More big fish

There were big fish just under the surface of the water again this morning. Alas! the water was so calm and the reflections so extreme that the images of the fish did not show well - or at all for that matter. But they were there just about in the center of the picture. Oh well, you will have to take my word for it. The picture is quite good any way, don't you think?

I will take this opportunity to tell you that we are going to see the opera, Madame Butterfly, this evening. It was composed by Giacomo Puccinni. It has beautiful music. The story is a little sordid and sad. This American naval officer comes to port in Japan, has a liaison with this beautiful geisha, "marries" her and leaves. She has a child. She gets word of his ship coming back to port, gets very excited, only to ultimately find that he has his American wife with him this time. Upon this discovery she stabs herself and seemingly sings forever before she dies. This all provides the background for some of the most wonderful music in all opera.

Yesterday was a great drain on me emotionally. Clarine and I picked up Jack Weber and Chris Headen and went to the temple worker devotional in the upper floor assembly room of the Salt Lake Temple. It holds about 2,000 people and every seat was used. A second session was held three hours later, so that all workers and their partners could get to a session. President Monson talked in the first meeting and President Erying spoke in the second. Emotionally I was overcome in that setting with all those people arrayed in their white clothing. I shed many tears, but stopped short of sobbing. The things I heard were grand - including the singing. It seemed that angels must have joined in, because the sound was so rich and full in that hall. I had a Sunday School class to teach when we got home, and I still had tender feelings. It is always good to have tears come over wonderful things.

We are leaving to spend a week at Lava Hot Springs this Friday. We are planning on Deanna and Dan Allred joining us for some of the time. We don't do anything risque, but we have lots of fun talking and associating. We play games, take in sights for miles around and generally do things that don't elevate our heart rates very much - just what the doctor would suggest for people of our genre. Dan and I both have wrist rockets now (more than one each), so we and our partners can shoot until we run out of things to use for ammunition. I bought a few bags of glass pebbles to make a handy supply.

Evelyn came on the 8th of October. She didn't run low on things to occupy her time. I think her main excuse for coming was to have the three-month followup with her eye doctor following her eye surgery. Everything seems fine in that regard. The Sunday that she was here Kim,Chris, Elliott, Quinn, and Jalayne came and visited. We had more good times. She flew back to Japan on the 14th.

I am enjoying our beautiful Indian Summer weather. Clarine and I got our annual flu shots last week. We both felt some symptoms. Clarine is still dealing with a sore throat. We are hoping for that to be gone soon. I am sorry the picture of the fish did not turn out, but everything can't always be just perfect. I feel that life is really quite good. gwh

BYU vs USU

Friday, October 3, 2008, I drove with my son, Kenneth and his son, Alex, to Logan to attend the above referenced football game. My granddaughter, Jalayne, planned and coordinated it all. She and her parents hosted and treated. We tailgated and ate in the large parking area at the side of Jalayne's house. All of Callie and Dan's children (and spouses) and grandchildren were there. Clark brought some of his friends from BYU. That is the sum, total of us. I think there were sixteen of us. We had a good time associating. Callie and Dan needed to be neutral in their cheering as they have children that attend USU and Clark and they went to BYU. Ken, Alex and I could let it all hang out for BYU, but we were very controlled in our exuberance. The game was no blowout by any means even though BYU won 34 to 14 . Our tail gating repast was pizza, soda, cookies, baklava, chips and dip, jerky, and plenty of other stuff. It was a wonderful social occasion and my congratulations to Jalayne for setting up such a fine party. gwh

Samuel T. Russell and Marina Ivanovna Nikitieva

May I be the first to openly announce that the above couple are planning wedding bells. The planning is not finalized enough so that I can give date or place. I think I am doing pretty well just to be the one that has permission to give the preliminary announcement. Sam is from Woodinville Washington and Marina is from St. Petersborg, Russia. They both served in the Russia, Novosibirsk Mission, so they sort of have two languages in common - English and Russian. They are in Salt Lake today to do a temple session. This evening they will be in Provo for their mission reunion. Tommorow is conference activities. It is thought that Marina can get a ticket for the Conference Center being from a foreign country. They will be here through conference as will Kenneth and Alex, Mike and Emily Jensen. Any others can come and camp out for conference too if they wish. gwh

Grass Eating Carp

Cosmos - I saw some grass eating carp frequenting the vicinity of my dock. So I hastened to get my camera. Alas! when I got there there was nothing but bass, blue gills and regular carp. The targeted carp were very large - say 3 feet long and weighing 10-15 pounds. So, since I was primed to take pictures, I homed in on the Cosmos.

I found a perfect rose, so I clicked it too. In the fall the "red berry bush" gets fiery, so I shot it as well.

I saw some lovely geraniums, and I took their picture also. Well I guess that's it for taking pictures of grass eating carp. gwh