...Christmas music...

Please press "pause" on my Christmas playlist at the bottom of this page to fully enjoy this "Crazy" organ solo of Go Tell It On the Mountain.

...CHRISTmas time is here...

Christ...the real gift of Christmas

...nature's small gifts...

Young boy fishing with his dog: Palm Beach County, Florida
Today I was driving behind a truck. One of those extended cab pick up things. As I followed behind I could make out the outline of a dog sitting in the middle of its backseat. It seemed to be one of those big, short-haired, floppy eared dogs that you see hanging around with guys with extended cab pick ups.



As we were driving along I was watching the back of this dog's head and just pondering the relationship between man and dog. The loyalty, the trust, the give and take of dominance between man and his companion whom we lifted up out of nature to suit our needs. Were we selfish to force our domination of one of nature's creations? What benefits does the dog receive from this relationship?



As I looked and pondered, something else came into view in the truck ahead. I saw something white on the dog's head. I looked again and saw a tiny white hand, a quarter the size of the dog's head. I couldn't see the hand's owner, they were too small to be seen over the car seat. But, I could see the white hand stroking the big, soft head over and over. And the dog turned and put it's head down into the seat, I'm sure to offer a big wet kiss to the owner of the little hand.



I've seen many beautiful places around the world. Sights that seemed almost too spectacular to belong in our mortal realm. But, the more I see, the more I appreciate the small and subtle blessings in nature that surround us every day. Like a kid and a dog.

...my cup overfloweth...

So many things to be thankful for.  Family, food, fun together.  The ease and comfort of being among those who know and accept you whatever the outcome of your Thanksgiving experiments.  While those away from us were missed, we were together in our hearts...and through our stomachs!  

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Go ahead and say your thanks to someone (out loud) today.  Only good can come from an attitude of gratitude.  Make it a habit. 

Psalm 30:12

...gratitude...

...digital photography...

My camera broke...which isn't really a great thing.  But, it got me thinking about digital photography and how great that is.  You can take as many pictures as you want.  When you have cute kids and dogs that is a blessing.  And really, it is great to have 100 pictures of the same sunset.  Until I can figure out how to take pictures of the new things I see that keep me happy, here is a link to some pictures of places I've visited in 2009.

http://picasaweb.google.com/trimarie1

...Halloween...

I love Halloween in our neighborhood.  It is so Americana.  Halloween in our neighborhood makes you think that, despite how they say we're going to "He-- in a handbasket", around here everything is a-okay.  Kids were running around the streets, mostly followed by adults joining right in with the fun.  We had lots of trick-or-treaters and the neighbors got a chance to come out and visit and chat. 

It makes me feel sad for the anti-Halloweeners.  They are so focused on the "pagan" aspects of Halloween that they miss what is really a happy and joyful time.  Halloween is about kids...being one and pretending to be one.  I love it.

Here's what greeted our trick or treaters!  She seemed very confused, but loved all the visitors!

...man's best friend...

Okay, here she is...

before...

and after.

She is way cute and too bright. If intelligence in dogs leads to excessive naughtiness, she must be the Madame Curie of canines! But those soft brown eyes are pools of repentance and the amount of forgiveness shown by her doggie heart is a lesson to all of us smaller hearted mammals.

"To those who have cherished an affection for a faithful and sagacious dog, I need hardly be at the trouble of explaining the nature or the intensity of the gratification thus derivable. There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man." - Edgar Allan Poe

...some really great kids...

Psalm 127:3

...Thursday afternoon sunshine...

I would not call myself a sports "fan", as in fanatic, but I always have been a sports enjoyer. One of my fondest tv memories is watching "Wide World of Sports" with my dad. That, the Olympics, an occasional World Series or Super Bowl and every once in a while some ice skating and gymnastics thrown in are my usual sports exposure.

But, I have recently been exposed to a whole 'nother world...high school football.

