"By the Sea" from Emily Dickinson

I started early, took my dog, (it was really Em's)
And visited the sea;
The mermaids in the basement
Came out to look at me.

And frigates in the upper floor
Extended hempen hands,
Presuming me to be a mouse
Aground, upon the sands.

But no man moved me till the tide
Went past my simple shoe,
And past my apron and my belt,
And past my bodice too,

And made as he would eat me up
As wholly as a dew
Upon a dandelion's sleeve —
And then I started too.

And he — he followed close behind;
I felt his silver heel
Upon my ankle, — then my shoes
Would overflow with pearl.

Until we met the solid town,
No man he seemed to know;
And bowing with a mighty look
At me, the sea withdrew.

Feliz Dia Pascua a Todos

Update on the Branscomb Road House

We got a few things done around the house. The gate was termite infested and about to fall down so I replaced the posts with pressure treated doug fir and started the rebuilding. Because they sit on piers rather than burried with cement in the ground they will need some additonal bracing -- a couple more posts and cross members. That will have to wait until next trip. The gates are remounted again and were free of termites. I believe termites prefer the fir when they can get it. It seems they left the redwood alone. We burned the termite infested wood and removed the screws and nails with our magnet when the fire died down.

We also cleared a large pile of brush and debris from near one of the parking areas and removed some limbs from a couple trees so we have a little more room for parking. We will call the gravel place and have them haul in a load to expand parking in front of the garden. Some branches were cut back as well that were rubing against the house.

So much fun and so little time to work on it.

A Palm Sunday note from my sister...

My sister sent me the following:

"I have said a little prayer so I can make it to Mass on this special day. In the last month I have been so interested in a pair of Magpies outside my bedroom window. I have to peek thru my curtain because it makes them nervous if they see me, First of all they have a schedule and every morning they work on building the nest. At first the time was short and I couldn't even tell they were making one. Then each morning their work time increased. Sometimes one of them brings a bigger twig and the other one grabs the opposite end to help get it in. Usually they are noisy birds but now they are very quiet. The nest is very intricate and getting quite large. I am simply amazed that how can this be. they communicate and work together. I really have seen evidence that we do have a Heavenly Father behind all this because it is a miracle. This time I think about Mary the mother of Jesus. When Spottie even lets out a little yelp it cuts into me causing me great pain. The pain Mary must have suffered is beyond understanding how she could survive that torturing of her son. Again I guess the answer is in our Heavenly Father. Time to get ready and pay my respects at church."

Thanks Colleen for sharing.

Poetry from the Stern?

"Don't worry about saving these song, and if one of our instruments breaks, it doesn't matter. We have fallen into the place, where everything is music. Poems reach up like spin drift on the edge of driftwood along the beach, wanting. They derive from a slow and powerful route that we can't see."

COLEMAN BARKS

End of the Trail

I was excited on Friday's ride when exploring the new Legacy Parkway bike trail I saw signs that suggested it connected to the Jordan River Parkway trail. Not so, after 9 miles I came to this sign. If I had been on a mountain bike I could have continued and crossed Redwood Road and started that trail. A biker I met at trail's end told me it is supposed to be connected one day. That suggests it would be possible to ride from Centerville to Provo without ever being on a public road -- no SUV's with their drivers talking on cell phones about to smash you flat or run you off the road.

And a further note, I suggest since we are all running or riding or both we reestablish the Team Fisher exercise program. My goal is to ride a thousand miles this year and lose 40 pounds. Step up with your goals and I am good for some cool shirts.

Juan Luis and me today...

I have been waiting impatiently for spring to arrive and finally had my chance this morning to get Juan Luis out of the garage and on the asphalt. I rode on the new Legacy Parkway Trail from West Bountiful over to see Jack, Andy, CP and their parents in NSL. The first ride I think in more than a year. The first five miles were the worst. I was hoping the old out of shape body would have some memory of what is was once to ride with Juan Luis. Sure enough the last 11+ were actually better than the first five.

There are lots of people on the trail, kids and moms walking, bike riders, harses even, and a couple old guys like me. The photo is of some unknown person I found on Google Images of the trail.

I have to conclude this is one road the Sierra Club got wrong. The commute is scenic and relieves I-15 and we can get 55 mpg in the Prius driving to work at 55 mph. The bike riding is safe and I am enthused to ride again soon.

