Haagen Dazs and Lumbar Degeneration

Just got back to my hotel from my appointment at the Spine Center of the New England Baptist Hospital in Boston MA. The news was so good I decided to have a treat before lunch. I bought an ice cream bar, chocolate and dark chocolate. It is an 'all natural ice cream bar'. I think that is important. I never had much of a passion for 'unnatural' ice cream. The printing on the box says, "chocolate ice cream dipped in, then drizzled with fine dark chocolate." It was every bit as good as advertised. Haagen Dazs uses Belgian Chocolate too. I like Belgian Chocolate whenever I can find it. I prefer it as well for political reasons to the Swiss varieties, as the Belgian people did fight against the Nazis in WWII rather than collaborating with Hitler and laundering their murderous Fascist larceny.

Lest I get too far a field, I should return to why I am celebrating. In addition to arthritis, degenerating discs between L-3, 4, and 5 there is some evidence of stenosis. I had MRI's done 8 years ago and then again early this month. The Spine Center at this hospital is doing world-class work with backs and the good news is I qualify for their program called 'Boot Camp for Backs'. With a disciplined exercise regimen and guidance I can expect to have the level of pain significantly reduced, enjoy more activity and maybe resume some things I used to do such as back packing and hiking. The doc told me it would be fine to hunt more too. It seems counterintuitive but the more sedentary life style, to protect one's remaining back resource, leads to escalation of pain. Exercise and therapy will strengthen the back muscles and reprogram the nerves in the area to send fewer pain messages to the brain. 20 to 25% of their patients report freedom from pain after their 'boot camp'. 40 to 50% report significantly reduced pain and 20 to 25% have some improvement but still in pain.

It is a beautiful day in Boston. It is 70 degrees here and I am going for a walk to celebrate the good news.

Mormons should oppose the Iraq War

In the ongoing debate over the Iraq war, and it reached a new high or low locally last evening in the debate between Rocky and Hannity, it is useful to look back to another day in another war from a statement made by the Brethren.

“We renew our declaration that international disputes can and should be settled by peaceful means. That is the way of the Lord. We call upon the statesman of the world to assume their rightful control of the affairs of nations and to bring this war to an end, honorable and just to all. Animated and led by the spirit of Christ, they can do it…Hate driven militarists and leaders, with murder in their hearts, will, if they go through to the end, bring merely another peace that will be but the beginning of another war.

We call upon the Saints the world over to pray to God constantly in faith, nothing doubting, that He will bring His purposes speedily to pass and restore peace again to the earth to bless His Children.”1

For Latter Day Saints, at least from a historical perspective Rocky’s statements reflect most closely those enunciated in this First Presidency Message. Truly, the values we once cherished have been betrayed by the war mongering Bush administration and the attendant evils of illegal incarceration of combatants, torture and the challenges to our civil rights here in America. Remember WWII was the so called “last good war” and yet we have this inspired statement from President George Albert Smith, and his counselors, J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay condemning it.

1 Message of the First Presidency, Salt Lake City, Utah, October 3, 1942

CP arrived

The second grandson this Spring arrived within a week of the first. He came Weds AM, the 11th of April, a little before 6:00. We are happy. Both mother and son are doing well. This little guy also has red hair. A few photos follow. I would have posted them sooner but we had been young man sitting J and A for a couple days and then I went camping with the Boy Scouts to Antelope Island. There were two highlights of the camp, a bag piper played from atop one of the hills we climbed at sunrise, and we saw the rings of Saturn through someone’s telescope.

