My Pioneer Trek Day 4

Wednesday, July 22 - Vacation.

I spent a large portion of my day hanging out with my daughter, Brenda.  This is a rare and treasured experience.  It is such a bittersweet blessing to watch your children be adults - at least for me.  In my confident youth I remember telling myself I'd never be that "old person" who spoke of regrets but self evaluation breeds thoughts of opportunities missed.  I will decline to air those here with one bit of sage advice.  Regrets are only a useful form of reflection if they inspire you to make a better effort, enjoy every minute, and accept yourself the way you are.  Then put it away it is one of those emotions that hinder forward progress.  That said, I want to share some of the things Brenda and I talked about.

  Brenda is a seasonal firefighter.  She works mostly dispatch but is happy to be in the field whenever the opportunity arises. 

Of course I wanted to know what she does at work. I won't presume to report details here of an occupation in which I have no expertise.  I just want to report a few of the things that struck me about what these valiant people do.

1.  I had never considered the amount of intelligence that needs to go into containing a forest fire (or any fire for that matter).  Brenda said that as crews are being assembled and organized the report providing the information they will need is 20 pages or more.  Probably silly of me but the layman's experience is what you see in a movie - the alarm goes up and everyone scurries to their post with the voice of the dispatcher coming over speakers and radios just barking directions.  Common sense says you need to know where and how big and maybe what direction the wind is blowing, weather and season.  Maybe people with more common sense than myself would have already considered that you also need to know who it belongs to, what their rights and concerns of that ownership might be.  One of the big issues in the desert west is water rights.  If firefighters use a whole bunch of water that belongs to someone else is that infringing on their rights?  There are people who would say it is!!

2.  The number and scope of the agencies who must collaborate to put out a fire, fire fighters from separate organizations local and imported are a given but the effort may also include military and law inforcement and others.   Brenda commented that just knowing the various lingo is challenging in order to keep communication effective.  I noted that she's amazing and they are lucky to have someone with her varied experience.  I could be a little biased but I don't think so.

To wrap up we watched Disney's Airplanes: Fire & Rescue.  It was a fun movie.  Brenda's comment "They keep talking about saving lives.  For most of us it begins with saving the forest."  New perspectives are what interpersonal relationships are all about.

As a cap to a great day we all drove to Grand Junction for dinner and a movie.  I have to say, while the movie was cute and funny (Minions),  the most entertaining part was the conversations in the car on the drive over and back.  Derek and Brenda are great, attentive parents and Daevius and Xavey are typical teens figuring out who they are and what they want.  It has been fun to watch it in person.

My Pioneer Trek Day 2 & 3

     Monday morning. . .  I left Nebraska and headed for Colorado with a cooler full of pop, a bag of junk food, and a new audio book to listen to.  I may be nearing Nirvana now!!

I was struck by the abrupt change in terrain when I crossed the border into Colorado thinking how it went from green to brown but by the time I had begun to climb into the Rocky Mountains I was experiencing some serious nostalgic recall.

Mountains! and pine trees!

I spent the greater part of my school years living in Lake Tahoe.  This felt like coming home.  These pictures are Vail.

Then it started to rain.  It has been a very long time since I navigated curvy mountain roads so the added "challenge" of rain was nerve wracking. But I managed to get to Paonia safe and sound.

 Tuesday, Xavey and Daevius played tour guide.  We did a brief walking tour of Paonia.





We started with "church street".  Not the name of the street but since several churches reside within a couple of blocks it is an apt description.  My favorite was the "Castle Church".
It started to rain along the way so we headed for the Library.  Then Brenda and Derek got worried and delivered umbrellas to the library we wouldn't get wet.  I swear they are waiting on me hand and foot - no complaints ;-)

Then Brenda and Derek made Pho (Vietnamese soup)- yummy and wrapped up the day with a Transformers movie with Daevius.

My Pioneer Trek - Day 1

     One of the metaphors that is frequently used when discussing the intricacies of this life we live is that of a tapestry.  Each event, goal, challenge, personality, and relationship is a thread woven together into a shining (or raveling) work of wonder.  I propose that an equally poignant image of our experience on this earth may be represented by a quilt. The light and dark patches each making equal contributions to the whole.  Beautiful vibrant colored special events creating highlighted windows framed by the everyday colors.
     I have to start with yesterday's events.  My sweet grandson Benjamin was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  He covenanted with our Father in Heaven to keep the commandments and follow the example of the Savior.  The service was short and very sweet.  Despite the fact that it is sometimes difficult to tell what Ben understands, it was clear to me that he understood the promises he was making.  There was so much joy in the event! My son, Bill, mentioned a couple of days ago that when we are striving toward an event of this magnitude, the adversary will try to waylay us.  He has been extraordinarily busy, Stephanie (Ben's mom) has been feeling under the weather (and is expecting!!)  See, one bright shining event surrounded by darker or mundane patches and stitched together with the continuous threads of faithful determination.

     Likewise, after attending Ben's baptism we were able to attend a Graduation celebration for my neice and nephew, Wyatt and Willa - another shining benchmark. One vibrant spot that is the culmination of years of daily stitches.  Stitches that can only be placed in the work one at a time, patiently, precisely, and with a willingness to remove those that are not up to the standard we want.  If we want our lives to be the works of art God intends we will have to remove and restitch those pieces that are less than that. 

Now for the rest of the story.  The next few entries will be a chronicle of my "pioneer trek".  I am discovering my family on both sides of the veil. My intent is to drive to Salt Lake City and surrounding areas to visit with relatives, scan old family photos, and record family stories.  From there I will go to Wendover and then Lake Tahoe with the same mission.  Today was the first day of that trek.  In the meantime I am thoroughly enjoying the journey.  The midwest, ie Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska are breathtakingly beautiful.  I drove to Lincoln, Nebraska today and I stopped many times just to look - just because I can.  I visited the International Quilt Study Center and Museum and waxed poetic ;-)