Que bueno!

Time is short...

I have decided it is time to start building the Noyo King. RA's projects will get done first and then I will be laying out the frame in the garage to support the hull. It has to be level, flat, plumb and dimensionally accurate within a quarter inch from stem to stern. The frame won't be a lot different than building a raise bed garden frame to start.

Visiting with our friend Kelly in Port Orchard, WA, over the weekend confirmed to me again of the fragility of life. It did not help either that we were constantly surrounded by water and boats everywhere. Now is the time. I have two sets of plans for the Surf Scoters, a 22' version and a 25'. The 22' is one I am planning on building. It fits into the garage too, though I am adding an extra foot to the boat.

No longer will Q be able to point out to me that this blog has gotten so far a field from its original intent of documenting the construction of the Noyo King. Q, here is a nice article about cruising aboard a Surf Scoter on the designer's web page.

Does anyone know of any maritime traditions or rituals that presage the beginning of the construction of a new boat?

Almost a salty dog...

I was downloading images from my digital camera and found this from a fishing trip this past fall. Ripley went for a ride and is seen here on board the Prandall. At the present Strawberry Reservoir is hosting ice fisherman and the ice is a couple feet thick.

Can't wait for the spring thaw to come and return there to catch more of those 'Cutts'.

It was a low tide in the afternoon.

The moon is full at night and I guess its position makes for a low tide in the afternoon here. We went walking along the beach and enjoyed the views at the old Union Landing camping area at the bottom of Branscomb Road. The bluff continues to be undermined and new cracks are visible as it sluffs off toward the ocean.

Enjoy the views...

Teaching Sunday School

I have had my current class, ages 12-14, in the Hispanic Branch for two months. I have asked them some questions to help me understand what they know and don't know. Our course of study has been the Book of Mormon. A couple of weeks ago I asked them to tell me one thing they had learned from their class all year. I waited and waited for a response and none were forthcoming. I then asked them how many teachers they have had in 2008. It was uncertain if I was the 5th or the 6th.

In order to help them as we finished the year's study I prepared a take home test for them based on their reading of 3 Nephi 11 though chapter 30. Generally, as a missionary if we could get anyone to read those chapters and seriously consider the content they were close to acceptance of the whole package. That being my goal I suggested if there was credible effort I would take them all to a fine restaurant for dinner. The enthusiasm was great and I have all but two exams turned back in and one of those was out of town with his family for the holiday.

Three things I have asked them to remember as we have read and studied these past two months about the Book of Mormon:
1. It is a history of their ancestors here in the Western Hemisphere.
2. It contains the formula for success in life which is found from 1 Nephi to 4 Nephi, and nearly every chapter in between, "for inasmuch as ye keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land."
3. Lastly, they should not to be confused by all the 'do's' and 'don'ts', all of the rules and regulations of the Church. Just remember what Christ instructed the Nephites about his doctrine, the Doctrine of Christ, which is to repent, be baptized and become as a little child. That is all that is required.

We are making progress and started the Doctrina y Convenios ayer Domingo. Que Bueno!

Sugar is sweet...

Alabama's sensational tailback Glen Coffee offered this up after his team was schooled by the Utes in last night's Sugar Bowl: "I felt like as a team we may not have given them their due respect. As a football team, that's something that we should never let happen." The Ute defense held him to under 40 yards rushing for the night.

'The Visitor' is the best movie I saw over the holidays...

Thanksgiving Day and the problem of meaning...

The aromas coming from the kitchen are not like any other time of the year. I counted some 20 pies on the table, refrigerator, counter, and in the garage. Orange rolls are underway. I have a turkey smoking outside. Later we are off to Alice's for the dinner with our contribution.

What is it that I can be most grateful for this Thanksgiving? First of all it is my family. Having a brother return to Centerville and become part of my life has been a special thing. Being three years older his memory of times gone by is better than mine. I was often too young to be included in some activities. We discuss from time to time our parents and how good things were in living life at 460 North Main in Centerville and in our extended family. I am forever grateful for the 'goodly parents' who made life so full of joy and happiness. Yesterday we went fishing with nephew Howard and we all caught fish. We have two large cutthroats to grill tomorrow.

I am grateful for my family of the present and future, and do more so as I get along in years. The joy of grandsons brings back fond memories of the activities we had as a young family at 498 North Main Street.