Sitting high in the stands on a beautiful Thursday afternoon, I took a look around. I saw a hawk circling above the stadium, airplanes coming in on approach, white lines and green grass, parents steadily streaming into the stands, younger people helping older people climb the bleachers, kids trying to hold a coke and nachos and pizza and climb the bleachers, cheerleaders trying to stay in precision while never breaking a smile, and my very tall kid in his bleached (almost) white pants standing on the sidelines.

I have found that I really enjoy these games. As long as I can stay out of the "ugly box" (this is my name for the group of parents watching the game for whom high school football is a religion) I find the game to be rather uplifting. All those people together in cheering on the team makes for a great vibe. Most of the spectators are very encouraging to the players and the team is good enough to make for some exciting play.


I'm glad my kid decided to get involved. The whole "Friday Night Lights" thing is something I did not participate in in high school. I'm glad to have the chance to experience it now. So, go check out your local high school team. L-E-T-S-G-O Let's go Let's go L-E-T-S-G-O uh Let's GO!

...rain...

Can you even imagine seeing rain for the first time?

It would be a little frightening.


A little confusing.


But, ultimately a lot of fun.


Oh yeah, drying off is the best part!

...small sins...

Okay, not "sins" exactly, but things you do even though you know they are bad for you. Here is my current obsession:

You know and love the almost caramely, sugary goodness of Sugar Babies, now add the apple-y green outside and it is taking over my thoughts in a way that must be slightly sinful.

They don't look like much. But, they are teaching me much about self-mastery!

...the final frontier...

Been anxiously awaiting the Space Shuttle launch. I've never seen one in person, but saw one on a big screen live at the Griffith Observatory once. It was, surprisingly, nerve wracking and moving.
I've always been a space nut. One of my earliest memories is watching the moon landing on tv. I don't know whether the moon landing itself left the impression or the fact that we were staying in a motel (something we never did) was more exciting. But anyway, I remember it. And here it is 40 years later! If you would like to travel back in time to re-experience man's exciting adventure to the moon, go check out this website that is re-creating it in real time.

Also, click the button on the sidebar at the bottom of my page to see today's Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Then, tonight, go outside and look at the stars for awhile. I have a lot more philosophical stuff to say about the heavens, but today I'm just posting the fun stuff and crossing my fingers for that launch.

...dancing...

You need to PAUSE the music at the bottom of the page before you watch this one...

Oscar the Meyer's Parrot dances to his favorite tune...Listen as he declares himself a "good boy" before and after...

...land of the free...

Seen on Independence Day...

...flag raising by Boy Scouts...

...lunch in front of "Independence Hall"...

...even the bugs enjoy a beautiful 4th at the water park...

...floating down a lazy river...

...viva multicultural America!...

...finally FIREWORKS!

D&C 134:4-5

...new life experiences...

I had a new life experience a couple days ago. I visited an hospice. A family friend is now in hospice care and busily making arrangements for her own funeral. She has asked me to sing and wanted to make sure I knew which songs, what order, etc.

I wasn't sure what to expect when arriving at the hospice and was really quite surprised. It was a regular looking house on a regular looking street, but when you went inside what a different spirit you find. Right away you knew that there was something special going on here.

Our friend's small room was filled with people, including small kids running around and visiting "Grandma". The room had the bed, a chair and couch, an armoire, french doors that looked out onto a garden, and two pictures on the walls. After discussing her plans for her funeral, she told us about the pictures on the walls.

One was of a garden gate. The kind you see in old English gardens that have actual walls. It looked like a wooden door. This picture was facing her bed and she told us when she first came into the room she couldn't see it very well and wasn't sure what it was a picture of. By the next day she could make out that it was some sort of door way and soon she said it looked to her like a veil. Now she could see it. It was the veil she would be passing through soon into the next part of her life. And look, couldn't we see that there was the shadow of a person on the other side of the veil. So you see, when you go through there is someone there waiting for you. The other picture was on the side wall and she finally could make out that it was a bench. That was where the Savior came and sat beside her during the long nights. Waiting with her until she walked through the veil.