The photos:

Yom Hashoah

Sunday is Yom Hashoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day. That such a thing as the Holocaust could occur is beyond my understanding. I have read a number of books on the subject and WWII in general. There was a line from a movie some years ago where one of the actors gives a line, a question, “How could this happen in the land that gave us Beethoven, Goethe and Schiller?” Given the ethnic cleansings and wholesale massacre of so many minorities in our own generation I guess one cannot, not ever underestimate, man’s inhumanity to man. Fortunately there are Schindlers and Rusesabaginas. Lest you do not know, Paul Rusesabagina was the hotel manager who saved more than a thousand Tutsis from Hutu butchers when war erupted in Rwanda in 1994. According to one UN source, within 100 days of war 800,000 people were dead. 'Hotel Rwanda' is worth renting at the video store.

Untoward and racist comments by a talk show hoast aimed at the Rutgers Women's B-Ball team, ('nap headed hos' or slang for street prostitutes), remind us that gender, cultural religious, and ethnic prejudices still exist in America. Maybe we have not made enough progress yet.

Sunday should be a day to reflect on Yom Hasoah and other things. I am profoundly grateful for the addition of two new grandsons to our circle and for other things.

LG arrived

The little guy arrived Weds. night, 7-1/2 pounds and 20 inches long. He was three weeks early but still a muy grande caballero. Note the sideburns between father and son. Enjoy the photos. Mother and baby will be home on Sunday. What an Easter present!

Flowers in our woods

Trillium flowers grow in one place on our four acres. We had not seen these flowers before growing in our woods. They are quite beautiful and we thought might be in the orchid family. Turns out that RA's book says they are members of the lily family and can bloom as early as March. They grow from Central CA along the coast to British Colombia. They should not be picked as it sets the plant back. They are, furthermore, impossible to grow in a garden. They prefer moist and shady wooded areas. The seeds are spread by ants, we read, who are attracted to oily structures attached to the seed coat. Thnaks to the ants for spreading these around our woods and hope you enjoy the photo.

A tragedy

A Silicon Valley engineer launched his dive boat north of us in Humboldt Bay on Saturday morning and drove it 20+ miles to a little north of us and about 5 miles out. His location was Blunt Reef. It is a dangerously beautiful place and the site of a number of wrecks off Cape Mendocino. It has strong rip currents, can have heavy seas and is home to Great White Sharks. Lots of reasons to not dive alone. The article about the loss of this diver and world class amateur photographer is found in today’s San Francisco Chronicle. I and family members have been diving along the coast for decades and attest to its beauty and pristineness. The Coast Guard found his 17’ Boston Whaler awash and half submerged, still anchored to a rock outcropping at Blunt’s Reef.

I have seen a number of underwater photographs over the years but never any as beautiful as these. They are posted on his
blog and we hope they will be there for a while. Our condolences to his family and friends.

The self image was taken by Kawika (David) Chetron with the unexpected harbor seal wanting to be in the picture.

Our neighborhood

Using the new Husqvarna chainsaw with a 20" bar I was able to whack some wood around the place include cutting that redwood log that fell some time back near our water tank. I counted the tree rings and it was more than 60 years old before it fell. Looking at the rings it is clear that there have been wet cycles and dry cylces in our neighborhood. The log is between 20 and 27 inches in diameter. In May we can drag thes pieces off the hill and have them planked. Maybe we will build some Adirondak chairs for the deck and panel a wall in the house. Keeping the wood for furniture preserves the stored C02 in the bank and not releasing it to the atmosphere.



RA did a lot of cleaning and we cut back some of the brush around the deck and one of the parking areas. We burned termited wood and gathered a couple pounds of nails from the ashes before we hauled it away.





Some years ago a shrine of rocks and an abalone shell were left at the base of the redwood tree in front. Anyone remember?



Kay, our neighbor gave us some dafodils and we added a couple wild flowers. They are in bloom around our woods.



We also planted an apple tree in the garden. Maybe it will survive and we will have apples or the animals.

The View is pretty nice...

We had the local rock and gravel place come out with five cubic yards of rocks and fill our giant sink hole in the driveway and also put road base in the ruts between our place and Kay's. The boys, who delivered the rock and road base, used a compactor and got it pretty smooth and very well compacted. It would have taken us a long time to do it the hard way with shovels and rakes.