Life is filled with loss and that brings a poignancy to nearly everything. We spoke with our friend Kelly and he is not doing well. We will visit him in Washington in a couple weeks. His condition is that described by a contemporary of Joseph Smith, a religious philosopher, named Soren Kierkegaard. Unfortunately for Professor Kierkegaard he never knew Joseph or the revolutionary notions of his infant but transcendent theology. First a summary from Kierkegaard on the human condition and the pain of the uncertainty. Man is "a trembling animal at the mercy of the entire cosmos and the problem of the meaning of it." Now the certainty of Joseph Smith, "What is the object of our coming into existence, then dying and falling away to become no more?...This is a subject we ought to study more than any other. We ought to study it day and night...If we have any claim on our Heavenly Father it is for knowledge on this important subject." And he also observed, "Happiness is the object and end design of our existence."

Oh that I were an angel and could relieve in some way the pain of my friend Kelly and share somehow the assurance of continuation of life and the plan of happiness.

Waylon and Willie sing about a good hearted woman I know...

She never complains about the bad times or the bad things he's done Lord, she just talks about the good times they've had and all the good times to come...She loves him in spite of his ways she don't understand. Through tear drops and laughter they'll pass through the world hand in hand, a good hearted woman loving a good timing man...

Hugh B. Brown

He was one of my heros and one of the best of my generation. Ironically, Ed Firmage is his grandson. Both intensely
brilliant men yet one faithful and true to the Master and the other a persecutor of the faith. I saw President Brown on a couple of occasions and one of the more special was his presiding at the groundbreaking of the Washington DC Temple. It was a cold and drizzling fall day. They had erected some plastic sheeting for those on the stand. All of us in the audience were standing but huddled close together. As Mormons are wont to do the noise of the crowd was considerable. Then this elderly, but still striking man stood, and the audience in awe became silent. He was wrapped in a black cashmere overcoat with a white silk scarf. His hair was swept back and full, white because of the decades of life here. He gazed over the thousands assembled with a very serious if not a stern demeanor. The seconds, even a minute or more, ticked by without a word and then he said, "Many are chilled but few are frozen..." Such was his humor and eloquence.

Following are a couple of quotations from his life and accounts of him. I find great peace when I read his words and hope you find them equally satisfying. He was a lawyer by trade, a soldier and officer and a man of God.

"We are grateful in the Church and in this great university that the freedom, dignity and integrity of the individual is basic in Church doctrine as well as in democracy. Here we are free to think and express our opinions. Fear will not stifle thought, as is the case in some areas which have not yet emerged from the dark ages. God himself refuses to trammel man's free agency even though its exercise sometimes teaches painful lessons. Both creative science and revealed religion find their fullest and truest expression in the climate of freedom.

I hope that you will develop the questing spirit. Be unafraid of new ideas for they are the stepping stones of progress. You will of course respect the opinions of others but be unafraid to dissent - if you are informed.

Now I have mentioned freedom to express your thoughts, but I caution you that your thoughts and expressions must meet competition in the market place of thought, and in that competition truth will emerge triumphant. Only error needs to fear freedom of expression. Seek truth in all fields, and in that search you will need at least three virtues; courage, zest, and modesty. The ancients put that thought in the form of a prayer. They said, 'From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth, from the laziness that is content with half truth, from the arrogance that thinks it has all truth - O God of truth deliver us'."
Speech at BYU, March 29, 1958


“We should be dauntless in our pursuit of truth and resist all demands for unthinking conformity. No one would have us become mere tape recorders of other people's thoughts. We should be modest and teachable and seek to know the truth by study and faith. There have been times when progress was halted by thought control. Tolerance and truth demand that all be heard and that competing ideas be tested against each other so that the best, which might not always be our own, can prevail.

We should continue to become acquainted with human experience through history and philosophy, science and poetry, art and religion... One of the most important things in the world is freedom of the mind; from this all other freedoms spring. Such freedom is necessarily dangerous, for one cannot think right without running the risk of thinking wrong, but generally more thinking is the antidote for the evils that spring from wrong thinking. More thinking is required, and we should all exercise our God-given right to think and be unafraid to express our opinions, with proper respect for those to whom we talk and proper acknowledgment of our own shortcomings.

