July 28 2008

Things are going well in Thornton. Things have been a whirl wind here. It is hard to believe that we have been here for almost a month now. Lexie is to the point that the baby is safe to have at any time. Her official due date is 2 weeks from now however at least two of our other kids came 2 weeks earlier that their due dates.

Last Monday I made up some new nest boxes for the chickens. The chickens seem to like them, we haven't had an egg anywhere but in a nest box since installing the boxes. Most days we collect 4 or 5 eggs and two days were able to get 6 eggs which was most likely one egg from each hen. Unfortunately or 6 egg days are most likely over for a while because one of our hens got sick. It is hard to tell what is wrong with her. I treated her and the rest of the hens for lice and mites even though I couldn't find any on them. The treatment was mostly so that I could feel like I was doing something. Between my reading and talking to chicken owners I have been learning that dying is just one of those things chickens do regardless of their circumstances. With that said I can't keep my mind from reeling through ways to improve their current pen and living conditions. I do feel satisfied that I have them set up well. We'll just have to pick a spot in the yard to be the chicken cemetery and move on.

The hens inspect their new nest boxes.

I keep going back and forth about whether or not I want to do a batch of broiler chickens. I have just enough time to get them raised before our departure date but don't have a clear cut economic case for doing it in as much as the little fluff balls sell for a $1.40 each in the quantities of which I would buy them and the feed they eat costs about $15 a bag. With whole chicken selling in the stores for often less than $1/lb it is really hard to have the cost of ownership come out against the cost in purchasing from the store. The main reason I would like to raise them I know is just because I find few things more fun than getting a box of day old chicks from the post office. The main justification I can give myself is that I think it would be good to learn farming as a skill for purposes of self sufficiency and even though I plan to use commercial feed for this batch I may eventually move on to growing my own grain. There is also a harder to pin down component that has something to do with freedom. I am not sure if it is freedom for me or freedom for the chickens. It sounds dumb but it seems like a person would be happier if they ate meat from an animal that was happy while it was alive. Oh yeah that does bring me to another little quirky thought I have been having on the subject which is actually abstractly related to the freedom issue. I have been thinking that if I am going to continue in a carnivorous diet I should own up to the actions and process through which the meat is acquired. As I have been looking at history (the few little tidbits I remember from the times I was awake in class) and thinking about the way our social structure works it seems that it is a far to frequent tendency of man kind to simply turn their heads and ignore abhorent action. If it is moral to end an animal's life at 10 weeks then it is moral for me to do it. If I find myself uncomfortable with the idea of the killing than I should not have actions which promote the act. Over all right now my thought is that it is just fine to kill and eat animals. I just think I need to kill a few myself to make sure. If I find it too internally bothersome then I think I will stop eating meat.

With the belief that babbling is OK in a blog I am going to continue a little more. Yet another concern and possibly the arch concern I have with respect to making the few simple clicks of the mouse which would direct 25 little peeps to my pad was mentioned in the opening of this entry. I am expecting a baby anytime! Which is one of those things that is in fact more satisfying than even a box of little chickens. It would not be good if I were trying to deal with setting up pen area when I was needed for other things. It seems lately as if I need four or five of me to cover all of the things I am trying and wanting to do. It is very nice to not have a rigid work schedule but it lays extra responsibility on me in terms of finding a balance for life. It is so easy to use work to mask ones priorities, having lowered that shield I have full accountability for any action I take. A minute working is a minute away from the family, a minute with the family is a minute away from work, a minute with work or the family is a minute away from church responsibilities ... I imagine most of you 30 somethings and others know exactly what I am talking about. With the grand trio of family work and church it is hard to know if chickens make sense. I have of course found the link of food storage and make up things to myself about having the kids take care of the chickens as a way for them to learn responsibility. However so far my experience with myself is I am too impatient and particular to let the kids have a major role with the chickens and with respect to the food storage the reality is that my food dollars go farther at a grocery store with my current infrastructure.