We did not bring our camera so we cannot show you any new pictures just this view of the Mendo Headlands from an earlier trip. The weather was clear last night and the moon half full and the water was at 100°F in the hot tub. Que Bueno.

My Drinking Water

Compare our ability to turn on the tap and have all the clean water we want, or need, or waste, to areas in Africa where entire villages are struck with waterborne parasites and diseases. The traditional treatment of one waterborne parasite called the Guinea worm consists of wrapping the 2 to 3 foot-long worm around a small stick and extracting it. This is a slow and painful process that often takes weeks. This photo of a child in Togo endures the removal of a Guinea worm from his foot. The process is repeated daily and the pain is akin to having a hot coal placed on the skin. If the worm is pulled or broken it dies and a serious infection results. Children who have this Guinea worm cannot walk to school. Farmers who have it cannot work in their fields. Mothers afflicted cannot care for their families.

I spoke with Randy Randall this morning about our water in Centerville. We have such pure water from our wells chlorination is not required, and yet hundreds of tests are performed over a year on our water supply to ensure it remains safe for all of us.

Former President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center have been working to eradicate this horrible parasite, the Guinea worm in Africa. It is as simple as having clean water to drink. How easy it for us to have all the clean water we need? We all can help, and it may be possible by the end of the decade, to eradicate this disease worldwide. You can make a donation to help those who are helping by visiting the Carter Center web site.

Your $30 donation can pay for 100 portable pipe filters to enable nomadic populations to filter their drinking water and help eliminate Guinea worm disease.

This Guinea worm disease puts into real perspective our gripes, complaints and whining over big boxes, school vouchers, and my favorite -- our Republican State Legislature.

If you can stomach it, you can watch a video of a young girl, a victim of this parasite.

The image below is a 3' long Guinea worm in a laboratory jar.

Movies I missed in 2006...

that I want to see yet this year: "The Prestige", "Little Miss Sunshine", "Children of Men", "V For Vendetta", "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan", and "A Prairie Home Companion". Often when I rent movies I look for Ebert and Roper's "two thumbs way up." I have been introduced to Rottentomatoes.com by number one son and will now look at their site for recommendations. I have been both pleased and disappointed with Mssrs. Ebert and Roper, so I am willing to try someone else for awhile.

Why I am an omnivore...

I love to eat bison meat, elk and venison. The hunts for the wild game are the highlight of hobbies. We do not hunt buffalo or more correctly bison. We harvest them at a ranch near Delta Utah. It seems there are extra special good reasons for eating bison meat. Some folks know that bison has lower levels of cholesterol than chicken and that heart bypass patients are allowed to eat bison. Now it seems the University of Utah's Division of Nutrition is beginning a study about the health attributes of bison. Quoting from a recent newsletter the Mrs. receives, "The interest in the health attributes of bison comes at a time when Americans are searching for dietary alternatives to beef. Bison is a good candidate since it contains less fat than the same amount of beef and has a higher ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids. Bison also contains higher amounts of omega-3 fats and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Recently, CLA has been shown to reduce inflammation, slow cancer growth, reduce heart disease, and improve body composition."

Wow, I do not have to worry about eating fish and getting mercury poisoning. I can eat my buffalo steaks off the grill and know I am getting heart healthy omega-3. I can say my body 'composition' is in need of help so I am anticipating the next Sunday buffalo roast for dinner. I still like tofu too.

The passing of a great man and good friend...

