morning of the Fourth of July, four of us went up the east side of Mt. Timpanogos to see what we could see. What we saw was water, water, and more water. Here are some of the many pictures I took:

Andy was gracious in driving us up Provo Canyon to the trailhead just past Aspen Grove on the Alpine Loop. My what a lot of changes have been made to the Provo Canyon road since we were at BYU (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) - there are even tunnels. I took this photo from the back seat through the windshield (o parabrisa).

It was a really nice day for a hike, so we were driving up the canyon with the windows down. So I took this picture of a waterfall in the canyon through the open car window.

The Happy Hikers.

The Choice - to go across the bridge, or ford the stream. We actually went up with the intent of hiking to Stewart Falls, but decided to take the other path when it looked like it would have more waterfalls, and be a bit less crowded.

As you can see here, we decided to take the stream crossing, and this is it. It really isn't as flimsy as it appears in the photo, but it was not exactly stable. But nobody fell in, or even slipped off the logs. Also, the stream wasn't exactly the raging torrent it appears to be here. It was running really fast, but was not deep at all.

Here's the first look at all the waterfalls from lower down the trail - there were a bunch!

Getting closer, and seeing more. Everything was green and lush, and it was a beautiful day for a hike.

The closer we got to one waterfall, the more we saw that there were actually many falls surrounding a major one.

This is my personal favorite. It really captures the effect of the day to me - water and more water - and lots of greenery. I have it as my desktop background.

This was just a pretty little fall off the side of the trail, but made a pleasant sound and cooled things down.

This is another little fall just on the side of the trail - I could just sit and watch these little ones for hours, they were so relaxing.

So just you don't think that all we saw was waterfalls, here is a picture of one of the thousands of this kind of flower that lined the trail. I am indebted to Emily for showing me how to take close-up pictures like this with my camera and keep them in focus. There is actually a little flower on one of the buttons of my camera, and when you push it, you can take close-up photos with no blurring.

Sorry for the disruption

Well gang, I have been trying to put a new post up here for some time, but getting rather frustrated with problems getting photos downloaded. So while I am cooling off, I will be sending out emails rather than blogging. Perhaps when I get it to work again I'll convert the emails to posts.

Six Weeks Remembered

I have been home now for almost three weeks but wanted to share some wonderful memories. Thank you so much for letting me come and be with you and making me feel so welcome.

The New Look

Thanks to my wonderful wife my office has a new look. She let me pick out the colors - a major act of faith given that when it comes to colors I just don't get it. Then she painted the room and I picked out, stained, and installed the chair rail. I think it turned out pretty nicely, and I got to use my new table saw to cut the pieces. I made some mistakes, but they aren't noticeable at this range. I may get brave and put up some close ups of the parts that didn't go so well. For example, I ended up with a 1/4 inch gap right by the door. I went around and around with myself looking for ways to fix it, and decided that given my batting average with the rest of the project, I'd better leave it for now as all of my ideas had more potential for making it worse than making it better.

Looking SW from my computer desk to my "real desk".

The one bookcase that I decided to keep in my office is on the wall opposite this desk.

Looking at the north wall & the gap by the door.

Looking toward the door & the little piece (1.25") that fits on the right side of the door that I made with my new toy - and that fit perfectly - I am so proud of myself.

There Was Something Wrong With His Feet

Yesterday I received an email from the president of our Spanish-speaking unit here in the stake, Ron Williford. I have included most of it here as a reminder of the legacy left by a truly amazing man - literally hundreds will "never forget ole whatshisname" & I have no doubt that literally thousands and more have been, and will be, the beneficiaries of his good life.

"Last week I went to meet with a sister who joined the church quite a few years ago and recently resurfaced. The missionaries have been working with her and her nonmember husband. When I went to their house to meet them, they were in the yard trying to get a washing machine to work. I helped them figure out the problem, then we went in and had a nice visit. Toward the end, she said I reminded her of another man who used to come and help get her and her kids to church, and in fact had seen that her washing machine was broken and brought her a new one. Couldn't figure out who it might have been until she mentioned he didn't speak much Spanish and there was something wrong with his feet. Good man, that Howard whatsisname."