It's Getting Hot Here

There is a lot going on in the news regarding politics so you may not realize that our state is experiencing the worst drought in 40 years, and along with the drought has come fire.The past 11 months have been the driest period since 1895 when they started keeping rainfall records.

I did not take the photo above. However this shot was from the fire about 8 miles up the road from us. The fire has burned over 22,000 acres in the three counties that surround us. The other night instead of snow we had ash floating through the air. This is so ironic considering we are usually a pretty wet and damp place. So far well over a million acres have burned in our state this year. Somewhere I read that it was 3.5 million but I can't confirm that. Even so .... isn't that about the size of Connecticut? 

Everywhere you look trees are either dead or dying and that includes the trees that stay green all year long. When they are brown you know there is a problem. Much of the talk is that we sure need a tropical storm to push some rain our direction but if any rough weather comes those trees will not make it. This of course isn't a problem unless they are in your front yard near your house. We all remember what happened with the healthy trees during the last hurricane. Not a pretty site.

But we need rain.

The rivers are dry, the tanks and lakes are mostly gone. The lakes up near us are being drained to help with the water sources downtown. I've noticed a lot more wildlife venturing into the neighborhoods, most likely looking for water sources.

Earlier this year my father-in-law lost his corn crop due to the drought. While disappointed he wasn't concerned because he had corn stored at the silo. The last time we visited the tanks were almost completely dry. Farmers have been bailing corn husks and maize to help feed cattle because of the lack of hay. Only problem with that is neither are a good source of protein like the hay  and they don't store well. Hay will store for years. My father-in-law bought some of the maize bails so he could save his hay for the winter months when the cattle need more nutrients and protein.

However he may not even get to use his hay. Ken visited this week to help  him with his hip replacement. The tanks are completely dry all but one which they are pumping to the other pasture. Once that's dry the cattle may have to go. They may be able to hold on to them another three weeks unless he comes up with another plan. We really don't know.

 I believe most of the fires North of us are contained. I drove that direction to meet with the veterans and most of the roads were re-opened as far as I could tell. Fire out, thank goodness. Then on Tuesday night we smelled smoke again. This time it's south of us. My friend's husband took this shot below. That is the problem you don't have to be near a forest to have the risk of fire. Every thing is so dry your lawn could go up in flames.

For now all is well but we sure would like some of that rain that some of the other states are getting overwhelmed with.

SEAL

This last Saturday I accomplished something I never in my life thought I could or even thought I would ever do. EVER

Yep, that's right, for the first time ever I participated in a physical competition, and.... I .... ACTUALLY made it!!!! Big happy face for me.


As I write this I'm thinking of my family members and friends who have ran marathons, climbed mountains (like the 54 fourteen thousand foot mountains in Colorado that my dad and step-mom have climbed, some them more than once ), bicycled thousands of miles, participated in Iron-man competitions, raced dirt bikes, or played every sport under the sun. And me, well I've enjoyed and admired their skill and determination. None of which I have ever possessed.

Let me explain. I have NEVER really played any sport, not in school or out of school. My only experience with running is losing some race in elementary during track and field day against 4 other girls....mostly because instead of running I galloped like a horse. (embarrassing I know). I took swimming in High School only because it was required. After that I never swam again until this year. For most of my life sports balls and I just have not got along.

Like my dad says, the only thing consistent in life is change and over the past handful of years I've seen my interests and motivation change too. I even tried women's volleyball night at church, and well, it was a lot of fun. The ball and I got along a lot better. Then I got the idea that running might be sort of interesting as well but it took my good friend Melanie to push me in to action when she invited me to be on a team of other ladies to compete in the Summer SEALs competition.

This is a competition based off of the entrance physical test for Navy SEALs. As shown on the shirt above.

WAIT! backup, swimming, running? I didn't compete last year but I did start running.


Fast froward to 2011 and the Summer SEALs competition came around again and I found myself on a team with Melanie. I'm really not sure what I was thinking but something about it made me want to try it. At first I wasn't worried, I can run and planned on taking the whole summer to learn how to swim. That was before the kids and I took off for the summer which equaled about zero swim time. This is when I started to worry.