Eric D. Hogan -- Born July 29, 1917—Passed away March 1, 2007

As a young man in an LDS Church teacher's group we played basketball as is the custom. Eric Hogan was the coach and quorum advisor. I recall a game, we had against another LDS Ward. Probably the only game I ever remember playing church ball in. There was a guy on that team. I remember his name but will not print it here. He was rather aggressive and prone to foul. The refs were not up on calling any sort of a close game so it was pretty typical church ball. I, along with the older guys on the team, was being fouled by this guy. Being one of the younger ones Eric was looking out for me especially. I managed to get a rebound and of course I was fouled and stripped of the ball. Coach called a time out and we had a huddle. The only thing I think he said in the huddle was to me. His words were something like, “George, the only way you are going to get this guy off your back is to give him an elbow. The next time he comes at you give him a good one!” Play resumed and after a few minutes I had the ball after another offensive board and was dribbling out of the paint. The guy came after me again and I changed from the right hand to a left hand dribble. As he came close - reaching in - my elbow was ready and I let him have it. He doubled over and went down on the floor. I was called with that foul of course and I heard Eric yell across the floor “Good one George!” The other coach objected but Eric held firm and defended me. A discussion with the refs set the game on a better footing after that.

We won the game and I don’t remember much else or of my tenure in the teacher’s quorum for the two years I was there, other than this great man who took an interest in me. He taught me a little of the fine art of church ball and how to defend myself and stand up to a bully. He gave me the confidence to assert myself for my own protection.

We'll miss you Eric!

Why do they come?

This is a photo of a barrio outside of Lima, Peru. I was there a little more than a year ago. There is no running water here, elctricity or sewers. The air smelled so bad I did not want to breathe as we drove through this neighborhood on the one bumpy narrow paved street. The poor people in Lima live on the hillsides. The hills are devoid of any vegetation, just rocks and dirt. Not a single tree grew anywhere on the mountains above Lima where the gente pobre live. It was made the capitol of Peru by the Conquistadores because it had a natural harbor from which the conquerors could load and haul the treasure they stole back to Spain. Infant mortality is greater than 50% and tuberculosis is high in this place called San Juan de Lima. Respiratory infections are frequent and there is no Insta Care or IHC to take your kid to when he has a fever. Garbage was piled along the street and the sorriest junkyard dogs I have ever seen look for something to eat. They compete with the residents looking for scraps of paper or metal to recycle and sell.

I was told by my body guards this was not the worst neighborhood in Lima. We could not go to the worst because they would break the mirrors off the van or try to carjack us. I had to be content with experiencing the second worst neighborhood. When I retrurned home to Centerville I showed this and other photos to my son in law K. I said I could not believe there was an LDS Church there and missionarios, even gringos serve here... He laughed and said he was a Zone Leader in San Juan de Lima.

Mi vida es facil!

Not one in a ten mile radius...

Kahil Gibran observed that he learned "silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind." Further he said he was grateful to those teachers. I am not as grateful. I have "learned" enough from our Utah legislators that I need a recess. It is time to stand on the bluffs above the rocky shores of the Northern CA coast and inhale the air of a free people. It is time to gaze for a few evenings at the nighttime sky through the whisps of lifting fog to catch the clearest light of the stars and know there isn't a single member of the Republic Party within 10 miles. It is time to soak from my bones, just for a few days, the ache brought on by legislative homophobia and intolerance. It is time to be in a state that has sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sens. Feinstein and Boxer to our nation's capital and know that Orrin Hatch is almost a thousand miles away by automobile and a million miles away in my mind. I will shop at a very little box, the neighborhood Community Store of Westport CA. I could not drive to the nearest WM in under two hours.

Surround me with trees that were here before there were Bushes and let me sit among those who hug and love these trees. I will be free...

I have been drafted...

into the Young Men's Program. Soy consejero en los hombres jovenes de la Rama y estoy muy feliz. Nunca demasiado viejo pienso.

Carly Simon on a Saturday Morning...

This morning I scrambled some eggs with cheese from Round Man's in Ft. Bragg. Had some smoked pepper jack we brought back from our last trip. It was very good. While cooking we listened to Carly's new album 'Into White'. I had downloaded it to my IPod. I am sitting in my easy chair and listenting to it over the new IPod Hi Fi boom box. The sound is great. I am enjoying Carly so much I went to Amazon and ordered four CD's for the kids. A couple of the tracks have help from Taylor children I understand. One even sounds like the papa James T. Wish any of you were here to share the Saturday morning with us...