On the other side of the coin life does not seem to be a process of things being convenient and timely. Most goals worth attaining are goals which are reached through up hill struggle and effort. I believe in the thought that tomorrow never comes. A person only has today in which to work. That is not to say that one should not prepare for the future but it is to say as they said in ancient Italy one should seize the day. Every result we reap in the future will come from action in the present. The habit of putting things off is the habit of letting future opportunity slip away. The delicate balance is that a persons skills and resources go only so far and one wants to operate just at but not over the maximum of their potential. Another item to think about of course is that in that action of trying to squeeze every fragrance and breath possible from life it is important to find some relevance in the actions. When I die I expect that the there will be very few actions of my life that really mattered. I have had several things which seemed huge and all encompassing in their moment fade to meaningless with the passage of only a few years. While on the other hand I have had very simple actions of which I thought nothing at the time grow to bring me satisfaction later. A simple but illustrative example of this is found in a row of wind breaker trees I planted in the field of the Thornton house when I was 14 or 15 years old. I remember when I planted the trees my only thinking through the process was revolved around distaste for the task and excitement to blow the money I would earn from the planting at the arcade in town. I planted the trees, earned a reasonable amount of money for doing it and had the entire bundle squandered on video games before the night fall. Now almost 20 years later coming back to look at the trees I am filled with a mixed emotion of pride and guilt. Pride for having been so instrumental in the placement of the trees and guilt for knowing the mindless manner in which I performed the task. Thinking of the trees makes me think I want a life that is filled with more things like planting the trees and less things like squandering the money at an arcade. In the end the net result of ones accomplishments and impact has very little to do with their level of comfort or enjoyment in the process of pursuing that accomplishment. I think the secret is to give one's self a clear enough picture of where they are headed that they can dig inside of themselves to find the new strength needed to continue that journey. Lately I think I have been letting things cloud my vision. I think I am headed the right direction but in a stumbling lost kind of a way.

Grandpa enjoying some time after church with the kids.

July 20 2008

The day after Canada Day we made a driving day and didn't really do much other than put on miles and enjoy the scenery. It was nice a nice mile stone to cross the border between Canada and the United States. The border station between Canada's Highway 4 and the United States' I-15 is very interesting in that the border building itself crosses the road and is very large and imposing however on each side there are fields and pastures as far as one can see. It seems that it would not be difficult for one to go around the border guard if they wished. In our case the border guard of course presented nothing more than a minor delay however I did find that I resented their presence. Being as unencumbered with details of reality as I am I would rather not see a border between the US and Canada nor the US and Mexico for that matter. I believe that all people are tied together on earth as humans and we should work together to take care of everybody not just people born within certain geographic regions, to certain families or of a particular skin color. The argument that opening the border between the US and Mexico would lower the standard of living in the United States seems to me to be first an admission of a difference in the quality of life experienced in the two countries and second a statement that our good sense in exiting the womb on US soil makes us more entitled to take things from the world than those that did not share our great judgment in the decision of where to be born. As for the border between Canada and the United States it makes very little sense to me at all in as much as the two countries seem so similar to me.

Back to the United States ...

I had been looking forward to a drop in gas prices but was a bit disappointed to find US gas well over $4 a gallon. Still not as bad as the prices in Canada but far from a full relief.

Much of the reason for our hurry to put on miles was that I wanted to go to Crystal Park near Dillon Montana before we went to Idaho Falls. Crystal Park is a very unique place in that it allows visitors to dig for and keep crystals they find. I had never been to the place but had heard good things about it from both my cousin Mariann and my college friend Cody. We finished the day of driving at the Flying J just outside of Butte Montana. I was a bit frustrated because I hadn't realized that going to the park was almost 80 miles out of route and that with all of the driving of the day it was hard to find ambition for more driving. In the morning I made a call to the visitor's service desk in Dillon and learned a little more about the park and rekindled my interest in going. The family was split in the vote as to whether we should spend half a day at Crystal Park or simply get to Idaho Falls. With Lexie weighing in as a neutral I decided to buy some shovels and screen and plan for half a day at Crystal Park.

