I'll Have To Keep Trying

I had a really hard time sleeping last night, because of a severe allergic reaction to the smoke in the air.  I've been having difficulty breathing anyway, but when the smoke from the big fire 100 miles north of here arrived, things got much worse very quickly.

I made a conscious decision not to walk today, and I will wait to try again until the smoke passes.  But that is not the end of this!

Rachel, Abinadi and Salvation

I did get up this morning and walk two miles, making it seven consecutive days excluding Sundays.  It's easier in the morning than in the evening.

Rachel arrived from Florida today!  She is here to rest, then run the marathon Saturday.  It's very exciting to see her!  Jacob and Hilary came for dinner and conversation -- we all had a great evening!

Here's a picture of Rachel with Jacob, Hilary, and Doug Jr in St. George this afternoon.

I really enjoyed reading Abinadi's teachings about salvation in Mosiah 13 today, I wrote more about it here.  I hope you will click the link and continue with me there.  Thanks!

Walking Late

It's been three months today since my last radiation treatment, but in various ways I still feel it.  One of them is I still seem to need more sleep than I did before.  This morning was one of those days when the alarm lost, which meant no morning walk.

But when I say I'm determined, I do mean it.  So I went walking at 9:30 pm and still got my two miles in.

I'm hoping to be right back out there in about eight hours.  In the meantime, sweet dreams!

Tweets

Just finished 2 mi walk by flashlight in 39 minutes 6:30am

Breakfast-large bowl shredded wheat with banana,warm lemon water & vitamins.

Read Mosiah 12, Isaiah 1:6-2:22. Institute manual again helping clarify the symbolism.

Touched by "Our Refined Heavenly Home" by Elder Douglas Callister in June 2009 Liahona magazine.

Lunch at home with Willyne.  Scoop of sloppy joe (no bun) and scoop of potato salad with water.

Afternoon snack at office -- 4 handfulls of peanuts and more water

Preparing to head home for the evening at 7:15 pm.

Dinner at the Thomas' Home

I had my weekly weigh-in this morning (261.5) before heading to Church meetings at 7 am.

Later, we enjoyed a beautiful Sunday afternoon dinner outdoors with Fred and Sue Thomas (pictured above), and Sue's parents, the Ferrans of Rockville.  Willyne contributed a yummy potato salad, Sister Ferran brought two (!) kinds of brownies (both delicious), and Fred did the rest of the meal -- stuffed hamburgers, tomato slices, salad, and cut cantelope (at the perfect level of ripeness).  The conversation was great too.

On our way home we stopped by DeMar and Helen Gubler, who celebrated 50 years of marriage Friday.  We just wanted to congratulate them and say we love them.  We also got to explain what is going on with the pool one more time (having it sitting on a trailer in our driveway for a week is adding to everyone's curiousity I'm sure!).

We watched the season-opening episode of Castle recorded last Monday when we got home and then had a nice conversation together.  A great day!

Walking and Taxes

I made it a fourth day today.  I am determined to walk at least two miles/40 minutes every weekday and Saturday.  That means I won't be doing it tomorrow.  My bones and muscles are somewhat sore, but it is gradually improving each day.  Overall -- I feel great, just like eating scrubbers (that was for you Rachel).

If you'd like to read the rest of my blog post for today, please click and continue here.  Thanks!

Day 3 - Getting a little sore but liking it

That's day 3 of walking two miles every morning ...

At work I had another client meeting on reducing expenses to match reduced sales to help them keep their doors open.  Always hard to be the messenger in those meetings, but I think it went well.

I enjoyed doing a surprise for Willyne while she was at the temple with the ward Relief Society presidency this morning.  (She liked it)

I had another client get excited about a firm offering ideas on multiple sources of business income, one-on-one coaching, claimed savings on entity costs with a series LLC, and providing the appearance of lower fees.  We've worked with them many years and saved them a lot of money in that time.  At least they are giving us a shot to come up with proposals that will encourage them to stay with us.  Still, this has happened several times now and it always takes me breath away like a sucker punch in the gut.

The tortoise WILL keep smiling!

