Dec 25, 2008
Dec 24, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Well, the year-end rush at work got the best of me this year and I feel like a Scrooge. No cards, no gifts, and no time left--Christmas is here. But the spirit of Christmas is in our hearts!
Shawn is in northeastern New Jersey spreading the gospel. [http://farrerawaynj.blogspot.com]
Dan, Sarah, Wyatt, Amanda, and Derek are all “home for the holidays” with us. Clarke, Bethany, and Benjamin are coming over the river and through the woods in two weeks to join us for a late holiday celebration and we are excited about that. We will have the whole family together for one wonderful week.
We haven't sent any cards out yet, but when we are all together in January we are going to have a family photo taken and we will send that out with a Happy New Year greeting to family and friends. In the meantime, enjoy the Holidays with your family!
Dec 4, 2008
In My Opinion . . .
11/17/09
There is a Portland attorney who is making a good living by suing the Boy Scouts and the LDS Church for sexual abuse that took place decades ago. I’m told that he made millions suing the Catholic Church for abuses committed by their pedophile priests and now that that income stream has dried up he has moved on to greener pastures.
There is an AP article in our local paper about three brothers from Sunnyvale, CA, who the attorney is representing in a new lawsuit against the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts. The article says, “The plaintiffs, identified only as John Does, claim they were molested hundreds of times by 65-year old William Eugene Knox, who married their mother while the abuse was taking place in Sunnyvale, Calif.” It goes on to say, “One of the plaintiffs was still a devout member of the church, and two have served as Scoutmasters. . . . [and] one was a former FBI agent.”
I have never understood how a “devout” or even a believing member of the LDS Church (or any church for that matter) could sue the Church for money. How can you sue a church if you believe it is the means of salvation? I suppose the Catholic Church could raise the same question but in the cases of pedophile priests that were protected and enabled by their superiors I can understand the outrage and desire for compensation. But in this case the abuser was the stepfather of the victims. How can they possibly impugn fault on the Church or the Boy Scouts for the actions of their stepfather?
The article said the “three brothers claim the church ignored their complaints about being molested by their Silicon Valley Boy Scout and Mormon youth leader in the 1970s and 1980s. These are men who believe in the best of these institutions and believe this kind of lawsuit can help improve these institutions and prevent child abuse.” I think that’s absurd. They can’t get any money from their abusive stepfather so, on the advice of their attorney (who by the way has eleven other lawsuits against the BSA pending), they are going after the deep pockets of the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts. I wonder, is there is a special place in hell for that kind of attorney—right next to the child molesters?
Super Nerd
I’ve worn glasses (or contacts) as long as I can remember. I don’t recall how old I was when I started wearing glasses but I still remember the trauma of suddenly becoming a “four-eyes” nerd. I was definitely in elementary school and I think it was when we lived in Sunnyvale, CA—so I would have been eight or nine.
I can remember getting bifocals when we lived in Freehold, NJ. (I would have been about twelve then.) I remember the crazy visual effect of the bifocals and I kept trying to step up because the bifocals made it look like there was always a step or hill in front of me. I’m sure I REALLY looked like a nerd in grandpa glasses and walking weird. The eye doctor had the crazy idea that bifocals might actually improve my vision. They didn't.
It took me a long time to realize that my eyes were my best feature—big brown pools that girls found irresistible. [A quick jump to my mission: (I was wearing contacts then.) My companion and I were tracting a street in a very wealthy neighborhood when a woman answered the door. I gave her my best door approach and with a hopeful look in my eyes I tried to will her into letting us in. (Picture the scene in Shrek 2 where Puss-In-Boots is holding his hat.) She smiled at me and said, “Not even those big beautiful brown eyes are going to get you into my home.” That’s when I realized the power of my eyes.] Now, back to childhood. I was so nearsighted that I had to wear very thick lenses. The optics of the lenses reduced the apparent size of my eyes and thus I lost my super-powers over females. I’m sure it’s for similar reasons that Clark Kent has to take off his glasses to become Superman.
In addition to the negative social impacts, glasses also seriously hampered my athletic abilities. I’m sure I could have been a super-star athlete if I had perfect vision or wore contacts back then. I might have even been as good as Doug or Josh. But alas, it was not to be. Still, I was pretty active and my glasses were constantly falling off and breaking. I sweat a lot and when I would do anything physical I’d start to sweat, my face would get slippery, and my glasses would fly off at the most inopportune times—usually right before my big chance to make a perfect tackle or game winning jump-shot—and I would fail to achieve glory. That may be the reason I never became a pro athlete. The truth is I was an average athlete but having poor eyesight and greasy sweaty glasses didn’t help any.
