Chris and family take a trip to Canada

On July 21, we went to Quebec (yes, the french speaking province, what a rush that was!) to see an attraction there called Parc Safari. We had a ton of fun, all day long, in a park that is a zoo in a most non-traditional sense. In this zoo, the animals run more or less free, and the people drive through in their personal vehicles. I guess I don't have much more to say about it, except to say that I have an online slideshow of some of the pictures we took. Check it out!

http://www.parcsafari.shutterfly.com/action/slideshow?a=67b0de21b35096aaa427&auto=1&idx=-1&m=1&d=1185574500199

If anyone has any difficulty with this link, please let mom know, and mom, please let me know asap so I can fix it?

Chris and Family

Just thought I would add a quick post... I got to speak to Lili again on the phone the next day. She needed the recipe for syrup. The connection wasn't very good, but I at least got to say hello to her. I sure do miss her, and wish like everything I could be there with her. I am sure all of us wished that. She is currently signed in t the instant messenger, but I don't know if she will be checking it or not. I will certainly post anything she has to say. I know she is having the time of her life and wish her the best days to come. My love to everyone. Buzzy

IM from lili

I got a phone call about ordering a school sweater for Lili, tonight. I didn't know she had expressed interest in buying one but I wasn't surprised. She was elected vice president of the drama club for next year.
Anyhow, I needed to talk to her about it and was starting an email when she started paging me on instant messenger. As nearly as I could tell, her messages were taking MAYBE 1/2 minute to arrive on my computer. Have we any idea just how wonderful the age in which we live truly is?
She had hopped online to see if anyone from the family was on the computer. She wanted a copy of my pancake recipe. She's with her host family, now, and they only have cereal for breakfast. She wanted to cook pancakes-a-la-mom for them. So I sent her my recipe and then I had to go to the store.
When I got back she had been back online waiting for me. When she found out I was home, she called. Sue and her kids, Nate (one of Lili's friends who happened to be here at the time) and I all got to chat with her a bit. Sue and I also spoke at length to her host mother. The family owns a farm and will be taking Lili out to it in an hour or so. Since Lili spent her early years on a ranch in Wyoming, she's very interested in seeing the equipment they use in Australia.
The host mom (Denise Muller) sounded very nice. She's a younger woman with several small boys. She said Lili was going to cook supper for them, too, if they could find the ingredients for what Lili wanted to cook. She made the comment, though, that she wasn't sure they had the same foods that we have here in America. I'm sure they probably don't.
At any rate, Lili is enjoying herself. She's taken a ton of photos but they're on someone else's computer and she doesn't know how to get them uploaded. I sent instructions for posting on the blog so we'll have to watch for something from her.

another letter from Lili in Australia

After Lili's letter to Larry talking about learning to surf, I wrote her asking if she'd learned to hang ten. I sent the letter about 11am and had her reply when I checked my email six hours later. Isn't technology wonderful?! Twenty years ago it would have taken minimum a week or two to hear from her. A hundred years ago it would have been months. We are so fortunate to live in the day and age we do.

...Anyhow, as I started to say - she didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I asked if she'd learned to hang ten (surfer slang for having all ten toes off the board). ...At least that's what I've been told. I've never surfed. Don't want to. Went swimming in the ocean once and couldn't get out soon enough. I'm a LAND LUBBER for sure!!! :)

Oh, and before I paste her letter here, I want to comment on what she sent Larry. Her brother about went nuts when she left, he was so lonely for his little sister. They truly are best of friends - and that's a good thing. Also, I was so busy after she left I didn't get an email sent out telling all y'all to check out what I wrote about her leaving and listing her itinerary. Check it out if you want to know where she is and what she's doing day by day.

Anyhow, here's her letter to her Dad and me....

Hang ten? I think you kinda lost me. lol I miss you guys to. The first day I
went swimming at the Aquatic center then we went to the sydney opera house.
Then we went to dinner at this really cool place... The lighting and
everything was really pretty. Then  the next day we went to china town, and
annother place... I cant remember right now. Then we went to dinner at
another cool place... they are all really really nice resteraunts.. with
lost of hot waiters... :P lol then yester day we went sailing... I got to
steer the boat... and they all called me skipper.... lol it was great. I
never realized how easy it was... the captain asked me if I had ever been
sailing before. I told him no. But he said I looked like I had lots of
expreience... I was so happy it was fun I wish you could have been there.
Then we had the afternoon to go shopping... lol the whole afternoon. I got
airk his mug he wanted. and larry something, and mom something... and lolo.
I am still trying to find the perfet thing for dad... they have so many
amazing things here. But I don't want just anything for you guys... I want,
THE BEST!  tell buzzy I will get that shot glass she wanted me to get for
her friend.
I got some jewelry.. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL! and mom your present.....is
GREEN.... with some GOLD. Just for you! :D I think about you guys all the
time... tell grandma and everyone... (leaders) I think about them and you
guys constantly... I did have jet lag for a while... but I have been waking
up early... I actually feel kinda good. Like yesterday I woke up at 4... but
thats okay because I was in bed at like 7... lol I really miss you guys. I
need to go eat breakfast... but  I am leaving today.. I will have to try to
find an internet caffe next time. Because we are leaving the hotel in like
an hour. We are going to head up to vision valley. and we have some of the
coolest people... like the bus driver... Malcolm. He is AWESOME! and the guy
who gets us everything. His name is john... They are awesome! Oh i remember
what we did before china town... we went surfing on the ocean! it was
great... and I think i got sea sick... lol but oh well it was fun. anyways I
love you and I miss you I will try to call later today for fathers day..
otay! I love you
lili