My step-mom coached me once while on vacation but I couldn't even make it to the middle of the pool. Determined I spent the last 3 weeks trying to learn. It wasn't looking good. It's not that I don't know how to swim, I just don't know how to swim correctly, and if you are going to swim 500m you have to know how to swim correctly....preferably with your face in the water..something I wasn't able to do.


We have a 25m pool, half the size of the 50m competition pool. Slowly but surely as I practiced I was able to swim 500m in the 25m pool. However, it took me over an hour and half and I had to stop at the end of each length. Not lap but length. I started to think of the tortoise racing the hare. An hour and a half does not come close to the competition standards. My concern continued but I kept practicing. Eventually a week ago I was able to swim the 500m in 26 water splashing arm flailing minutes. Not great but doable. The big question, could I actually make it from one end of the 50m pool to the other without stopping? and if I did that could I do it 10 more times?


The swim must be completed to finish the other requirements. Those I knew I could do. Thoughts of pulling out crossed my mind but it made me mad to think of giving up. At the same time I needed to be realistic. This is a pretty steep competition and I needed to cut myself some slack. Slack that I just couldn't find. I wanted to do this, I have never accomplished anything of this sort in my life and I wanted to prove to myself that I can actually do something and finish. So I determined to stick it out. I didn't know how I would make it. Whether I had to crawl, claw, or splash through 500m I was going to do it.

Determination is a tricky thing. It's all good until the night before when you realize you would rather just sit down and cry. I don't have a competitive bone in my body and I thought to myself "WHAT AM I DOING?" If I can barely make it from one end to the other in a 25m pool HOW will I make it just one length in a 50m pool? I wanted to call in the forces of friends who could pray for me..but worried about being embarrassed if I didn't make it...but prayer won out and I called in the forces. One was my super competitive-athlete-gutsy sister. I knew she would have some words of wisdom and cheer me on, which she did. I felt better and ultimately I just determined that I was going to do my best, whatever that was. Either way I can do better next year right?


I woke up at 3am on Saturday morning to find that the electricity had gone out and my clock was blinking. So I reset the clock and alarm along with my cell phone all at the same time thinking maybe I was supposed to sleep through that and miss the competition anyway? Ha, ha. No such luck.

I woke up on time. Forced myself to eat, with every bite I wanted to throw up. Before I knew it the family and I arrived. I told myself no matter what it will be over with in a few hours anyway. The faster swimmers (these are the people who can swim 500m in 8min) were swimming. I waited and Daria waited with me. She never left my side which I thought was quite sweet. Finally my turn came. I don't really know how I did it but I can say this, prayer and answers to prayers are real. Add hard work to that and good things can happen. What was it that President Kimball said? "When you are done praying get up off your knees and do something about it."

When I first took off for the first time ever swimming felt easy (this only lasted the first lap of course), I felt like I was breathing air and I could tell that I was being helped. It was cool. I thought of my sister and those who had prayed for me. I also thought of Marcus Luttrell and his words of advice "Never Quit." I figured if he could crawl miles through the Kandahar mountains with a broken back then I could finish the swim.... oh wait a minute... he was trained for things like that. Ok, rewind. I'll just stick with the "Never Quit" mantra. So I determined I was not going to quit, even if I had to back stroke the hole thing. However it was still hard. I really don't remember much else. I can't even remember doing all 10 laps. I do remember hearing the kids scream for me. I also remember Ken was usually at each end and was cheering me on. So was Melanie, I could hear her voice too, and even though I was pooped it was encouraging. My goal was to be able to complete the swim and I did... in 24 minutes! 'nuff said.

Of course if the swim was not enough I now had push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and a 1.5mile run. Never mind the fact that Carl (Melanie's husband) had already finished all of that and I was just now hitting my 10 min rest period. Ken helped me through all the ups, even though I didn't even try the pull-ups. I practiced and practiced but still can't even do one. Next year I will.

The run was easier than I thought. Dustin loaned me is iPod which helped. However listening to "Tragedy" by the BeeGee's is probably not the most motivating song to listen to when you are exhausted, but I liked the beat so I kept it on.