I’m sure it got expensive replacing all the broken glasses. I doubt we had vision care insurance or replacement insurance. I remember being paranoid about my glasses and panicked when they got knocked off or broken. I think the classic nerd glasses with the tape on the bridge was patterned after me because it seem like I spent a lot of time with white athletic tape holding my glasses together until we could get new frames. I actually got pretty good at using scotch tape to fix my glasses because I thought that was less noticeable and I could still look cool (as much as a four-eyes can) in broken glasses. Then I discovered the little black strap that hooked onto glasses to keep them from falling off. I started using those and always kept one in my pocket so I could put it on when I did anything active or sweat inducing. But my friends quickly named it a “sissy strap” and I was back to being a nerd.
When I was in junior high I got a pair of unbreakable “athletic glasses.” The temples hooked around my ears to keep them from falling off and they had double hinges to keep the temples from breaking. They were a brilliant idea from a practical point of view—but they were the ugliest glasses ever invented. Wearing them was like wearing a huge sign that screamed “NERD!!!” in blinking neon letters. I kept them in my varsity locker and would put them on at the last minute and take them off as soon as possible after a game or match. As advertised, they never did break—I still have them today and wear them as part of a nerd costume when the occasion arises. [No Liz, not every day.] They worked pretty well for about a year when my eyesight got worse and distant vision was blurry when I wore them.
Then there was the time in the locker room after a high school football game. I was so blind without glasses and was so used to always wearing my glasses that I wore them into the showers once. One of my teammates yelled, “Hey Farrer, why are you wearing your glasses? You want to see me naked?” [and some other vulgar homophobic questions] to which I replied, “No, I’d need a magnifying glass for that.” The truth is that’s just what I wished I’d said, but he was bigger and meaner than me so I just laughed it off. But I didn’t wear my glasses in the showers again.
When we moved to Las Vegas I finally got to wear contacts. I got my super powers over women back! I was good looking and cool again. I was a man about town. Women couldn’t resist me! I wore contacts all through my mission years and I’m sure they were a key to my success. After a few years wearing contacts they were really irritating my eyes. My eyes were always sore, red , and dry and I would actually pull my nose hairs to make my eyes water so I could get a few minutes of relief. (They didn’t have eye drops you could use with contacts back then.) I went to my eye doctor and he told me I had two choices; I could go back to glasses or keep wearing contacts and slowly go blind.
So I wore glasses again for about ten years until we moved to Alaska. My eye doctor up there prescribed a new type of contact lens that allowed more oxygen to get to the eyes. They worked great and I was back to contacts for several years until we moved to Idaho. Then they started to bother my eyes again and as my eyes have aged I can’t focus on close objects without reading glasses. Wearing glasses and contacts at the same time seems bizarre to me (and ironic because I am very nearsighted). When it got to the point where I couldn’t read my computer screen and would have to pull one contact aside to read small print or look at photos, I decided enough is enough, and I’m back to wearing glasses.
I’m fine with glasses now. Nancy is stuck with me so my super powers don’t work on her anymore (and they could be dangerous to my health and happiness). I’m not nearly as active as I used to be and my glasses hardly ever fall off any more. My eye doctor has me in a pair of fancy trifocals without lines and rimless frames. I think they look pretty good (if I do say so myself) and I can see just fine at any distance. When I need to use my super-close-up-vision-powers I just take my glasses off and I can see fine details. But I’m very careful not to look any women in the eyes when I have my glasses off.
February 22, 2009
Flag Waving Racists?
Since when did not putting a flag out on a holiday become a racist political statement?
This past Monday I was at my desk hard at work when our receptionist came in my office and told me there was an angry woman on the phone who thinks the Boy Scouts are racists. Part of my job description is ‘complaint department’ and I get a fair amount of calls and visits from people who are mad about this that or the other.
I answered the call and listened to the lady’s complaint. The only time I could get a word in was when she had to pause to take a breath. “I’m outraged at the obvious bias and religious individualism of the Mormon troops in this town and I want to know why is it that the troop that had a fundraiser to put out flags on holidays did not put a single flag out in my neighborhood for Martin Luther King Day, they ought to be celebrating Civil Rights—especially the day before such an important and historic inauguration, the Scout troop put out flags for the Mormon Pioneer Day but not for MLK Day and I refused to pay for a flag and told them they need to stick with national holidays and not with a Mormon Church holiday, I am not from here I am from a big city and you would never see such blatant racism in big cities where everyone is open and accepting and celebrates diversity and acceptance of all people cultures and religions . . .”
At that point she had to breathe so I told her I agreed with her that the flags should be put up on all holidays. I was carefully trying to explain how the flag fundraisers worked. I told her that each Scouting unit selects their own fundraising projects and many LDS sponsored troops put up flags because they aren’t supposed to sell products door-to-door.
“They were selling flags door to door because they came to my door and tried to sell me a flag and when I saw that they were going to put out flags for the Mormon Pioneer Day I refused to pay for a flag and told them they need to stick with national holidays and not with a Mormon Church holiday . . .”