leelee writing from austrailia!

hey larry,
sorry about that. I accidentally sent you a blank one. I miss you too linus... What ha/ ve you been doing while i'm gone. Thinking about me. :) I miss you.. everthing is AWESOME! Guess what guns N' roses is coming to sydney at the end of this month! I wish you were here. I would take you with me. Well... I cant go.. but if i could I would take you with me. Oh, i went surfing in the ocean yesterday. It was awesome... I miss you so much. I think about you all the time... YOu are my BREASTEST FWEND! :D lol i cant wait to see you again. I have to find a place to download picture... because i only have 20 min. on this one. and I cant download any of them yet... But some of them are so AMAZING!!! well I love you and I miss you ... w/b soon. I love hearing from you.. and yes... I will bring you back a leelee... :D

on telling your baby goodby

A couple of days ago a friend of Lili's was visiting. This girl will graduate from highschool next spring with an associates degree from Utah State University...a degree that she has earned through online schooling. She's a hard worker and an excellent student.

While she was here, we were talking about her going to the University after she graduates and she casually mentioned her mother is going with her, rooming with her, the first six months. Excuse me???!!! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I asked if her mother was leaving her little sister home, alone, with her brother and step-father and she said, "Oh, yes. Besides, my sister will be sixteen by then and my mom wants to finish her degree."

You know, I have a problem with that. We have one full fledged university right here in town, as well as numerous colleges and university extensions. If mom is so anxious to finish her degree, she can do it right here. And there is no way under the face of the sun I'd go room with my 18-year-old daughter when she goes off to college. Mothers and fathers need to let go and let grow.

Which leads me to telling my own baby goodby. I just walked away from her at the airport. I came home: she's flying to Australia for the rest of the month. Rick made the comment while we were waiting for her security check that there was one thing she'd forgotten to pack in her luggage - him. She said she'd love to take him. He said he'd love to go. I said, "Not me."

Lili looked a little surprised until I commented that I wasn't planning to move to college with her. Then she understood.

Being an occasionally-emotional mother I was all teary eyed as she checked her luggage and stood in line for security check but this is Lili's day. It's time for me, Mom, to step back and let her walk forward on her own. She can't become a mature, capable adult when there's still an umbilical cord attaching her to me.

Did I help her make sure she had everything packed? Of course. I held the list of required items and checked each one off as she put it in her suitcase. I looked over every shirt she packed and made sure there was no mending that needed done (I find even brand new shirts aren't always altogether). I ran her to WalMart a couple of times to pick up items she needed but didn't have. I took her to the dentist, the orthodontist and the doctor. I made suggestions concerning the gifts she took for the host family she'll be staying with - then let her choose and assemble what she wanted to give. I printed out several pages of family photos for her to take. I typed up and printed off copies of the lists we made of the individual items she packed in her suitcase and backpack. (One copy for me, one for her suitcase and one for her backpack.)

And then, when the time came, I walked away.

I was thinking, this morning before I woke her up, of all the things I could have and should have taught her before sending her out on her own. I took her shoe shopping a couple of days ago and after she'd tried on and decided upon the best walking shoes for the trip, she started towards the front of the store, leaving her purse behind. As she puts it, "Blond moment."

How could I have trained her so that she would pay more attention, be more careful? I guess I could have yelled at her a lot. But I don't like doing that. Will she leave things behind in Australia? Very possibly. But if it's something she values, she'll learn far more in losing it than she would have ever learned if I'd spent her life yelling at her whenever she didn't pay attention.

I tried to think of what I needed to tell her before she left. We had to make a flying trip to the orthodontist this morning because her permanent retainer had broken loose and needed to be re-cemented in place. It was a good opportunity to give her some last minute advice but, as I drove along, I couldn't think of anything to say.

Finally I asked her the questions one asks a kindergartener - who are you? what's your address? where do you live? phone number? and I added SS# as well because it's taken me several years to convince her that was a number she really needed to memorize. Then, about time she was becoming quite exasperated with me, I asked her who she was representing. She knows the drill - her family, her country, her God.

