It was one of those weeks where we plunged back and forth between spring and winter. The days of springlike sunshine, warmth, and flowers were lovely and made my heart happy. The days where winter attempted to take control again were sad and made my heart as heavy as the wet snow that tried to press the crocuses back into the earth. Friday was the worst day. In the morning, just as we were getting ready to go to school and work, a mix of sleet, freezing rain, and mushy snow fell on us. It was cold enough that it stayed with us through the whole day. It was a depressing day. Then on Saturday it warmed again. In just an hour or so the snow vanished and flowers appeared again.
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| On Thursday. |
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| On Friday. |
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| On Saturday. |
The days of warmth and sunshine have an immediate effect on the world now. The world is ready and waiting to grow again. Shoots spring up from the ground in a day. Plants that were barely buds burst into bloom in an hour. I’m always amazed at the strength and resilience of nature. The awakening of the earth in the spring always seems miraculous to me. I hope it always will.
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| Seed trays progressing nicely. |
With the reawakening of the earth there are some not so welcome occurrences. The skunks are out again and are tearing my lawn to bits in their search for grubs. I’m sure most of the grubs they’re finding are Japanese beetle larvae and I should be glad for that, but in order to get to them, they destroy large patches of lawn. Last fall we removed four marauding skunks. It looks like we’ll be on skunk patrol again.
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| The flower beds - you can see the skunk damage on the lawn. |
This is General Conference weekend. I love the two weekends of the year – in April and October – when we get to watch General Conference. Sometimes it seems hard (especially on a warm and sunny Saturday when there is so much to do outdoors) to sit for a total of ten hours over two days to listen to talks, but I’m never disappointed. There will be other nice days to work outdoors. The messages given in conference are more important. Yesterday’s three sessions were wonderful. Every talk given seemed to hold a message just for me. I’m sure the sessions today will be just as uplifting.
This General Conference marks the end of an era for our family. My cousin Rick has been a member of the Tabernacle Choir for the last six years. We have loved watching for him in the sessions as the cameras move over the choir. It’s like we are related to a celebrity. But there are limits to how long you can sing in the choir – 20 years or until you turn 60 – and Rick turned 60 last December (he and I were born the same year). So this is the last time we’ll see him in the choir during General Conference and that makes us sad. I know that it has been a great experience for him, and vicariously for our whole family. He got to travel through Europe and various parts of the United States on choir tours. He has performed with the choir for so many Music and the Spoken Word broadcasts, Christmas concerts, devotionals, and General Conference sessions. For the first ten years of our lives, Rick and I were more like brothers than cousins. He lived upstairs with my grandparents on the third floor of our house on Bridge Street. He and my brother and sisters were together every day. We moved away when I was ten, but we spent time together in the summers for many years after that. I have always felt a special bond with Rick. Our family was so pleased and proud when he auditioned and was accepted into the Tabernacle Choir. Our Grandmother, I know, is also proud and pleased with his great accomplishments.
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| The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. (stock photo) |
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| My cousin Rick (in the middle) singing during the Saturday morning session. |
The weather is beautiful again today. Sabbath mornings on General Conference weekends are a delight. Because the sessions don’t start until noon here on the East Coast, we get to sleep a little later than usual. Our morning is very relaxed as we don’t have to hurry to be ready for church. What a blessing it is for us to sit in our home and participate in meetings with millions of members around the world. When I was younger and technology was more primitive, we did not have this blessing. During my earliest years we used to get just one session (out of five) broadcast on our local television station as a public service. Then later, we could go to a stake center and listen to the sessions via shortwave radio. That was during my teenage years and I think I dozed through most of the sessions. When I went to BYU in the fall of 1976 I was amazed that people in Utah got to watch all the sessions on the television (KSL). Then in the 80's satellites changed the world. We could go to our local building and watch all the sessions. And then the internet came along and it got even better as we could stay at home and watch over our computer and then our smart TV. To sit in our home and hear the words of prophets, seers, and revelators is a wondrous blessing.
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| Bright Sabbath morning. |
The week ahead looks to be more springlike. The earth is slowly warming. The growing world is stirring to life. I feel refreshed and ready to face whatever may come.
