What I Love

This picture was taken by a friend this Founders Day and borrowed by me. (Thanks Alona) It says it all. This is what I love about my hometown, and this picture (Dad on the Tractor, Mom as the "Historical Hayride Tour-guide) really captures it. I wish I could've been home. I would've ran the morning race, ate at the pancake breakfast, and probably helped load the hay onto that trailer. Most of all, I would've spent time with the folks that make the little desert town great.

Thoughts ...at Night

It was Sunday. And I love Sunday. I got up at 7:50. I could hardly believe it. My body just woke up because it was all done sleeping. My alarm was set for 8:10, so I just lounged in bed reviewing the dreams of the previous night until the alarm sounded.

I love church at 9:00am. That means I can have a Sunday morning feel at church, have a complete Sunday afternoon, along with a nap if I feel like it, and an evening for doing whatever socializing, reading, or other-ing I feel like doing. It's the perfect schedule for the best day of the week.

I read an article in the National Geographic Adventures magazine while I was at the gym last week. The guy featured in the article has traveled the world to study the areas where people live the longest, healthiest lives. He's written a book about it, but who needs to read it when they summarized his findings in the article? Anyhow, his list is almost perfect outline of the LDS lifestyle with one anomaly: drink one glass of wine a day.

I don't recall all his tips, but they included eating habits, the type of people you surround yourself with, having a sense of purpose in life, having a belief system or religion as part of your life, and taking one day of the week to rest.

Awesome. The gospel we live makes sense in so many ways. Live it, and maybe chug a glass of grape juice now and then.

Switching gears, I'm gonna wrap this up with a quote I love. I read it again today for the first time in a long time. It's by Neal A. Maxwell. I miss his talks and his spirit. I used to thrive on devouring his latest conference talk over and over. Here's the quote.

"The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we 'give,' … are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!"

This is one of those quotes that helps set me straight from time to time. It helps me remember that I'm a child. I'm ultimately here to do what Dad wants me to do, not always what I want to do. And wouldn't you know, Dad knows best. His way always leads to happiness.

Headin' Out

When spring weather finally makes its way to Idaho, the geologists get something called "field-work fever". No, it hasn't been diagnosed, but anyone who knows a geologist can confirm my findings. It is stylized by sudden urges to be outdoors, the carrying (once again) of a rock-hammer and acid bottle everywhere (...even church?), and the desire to see afresh all the rock and dirt that have spent months hidden under a monotonous blanket of snow. When I get the fever, I'm ready to get out and look at rocks.

One of my friends on facebook invited me to a party that's coming up next weekend. In the RSVP box, I indicated that I wouldn't be attending and explained, "I won't be able to come. I'll be out picking up rocks."

It was an honest reason, and I didn't think twice about it when I wrote it. But now I look back, and that might be construed as a "heck no".

I digress. I have been granted the opportunity to go on a field trip down to western Utah (near Delta) this coming Thursday through Saturday. This is a field trip I've been on before, but with the fever in full sway, I'm jumping at the chance to get out in the hills and, well ...pick up rocks. Here's an overview of what I get to look forward to (in pictures).
This is at the museum of ancient life at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. If you ever have a chance to go there, go. Unlike a lot of museums, this one is very interactive and hands-on, so it's fun for even the very youngest crowd. What a sea turtle, eh? It's called Archelon, it lived during the Cretaceous, and I don't know if you get a sense of how enormous it is. I could've stayed and stared for hours:
This is the U-Dig Trilobite Quarry out by Delta, Utah. Now this is my type of classroom! Blazing sun, a pile of rocks, and a rock hammer. You just take a slab of shale and split it open at the edge with your rock hammer. There are trilobites all throughout the shale, so every rock you split open is always a surprise. I'd love to take my brother Jim out here. I think he'd be in heaven, him and his fossil lovin' cousins:
Here are the trilobites I brought home from the last time I was there:Now that I've got a pretty good collection of my own, I wouldn't mind bringing some back for anyone else who'd like a trilobite of their very own. Just say the word.
This is Notch Peak. It's breathtakingly awesome:
And finally, fossil mountain at the southern end of the Confusion Mountain range. Another spot I'd like to take Jim and Nic. It's called fossil mountain because it's just bursting with all sorts of collectible fossils of all kinds. I leave Thursday, and I can hardly contain my excitement. I got the fever. I got it bad.