Sunday morning bullets

• Winter has finally come.  We got up to a couple of inches of snow.  The first flurry was yesterday afternoon, and it was snowing as we got up this morning.  We have had re cord breaking warm days for a week or so–highs in the 50s and even above 60 degrees.  Then Friday we had this howling cold wind from the SF Canyon that never let up all day.  Yesterday in the morning the sky was overcast and there was a sort of ominous warn stillness.  Then eventually the snow started.

• Yesterday in the morning I got outside to do a couple of last minute winter preparation.  First, I removed the covers for the turnoff valves for our two water systems.  I turned off the Pressurized Irrigation valve which I hadn’t already done, although the water had stopped in late October.  I also stuffed some insulation in the hole around the culinary water valve.  This was a recommendation of a plumber who had helped us thaw our pipes last year when they froze during a cold spell.  I also did a little early winter pruning of our rose bushes, just taking off the dead roses and the tops of the weaker stalks to help keep them from breaking if we have heavy snow on them.  We had had some of our bushes grow quite tall and a couple of new plants where the stalks were quite spindly.  According to rose pruning instructions with which I am familiar, you are supposed to leave most of the stalks until late winter or early spring before you do serious pruning.  Leaving most of the wood is supposed to help the rose plants survive the winter.

• We were excited yesterday to get the long-awaited word of the date for dedication of the Payson Temple, June 7, 2015.  I can see that there will be a lot of scrambing now to reset calendars for our youth programs and other things now.  For example, our stake’s planned youth conference conflicts with this date.  Not that anyone is complaining, of course.

• I had a little glimpse a few days ago of what the future might be like with the new temple in Payson.  I was conversing with Kelly W, he who is an Assistant Recorder at the Provo Temple and who will be the Recorder for the Payson Temple and who is also a Counselor in the Blake’s Stake Presidency.  I said we worry a little that there will not be enough temple worker positions at Payson for all of us who live in its new district and currently work in the Provo Temple.  He said he thought there would be plenty of things to do, because Payson will be a “member maintenance” temple, like our church houses. There will be lots of responsibilities to be cared for by callings of members that are done by paid staff at Provo.  He gave an example of a line for a worker where one of the assignments, in addition to work with ordinances, might at a given hour be to take out the garbage.

• I really enjoyed our Christmas kick-off get-together at the cabin last Friday night.  I felt so relaxed and just enjoyed the association and to observe the happy interaction between other family members.  Attending were Wendy and me, Nathan and Gloria, the Sodequists, Blakes, and Lewises. Ryan, Alyssa and Megan were there representing the college-age group.  Also Rachel happily joined in the party during the White Elephant exchange on a “face-time” call with Ryan and Alyssa.  She seemed appropriately giddy.  We did most of the usual-- dinner, then a grand march for all who wanted to join in, a line weaving in and through the cabin rooms and balconies singing “We wish you a merry Christmas.”  Then Wendy and I gave all the kids the First Gift of the season, a ridiculous compacted little glob that when moistened becomes a washcloth with various hero images like Spiderman and Superman.  Then the kids beat up a pinata that started as a clown but Wendy had fashioned into a Christmas tree, and collected lots of candy.  Then Matthew led us in the White elephant gift exchange.  And we sang Christmas carols around the piano, first our yearly rendition of the Hallelujah chorus, then O Beautiful Night, and lots of Christmas songs from an old Christmas song folio that we had in our home when the kids were small.  Matthew said that these were not The Forgotten Carols, they were the Carols That No One Had Known in the First Place.  However, the older generations in our family knew them and its was fun to sing them again.