Last night we watched on the big screen Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" for the first time. I was moved. It was a spiritual experience. The views of Earth from the moon and beyond were moving, even the digital rendering of a Polar Bear swimming in the open ocean trying to find a bit of ice to rest upon. Can you imagine 'W' making a movie of anything when he is out of office? Maybe he could do a Will Farrell immitation of himself, down on the ranch playing a little frisbe with Condi and Dick. Would You Tube pick it up?

More from Karl and W

Here is a quote from the evil genius behind Bush, "As people do better, they start voting like Republicans--unless they have too much education and vote Democratic."

Karl Rove, White House Advisor

I was given a great calendar at Christmas from my kids entitled the "Out of Office Countdown, 2007, Two years and Counting"

Another priceless observation Rove made came on 19 January 2005, he said George W. Bush was "one of the most intellectually gifted presidents we've had." Does anyone actually believe that?

There are some gems of wisdom from our Commander in Chief and his cohorts. Here is one: "I'm the commander--see, I don't need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president."

Cooking

I have been impressed and envious with all of you and your cooking accomplishments. Given the cold last night and the Mrs. being tied up with piano lessons and church stuff, I decided I would alter my normal supper fare and try cooking some soup. How hard can that be anyway? I boiled water, peeled potatoes and carrots, chopped onions, added garlic, opened a can of corn, beans and mushrooms and started cooking. It looked like too much water and the soup would be too thin so I poured in some rice left over from Sunday into the boiling water. A little soy is always good in everything so some of that went in along with 2 lbs of elk burger and a can of tomato sauce. The ground elk made the whole think kind of pink which is not desirable. After awhile the concoction started turning brown, but much of the water largely disappeared. When the Mrs. got home it was stew, maybe. The mistress of the kitchen said it was more like a casserole of potatos, elk, carrots, rice, green beans and corn. So much for cooking soup. She did tell me it was very good, though I found that if I squirted some Siracha sauce on it (to light up your life, lips, tongue and throat) it was even better.

The photo is someone else’s image, as I did not take any pictures of my casserole. We do have lots of it and there were three containers left over and in the refrigerator.

Is there room at the inn?

A piece in today’s Trib by Jessica Ravitz merits reading and pondering upon. It is an account of two incredible women, Jody and her friend Jess. Jody lived, really lived, for seven years with ALS, or Lou Gherig’s disease. Their relationship had the power to ‘transform minds and hearts, offering a lesson in devotion and proof that what exists between two people cannot, should not, be dismissed.” There is a profound lesson for many of us here about capacity and our ability to love. Regrettably, far too few will be influenced to alter or change much their negative perceptions. Call them even phobias, prejudices or fears.

Turning to Luke, early in the gospel we read in the 2nd chapter from verse 7: “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room in the inn.” It seems there was no room in the “inn” for Jody and Jess. From Ms. Ravitz article again, “Friends gave comfort, but in grappling with death, Jody also sought out spiritual sustenance. Tucked between the recliner's cushions was a handmade rosary, a gift from a cousin. Jody, originally from Southern California, had been raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But she came out as a lesbian just after serving a mission in Chicago and felt she was no longer welcome. She took the embrace of West Valley City's St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, where she was baptized in May 2005. Because Jody was homebound, the Rev. W. Lee Shaw of St. Stephen's brought the parish to her. Volunteers made weekly visits. Shaw came to offer prayers and Holy Communion. After he consecrated the bread and wine, Jess ground the wafer, mixed it with the wine, and by way of her feeding tube, Jody was blessed. But visitors said they were blessed even more…”

New Years is about new promises and resolutions. Maybe it is a time to think about the “inn” in our hearts and lives and ask ourselves if there is room for a relationship such as Jess and Jody had. Please read the article.