I gave Becca some feedback on a case study she is working on -- what to suggest to a family who is getting transferred to a new location, with a raise in pay, and other neat things.  How much of their resources should they commit to getting a large home.  Husband says do it, wife is not sure.  Becca gets to explore the pros and cons.  I'm giving her a few ideas to study and ponder.  Thanks for including me Becca!  Good luck on this.

Dad is 80 today

We had a little gathering for him this evening at the 2450 East community park in St. George.  He was there, along with my mother, Willyne, Josh, Megan, Ethan, Kate, Riley, Glen, John, Peggy, Jordan, Tom, LaRee, Shandra, Shaleen, ShaRee, Steve, Marnie, Hillary, Sam, and Sidney.

Willyne brought a pot of sloppy joes, Peggy brought potato salad, LaRee brought cole slaw (had a nice bean sprout flavor to it, Marnie brought a big fruit salad and lemonade, Megan made two kinds of cupcakes decorated nicely for the birthday.

Here's a few pictures!

Walking, Hoses, Born Again, and the Grand Canyon Complete With Music

If you try to start a new habit one more time than the number of times you get sidetracked, it will indeed become a part of your life.  That is my passionately smiling tortoise wisdom for the day.

So .... Willyne and I went for a walk this morning.  Not just one mile, but two.  That is a big difference.  One mile is about where I get warmed up.  I really felt it the second mile.  Now to get to day 2 of the 21 days it will take to make this stick.  (This technique (keep trying until the habit sticks) worked with this journal/blog by the way.  I have tried so many times to make that a habit.  Now I have made it six months without missing a day.  I don't dare miss a day now, I know I will have immediately lost that good habit.)

I am hoping to get to the same point with walking (or some form of daily exercise -- I might mix up riding a one-speed bicycle that we have in there)

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When we got back from the walk I then wrestled with the hoses in the field for an hour.  The process of removing the pool has cut off the irrigation water to the field, so I strung together hoses from the culinary tap to the field today.  Water was spraying everywhere, but eventually I won that battle.  If you saw me when I finished you would think I had gone to battle.  Muddy, wet, just a mess.

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I then read Mosiah 5.  I have decided this will be my answer to those who ask me if and when I have been born again.  It occurred to me in today's reading that this chapter is King Benjamin's description of truly being born again, especially verses 7 and 8,

7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.



8 And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
 
I recommend reading the whole chapter to get this in context -- it is wonderful.
 
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Then I went to work.  I helped with several tax returns, that is picking up volume now that we are getting closer to the October 15 deadline when the extensions run out.  Then I headed to Mesquite to deliver a return and do some tax planning with a client.

After work, our bishopric had a temple night with our wives.  Willyne and I went a little early and had a nice dinner with Grandmother Forsyth.  It was my first time to see her new place in St. George -- cozy and very nice.  Her meal was nice too, after which she joined us in the temple.  It was quite full, we were there 30 minutes before our session, but we were still bumped to the next session (which was also full). We were glad to see so many people there.

Came home, set hoses and sprinklers to run overnight, and took out the trash.  A full day, and a nice one!

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And here's a little bonus tonight.  A friend sent me a link to this video Monday, I loved it and believe you will too!



It takes six minutes to watch, but if you like the Grand Canyon you will love this National Geographic production!

As for the music, you will either love it or hate it.  No neutral passions here!   I'll be interested to read the comments here and get your reaction.  Personally, I think it fits the moving scenery perfectly.

Willyne's Home :)

Willyne is home from a 1 1/2 day whirlwind trip north.  A short trip, packed with activity.  I'm glad she went but I missed her and am glad she's home.  She went north with Grandmother Forsyth and Danielle.  I picked the picture you see to post here because it had the most family members in a single pose.  Don't they all look great!

More Camping - Star Gazing Proposals

Some of you reading this may know I like travelling the back roads just to see the scenery a little better.  I got even more interested after Willyne found me a book several years back ...

If you've ever been fascinated with the "Travel Bookstore" featured in the movie "Notting Hill", then this is your book.  William Trogdon (who takes the name William Least Heat-Moon) travels 13,000 miles around America and has some amazing experiences along the way, including one freezing night stuck in the snow at Cedar Breaks (in May!).

I have this theory that my family is scattered around enough that eventually as I travel to see living family members and the tombstones of those who have gone to a better place that I will make it to every county in America.  I've already been to a fair number of them.