At another pause I was trying to explain that I think there is a very good explanation for why the Scouts had not put up flags yesterday but she insisted it was a political statement motivated by bigotry and racism. When I disagreed and failed to share her outrage she got mad and told me she was going to call the newspaper. She demanded that I give her the phone number for the National Boy Scout office. I gave her the number and she said, “I’m not being listened to!” and hung up on me.
A couple hours later I got a call from the reporter at our local paper who writes the weekly “You Asked For It” column and we had a good discussion. He told me he thought it was an odd question and he is going to have some fun with it. He said that when he drove to work that day he noticed that everyone in his neighborhood had put their trash out for the normal Monday pick-up, not realizing it was a holiday. He didn’t think everyone was making a political statement, they just forgot it was Martin Luther King Day.
Here is what he wrote:
Julie Zuck of Ammon had a great question for a curious journalist.
She wanted to know why local Boy Scout troops erect flags on every single holiday – including Pioneer Day – but not on Martin Luther King Day, which is a federal holiday celebrated Monday.
"Why do we have to be exclusive?” she asked. “Civil Rights Day is a very important day."
Those questions have all the elements of a great story: A powerful group, religion, exclusion and maybe – oh, maybe – a hint of racism.
Muckrakers worldwide salivate at just such a chance to shine the bright light of truth under the rock of old ideas and long-held prejudices.
Woodward and Bernstein watch out, this You Asked For It columnist was poised to take his place among the pantheon of great journalists.
That is, until Clarke Farrer, head of eastern Idaho’s Boy Scouts, drove a cold stake through our preconceptions.
“The ground is frozen and the kids can’t shove the rebar into the ground here in Idaho in the winter,” said Farrer, the head of the Grand Teton Boy Scout Council, which represents more than 21,000 scouts. “It is that simple.”
You see, the flags are affixed to pvc pipe, which is held to the ground with a stake of rebar. The ground is frozen and the rebar is too hard for an 11-year-old to push into the ground.
“In the winter, it ends up that the adults have to pound the rebar into the ground,” Farrer said. “Then they can’t get it out and it becomes a hazard. Not doing it in the winter is a matter of convenience.”
Farrer said planting flags on federal holidays is a Boy Scout fundraiser that is perfect for troops and packs sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The church doesn’t allow members to sell products door-to-door, but flags are seen as a community service that ties into the Boy Scout’s goal of promoting citizenship, he said.
“I don’t know of any other scout units that do this other than the LDS scout units,” said Farrer, who has been in scouting for 40 years at outposts from Idaho to Alaska.
He said Boy Scouts should honor Martin Luther King Day and pointed out that a flag flew Monday at his house.
Farrer also said he couldn’t believe any Scouts would be making a political statement.
“I am assuming that they didn’t sit around a smoke-filled room making the decision to ignore the holiday,” he said. “It may be insulting to her and others, but that is not the intent of the people who made the decision.”
So, there you have it. I’m sure Ms. Zuck isn’t too happy with the article or my explanation—but it’s the truth (Scout’s honor).
The article did generate one interesting online comment:
The funny thing is the Boy Scout flags were amazingly placed in that same frozen ground the following day for the inauguration. I think you were on to something with the racism, better keep investigating! -- birds
I asked around and no one I know saw any Scout flags up on Tuesday. (We put our flag up.)
Now I’m afraid that the troops will put the flags up for Presidents’ Day and make me a liar. The fact is we have over 100 units in town that could be putting up flags and they all use their own schedule and approach.
So if troops do put up flags for Presidents’ Day does that mean it’s a vast right-wing racist conspiracy?
There is a Portland attorney who is making a good living by suing the Boy Scouts and the LDS Church for sexual abuse that took place decades ago. I’m told that he made millions suing the Catholic Church for abuses committed by their pedophile priests and now that that income stream has dried up he has moved on to greener pastures.
There is an AP article in our local paper about three brothers from Sunnyvale, CA, who the attorney is representing in a new lawsuit against the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts. The article says, “The plaintiffs, identified only as John Does, claim they were molested hundreds of times by 65-year old William Eugene Knox, who married their mother while the abuse was taking place in Sunnyvale, Calif.” It goes on to say, “One of the plaintiffs was still a devout member of the church, and two have served as Scoutmasters. . . . [and] one was a former FBI agent.”
I have never understood how a “devout” or even a believing member of the LDS Church (or any church for that matter) could sue the Church for money. How can you sue a church if you believe it is the means of salvation? I suppose the Catholic Church could raise the same question but in the cases of pedophile priests that were protected and enabled by their superiors I can understand the outrage and desire for compensation. But in this case the abuser was the stepfather of the victims. How can they possibly impugn fault on the Church or the Boy Scouts for the actions of their stepfather?
