Mission ... impossible

Long, long ago and in a galaxy far away (Arkansas) I worked for a time with Vietnamese refugees. From June to October in 1975 I lived in Barling, Arkansas (a bedroom community to Fort Smith) and spent my days at Fort Chaffee helping to resettle refugee families into communities throughout the country.

I ran across a couple of photos from that time. The first is with Santry Elmer, who was my companion during the time we worked in Arkansas. Eventually we were transferred to California, where we finished our assignment. This photo was taken in front of the chapel in Fort Smith.

The second is at the Fort Smith airport, where Elder Baxter and I are seeing off one of the Vietnamese families who are departing for their new home.

While working in Arkansas I celebrated my twenty first birthday around the time I first met Brenda. It's hard to believe that was over thirty years ago!

Yellowstone ... 1964

Mom and I have enjoyed several trips to Yellowstone in recent years. Mom has some wonderful photos from these visits ... and can't wait to get back to take more. Perhaps she will post some of her photos or will allow me to include some here.

My only visit to Yellowstone as a child was the summer I turned ten years old ... I think. I remember celebrating my birthday in the park, but might not accurately remember which birthday it was. If I am correct, the year was 1964. My father was 32 , my had just turned 30, Wane was seven, and Gary was five.

This photo is of my Grandmother Allen, who came with us on this trip. My grandfather could not leave the farm, but Grandma Allen decided to come along -- very unusual for her. In those days visitors to the park routinely fed the bears. As a result, the bears were always in the campgrounds begging for food (not at all like today).

In this photo Grandma is 57 years old (not much older than I am now!). She is standing behind the car and to the side of someone taking pictures. Her face is half in the sun and half in the shadow. I notice in this photo that Grandma had curly hair. I don't remember this. What I do remember is that around the farm Grandma always wore an apron.

My mom has a motion picture of my grandmother (8 mm film; this predated video cameras) yelling at a herd of antelope and shooing them with her dress (my memory is of her shooing with her apron, but in reality it must have been her dress) trying to get them to move or run. When she realized that my father was pointing the camera at her and not at the antelope, Grandma was embarassed nearly to death! What fond memories I have of that trip and of having Grandma Allen along with us.

Daylight Saving Time

Tonight we turn the clocks ahead one hour as the nation moves to Daylight Saving Time. So why am I up and not trying to go to bed an hour early? Because I simply must set the record straight and rant a little about one of my pet peeves. It is NOT Daylight Savings Time; it is Daylight Saving Time.

Think about it. What are we doing? We are saving daylight hours -- not savings daylight hours -- for the evening. Now, everyone clean up your act and say it right!

Here is a little background about the origin of this very controversial practice.

• "The prominent English builder and outdoorsman William Willett invented DST in 1905 during one of his pre-breakfast horseback rides, when he observed with dismay how many Londoners slept through the best part of a summer day. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk. His solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. He lobbied unsuccessfully for the proposal until his death in 1915. Germany, itsWorld War I allies, and their occupied zones were the first European nations to use Willett's invention, starting April 30, 1916. Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit, Russia and a few other countries waited until the next year, and the United States adopted it in 1918." (from Wikipedia, Daylight Saving Time)

I enjoy Daylight Saving Time and wish we would adopt it permanently. If not, I wish we would stay on standard time permanently. I object to the changing back and forth each year.

Weather or not

Yesterday the temperature in Urbandale was over 60 degrees. The sun was shining, the ice was breaking up, the snow was melting, and water was running down the gutters and streets. Could it be that spring had finally arrived?

Uh, no. This is Iowa.

This morning I woke up to the sound of beep-beep-beep. It sounded suspiciously like the city snow plow backing up. I looked outside to see fresh fallen snow. So I bundled up and went out to find 5-6 inches of heavy snow and a temperature of less than 20 degrees. This snow was too heavy to shovel, so it was out with the snowblower to clear the drive and sidewalks.

From the Des Moines register ten days ago (that is, before our last two snow storms!):

Iowa has received an average of 36.7 inches of snow this winter. That's a foot more than what is normal for this time of year and 4 inches more than the state usually receives for the entire winter season, which begins in November and ends - well, when it ends. This month, Iowa has received an average of 13.2 inches of snow. Normal: 6.3 inches. It's the highest February total since 1994 and the most for any month since December 2000, said Harry Hillaker, the state climatologist.

Two weeks ago I realized that winter had gone on far too long when I broke the handle on my ice scraper trying to clear the sidewalk at church. I give! Uncle! Bring on the warm weather!