We must preserve freedom of the mind in the church and resist all efforts to suppress it. The church is not so much concerned with whether the thoughts of its members are orthodox or heterodox as it is that they shall have thoughts. One may memorize much without learning anything. In this age of speed there seems to be little time for meditation.

And while all members should respect, support, and heed the teachings of the authorities of the church, no one should accept a statement and base his or her testimony upon it, no matter who makes it, until he or she has, under mature examination, found it to be true and worthwhile; then one's logical deductions may be confirmed by the spirit of revelation to his or her spirit, because real conversion must come from within...”

Final testimony from the “Abundant Life” Edited by Ed Firmage

“Hugh B. Brown, who had served as President McKay’s first counselor, resumed his seat as an apostle. A few months later he would confide in his nephew, N. Eldon Tanner, that he missed the intense involvement of the First Presidency. In failing health, he could attend meetings of the Twelve only infrequently, so Eldon became one of his few regular contacts with General Authorities. Following one visit, President Tanner wrote in his diary, “I am sure it is difficult to adjust after being in the First Presidency.” He added an experience related by his uncle that had helped President Brown adjust to these years of declining responsibility.

“He said it was not a vision, but the Lord appeared to him, very informal, the same as I was sitting talking to him. The Lord said, ‘You have had some difficult times in your life.’ Uncle Hugh responded, ‘Yes, and your life was more difficult than any of us have had.’ In the conversation Uncle Hugh asked when he would be finished here, and the Lord said, ‘I don’t know and I wouldn’t tell you if I did.’ Then He said, ‘Remain faithful to the end, and everything will be all right.’”
[Pp. 254–56 in Durham, G. Homer. 1982. N. Eldon Tanner: His Life and Service. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company.]

Time to go golfing...

Professor Ed Firmage, a local curmudgeon, even terror to the Mormon community and culture in Utah was published in this morning's Tribune. He has been largely silent during the recent political campaigns in Utah. I think the state democratic leadership had him muzzled to some degree wanting to attract more of the faithful to their or our cause. Here is his two cents:

"The last 2-by-4 is a heart-breaker
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 11/15/2008 06:00:00 PM MST

By Ed Firmage

The Mormon Church, the Republican Party at prayer, wants to run with the fox and bay with the hounds.
The Mormon Church of the 19th century had a tradition of Christian socialism and a pioneering spirit that created much of the best that can still be seen in the Great Basin of the American West. These and many more traditions were obliterated by persecution, indeed the United States declared war on Mormon culture and the feds won.

I have benefited personally by the ministrations of church leaders, truly Christian acts that went far beyond what I had any right to expect. But long ago, Fawn Mckay Brodie, arguably the most famous Mormon historian, noted just prior to her death, that the Mormon Church would begin to draw to its banner a hugely disproportionate number of radical conservatives.
She said that even when she spoke, in the early 1980s, "birds of a feather" were indeed flocking together. Now, the story is complete. The Mormon Church is the most retrograde ecclesiastical body in the United States -- 100 years dated on civil rights for African-Americans (indeed, worldwide), staunchly opposed to First Amendment freedoms of speech and the press (see, e.g., Main Street Plaza, with all its plastic and plaster of paris). The Mormon Church led the powerful opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment that would have allowed women the full civic participation they obviously deserve and opposed the ordination of women to the clergy, since obviously only men can talk to God. Scores of members were excommunicated for writing true history, not the party line, a good example of inverse Darwinism, the survival of the least fit. And now Mormons have largely led and financed a war to deny marriage between gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. For me, this is not the last straw. Indeed, it is the two-by-four. My spine, devastated by surgeries, can take no more.
You have broken my heart."

Ed Firmage is the Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law, emeritus, at the University of Utah College of Law.

My online 2 cents in response:

"Professor Firmage why not just walk away and stay out of range of that 2x4? As HBB's grandson I would honestly like to know why you have such angst over the Mormons and their leadership.

Maybe take up golf and swing against dimpled balls rather than the gray heads or the senior bald pates of the Brethren. Why waste your talents blasting them when you could blast out of a sand trap, or inhale deeply from the experience of neatly trimmed fairways and cropped greens? Not up for that intellectual challenge? Just too easy to blast the Mormons and all of their high crimes and misdemeanors?

Get a life and move on before you 'stroke' out."