Then I talked to her about the family she represents. While I want her to represent my family well, she doesn't bear my maiden name so when people look at her they think of her father's family. They were fine people. She has a proud heritage from them and I want her to always think of how she represents their name.

I told her about her grandfather, a wonderful man whom I cherished. She has, of course, heard about him before but this time I think she really paid attention. This time I think it began to sink in. This time I hope I left her with a feeling of her place in the family and how her choices of actions reflect on the heritage that has been passed down to her.

Hopefully she will also begin to think of how her choices will reflect on the posterity she will one day have. I have never had much in the way of material possessions to pass down to her but I have been able to give her a good name...a heritage of people who were honest, hardworking citizens - people who tried to contribute in a positive manner to their communities. My hope for my youngest daughter is that as she leaves me behind she, too, will walk through life leaving a trail of positive memories in the hearts of those whose paths she crosses.

God bless you, my daughter...till we meet again. I love you.

Lili’s itinerary for her Australia trip

Leave Wed. June 13, 2007
Thurs. June 14 - lose a day crossing the International Date Line
Arrive Sydney, Australia
Swim at the Aquatic Centre - home of the 2000 Olympics’ swimming events
Fri. June 15 - Sydney, the largest city in Australia and the capital of New South Wales, is set on
the natural harbor of Port Jackson. A.M Go for the gold at the Aquatic Centre.
P.M. tour the ‘majestic Sydney Opera House complex. Dinner will be
overlooking the entertainment precinct of Darling Harbour.
Sat. June 16 - Learn surf life saving on the famous Manly Beach. (Surf life saving began in the
early 1900s and formally became an organization in 1907. It integrates sport and life
saving skills and is an integral part of the Australian seaside culture. Later explore
Sydney’s Chinatown.
Sunday, June 17 - Learn to sail in Sydney Harbour. Lunch at the Hard Rock Café amidst its
fascinating collection of music memorabilia. Group photo at Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair - a
stone bench Lady Elizabeth Macquarie, wife of a famous governor, used to sit on to rest
and admire the view while awaiting news from home via the tall ships entering the
harbor. This promontory boasts fabulous views of the Sydney Opera House and the
Harbour bridge. Later explore either Darling Harbour, the Pitt Street Mall or both.
Darling Harbour waterfront includes Sydney’s Chinese Gardens, complete with a
traditional Chinese teahouse. Close to the mall are Hyde Park, Macquarie Street and the
Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Monday, June 18 -Journey to rural Arcadia and Vision Valley. Participate in interactive and
challenging workshops that teach leadership skills, setting personal goals and stepping
outside your comfort zone. Either fly across a valley via a zip line or complete an
outdoor adventure course.
Tuesday, June 19 - Head to Canberra. Explore the Australian Institute of Sport - Australia’s
breeding ground of elite athletes. Next, explore the Australian War Memorial in
Canberra (it ranks among the world’s great national monuments).
Wed., June 20 - Visit the Australian Parliament House. Spend afternoon and evening with home
stay family and experience life as an Aussie.
Thurs. June 21 - spend day with home stay family - perhaps with the opportunity to attend an
Aussie school.
Fri. June 22 - travel to Victoria, Australia. Spend night at Sovereign Hill - Australia’s very own
recreated 1850s gold rush town.
Sat. June 23 - Can pan for gold if she choses. Travel on to Melbourne.
Sun. June 24 - Visit the Yarra River, Southbank and the Arts Centre. Explore the Old Melbourne
Gaol. (Is it truly haunted by previous inmates?) Continue on to the Moonlit Sanctuary for
an introduction to Australia’s nocturnal fauna. Finally, travel to Phillip Island to see the
mystical Penguin Parade at sunset. (The little animals are the smallest of the 17 species of
penguins in the world - only 13" tall - and can sleep at sea, dozing as they float on the
surface. Every night the penguins waddle from the sea to their burrows in the spinifex
grass.
Mon. June 25 - Explore a rain forest, see Phar Lap (Australia’s most famous horse), touch a
dinosaur bone or live a lifetime in no time at all at Melbourne’s award-winning museum.
Learn about Australia’s national gemstone, the opal, during a cutting and polishing
demonstration at an opal establishment. Discover why sports mad Melbourne people
love “Aussie Rules” football and cricket so much at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
(Then maybe she can come home and explain the game because it’s played in the park
next to our home every Saturday and we haven’t a clue!)
Tues. June 26 - Fly to Cairns. Enjoy music and dance productions at the Australian Museum.
Learn about Aboriginal culture. Experience boomerang and spear throwing
demonstrations. Explore the Wet Tropics Rainforest by land and water in a WWII
amphibious vehicle called an Army Duck. Close encounter with Australia’s unique fauna,
such as koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles and wombats in a wildlife sanctuary. Learn
Australian folk songs and learn how to bush dance.
Wed. June 27 -Snorkel in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef
Thurs. June 28 - Take a scenic gondola ride to Kuranda, a mountainous Australian village
surrounded by spectacular rainforest and tropical vegetation. Visit Mungalli Falls - the
only freehold World Heritage listed waterfall in Australia.
Fri. June 29 - Enjoy a variety of outdoor activities including “land sliding”, the adventure of
sliding down a hill on a toboggan. Dinner will be a BBQ followed by a bush dance.
Sat. June 30 - Journey back to Cairns via the scenic Atherton tablelands.
Sun. July 1 - Return to the United States