I am so thankful to have been able to have this experience with the Spirit. Another one in many to help strengthen my faith and remind me of the tender mercies of the Lord.

Ether 12:19

...happy links...

It seems that much of the World Wide Web tends toward the trite, vulgar, or the very least, cynical; but occasionally I come across a happy link. (Okay, sounded a little Pollyanna there--but I am going to declare "a little Pollyanna" a needed and necessary thing today!)

Here is today's Happy Link: The World Of Beatrix Potter

ENJOY!

...cooling off on a hot day...

...unexpected gifts...

Yesterday, a family friend generously gave me a gift.  He had been at some sort of sale on Saturday and saw this book, thought of me and bought it.  How sweet.  How touching.  I appreciated it so much.  This friend is an (I hope he doesn't mind this) elderly gentleman that attends church with me, and I use the term "gentleman" appropriately.  What he probably doesn't realize is that this is just the sort of gift that I love.  An old book.  Forgotten on someone's shelf, dusty, yellow pages, the work and words of someone long ago; imagine the wonderful possibilities.  

"The Education of a Music Lover"

by Edward Dickinson

Published in 1911, I've only had a chance to read the preface so far.  I love the language.  One hundred years and you are in a different world.  This was especially reinforced when I read this passage:

"In the course of the past few years an ingenious invention has brought the teaching of musical appreciation within the reach of instructors who have sufficient theoretical knowledge. It has made all departments of musical composition in a certain degree accessible even to those who are not expert pianists.  I refer to the mechanical piano players, which were at first looked upon with suspicion and often with abhorrence by professional musicians, but which are proving themselves an agency of immense usefulness in diffusing good music among the people."

Player pianos, that ingenious invention! I had to giggle aloud when I read that one.  One hundred years later, I find this article this morning that puts even more perspective on the last century of music appreciation.  The ingenious inventions just keep on coming.

I'm looking forward to reading Professor Dickinson's book and am so thankful to generous friends.

Romans 12:10

...downtime in the backyard...

Some comfortably cool "June gloom" mornings have resulted in some pleasantly warm June afternoons.  Time well spent in the "work in progress" backyard.

Now, doesn't that look inviting?  Look, a seat saved just for you!

Of course, you may run into this fuzzy friend in the backyard.  Go ahead, throw a ball.  Fun for both of you!

The "hula girl" is blooming as big as plates and covering the whole bush in sunny yellow.  As the evening approaches, the smell of jasmine adds just the right amount of sweetness to the gentle ocean breezes blowing in the next morning's cloud cover.  

Late spring in the backyard...enjoy!

Isaiah 45:18

...animals and people who care for them...

Visited a small zoo that exists because a group of people wanted to help animals in need. I've always been an animal lover and am so proud of and impressed by those who spend their extra hours caring for them. I can't manage to keep my bird's cage clean, let alone find funding and a home for grizzly bears! I know there is some sort of animal sanctuary or zoo near you. Go find one and visit as soon as you can.

Deuteronomy 22:4,6-7

...blossoms...

1 Nephi 11:8

...puppy love...

Is being joyful genetic?  or is it a learned?  Nature vs. Nurture...the old debate.  

Well, recently I welcomed a brand new "bundle of joy".  I like that old expression that we give to babies; it sure describes my new baby.   My bundle of joy is named Olive and watching her play and romp is guaranteed to make you laugh.  Her joy in being alive and experiencing new things is so neat to see.

Don't all little ones come already full of joy?  I think they do.  They have a natural ease with being joyful and expressing it.  They don't begin to lose that joy until they experience disappointment. This is where the effects of nurture come in.  I think that disappointment and discouragement is the learned trait.  

That means that somewhere inside us all we have the little bundle of joy we came with.  Find it.  If you're having trouble finding it...play with a puppy!

Doctrine and Covenants 136:28-29

...a time to mourn...

I am so thankful for the gift of faith.  That once it was the size of a mustard seed; but with care, it has grown.  