Tonight I looked at a Utah map, and determined I have been to 27 of its 29 counties. All but Daggett and Wayne.  Wayne has Canyonlands, should be great scenery and good stargazing at night.  Anyone in with me?

Caroline Hemenway Harmon and an Unique Sunday

I was at church at 7 am this morning for the priesthood leadership session of our semiannual church stake conference.  After the opening song and prayer, the clerks were immediately separated to a separate session held in the high council room.  For the next two hours we received detailed instruction from Scott English, the stake financial clerk, on how to effectively follow church procedures intended to protect the sacred donations received and assure they are properly used for the purposes intended by the donors.  I have served in various clerk positions at several intervals in my life, and have heard much instruction over the years.  Several of us in the room noted to each other after it was over that this was the most practical material we had ever received on the subject.

After an hour interlude, the final session of stake conference began at 10 am.  I was one of the ushers.  It was satisfying to help people with walkers and other needs find adequate seats in the crowded chapel and to otherwise help with reverence by assisting fussy children and more.

I managed to do that and still be truly fed by being in attendance.  There is not enough room here to express all of it, so I will focus on the story of one remarkable woman which you can read as a separate entry in my blog "I Believe".

Shortly after conference, Willyne headed north to see her sister Pamela with her mother and niece Danielle.  Tomorrow they will visit Benjamin and Norma Sanders and then return home.  This left me alone for the afternoon and evening, a unique Sunday experience for me.  I did some things Willyne asked, answered some letters, took a nap, and learned about Caroline Hemenway Harmon.  I hope you are touched by her life story as I was. 

Getting Our Pool Off Our Roof

I had a mostly great day.  Willyne and I went to Jacob and Hilary's for breakfast and to see their fabulous Halloween banister decorations.  Halloween decorations are usually fun, spooky, colorful, but I've never thought of using the word "classy" to describe them.  Their banister absolutely was!

Their waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, with Polish sausage on the side was delicious too!

After breakfast I went with Willyne to Tai Pan Trading -- my first time ever to this store I have heard so much about.  The first thing I said after I was inside is "This store just screams Jacob!"  We found some plates Willyne had been looking for a very long time, so yea for that!

Next I went to the library to do a little work, and at 1:30 I met Josh and Ethan at Doug Jr's home to watch the Gators play the Volunteers.  It was a good game and we were enjoying being together, but near the end of the third quarter Danielle called me to say the crane had arrived to lift the swimming pool out of the back yard and their were issues -- I better come home.  I understood it was going around the side of the house so I wasn't that concerned, but there wasn't room for the crane and the trailer, so they took it over the roof.  That's when the issues started.  The two videos here show the first attempt to get it off the roof, then the second attempt, which was successful  ...




All's well that ends well, right?  Everyone was gone by 7, I quickly changed clothes and got to an excellent Stake Conference session.  Willyne and I both have some good notes with ideas on making our scripture study more effective and more enjoyable, and I'm quite appreciative for that ... and that no one got hurt in the swimming pool episode!

King Benjamin and Restaurants - A Diverse and Pleasant Day

There were three highlights to my day.

One was reading Mosiah 3 which is one of the chapters that quotes King Benjamin.  I particularly studied verse 19, which teaches that we must put off the natural man, become a saint through the atonement of Christ and become as a child.  I found several quotes that built on this theme.  My favorite was by President Eyring, "Most of us want to be strong. We may well see being like a child as being weak. . . . But King Benjamin, who understood as well as any mortal what it meant to be a man of strength and courage, makes it clear that to be like a child is not to be childish. It is to be like the Savior."  If you're interested, I wrote more about this here.  (you may have to click on a second window that says "to see blog click here").

This afternoon I met with someone who was just referred to me who is interested in buying a local restaurant.  We got acquainted, I made sure they knew what they were getting in to (running a restaurant is a LOT of work that never stops), and gave them some ideas they seemed to enjoy.  I hope it goes well for them.