We were amazed at the beauty of the mountain meadows on the drive to the park. The park sits at something around 7800 feet so even though it was early July things looked very "springish". As for the park itself I couldn't decide if the park looked like it had been shelled by a B-52 bomber or infested with Cadillac sized gophers. In the areas people were allowed to dig and many people weren't allowed to dig there were large holes all over. A problem in the park is that people with forget what they are doing or rather focus to much on what they are doing and not think about its impacts. There have been deaths in the park caused by people digging directly under trees and then having the trees fall on top of them as the trees loose their roots. Despite several warning signs and instructions not to do so many of the holes were butted directly against trees. I am sure that on hot days the shade of the tree is very attractive. Also as we found once one begins finding crystals it is easy to forget about anything other than finding more crystals.

Tyrell loves rocks and was very excited to get to work.

It was fun looking for the crystals.

Next time I am going to bring a larger shovel.

The mountain meadows were wonderful.

As for physical comfort during our time there it was a bit poor. We had plenty of water but found the weather to be too hot and the bugs to be too hungry. Mosquito bites on a sun burn are not very comfortable. With that said overall I give the place an 'A' rating and am very excited to get another chance to go back.

By buying hot dogs and a gross turkey sandwich from a gas station instead of having food for dinner we were able to make good enough time to pull into Thornton to camp the night of the 3rd. My mom needless to say was very pleased to see us a day earlier than anticipated.

The morning of the Fourth was spent in Wal-Mart getting hair cuts and groceries. After that we went over to Lexie's sister Katie's house for a barbeque and to play games. I had a lot of fun playing Mario Kart and Tennis on my brother-in-law Camron's wii. I didn't have as much fun playing American Idol but I did play in the interest of being a good sport. Unfortunately the saying of "No guts no glory" is not reversible simply having guts doesn't always bring glory.

I really like the Idaho Falls fire works show. Since being married Lexie and I have watched the fireworks in Idaho Falls more than any other place. For some reason I found myself extremely cynical this year. I am sure it had to do with being over tired and also lately I am very sensitive to anything that resembles brain washing. The United States is definitely not what I understood it to be as a kid. I am sure some of the difference in what I thought it was and what it is is simply the difference in the understanding of an Adult and the understanding of a child. I also think some of the difference is due to a misrepresentation of information. I definitely like the United States but it is not the beginning and end of the world as it seem we are taught it is as children. Somehow we develop this idea of ourselves on an island and the rest of the word being out there different and distant. The rest of the world is right here with us and it is on the same island. I don't think it is healthy to work at trying to bring ourselves up in our minds to think that we are more important than the rest of it.

A Rover Red Rover game at Katie's house.

Fireworks at Katie's house.

We camped in our trailer in front of Katie's house so that we would be able to get ready for her son Jared's baptism in the morning. The service was nice and we enjoyed spending more time with Lexie's family. In the evening we returned to Thornton.

We have been living in Thornton for about two weeks now. One of my favorite things about Thornton is I am able to have chickens here. The first week we were here I called on an add in the local classifieds and bought 6 laying hens and 6 pullets. They are Sexlink chickens. I don't think I would have bought Sexlinks as chicks but having owned them I now think I might. The birds seem quite calm and will let the kids hold them and carry them around. When we first got the birds home we found that we hadn't quite repaired the chicken pen as well as we thought we had. There were several breakouts however the birds proved quite easy to catch. I have plans to build a larger portable pen for them but so far they are mostly still just plans.

I think David is a great expression in this photo of the joy of field.

I finally got my chickens!