Life is full of all kinds of experiences; some we welcome, others we don't.  And when life brings sorrow or grief there is a choice to make.  You can either take the path of grief where fog and darkness shades your destination, or you can keep heading down the path of light.  

There is a time to mourn, so that there may be a time to laugh.  We cannot see all things as God sees, but we can look down the path we walk; and if it be the path of light that we are on, we can clearly see the end...and that's what keeps us walking.

Eccesiastes 3:11-13

...boys...

They get dirty.  They like to laugh at gross stuff.  They do dumb things on dares.  Who are these strange and different creatures.  Why can't they just do things like girls do them?  Does anyone understand them?  They don't share their feelings.  They make guns out of anything.  They can't find anything.  And they are maddeningly prone to parent deafness.  It is so easy to poke fun at them and laugh at them, call them lazy and gross and unfeeling.  But, if you do, then something happens; they become lazy and gross and unfeeling.  

I worry for them.  They need to be better understood.  Their joys are simple.  (guns made out of sticks and forts made out of boxes are very fun)  They are brave. (To fit into their society, a "double dog dare" may just need to be taken)  They are clever.  (They can't find their belt on Sunday morning, but their minds visualize a project much clearer than mine)  They share their love with their actions, not necessarily their words. (Mommy, I drew this picture of you)  

I am hopeful.  Mothers love boys.  Boys grow into men.  Men become fathers.  Fathers mold boys.  

Do your part.  Open your eyes of understanding.  Love and mold a boy today.

Deuteronomy 4:9

...laughing at silliness...

I've always been a movie lover.  My brother is fourteen years older than I and one of my earliest memories is of going to see "2001" with him.  I remember being really little.  In my memory we sat in the front row, but it may have been just really close, because I remember the screen was HUGE.  I've seen it many times since, of course, but I have a very distinct memory through little eyes of the scene with the girl slowly walking and walking around that circle and Strauss playing in the background.  I also remember him taking me to see "An American in Paris".  I was a little older, I think, and I've loved Gene Kelly ever since.

Anyway, I'm a movie lover, but not a movie snob.  Let's face it, there are all sorts of armchair critics out there who have lots of opinions they feel they need to share.  Me, I just want to be entertained.  I can usually turn off my brain and enjoy most anything.  There have been a couple near walk-outs, but I usually stick it out.  However, I am always most pleasantly surprised when I do have to use my brain, just don't make me think too much.  

I've been mostly disappointed in movies lately.  There really hasn't been much that looked interesting or entertaining enough to see.  Too much raunchiness or they seem to be taking themselves way to seriously.  Sometimes you just need silliness.  

The other night "School of Rock" was on and I stopped for a couple of minutes to get some laughs.  Great movie for just enjoying being silly.  In the scene I saw Jack Black declares, "I serve the community by rocking!"    Love it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

...the communication age...

Yesterday I realized that my baby and I could talk to each other and see each other at the same time though we're almost 900 miles away from each other.  I discovered the video chat.  

Warning:  "Back in my day" moment ahead...

When I was away at school I was also far from home.  I remember having a phone in our dorm room, but I don't remember calling home very often.  It was expensive and I was barely paying for school, let alone luxuries like calls home.  

I'm so thankful to have the ability to text, call, email and now see my baby.  I don't think she tends toward homesickness, but I tend toward the side of worry.  Just being able to reach out and touch her in some way once a day is a blessing.

1 Timothy 6:17-19

...a new beginning...

Happy New Year!  

First thing I'm thankful for in this new year is health.  Although I complain about it at times, I am so thankful my body is still (for the most part) in working order.  An horrifying bout of stomach trouble which, thankfully, ended was just the reminder I needed that no matter how icky I may feel, it could always be worse.  

This is definitely one of those "silver lining" posts.  Cause, really, what is there good to say about 24 straight hours in the bathroom.  

Here's to the New Year and new beginnings...starting with good health for everyone!