Sometimes it’s a great idea to be a quitter.

I recently canceled a web hosting package. They offered me 2 free years to stay. So I did. I went online to check something about my cell phone bill, and found out I could get unlimited service for $10 less than I had been paying for 1500 minutes. Continue Reading »

I’m seriously concerned about politics in our country these days! It’s not so much that I don’t like nationalized health care and some other issues and trends – it’s the fact that NO ONE CAN TALK REASONABLY anymore!!

Thanks a LOT, Democrats. Thanks, Republicans. Thanks lobbyists, celebrities, protesters, and Glen Beck.

When I taught college writing, we’d do a little section on logical fallacies and now and then I’d find a good example of one being used in the news. Now that’s all I hear. Everyone has traded reason in for sloppy emotional rants. That will never resolve anything! Continue Reading »

As you may have noticed, I don’t usually post anything terribly personal here on my blog. You get some observations and adventures, while I save the rest for conversations with close friends or perhaps when someone is interested and asks (even though the blog is pretty much read only by friends with whom I’d have no problem sharing more personal details).

I’m not planning to change that, but in this case, I will post this beautiful youtube video of one of my favorite hymns and let it do the talking for me. I love the lyrics, the harmonies, the variety of tempo and tone, the subtly-developing crescendo, and especially the sincere emotion so evident in the performers’ faces! I’ll post the lyrics below.
Continue Reading »

I used to wonder where all the great people were. Where is all the excellence they could produce? Why does Hollywood put out so much mediocrity, for example? Movies cost $millions to make, so why doesn’t someone go over the script one more time and make it twice as good with a few revisions? Continue Reading »

involves driving three miles up stunning American Fork Canyon, then hiking a mile and a half and over 1,000 feet to the “office.”

<– climbing carefully below The Great Heart of Timpanogos to retrieve some fallen sunglasses with the snake stick.

The office consists of the tiny “employees only” room and our private lunch bench outside with dazzling canyon views; plus Hansen, Middle and Timpanogos Caves, where I’ll be leading tours until the cave closes for the season in October.

That’s right, I work inside Mount Timpanogos! I’m now officially a National Park Ranger – hat, badge and all. I expect to enjoy it immensely.

Success! –>

So I was talking with an old friend who’s in town tonight and we were asking each other what makes people most interesting and one key thing we discussed was that they are interested.

Interested in everything. Curious. Maybe even fascinated by a wide variety of topics. The world is a fun puzzle and it feels good to put another piece together. Connecting to people by exploring their thoughts and feelings is rewarding and becomes a natural habit.

One way to recognize such people is that they ask good questions. They really want to know. If you mention something, they’ll dig for more. Because of their experience finding out more about things, they also tend to have interesting insights of their own to add to a conversation. Continue Reading »

Yesterday my search and rescue pager went off for a river rescue at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. Information streamed in over the radio as I headed up the canyon as to where the nine-year-old girl could be, and SAR units, together with Sundance and Provo Fire Departments, were deployed along the swift river.

When the girl had slipped into the river near Bridal Veil Falls – where the river is narrow and fast, and the river trail is always full of mothers strolling with young children – her uncles and cousins responded immediately. At least three people went into the river after her, running downstream for an opening in the brush, then jumping in, only to find that the current had already swept her by or barely able to get a hold of her – but not a good enough hold to win the tug of war with 440 cubic feet per second of water – that’s 27,500 pounds per second – rushing past. Continue Reading »

Hi y’all. Here’s just a reminder to update your blogs more often. Don’t you know we’re waiting??? Don’t you know we want to know what you’re doing and thinking? Don’t you know we miss you when you’re away?

Also, if you think your blog may not be on my list, pls list it here by posting a comment.

Rim to Rim. 23 miles. 14 down, 9 up. About 7,000′ deep. Temps ranged from 55 with monsoon-like rain to 105, but sometimes with a breeze and it didn’t feel that bad. I was surprised how much water and green is found along the trails. I sure wanted to spend more time in the water!

And the Colorado…incredible! I really wanted to stop there longer, climb down to a beach and stay for hours, but the whole ascent loomed before us and the day wasn’t getting any cooler.

Later on it got cooler, though! When the downpour began. Before the rain, I was dunking my cap in the stream at every crossing and pouring cold water down my back. When it began above Indian Gardens, it felt refreshing. By the time we reached 3 mile House, we were well chilled and the place was packed tight by everyone who hadn’t brought rain gear. We pulled ours out and headed up again. Continue Reading »