As I ran into view of the finish area I saw all these kids running towards me. Dustin, Caden, Maddi, and Gracie. As they ran they were yelling "You can do it!" "You're almost done!" "Don't quit!" Once they reached me they continued to run with me to the end, barefoot and in there swimsuits. Seeing them run out to me and hearing their cheers was absolutely one of the coolest things. I wish I would have had a camcorder for that moment. I could see Ken, Daria, Melanie and Carl at the finish area waiting for me and that was cool. Remember I've never done anything before so I've never experience what it is like to perform and have family/friends cheering you on. That was a pretty cool feeling.

All in all I'm still very pleased that I finished and yet surprised. I still can't believe it. Maybe I can actually do hard things??

The Run

While the paper mainly uses my photographs, back in April they asked for my write-up and photos from the Houston Run for the Fallen. The article didn't run until Memorial Day, which was actually quite fitting really. I thought I would post the link here for each of you to read.

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/article_b6c9a185-9d78-5b78-8ca5-31fb6e3872db.html

Much of the reason that my photography focuses on the military, veterans, service members and their families is because for most of America in general, it is easy to take for granted the real cost of protecting our freedoms. Unless you have or are in the military or come from a military family it's not in the forefront of our daily lives. I think it's important that we are aware of just what it takes to serve, the stress it causes for a family and unfortunately sometimes the ultimate sacrifice, and the families left behind.

The Run for the Fallen event is quite moving and humbling and in my opinion brings to light the "realness" of the fact that people die in war. Unlike the violent video games that have immersed our society and minds of young children, war is real and those that die are real. They are not just a blip in the paper, or a Hollywood persona or animated video game. They were living, breathing, men and women who loved, laughed, cried, had families and friends. When you see the pictures of their faces and meet their families it makes it very, very real.

A lot of people ask me why I do what I do and it really comes down to this: I'm very aware on a daily basis that when I walk out my front door, I do so on the blood and sacrifice that someone else paid for the past 200 years. A sacrifice that I didn't have to pay. I can walk out my front door and not fear tyrants and terrorists, I can go where I want and do what I want.... I am free. It is my hope my generation all the way down to the youngest current generation, will be made aware of what it took to secure freedom and what it takes to stay free. I really feel that the veterans stories will save these generations from apathy.

I took 100's of photos at the Run which can be viewed here (click on the 2011 Run galleries)

http://www.keeping-history-alive.com/Military/Honoring-the-Fallen

But the pictures I loved most were these two.

Most everyone who shows up to run or walk for a loved one killed in the line of duty, is wearing running clothes. But these two young men were wearing their gear and I felt that the American flag on their back was so symbolic of the responsibility they carried. The young man in the Cavalry hat is Allan. He served two tours to Iraq. I wrote about him in the article. This particular day was the 7th anniversary of the deaths of 3 of his best friends, whom he called "brothers." They served in the same unit and Allan then had to continue the mission and root out those that killed his comrades. It made me realize that you never know what burden a person might be carrying with them. The other young man, Allan's friend, is also a Iraq War veteran with two Bronze stars. When I think of Bronze stars I think of WWII veterans, but am quickly reminded that they were young too when they went to war. If you know anything about the military, you will know that being awarded a Bronze star does not come easy. Just for a moment I was a bit somber thinking about what he might have experienced to be awarded not one but two.

Another thing to note about these pictures is the fact that both Allan and his friend were the last one's walking. I know he must have had a specific goal and even after most of the track was clear, they could still be found walking. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time to capture them passing one of the signs that read "Freedom isn't Free."

High-ho High-ho it's off to camp we go..

School is out and camp is in. Last week was camp week for our whole family.

On top of "Mt. Baldy"

This was a milestone for Daria. She turned 12 in May, which means she is now in the Young Women's program at church. Entering Young Women's also means having the opportunity to attend "Girls Camp."

I can't say enough about the camp leaders. They began planning last August. Even though Daria was not in Young Women's she was included in all the preparation and opportunities to earn money to pay for camp. Aside from that they are fantastic leaders who really understand what the girls need to get out of girls camp and I believe their goal was met. The girls learned that "they could do hard things."

Daria was excited to go and slightly nervous to leave me behind. I knew she would do great. Ken would also find himself at Girls camp serving as a Priesthood holder, Medical support, and truck and trailer driver. It was a long week, Monday until Friday at midnight. Some of the highlights: hiking up "Mt. Baldy." That's not its real name but it's a hard climb and once you get to the top it's just a big, huge, bald piece of granite. The girls were put to the test to use their medical skills. Ken and some of the YCL's used film makeup to re-create real accidents. Unfortunately some of the accidents looked so real that campers in the area thought some of the girls were really hurt and notified the park office. Fortunately the park office new what was going on.

