Thoughts on the Middle East

These pictures may seem to be totally unrelated but they actually have something in common. The jet engine strapped to the truck is from our son-in-law who thought this method for cleaning off a runway in Iraq was interesting. We agree.
He was in Iraq, flying around in a helicopter inspecting airports for a couple of weeks. We were very happy that he returned safely, especially considering that during that same time there were a couple of fatal helicopter incidents in Iraq. The other picture, our older son's lovely family, was taken so he would have a family picture to take with him. He has been requested to return to his old post in Amman, Jordan (we visited them there when their little girl was born) to help expedite Iraqi visas. We're glad he won't be in the embassy in Baghdad but that whole area of the world seems to a festering pool of anger and bloodshed. As much as I don't want my son or my sons-in-law over there in harm's way or even close, I keep hoping that the efforts to bring peace and stability will not be entirely useless. I know the scriptures are full of warnings for these times that are evident everywhere: wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places, men's hearts waxing cold, the sea over-running its bounds, etc. But, among the hateful warmongers, there are good people who want nothing more than to have a happy family living in a peaceful place being good citizens and doing their part to make their little corner of the world a better place. I'm glad for compassionate people, American or otherwise, who want to help those people. I pray continually for their safety and success.

Red Alert Day!

I know that's a rather dramatic title for this entry but it's appropriate. Cache Valley, Utah is truly an ideal place in many ways. However, there is one serious drawback here that is unexpected to anyone who has not lived or at least recently visited here. Being surrounded by mountains, this peaceful, wholesome valley is subject to trapped air, especially in the winter. It causes the temperature to remain quite cold despite a warm sun trying to break through the brownish-grayish air. The local newspaper and radio stations publish a daily alert status just as you would expect in Los Angeles, New York or some other large city where pollution could cause serious damage to the air quality. Today is a red alert day and therefore dangerous for anyone who has any kind of breathing problem or heart problem or is older or very young. We really need to get our little grandson out of this air. Unfortunately, since this valley is so pleasant a place to live, I can only see the air quality getting worse in the near future. It's so sad......

We are now in Cache Valley!

Sorry- I don't have any pictures at the moment. I thought that if anyone out there is still reading this, they might wonder what ever happened to us. We haven't posted a blog in nearly a month! We are at our son, Ammon's, in Hyrum, Utah. Well, actually at this very moment, only I am in Hyrum. Russ is in Bountiful working for a week or so at Heritage Place. I got some very wonderful news today. I have been worried about an IRS form I thought I was going to have to fill out and that it would be late and I didn't' even know where I was going to get it or if I had to fill out one form or three. I haven't really been concerned all the time over the last nearly a year since we dissolved our LLC for our EZ cord bag business. There was no point in worrying because I couldn't do anything about it. The form the IRS agent told me I would have to send in couldn't be sent in until now anyway. I have tried unsuccessfully to contact the wonderful CPA who had helped us before for some more free help. I called IRS since I simply didn't know what else to do. The helpful agent looked us up on the computer and told me the file was completed and there wasn't anything due! I was greatly relieved. It was really nice to be able to go to the Lord with happy gratitude and rejoicing instead of worry and pleading questions. You just never know how things are going to turn out..........

I wanted to show you that we don't work ALL the time. There is a little country bar out in the "boondocks" near Houston. It's actually in Magnolia, the town where Russ's brother and sister live. Russ spent a couple of hours "jamming" with some country boys. I harmonized a little with Russ but neither of us was really familiar with the country songs the other guys chose. Russ did pretty well watching their fingerings and following along on the guitar. The other picture is my view of the back of my parents' truck that Russ has been driving as we made our way over the endless road through western Texas. We made the trip from Houston to San Diego in two days since the weather was excellent, there was little construction, and the traffic wasn't bad. The weather here in southern California is beautiful today. We'll be headed for northern Utah in a couple of days. It will be good to be in "our ward" in North Logan for a few weeks. We have felt comfortable everywhere we have been. We have always had a cozy bed and have never gone hungry or too long without a shower. But we're weary of the road. We are still looking for a more permanent, stable life.

Interesting weather!

Well, well....this has truly been an interesting winter, don't you think? I'm glad we missed the 12 feet of snow in upstate NY. Despite the incredibly mild start to winter in most places, it seems to be coming in with a vengeance. It's a good thing spring isn't too far away. I'm hoping the severe winter weather in Ohio doesn't prevent our son-in-law's return from Iraq (via Germany at this point) tomorrow. Here in Florida it has rained quite a bit and I heard there was a tornado or two in the area but we didn't see anything like that here. The sky has now mostly cleared and the birds sound happy about it. I can hear them because I'm sitting near an open window. It's too wet to sit outside. I can only pick up wireless outside so I have the computer propped on the window ledge. Barring any really horrendous weather, I will be on the road tomorrow morning on my way to join Russ in Houston for a few days.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

On the road again- at least half of us...

Russ left this morning in Bowkers' truck headed for his mother's in Houston. I will be staying here at Eglin AFB for another week with our daughter Lisa and her husband Keith and their son Aaron and 3 dogs. Keith will be leaving soon for Iraq but, unfortunately, we can't stay while he's gone. We wish we could help Lisa more, even just to keep her company. But we need to be in Utah by the end of February. It seems that even living on the road, we can't always be where we might be needed most at the right time. We're glad that the people on bases, and even some small towns, are very supportive of these lonely little families and their fathers or husbands or wives or whoever it is that has to go way over to another part of the world with the ever-present danger of not making it back home alive. I can't imagine anyone who is involved in war because they "like" it. I can't understand cultures that are bent on destruction of other cultures, religions, and even themselves. I wish the people of Iraq and Afghanistan would just work out their problems without such anger and destruction so our service men and women, along with any other country's trying to help, could just return home and get on with their lives.

What we do

Every time we try to explain what we're doing to people, they usually react with some comment that infers they think we're on a long vacation. That couldn't be further from the truth. We don't have a house of our own to take care of, but we spend nearly every day doing household chores wherever we are. We don't have regular jobs but we work all the time. We probably eat at restaurants less than people who live at home. We rarely stay at motels. We kind of wish we at least had an RV to live in so we didn't feel like we're in the way. It's not that anyone we stay with feels that way about us- it's just that we always feel like they are probably relieved when we are not there to use the bathroom when they were planning to, or eat what they had intended to eat, or ask what they want us to do when they just would prefer to do nothing! We are really happy to have the opportunity to spend time with those we love who happen to live far apart. I'm posting some picture to just give examples of things we do: installing a fence to keep our youngest daughters 3 little dogs in, remodeling our older daughter's home to be more comfortable for their family, and even in Lithuania we volunteered in the school and did whatever we could do to be helpful. We can't afford to be on vacation in the traditional sense of the word. Besides, we would both be terribly bored. We actually like accomplishing things. We just really hope that the things we have done for others have been worth whatever inconvenience we might have caused despite our efforts to the contrary.