The article said the “three brothers claim the church ignored their complaints about being molested by their Silicon Valley Boy Scout and Mormon youth leader in the 1970s and 1980s. These are men who believe in the best of these institutions and believe this kind of lawsuit can help improve these institutions and prevent child abuse.” I think that’s absurd. They can’t get any money from their abusive stepfather so, on the advice of their attorney (who by the way has eleven other lawsuits against the BSA pending), they are going after the deep pockets of the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts. I wonder, is there is a special place in hell for that kind of attorney—right next to the child molesters?
Super Nerd
I’ve worn glasses (or contacts) as long as I can remember. I don’t recall how old I was when I started wearing glasses but I still remember the trauma of suddenly becoming a “four-eyes” nerd. I was definitely in elementary school and I think it was when we lived in Sunnyvale, CA—so I would have been eight or nine.
I can remember getting bifocals when we lived in Freehold, NJ. (I would have been about twelve then.) I remember the crazy visual effect of the bifocals and I kept trying to step up because the bifocals made it look like there was always a step or hill in front of me. I’m sure I REALLY looked like a nerd in grandpa glasses and walking weird. The eye doctor had the crazy idea that bifocals might actually improve my vision. They didn't.
It took me a long time to realize that my eyes were my best feature—big brown pools that girls found irresistible. [A quick jump to my mission: (I was wearing contacts then.) My companion and I were tracting a street in a very wealthy neighborhood when a woman answered the door. I gave her my best door approach and with a hopeful look in my eyes I tried to will her into letting us in. (Picture the scene in Shrek 2 where Puss-In-Boots is holding his hat.) She smiled at me and said, “Not even those big beautiful brown eyes are going to get you into my home.” That’s when I realized the power of my eyes.] Now, back to childhood. I was so nearsighted that I had to wear very thick lenses. The optics of the lenses reduced the apparent size of my eyes and thus I lost my super-powers over females. I’m sure it’s for similar reasons that Clark Kent has to take off his glasses to become Superman.
In addition to the negative social impacts, glasses also seriously hampered my athletic abilities. I’m sure I could have been a super-star athlete if I had perfect vision or wore contacts back then. I might have even been as good as Doug or Josh. But alas, it was not to be. Still, I was pretty active and my glasses were constantly falling off and breaking. I sweat a lot and when I would do anything physical I’d start to sweat, my face would get slippery, and my glasses would fly off at the most inopportune times—usually right before my big chance to make a perfect tackle or game winning jump-shot—and I would fail to achieve glory. That may be the reason I never became a pro athlete. The truth is I was an average athlete but having poor eyesight and greasy sweaty glasses didn’t help any.
I’m sure it got expensive replacing all the broken glasses. I doubt we had vision care insurance or replacement insurance. I remember being paranoid about my glasses and panicked when they got knocked off or broken. I think the classic nerd glasses with the tape on the bridge was patterned after me because it seem like I spent a lot of time with white athletic tape holding my glasses together until we could get new frames. I actually got pretty good at using scotch tape to fix my glasses because I thought that was less noticeable and I could still look cool (as much as a four-eyes can) in broken glasses. Then I discovered the little black strap that hooked onto glasses to keep them from falling off. I started using those and always kept one in my pocket so I could put it on when I did anything active or sweat inducing. But my friends quickly named it a “sissy strap” and I was back to being a nerd.
When I was in junior high I got a pair of unbreakable “athletic glasses.” The temples hooked around my ears to keep them from falling off and they had double hinges to keep the temples from breaking. They were a brilliant idea from a practical point of view—but they were the ugliest glasses ever invented. Wearing them was like wearing a huge sign that screamed “NERD!!!” in blinking neon letters. I kept them in my varsity locker and would put them on at the last minute and take them off as soon as possible after a game or match. As advertised, they never did break—I still have them today and wear them as part of a nerd costume when the occasion arises. [No Liz, not every day.] They worked pretty well for about a year when my eyesight got worse and distant vision was blurry when I wore them.
Then there was the time in the locker room after a high school football game. I was so blind without glasses and was so used to always wearing my glasses that I wore them into the showers once. One of my teammates yelled, “Hey Farrer, why are you wearing your glasses? You want to see me naked?” [and some other vulgar homophobic questions] to which I replied, “No, I’d need a magnifying glass for that.” The truth is that’s just what I wished I’d said, but he was bigger and meaner than me so I just laughed it off. But I didn’t wear my glasses in the showers again.
When we moved to Las Vegas I finally got to wear contacts. I got my super powers over women back! I was good looking and cool again. I was a man about town. Women couldn’t resist me! I wore contacts all through my mission years and I’m sure they were a key to my success. After a few years wearing contacts they were really irritating my eyes. My eyes were always sore, red , and dry and I would actually pull my nose hairs to make my eyes water so I could get a few minutes of relief. (They didn’t have eye drops you could use with contacts back then.) I went to my eye doctor and he told me I had two choices; I could go back to glasses or keep wearing contacts and slowly go blind.