"Stick in the Eye" injury (with a little barf)

In the end Daria had an incredible fist year of camp, and you could tell Ken came home from girls camp as he was sporting green nail polish.

Dustin and I on the other hand spent a week on the other end of the spectrum at Cub Scout camp. There was not anything "girly" there, no fuzzy wuzzy moments and definitely no green nail polish. Just 100's of 6-10 year old boys with enough energy to fuel 20 race cars. It was loud, it was rough, and it was a ton of fun. I had big plans for the week. Since it was just going to be Dustin and I each evening I had grand plans to make it memorable. Somehow I forgot how exhausting Cub Camp was. So our evenings were not that glamorous. Dustin loved every minute of camp and earned more belt loops and pins. I served as the Range Safety Officer on the Archery range. That's where I was last year and that's where I wanted to be this year. I can't explain it but I love being on the Archery range, even in 103 degrees.

The real reason that the boys come to Cub Camp is for the BB's and Archery, and I'm not joking when I say that. If you ask a boy what he likes most about camp, he most likely will say "BB's and Archery." The district camps are the ONLY place a Cub Scout can participate in shooting sports. If you've been to Cub Camp you will be very familiar with boys bouncing all over the place. But the BB and Archery range is the ONLY place you will find the boys standing quiet and listening. That's because they know if they horse around they can get kicked off the range and not invited back. It's serious stuff and the boys want to shoot so bad they seem to find every ounce of self control in order to do it. It really cracks me up. It's often alarming to parents, or most mothers (myself included) when your sweet little boy seems fascinated with objects that go "bang, bang." But the reality is, that each year at Cub Camp I see 200 boys who can't wait to get their hands on a BB gun or Bow and Arrow. The way I figure it, they might as learn to shoot in an environment with certified instructors that teach safety, proper use, and skill.

can you say "yuck!"

In the end Dustin and I were tired. Dustin came home with a bunch of awards and I came home with dirt on my legs so dark it looked like I was wearing panty hose... but hey ... it was worth it.

Pages from the Past ....

I have always strongly believed that everyone should keep a journal. I believe that pictures, letters, and now, conversation e-mails should be kept. Everyone is creating their own personal history each day, their own legacy. Whether you are young or old, married or single, with or without children, your life story needs to be captured for those who come after you. Before you balk at this thought, think of where we would be as a people if those who came before us had not written down their thoughts and experiences? There would be no history books and we sure wouldn't know a whole heck of a lot.

I love touching the past just as much as I enjoy the present and look forward to the future.

This last week I received a package on my doorstep. When I saw the package on my porch I wondered what it was for. There was no special holiday and it was not my birthday.

Ben Bell

After carefully opening the small but heavy box, I realized I was the proud caretaker of an incredible treasure. Here neatly packaged were letters written between my grandmother and grandfather during World War II while he was serving in the US Navy. Over 400 letters to be exact. So many thoughts ran through my head, but I will tell you, I am so thankful that they not only wrote letters to each other but that they saved them. How cool is that?! These letters are a window into the day to day life of my grandparents, most likely their love, concern, and struggles, during an important time in our nations history. This is a piece of our heritage.

I remember my grandfather talking about these letters. For years they were stored in the attic. He wanted to throw them away because he didn't see any reason to keep storing them. My grandmother wouldn't allow it. In 2003 a few years after my grandmother died he took them down from the attic and read them. He said he was so thankful that they were not thrown away. Reading them brought great comfort now that she was gone. Now that both of them are gone (my grandfather passed away a few years ago) I will take great comfort in getting to know them better, through their letters.

Among the letters was my Grandfather's American Legion hat. What surprised me was that it said "Pearl Harbor" on it. I remember talking with my grandfather about his service and I knew he worked in supply, doing things like mending clothes etc. But he never said he served at Pearl Harbor (he was not there for the attack). All of the letters are addressed to "FPO Navy 128, San Francisco, California." After some quick research I found that this address was one of the many "secret" addresses the military used. FPO Navy 128, San Fransisco, California was a code address for "Pearl Harbor." I wish my grandfather were still alive so I could ask him more questions but for now I'm thrilled and content with reading the letters.