I have been making great progress on the spelling game I am working on. I still don't have a release date set in my mind but things are looking good for the release date happening this year. I am a bit intimidated by the need to address all of the legal issues I will need to address related to my game but like any challenge I'll face it when I get there and find a way through. I suppose I can't say that about any challenge it seems some challenges I face when I get there and then they crush me, laugh at me and spit on me. I am truly hoping this is the kind of challenge I get to and get over.

My dad works alternate weeks in the oil field driving a water truck. On his week home we cleaned out the area south of the house so that I would be able to have a nicer camp site. It turned out to be a full week of work to get the area cleaned up and get things setup for the trailer. We all very pleased with the result. I can now camp in Thornton indefinitely although when the cold weather comes in I imagine we will be going out.

I keep going back and forth about how long I want to have the kids in public school. I think there are some things it would be nice to have them pick up in public school but I also believe in the value of the education they can get from life on the road. For now it is decided that we will enroll them in public school this fall but from there we don't really know how things will turn out.

I had a lot of fun this last Thursday playing church softball. I didn't have a great game but didn't have a bad one either. I was running hard around the bases and I have been surprised at how long the sore muscles have lasted. I really don't like sore muscles but I do like the feeling of running as fast as I can. I think I am going to work sprints into my work out schedule.

Friday night Lexie and I had the first date we have had in much too long a time. It was very nice to be out as just the two of us. We went to the movie Prince Caspian and then to Frontier Pies for some peanut butter and chocolate pie. We both easily agreed that the kids were not going to watch Prince Caspian in the near future in as much as the movie is loaded with sword play and we are both tired of needing to disarm boys of their sticks after someone gets inadvertently hit in a duel.

Saturday the ward had a breakfast and the kids did a simple parade.

Saturday the ward had a breakfast and the kids did a simple parade.

July 5 2008

Canada Day proved to be simply splendid. In most ways if maple leaves were switched for stars and strips it would not be obvious we were not celebrating the Fourth of July. With that said there were enough differences that it kept things interesting. Some of the differences were external and some of the differences were internal. Externally something we would have never noticed on our own but was pointed out to us by a local resident is that Canada does not use as many flags on Canada Day as the United States uses on Independence Day. Another difference which was pointed out to us is that Canada Day was not mentioned in church over the pulpit. The largest internal difference was that we were observing the day without preconception of what should happen in the day. Anything nice that happened was allowed to happen and be enjoyed without the overhead of a comparison of previous years and fear of missing an optimal holiday experience. We were able to approach Canada Day without what I will call for lack of more creativity the "should" and "have to" lists. Also as a mix of an internal and external difference in our experience is that in as much as we were away from extended family we chose to celebrate with many more community events. So many of the things we did were available and done in the United States it was just that for what ever reason they weren't things we did on the Fourth of July.

We started Canada Day at a community pancake breakfast. Something fun there is the way they would get the pancakes off the grill. The cook would flip the pancake high into the air and then a boy would catch them (most of the time) in a large serving pan. I was happy with the quality of the pancakes and delighted with the quality of the ham they served with it. There really is something to ham and maple syrup. Seating was a bit limited which proved to be a good thing in that the limitation pushed us into sitting next to people where as if there were open tables I am sure that inhibition and practicality would have put us at our own table. The gentleman I visited with through breakfast was very politically oriented so he was a great person to provide information about Canada Day. He was the person who pointed out the difference in flag count and lack mention of the holiday in churches.