So I wore glasses again for about ten years until we moved to Alaska. My eye doctor up there prescribed a new type of contact lens that allowed more oxygen to get to the eyes. They worked great and I was back to contacts for several years until we moved to Idaho. Then they started to bother my eyes again and as my eyes have aged I can’t focus on close objects without reading glasses. Wearing glasses and contacts at the same time seems bizarre to me (and ironic because I am very nearsighted). When it got to the point where I couldn’t read my computer screen and would have to pull one contact aside to read small print or look at photos, I decided enough is enough, and I’m back to wearing glasses.
I’m fine with glasses now. Nancy is stuck with me so my super powers don’t work on her anymore (and they could be dangerous to my health and happiness). I’m not nearly as active as I used to be and my glasses hardly ever fall off any more. My eye doctor has me in a pair of fancy trifocals without lines and rimless frames. I think they look pretty good (if I do say so myself) and I can see just fine at any distance. When I need to use my super-close-up-vision-powers I just take my glasses off and I can see fine details. But I’m very careful not to look any women in the eyes when I have my glasses off.
February 22, 2009
Flag Waving Racists?
Since when did not putting a flag out on a holiday become a racist political statement?
This past Monday I was at my desk hard at work when our receptionist came in my office and told me there was an angry woman on the phone who thinks the Boy Scouts are racists. Part of my job description is ‘complaint department’ and I get a fair amount of calls and visits from people who are mad about this that or the other.
I answered the call and listened to the lady’s complaint. The only time I could get a word in was when she had to pause to take a breath. “I’m outraged at the obvious bias and religious individualism of the Mormon troops in this town and I want to know why is it that the troop that had a fundraiser to put out flags on holidays did not put a single flag out in my neighborhood for Martin Luther King Day, they ought to be celebrating Civil Rights—especially the day before such an important and historic inauguration, the Scout troop put out flags for the Mormon Pioneer Day but not for MLK Day and I refused to pay for a flag and told them they need to stick with national holidays and not with a Mormon Church holiday, I am not from here I am from a big city and you would never see such blatant racism in big cities where everyone is open and accepting and celebrates diversity and acceptance of all people cultures and religions . . .”
At that point she had to breathe so I told her I agreed with her that the flags should be put up on all holidays. I was carefully trying to explain how the flag fundraisers worked. I told her that each Scouting unit selects their own fundraising projects and many LDS sponsored troops put up flags because they aren’t supposed to sell products door-to-door.
“They were selling flags door to door because they came to my door and tried to sell me a flag and when I saw that they were going to put out flags for the Mormon Pioneer Day I refused to pay for a flag and told them they need to stick with national holidays and not with a Mormon Church holiday . . .”
At another pause I was trying to explain that I think there is a very good explanation for why the Scouts had not put up flags yesterday but she insisted it was a political statement motivated by bigotry and racism. When I disagreed and failed to share her outrage she got mad and told me she was going to call the newspaper. She demanded that I give her the phone number for the National Boy Scout office. I gave her the number and she said, “I’m not being listened to!” and hung up on me.
A couple hours later I got a call from the reporter at our local paper who writes the weekly “You Asked For It” column and we had a good discussion. He told me he thought it was an odd question and he is going to have some fun with it. He said that when he drove to work that day he noticed that everyone in his neighborhood had put their trash out for the normal Monday pick-up, not realizing it was a holiday. He didn’t think everyone was making a political statement, they just forgot it was Martin Luther King Day.
Here is what he wrote:
Julie Zuck of Ammon had a great question for a curious journalist.
She wanted to know why local Boy Scout troops erect flags on every single holiday – including Pioneer Day – but not on Martin Luther King Day, which is a federal holiday celebrated Monday.
"Why do we have to be exclusive?” she asked. “Civil Rights Day is a very important day."
Those questions have all the elements of a great story: A powerful group, religion, exclusion and maybe – oh, maybe – a hint of racism.
Muckrakers worldwide salivate at just such a chance to shine the bright light of truth under the rock of old ideas and long-held prejudices.
Woodward and Bernstein watch out, this You Asked For It columnist was poised to take his place among the pantheon of great journalists.
That is, until Clarke Farrer, head of eastern Idaho’s Boy Scouts, drove a cold stake through our preconceptions.
“The ground is frozen and the kids can’t shove the rebar into the ground here in Idaho in the winter,” said Farrer, the head of the Grand Teton Boy Scout Council, which represents more than 21,000 scouts. “It is that simple.”
You see, the flags are affixed to pvc pipe, which is held to the ground with a stake of rebar. The ground is frozen and the rebar is too hard for an 11-year-old to push into the ground.
“In the winter, it ends up that the adults have to pound the rebar into the ground,” Farrer said. “Then they can’t get it out and it becomes a hazard. Not doing it in the winter is a matter of convenience.”
