Day 350: Improvables Benefit Show

Like many of you, I was deeply saddened yesterday by the news of the mass shooting of nearly 30 innocent school children and teachers that took place in Newtown, Connecticut. You couldn't turn on the TV or Facebook or the radio without hearing a report on it. Here in Utah, it rained and/or snowed ("sleeted"?) all day long, as the heavens seemed to be weeping for this senseless act of violence.

When I hear of a tragedy of this magnitude, the Savior's teaching comes to mind: "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)

When I arrived at the theater, I noticed that the American flag outside was at half-mast in a gesture of support and respect:

Our show last night was a benefit for four-year-old Koda Woodall, who is battling leukemia. The theater graciously let us perform rent-free, and since we didn't have to pay rent this night, 100 percent of the proceeds (amounting to more than $300) went to this boy and his family to help with their medical costs.

Yes, my heart definitely went out to the little children and their families in Connecticut yesterday. We want to do something or make some sort of gesture to make things better when it's not physically possible. Fortunately, life sometimes presents us opportunities, however, to pay it forward, in some small degree, to other "little ones which believe in (Him)."

Day 341: Foggy Day, Keeping the Sun Away

Today was a very foggy day, and I love the fog.

Fog is, certainly, not fun to drive through, with its limited visibility on the roads and all, but what it does do for me is that it usually reminds me of the times I've traveled across the pond to visit family in England and of the weather there.

Day 338: Lights at Temple Square

Thanks to the customary generous supply of tickets from my inside source in the Tabernacle Choir (i.e. Pepe), I made it to the Conference Center for last night's annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional. President Monson and his two counselors delivered fantastic messages for the holiday season, and the music by the choir was great, too, as always.

It was a rather blusy day and evening, and it rained on us a good deal while we were outside, but Temple Square in December is still one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Day 315: Lookin' Out My Front Door

Yep, it sure snowed a lot last night. Definitely a lot of snow.

That white stuff that you see? It's snow.

Day 196: Geocaching

Through a writing project I completed for my employer, I recently discovered, conducted research on, and wrote about the somehwhat new hobby called geocaching. This involves the use of a GPS device and latitude and longitude coordinates to find small treasure boxes, or "caches," that are hidden around the world (which is where the "geo" part comes in). It turns out that many of these caches are hidden right here in Utah, and several of that number can be found just a short distance away.

At any rate, our latest mid-singles activity, which I helped plan and carry out, was dedicated to geocaching, which was a new experience for all but one in our group (Nick had found 59 previous geocaches, so it's a good thing we had his expertise to help us out). This afternoon, eight of us embarked on a geocache hunt that took us to several local Church historical sites, including the Bountiful tabernacle and the Heber C. Kimball gristmill, to name just two. It was an uncharacteristically cool and rainy summer day - a nice change from the hot, dry weather we experienced just a few days ago. Earlier in the day, Garrett had gone out and had placed small caches for our two groups to find.

At the end of our treasure hunting, we congregated at Founder's Park in Centerville, and while we were there, we searched for and found an actual geocache that had been placed there a few months ago by someone who uploaded the coordinates to geocaching.com. My first real geocache find was easy to miss, as it was so tiny that it could easily have fit in the palm of your hand, but we successfully located it:

Good times were had by all.

Oh, the Weather Outside Is Frightful . . .

Perhaps you've heard the news by now, but in case you haven't: On the evening of November 30/morning of December 1, strong canyon winds – some gusts reaching over 100 MPH, or the equivalent of a grade 2 hurricane – swept through several parts of Davis County, including Bountiful. The power was knocked out all over town and is still out in some places (fortunately, mine was restored after about 24 hours).

Additionally, many trees, including ones older than I am, were knocked over. The neighborhood looks quite different than it did a few days ago.

Regardless, I'm grateful - because things could have been a lot worse. Overall, my second hurricane was actually not as inconvenient as that one I weathered in Puerto Rico 22 years ago.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Yes, it's quite cold out there. In fact, my brain and my fingers are currently frozen to the point that I can't think of what to type beyond the phrase "It's Cold Outside."

Weather wise, it's still technically the autumn. But as I write this, the temperature is 21 degrees, with a predicted low of 9 degrees tonight.


Thank you, Al Gore, for warning us about this.