Fires and Blessings

9/6/2009

Dear Rosalynde, Gabrielle, Naomi, Brigham, Rachel, Benjamin, and Abraham and Christian!
Fire dominated the week and the news. We continued to have ash rain down on us throughout the week. The smoke has not been so thick at our house, but we could definitely smell it. However, ward members who lived up against the mountains still have the smoke smell in their homes and on their clothes. The hillsides are barren. We would like to see rain to completely extinguish the fires, but a heavy rain would send floods down the mountain sides. When the winds come, if the winds come before a rainstorm, the wind will send ash and dust from the mountains throughout the Los Angeles basin, making the air filled with dangerous particulate. So we will have some ongoing consequences for awhile. The highway up Angeles Crest is still closed, so I do not know what it looks like. I do not know what the hike down from Switzers will be like. I sure hope that the fire didn’t actually scorch the bottoms of the canyon. During Fast Meeting today, the testimonies were mainly centered around the fire, the help of ward members and neighbors, and the blessings of God in protecting them. The fire was apparently arson, so we cannot blame God for this one (unless we want him to interfere in the exercise of agency), and the weather has been normal, so we cannot blame Him for not changing the weather, in fact we should be thankful the wind was not accompanied by a Santa Ana wind – that would have been catastrophic.

As a result of the fires, the first two days of school were cancelled. I wonder if the two days will be made up the week of thanksgiving. Speaking of school, please the picture of a very attractive and pretty young woman on the first day back to school that I have attached to this email. While mama was driving Naomi to the airport, I drove Eva to school. When I returned home Wednesday evening, I found Eva at her favorite place in the house – the kitchen table with her homework. It was a lovely sight. The past week, Eva has been reading the two Sherlock Holmes volumes. She has really been enjoying them. I told her that I think I have short-changed her. When you older kids were young, I read those stories to you. I do not think the younger kids had that pleasure.

I enjoyed very much having Rosalynde and Naomi visit us. I wish they had more time to spend with us. The babies hardly had the opportunity to become acquainted with me. Naomi drove the MegaCab to Palmdale every day. She liked it – so Dave now you know the kind of vehicle she would like – quite a contrast to the Hyundai Tucson that she drove for a long time.

Also as a result of the fires, my 40+ league game was cancelled Thursday evening, and I know you are missing the game report. So I simply ran or rode my bike in the evenings to keep in shape. We did have our Saturday afternoon game, an hour early, to allow us to return home for the USA- El Salvador game. We had 14-16, so in the heat, we played half field. Then at 4:30 PM, about 6 more game. I left, and the other expanded the field more and played on. I watched the USA v. El Salvador in World Cup Qualifying. The US won 2-1, after El Salvador scored the 1st goal. Realistically, the USA should have won 5-0, but the team squandered a number of chances.

The USA game and the BYU game overlapped, and I watched soccer. I initially did not watch the BYU game, since I did not want to see a 35-7 blowout. But then when I saw the live scores, I started switching occasionally to follow the BYU game. It was a very fine result, and I noticed that BYU won every statistical category but rushing yards. ESPN360.com is a great service, and I have watched the 4th quarter of the game twice.

Despite Obama’s continuing economic slow-down in the US, I have been very busy, for which I am thankful. So I have been working many hours, including hours I will be working on Labor Day.

The lease on my Laramie expires in October. I have the option of buying it, but I think I will look for a used vehicle – not a truck – that will get better mileage and I can drive to work or other office buildings and fit in the parking structures – my MegaCab does not fit in all parking structures.

I have a proposal for Benjamin and Christian, together with Mama and Eva. Let’s choose a weekend from Sept. 26, Oct. 3 or Oct 10. We’ll leave from La Canada Friday afternoon as soon as Mama finishes Institute. We drive to Zions Park, or Hurricane, that evening and meet you there. Saturday morning, we will leave early for Zions Park. We’ll drive to the trailhead back into the park so that we can take a day hike down through the Zions Narrows, which I have never done. Then I’ll treat you all to dinner at Zions Lodge, and you can head back to Provo. You may invite friends to come with you – male or female. I’ll spring for motel rooms – one for the females and one for the alpha males. Do you like that idea?

Saturday morning, I went to the 5:30 AM session at the Los Angeles Temple. There was a pretty good attendance, most Samoan. The session was in Samoan, so I used headphones for the English. Nevertheless, the passage through the veil was in English.

Since the news has been dominated by the fires, and I have been working hard, I do not have too much news to share otherwise.

That’s all for now.
Love Daddy