Farrer said planting flags on federal holidays is a Boy Scout fundraiser that is perfect for troops and packs sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The church doesn’t allow members to sell products door-to-door, but flags are seen as a community service that ties into the Boy Scout’s goal of promoting citizenship, he said.
“I don’t know of any other scout units that do this other than the LDS scout units,” said Farrer, who has been in scouting for 40 years at outposts from Idaho to Alaska.
He said Boy Scouts should honor Martin Luther King Day and pointed out that a flag flew Monday at his house.
Farrer also said he couldn’t believe any Scouts would be making a political statement.
“I am assuming that they didn’t sit around a smoke-filled room making the decision to ignore the holiday,” he said. “It may be insulting to her and others, but that is not the intent of the people who made the decision.”
So, there you have it. I’m sure Ms. Zuck isn’t too happy with the article or my explanation—but it’s the truth (Scout’s honor).
The article did generate one interesting online comment:
The funny thing is the Boy Scout flags were amazingly placed in that same frozen ground the following day for the inauguration. I think you were on to something with the racism, better keep investigating! -- birds
I asked around and no one I know saw any Scout flags up on Tuesday. (We put our flag up.)
Now I’m afraid that the troops will put the flags up for Presidents’ Day and make me a liar. The fact is we have over 100 units in town that could be putting up flags and they all use their own schedule and approach.
So if troops do put up flags for Presidents’ Day does that mean it’s a vast right-wing racist conspiracy?
Dec 1, 2008
Life's a Beach
We spent a wonderful week at Laguna Beach. My folks had two weeks reserved at their Laguna Beach house but had to leave early because my father’s life-long friend Jex Capener passed away. They went to the funeral and we went to Laguna.
We drove to Salt Lake and stayed with Nancy’s parents then flew to Las Vegas on Monday morning. My parents met us at the airport on their way to St. Louis and loaned us their Cadillac. We drove to California with a stop in Baker for a great lunch (and obscene photos of the naked statues) at the Mad Greek restaurant. We arrived at the beach house mid-afternoon and went straight to the beach.
Except for Wednesday, we spent the entire week beach combing, playing in the tide pools, and window shopping in Laguna. On Wednesday we drove to the LA Airport and picked up Nancy’s sister Laura and her husband Doug who were escaping the Minnesota winter and their five kids.
We drove to LA and went to the temple—no signs of protesters or vandalism, leaving me to believe the news reports were a little exaggerated.
We drove through LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and went to Farmer’s Market for dinner and more window shopping. We saw Kevin Costner and his wife and child there. We decided not to be obnoxious tourists and left them alone. While we were there Laura did a funky dance audition for the Abercrombie & Fitch models but they weren’t impressed.
We drove to LA and went to the temple—no signs of protesters or vandalism, leaving me to believe the news reports were a little exaggerated.
We drove through LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and went to Farmer’s Market for dinner and more window shopping. We saw Kevin Costner and his wife and child there. We decided not to be obnoxious tourists and left them alone. While we were there Laura did a funky dance audition for the Abercrombie & Fitch models but they weren’t impressed.
Early on Sunday we had to tear ourselves away. We drove the Oldhams back to the airport and then we drove back to Las Vegas for a too brief visit with my parents and then we flew to Salt Lake and drove up to Idaho and winter again. Long day—19 hours and ~900 miles by car and plane.
Four days later we drove back to Salt Lake and had a very pleasant Thanksgiving dinner and visit with my brother Doug and his family, Stacey’s (Adams) family, and my parents. That evening we drove back to Idaho so I could get an early start on remodeling our guest bathroom. More on that later.
Oct 31, 2008
Benjamin Franklin Farrer
Nancy and I recently went to Texas for Benjamin’s blessing.We flew into Houston and arrived late on Saturday night. I had reserved a compact rental car and when we picked it up we got a silver Mustang. Nice wheels! We had been driving in the dark through the Texas countryside for about an hour when some guy in a SUV started tailgating me. We were the only cars on the road for miles and I thought I could hear the Dueling Banjos theme from Deliverance in the background. I realized it might “the law” and started to slow down. (I was driving about five mph over the posted speed limit.) Just as I started to slow down the lights started flashing. Well, I’d rather it be a county sheriff than some inbred hillbillies looking for trouble. It turns out it was a very polite TX State Trooper who wanted to let me know my taillights were not working. Since we were driving a rental car he let me off with a warning. I found out later that there was nothing wrong with the taillights—they worked just fine if I turned them on. (Our vehicles’ lights come on automatically and I never even thought about it.)
After another half hour of taillightless driving we arrived in Bryan and found Clarke and Bethany’s apartment. It was great to see them again. Benjamin was sleeping and as much as we wanted to hold him we know you should never wake a sleeping baby.