Finishing breakfast left just enough time to get back to the parade. The parade was very much like parades we watch in the United States. Differences if any I believe were a reflection of the community rather than the country. After the we took the kids back to the splash park under the 100 foot dinosaur. The weather was hot enough that Lexie and I put spent some time in the splash park ourselves not really playing but just getting some water on us to beat the heat. After spending much less time than the kids would have liked in the splash park we headed over toward lunch. Even though we had just finished breakfast 2 hours prior lunch was only available from noon to 1:30 PM and we didn't want to miss it. From church we had learned that the grocery store did a beef on a bun barbeque. We weren't quite sure what beef on a bun was but figured it would be hard to go wrong with it. I am not sure if they did anything special to it but it turned out to be exactly what it sounded like a roast beef sandwich. There was a car show next to the grocery store which I am sure we would have skipped were it not for its proximity to our lunch spot and our excitement to do as many of the Canada Day activities as possible. None of the cars were mind blowing but it was obvious that a lot of time and love had been put into the cars. I kind of got excited about the idea taking on a project like one of those cars but the reality is that I don't think a project like that really suits my composition. I can almost count the times I have actually hand washed a car as opposed to simply hoping that a good rain storm did a good enough job and then deciding to wait for the next rain storm if it didn't.

We enjoyed the parade.

The kids had a lot of fun at the splash park.

On the map and on some signs we had seen some things call hoodoos about 10 miles out of town. We didn't know what they were but had gathered from towns folk that they were worth seeing, an interesting geological formation where a cap of sandstone slows erosion of material underneath to create little mushroom like protrusions. On the way out to the hoodoos we took a detour to follow a section of road that was in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the highest number of bridges in the shortest space of road, 11 bridges in 6 kilometers. I like bridges and not having the trailer seemed like a good time to explore them. For something that held a world record I was a bit under whelmed however it was a nice drive.

The hoodoos were a lot of fun. They were at the base of the valley with a trail that went to the top. The trail got steeper and steeper as we went up so between observation and advice of others on their way down it was decided that Lexie would wait with David and Natalyn while I took Ty and Dallin to the top. The trail proved to be a bit beyond what even the older boys were up for and they took a lot of encouragement to get to the top and even more to get back down. I was disappointed that their fear of injury and death was keeping them from enjoying the fun climbing but also amused to think of the role reversal. For all of the time it seems that the boys spend in much more danger than they realize they are in it was enjoyable in a way to see them exaggerating a danger. I tried to make up something of a listen to you parents lecture but I don't have much optimism that any of it stuck. By the time we were in the parking lot I was barking at them to pay attention and explaining that they were in more danger there than they were when they were on the hill scared. In the end I was proud of how well the boys did on the hill. Next time I will try to get them on something a little more gentle. David and Natalyn had a lot of fun sliding on their bottoms to get down the hill.

The hoodoos are very interesting geologic formations.

Climbing the hill behind the hoodoos.

Looking down on the hoodoos.

Taking a break in a small cave.

Ty and Dallin were a bit nervous on the way down.

On the way back to town we saw a sign for a suspension bridge. I thought it was a car bridge and thought it odd to have a sign for it but being a bridge junky followed the sign anyway. It turned out to be a foot bridge over the river. The view of the river off the bridge was great and I was delighted to find what I am reasonably sure was fossilized bone fragment on the other side. Other than the museum class which is hard to count I think that was my first time finding a fossil.

Crossing the suspension bridge.

Back in town there was a small festival with face painting a few games and a blow up slide. The kids had a ball on the slide. The line for face painting was too long so we missed that which was a shame because the people doing the face painting were doing some great faces.

In the evening there was a free concert featuring a local celebrity JD Bixby a runner up on Canadian Idol, the Canadian equivalent of American Idol. People told us that he was expected to get very popular. If he does get extremely famous it will be fun to have seen him when he wasn't. By the end of the concert Lexie and I concluded that JD would certainly be able to make a living singing if he wanted but would need to clean up a few things if he was going to get bigger. The fireworks were fun to watch. The closest place to view the fireworks put us behind some trees so we missed a few of them but in a way the framing of the trees made a nice effect.

The kids had fun playing on a blowup slide.

David showing us how big his piece of Canada's birthday cake would be.

Dallin and David enjoying cake on the grass.

Natalyn I guess you do have to watch out for those things.

An evening concert.

Partied out!