on writing poetry

Last year, when I was an active member of the Utah Poets' Society, I used to go to the monthly meetings and shake my head at what was being passed off as poetry. To me, poetry should be the language of the soul. What seems to be popular these days appears more like mental exercises and thinly-veiled attempts to be cute.
I don't write poetry all that often but when I do, it's usually done to express something I feel deeply about. (And, yes, I know that isn't correct English. Oh well.) One of the members of our society kept urging me to write in one of the distinct poetic styles...preferably a sonnet. She thought that would be a good exercise for me. So I did. The following is the sonnet I wrote:

ON WRITING POETRY


Should I, a fledgling poet, try my hand
at writing sonnets, odes or villanelles -
word pictures left like wayward waves on sand
to tease and tantalize cerebral cells?

Perhaps a terza rima or a glose
would be a better style for my rhyme.
I start out well - but am not even close
To making my feet fit required time.

My fellow poets say I should not use
such archaic words - or phrases trite and true.
They seem to think free verse the only muse
and favor rambling form to clerihew.

I try them all but don’t know which is worse.
Perhaps I need to cling to doggerel verse.

And, as for my doggerel verse, the following is something I wrote years ago although it still fits today...

I'LL GARDEN ONE MORE YEAR

"I swear I'll never plant again!"
I struggle up the hill,
My aching back and muddy knees
And fingers, stiff with chill.

"A garden is a thing of joy
To some - but not to me!"
I mutter as I dig the spuds,
"Next year I will be free!"

But then the catalogs appear,
To cheer the winter days,
All filled with flowers and shrubs and trees -
'Perhaps I'll mend my ways.

I just must try that hybred pea.
The corn looks sooo divine.
Ah, well. I'll garden one more year
While I'm still in my prime.'

And so the summer finds me out
With spade and rake and hoe,
A-plantin' seeds, then groaning loud,
"Why won't this *@!?! (danged) stuff grow?!"


Another poem I wrote nearly twenty years ago is one that I've always been fond of simply because it so fits my opinion of Wyoming winters.

WYOMING WINTER

Wyoming winter stretches on
Through evening grey and muted dawn --
A fierce, forbidding winterscape
Of ice and snow and wind, to shape
A bleak and barren emptiness
That shrouds the spirit with finesse.
Each dreary day of somber hue
Demands depression as its due,
Extracting energy and cheer
Until the spirit is as drear
And lifeless as the blowing snows
That sift and drift in endless rows.

But when all life seems at its ebb,
Forever tangled in a web
Of desolation, dark and drear,
A chick-a-dee pipes up, "Spring's here!"
And, suddenly, the crushing jaw
Of winter's endless, gaping maw
Is closed. And joyous in its stead,
A glorious springtime rears its head.
The dawn, so muted yesterday,
Bursts gaily on the world to say,
In colors, vibrant, 'cross the sky,
"Arise and live again! Spring's nigh!"

And just for the sake of sharing - I'll include my son, Chris', favorite of my poems. Although it isn't the style of poetry I normally prefer to write - it practically wrote itself one night. ...Just for background - we had gone to our neighbor's house to pick Chris up or drop him off (don't remember which). There was a bright, full moon and as we drove past one of our neighbor's hay stacks, there was a huge stag on top of it - silhouetted against the moon. He looked forever like the Hartford stag. One impression led to another thought - you know how that goes - and when we got home I wrote the following poem.

DOWN COUNTRY LANES

A quick staccato beat of drums
Echoing
Down country lanes,
Long since silent
Of tramping feet.

Springtime.
And vibrant youth
With hopes held high
Of war soon won,
Say,
"Goodby, Sarah,
Mother.
I'll soon return.
You'll not know that I
Was even gone."
Militia men
For Concord bound.

Their women wait
While straining ears hear,
Silently,
A quick staccato beat of drums
Echoing.

To me this poem speaks, not just about the beginning of the Revolutionary War, but also the dichotomy of any war. Youth, in its inexperience, marches off thinking it is invincible. War will soon be won. Women, on the other hand, wait at home, worrying, praying, straining to hear, not just the silent echoes of leave-taking but the solid sounds of safe homecoming.

God bless and keep our troops and return them home again, safely, to those who wait.