Their church meetings started at 9:AM the next morning so we got an early start and got over to the church just before the meeting began. Vic and Shauna Mitchell (Bethany’s parents) met us there and Vic and I stood in the circle as Clarke blessed and named Benjamin. Clarke did a good job and Benjamin was awake and alert but remained quiet.
Their church meetings started at 9:AM the next morning so we got an early start and got over to the church just before the meeting began. Vic and Shauna Mitchell (Bethany’s parents) met us there and Vic and I stood in the circle as Clarke blessed and named Benjamin. Clarke did a good job and Benjamin was awake and alert but remained quiet. Clarke wanted to drive the Mustang so after the meetings Clarke gave me a nice tour of College Station and the Texas A&M campus while the ladies prepared lunch. A&M is a beautiful school with a huge campus. I guess I should have known, because everything is bigger in Texas. I was very impressed with the tour and the A&M spirit—everywhere we went students were wearing maroon and white A&M clothing.
Nancy stayed the week and spoiled Benjamin while I flew to Phoenix for a National Camp School director’s meeting and a Top-20 Scout executive conference. Nancy and I both flew into the Salt Lake Airport on Friday afternoon and then on up to Idaho Falls and home again home again.
Oct 14, 2008
How 'bout them Apples?
Almost everywhere we have lived we have had apple trees in our yard. I'm not sure why. I guess we like apples, or at least houses with apple trees. We had three apple trees in Pleasant Grove, ten apple trees in El Paso, (none in Alaska), and we have two trees in our Idaho Falls yard--a Golden Delicious and a Gala (I think).The weatherman was predicting below freezing weather over the weekend so we decided it was time to harvest our apples. We invited our neighbors over to take as many apples as they wanted and they picked about two bushels. Saturday morning Nancy went to work on the Golden Delicious tree, which looked more like green delicious and was heavily loaded with fruit. By the time I got home to help she was about done. I climbed up the tree and picked the fruit on the highest branches. The cold and snow added a nice fall feeling to the day.
After we finished the first tree I went to work on the Gala tree. It has some kind of fungus problem and didn't produce near as many apples as the other tree. The trees were badly overgrown when we bought the house and I did a two-year pruning project to bring them back under control. We only got about one bushel from the Gala tree but the other tree more than made up for the shortage.So, for the past week Nancy has been busy canning apples. She has forty quarts of apple pie filling, a dozen jars of apple jam, and is now working on applesauce. We are only half way though our crop of apples. She ran out of canning jars and can't find any more for sale anywhere in town. She just worked trade with a neighbor for two-dozen quart jars in trade for a bag of apples.
We still have plenty of apples, so if you want to come over and get some you are more than welcome. Just bring your own jars.
Oct 13, 2008
Punkin'head
For as long as I can remember the Farrers have been carving pumpkins at Halloween time. I can remember as kids we would go to pumpkin patches and we were allowed to pick our own pumpkin. The rule used to be "if you can carry it you can have it." That worked until I was a teenage athlete and could carry a pumpkin that weighed more than I did. Even in the days of dirt-cheap pumpkins that one broke the bank. Dad was a good sport and let me buy it anyway. When I got it home and started to carve it I had to about climb inside to clean it out. It took the full reach of my arm to reach the bottom.
On Saturday Dan, Sarah, Amanda, and Derek came over and spent the better part of the day with us. I was busy installing baseboards in Shawn's room and by the time I finished the kids had gone out and bought five big pumpkins and were ready to start carving them.
Over the years we have progressed in our carving skills from the basic circle and triangle shapes to more advanced shapes and techniques.
On Saturday Dan, Sarah, Amanda, and Derek came over and spent the better part of the day with us. I was busy installing baseboards in Shawn's room and by the time I finished the kids had gone out and bought five big pumpkins and were ready to start carving them.
Over the years we have progressed in our carving skills from the basic circle and triangle shapes to more advanced shapes and techniques.
Sarah got her inspiration from a "How are you feeling today?" chart we have had for years. It has thirty cartoon faces depicting different emotions. She picked "Hysterical."
Amanda went with type casting and carved a singing pumpkin.
A pumpkin singing very loud.
I carved a pumpkin with two faces—a boy and a girl—in love with each other. It's the best I could do on short notice.
Dan went with his favorite superhero and carved the Batman logo on his pumpkin.
Derek cheated and went to the Internet and found a website (carvingpumpkins.com) that had dozens of patterns to choose from. He chose Gollum and started carving. It took him all night and part of the next day but the finished product was amazing. It takes pumpkin carving to a whole new level. It also raises the bar for the rest of us mere mortals.
And what about Nancy? Well, she is carving impaired—or so she thinks. As the family advanced in our carving skills she tried to keep up but kept messing up her creations. Several years ago she got tired of us laughing at her masterpieces and quit carving altogether.
I think the world is a lesser place because of it.