BTW, HBB is Hugh B. Brown, a former member of the First Presidency of the LDS Church, a noted liberal, and one of the greatest of intellectuals among the Brethren. Fawn Brodie was as bad in her biography of Thomas Jefferson as she was of Joseph Smith. Arguably one of the worst of any American or Mormon historians.

Dred Scott and Barack Obama

Dred Scott was a slave in the United States who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom in the famous Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857. His case was based on the fact that he and his wife Harriet were slaves, but had lived in states and territories where slavery was illegal, including Illinois and Wisconsin. The United States Supreme Court ruled seven to two against Scott, finding that neither he, nor any person of African ancestry, could claim citizenship in the United States, and that therefore Scott could not bring suit in federal court under diversity of citizenship rules.

Chief Justice Roger Taney said this in his majority opinion of the Dredd Scott Case:

"It is difficult at this day to realize the state of public opinion in regard to that unfortunate race which prevailed in the civilized and enlightened portions of the world at the time of the Declaration of Independence, and when the Constitution of the United States was framed and adopted; but the public history of every European nation displays it in a manner too plain to be mistaken. They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations, and so far unfit that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." Further he found that, "Any person descended from black Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of the United States, according to the Declaration of Independence."

Essentially the Supreme Court ruled that all slaves had no claim to freedom as they were PROPERTY and not citizens. Being property and not human beings it was not possible to bring a suit in federal court. Following the Supreme Court ruling Dred Scott and his wife were returned to their owners but were set free by them. After being set free free he worked as a porter in St. Louis for less than a year before he died from tuberculosis.

Yes, we have come a long way since then, but the stories continue about President elect Obama. I find with some irony that he is accused by some as a person without proper citizenship papers, being naturalized.

For the some twelve million black Africans brought as slaves to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th centuries and the four million who were here in the United States during Dred Scott's life this is a most profound achievement to have a Black American elected President of the United States. How fitting as well that he should have been a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago. I think he knows more about justice than Chief of Justice Roger Taney could claim, thank goodness.

My Comment on One Utah today...

WP Says:
NOVEMBER 9TH, 2008 AT 11:43 AM
To Scott, regarding your comment: “Please. All church discipline is left up to local leaders.” Your understanding is not accurate as there have been numerous incidents, excommunications, where the word has come down from the Brethren to go after a particular intellectual, dissident or group. Mark E. Peterson while a member of the Twelve took it upon himself to call stake presidents of members who wrote for Dialogue Magazine or participated in Sunstone Symposia. Though he was reigned in, the process has continued. Joseph Fielding Smith wanted Professor McMurrin excommunicated but he was thwarted by then President McKay. I suggest there are a few readers of this blog who have been singled out and disciplined because of pressure from Salt Lake.
What about the two members of the Orchestra on Temple Square whose religious lives were altered by Tabernacle Choir President Mr. Mac and others from Salt lake as they were forced to resign or face disciplinary council?
Just understand something and it might help with your approach to these kinds of questions — The leadership of the LDS Church have very strong and well defined opinions about a range of topics and it should be left at that. Their statements and actions are subjective, sometimes wrong and not always inspired in my opinion. There are too too many documented flubs in the diaries and histories of those present and past.
I regret that such an organization, that is so powerful and can be such a force for good in humanitarian ways, can and does stoop so low as to single out some, like the September Six, or this fellow from Nebraska for excommunication.
Having been an LDS bishop I was never asked by anyone above me to torch anyone’s papers but then D. Michael Quinn or anyone like him ever lived here in Centerville either. I was probably the most liberal Mormon and still am in my neighborhood though now I give my time at a Hispanic branch in West Bountiful. I should observe that the political leanings of most branch members are very much of the Democratic Party tradition which I find very refreshing.

In defense of Sarah Palin...

Looking for someone to blame from recent stories in the news it is evident the McCain people have unsheathed the daggers and Governor Palin is being skewered. Someone has to take the fall for the party's loss. I heard one interview by a CNN reporter and she did a credible job defending herself. She rose to the occasion by calling some the McCain handlers "jerks".

All things taken into account I think she should be embraced by the Republican party as their standard bearer in 2012. Just compare her to Reagan and she looks pretty good.

From the Nixon White House tapes remember Henry Kissinger said Reagan had, quote: "negligible mental abilities."