I recognize that these are not really "my" letters, but they belong to each of the grandchildren. I will just be the keeper over them at this time. My hope is to make copies in a bound record for each of the grandchildren should they want them (once I get my mind wrapped around how to do that with that many letters).

I don't think they ever thought that their letters would mean so much to their posterity, either way "Thanks grandpa and grandma for saving this part of your history!!!"

Food for thought .... What are you leaving for those that come after you?

Who let the dogs out??

"Faith"

Well, it's a surprise but we are now officially a "dog" family. Yes, I'm shocked too. Last Friday we became the new owners of a little girl dog part "Cocker" and part "The Dog Next Door." I could make a list about a mile long of why "I" DIDN'T want to get a dog right now, while the rest of the family could have written a list just as long as to why they want one. The short of the long story is that besides that fact that Daria has wanted a dog for many years and can often be found walking neighbors dogs or tending them, or the fact that she has a gift with all animals, but she really needed a dog. Being a almost 12 year old girl trying to stay on the right path during that ever so difficult self esteem growth stage can be tough these days. I'd rather her have a dog to fill some needs as opposed to the risk of leaning towards difficult teenage social norms. I woke up last Monday and realized that regardless of my apprehension, we needed to get a dog for Daria. I believe dogs can be healers as they love you no matter what. Regardless if you don't have a cell phone and it seems like everyone else does, or whether you wear name brand clothes or not, regardless of your grades or the cliques, being popular or different. The dog will still love you. With the hectic nature of life, maybe we all need a dog in this house! Ha! You may think getting a dog for a pre-teen is crazy, but Daria is an animal lover and prides herself on being super responsible (as long as it's an animal, plants do not count in this category).

The decision was pretty easy. My friend Megan got a cute dog. His name is Harry. Harry is soft, Harry is cute, and Harry is a super pleasant calm 5 month old puppy. Can't beat that. Harry had quite a few siblings who happened to be available. Never in her wildest dreams would Daria ever think we would let her get a dog. So she was highly shocked when we told her to pick one out. The fun didn't end there when Daria's dear friend Alise ended up getting one of the brothers. Three friends, three puppies.

So here is our new dog. Daria wanted the family to come up with names and then we would vote on it. I made a list of about 20 names but by the time I was done Daria had already named her "Faith". Well, after all, it is her dog.

I had to put this shot up. Faith has one black leg and one white leg. Dog friend down the street Elizabeth said it looks like a fashion statement.

For those of you who know Daria you will understand this picture. While most parents try to get their kids to clean their rooms, I'm on the other end trying to get Daria NOT to clean all the time. Once she got Faith she didn't make her bed for two days. Success! It was a picture moment.

So now I'm adjusting to life with a dog. Just for the record, she is cute. She is soft, she is very well behaved and she won't get much bigger. It feels like having a new baby at home because you have to keep an eye on a puppy all the time. I've got issues with four legged friends chewing on my house or not using the bathroom. So far so good but it's a lot of work. I'm not a fan of a "dog smelling" house, so there will be pet free rooms in our home including mine and the guest bedroom. Sorry, but I need a pet free zone. Doggie freshner, check. She really is calm, sits really well and is quiet, all but the other night when she howled, but it hasn't happened since. She loves the bean bag. So I put the bean bag up by my desk while I worked. She fell asleep and snored. Yes, the puppy snores. She laid on her tummy and snored. She slept on her back and snored, she slept on her side and snored. The snoring reminded me of Ken. So I called Ken to tell him he had something in common with the pup. and there it is, a day in the life of us.

The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree....

See this picture?

The man standing up to the left would be George Hemingway, December 7, 1944. We met him this fall at the air show. Here we are with George.

Today, while thumbing through one of his multiple World War II history books, Dustin paused as he looked at the December 7th photo above and said "Mom! I just can't believe that we met this guy, he's like, in a famous Pearl Harbor picture and we met him .... it's like History right here ... it doesn't get any better than that!"

I completely understand what he means and I had to laugh to myself, well, the apple really doesn't fall that far from the tree does it ?!