Oct 8, 2008
50s Blues
Nancy’s surprise birthday present worked out wonderfully. We drove to SLC for a Boy Scout art show/reception that was held in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building downtown. Derek and Amanda went with us. (We later dropped them off at the airport. They flew from SLC to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and then got on cruise ship to the Bahamas. Derek earned the trip as a bonus for his summer job.)
The art show featured original paintings by Norman Rockwell and Joseph Csatari. We arrived at 5:30 and found out that the First Presidency came at 4:15 and visited with the early birds. I felt like one of the foolish virgins who arrived late for the wedding feast. After the reception we went upstairs to the Legacy Theater and watched the "Joseph Smith, the Prophet" movie. It was excellent and we all felt the Spirit testifying that Joseph Smith is a prophet.
The next day (Friday) Nancy wanted to return to Idaho but I convinced her to spend another day in Utah. She had the great idea of going up to Park City. We had not been there in years and we spent a wonderful day together. It was a beautiful fall day and we had great fun riding the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster—we laughed our heads off. We drove back to Salt Lake and had a birthday dinner at Benihana’s with Nancy’s parents. I tried to get Nancy to stay up and watch the BYU vs. Utah State football game with me but she is old now and the busy day had worn her out and she went to bed early.
I stayed up reading until her birthday presents arrived. My brother Doug had been out of town on a business trip and flew in at about 11:PM. Stacey was there to pick him up and they waited for Clarke and Bethany to arrive at about 11:30. They all came to the Davises together. I took Benjamin and slipped him into bed with Nancy and started quietly singing “Happy Birthday.” She woke up from a dead sleep and at first she was startled and confused but then she saw Clarke and realized what was going on. Then she started to cry—good tears. It was a sweet reunion and Benjamin is perfect.
After things settled down (~1:AM) Doug and Stacey took Clarke and Bethany to a hotel downtown and then went home. (A thousand Thank Yous! You guys are always there for us.) The next morning we watched Conference with the Davises and then Mom Davis served us a nice lunch. We then drove up to Idaho Falls—listening to Conference on the way. We arrived home and Dan and Sarah were there to meet us. The two Farrer cousins got to meet each other and we all compared babies. Wyatt is bigger, Benjamin is quieter, and they are both unbelievably cute!
Having our kids together and meeting Benjamin helped Nancy get over the 50s Blues.
The art show featured original paintings by Norman Rockwell and Joseph Csatari. We arrived at 5:30 and found out that the First Presidency came at 4:15 and visited with the early birds. I felt like one of the foolish virgins who arrived late for the wedding feast. After the reception we went upstairs to the Legacy Theater and watched the "Joseph Smith, the Prophet" movie. It was excellent and we all felt the Spirit testifying that Joseph Smith is a prophet.
The next day (Friday) Nancy wanted to return to Idaho but I convinced her to spend another day in Utah. She had the great idea of going up to Park City. We had not been there in years and we spent a wonderful day together. It was a beautiful fall day and we had great fun riding the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster—we laughed our heads off. We drove back to Salt Lake and had a birthday dinner at Benihana’s with Nancy’s parents. I tried to get Nancy to stay up and watch the BYU vs. Utah State football game with me but she is old now and the busy day had worn her out and she went to bed early.
I stayed up reading until her birthday presents arrived. My brother Doug had been out of town on a business trip and flew in at about 11:PM. Stacey was there to pick him up and they waited for Clarke and Bethany to arrive at about 11:30. They all came to the Davises together. I took Benjamin and slipped him into bed with Nancy and started quietly singing “Happy Birthday.” She woke up from a dead sleep and at first she was startled and confused but then she saw Clarke and realized what was going on. Then she started to cry—good tears. It was a sweet reunion and Benjamin is perfect.
After things settled down (~1:AM) Doug and Stacey took Clarke and Bethany to a hotel downtown and then went home. (A thousand Thank Yous! You guys are always there for us.) The next morning we watched Conference with the Davises and then Mom Davis served us a nice lunch. We then drove up to Idaho Falls—listening to Conference on the way. We arrived home and Dan and Sarah were there to meet us. The two Farrer cousins got to meet each other and we all compared babies. Wyatt is bigger, Benjamin is quieter, and they are both unbelievably cute!
We spent Sunday watching Conference and holding babies. Bethany’s brother and his family came over for dinner and we had a houseful. It was a great weekend. On Monday morning I drove Clarke and Bethany back down to Salt Lake to catch their flight back to Houston. That night I picked up Derek and Amanda at the airport and drove them home. It made for a nineteen-hour day—most of it driving. They had a great time on their cruise and came back with lots of great photos and sunburns. You’ll have to check out their blog for more details.
Having our kids together and meeting Benjamin helped Nancy get over the 50s Blues.
Oct 2, 2008
Grandsons
Grandma & Grandpa Farrer
with Benjamin
Four generations with
Grandpa Davis and
Benjamin
Four Generations with
Grandpa Farrer and
Wyatt
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