Not long after that, I got to talk with Josh for a minute as he was leaving the office.  A mutual friend was in Seattle this week on business, and while there took a picture of this establishment across from the Pike Place Market:

He wanted to know if we're any relation to these folks.  I sent a quick e-mail to my uncle Wally, who lives near Tacoma not far away, to see what he knew.  The short answer it is named for someone who's first name was Beecher.  Turns out this is a great place, check it out here.  Wally recommends "the Flagship ... shaved on green salad it's great."  Sounds good to me!

3 Minutes at the Chamber

I was invited to do the business spotlight at the Hurricane Valley Chamber of Commerce at their lunch meeting today.  So for three minutes I had fun telling everyone how we are a full service accounting firm that can do all the normal things you would want your local accounting firm to do, and how good our people are.  I emphasized how we have a passion for planning, and put in a plug for my new tax and money blog.  That included handing out a printed copy of last Saturday's post showing how a fairly typical family earning $12 per hour each would have $260 less in their paycheck each month starting in January if the law doesn't change between now and then.

We got contact information from five people, and I had a good time.  Guess it was a good day there :)

Fun Clothes for a Deadline Day

If you have a corporation, limited liability company, or partnership on a calendar year, the extension you filed earlier this year expired today.  It was busy but fairly quiet for a deadline day.  We had lunch brought in from Durangos and I wore my "1040" tie that I got as a gift from Becca earlier this year.  I know, today wasn't a 1040 deadline day.  I still got some smiles from it, which is hard to do on a taxing day!

We also had City Council this evening.  We accepted the work done by Hawker Enterprises to rework most of the culinary water lines in the city, most of which were 50+ years old and in bad shape.  They ran into numerous surprises as they dug, which made the project take longer than planned.  The good news is they worked well with Doug Gubler and the rest of the city public works staff, and we have a really good water delivery system now, including some extras because of the surprises found -- all for less money than the original project bid.

We also got a report of the final settlement of the Bob Stevens property cleanup case tonight.  The properties are now clean and we recovered our legal fees.  This went on about five years, I'm tired just thinking about this case, but I'm very glad it's over.

Pictures of Our Changing Back Yard

Ted and Penny Rieck also came by, they were on their way home from Salt Lake and spent the night with us.  We had a nice breakfast and conversation, and then they were on their way, and so were we ...

Here's the dynamic duo ...

Our Family in Pennsylvania in the 1800s

The internet is a wonderful way to share information.  Thanks to Marjorie Templeton, who took the time to record six pages of headstone information at a cemetery, we have the following names of our family.  Samuel and Mercy Beecher, both listed here, settled in Bradford County, Pennsylvania from Connecticut in about 1812.  The others are their children, grandchildren, spouses, etc.  I'm excited to see this!

Name of Cemetery: LeRaysville Cemetery


Submitted by: Marjorie A. Templeton

Date Read and Reader: Not specified

Typed By: Pat Smith Raymond

Location: LeRaysville, Bradford County, PA
 
Name, Date of Birth, Date of Death, Age, Inscription/Comments
 
Beecher Milton E. 1847 1895


Beecher Mary Codding 1850 1940 w/o Milton E.

Beecher May.2.1885

Beecher Elizabeth Aug.24.1888 68y11m

Beecher Almon Feb.18.1888 68y11m

Beecher Fay 1869 1848

Beecher Cora J. 1866 1942

Beecher Martin W. 1855 1898

Beecher H. Ward Jul.7.1868 Nov.30.1916

Beecher Hattie Carside Jan.7.1874 Dec.23.1951 w/o H. Ward

Beecher Kenneth G. Aug.19.1903 Nov.21.1908

Beecher Keith E. Dec.12.1909 Dec.18.1909

Beecher Fannie Jan.28.1860 Sep.21.1864

Beecher Samuel Oct.19.1850 66 yr

Beecher Marion R. Brink 1845 1926 w/o George M.Brink

Beecher Mercy Feb.26.1846 61 yr w/o Samuel

Beecher Fanny Jan.20.1883 17 yr

Beecher Aubury Apr.16.1836 May.16.1867

Beecher Elizabeth Dec.6.1838 Feb.10.1917

Beecher Bradford Feb.7.1895 85y11m3d

Beecher Fanny D. Mar.28.1876 70y9m w/o Bradford Beecher

Beecher C. H. Jan.10.1877 28y7m27d

Beecher Lovisa W. Feb.28.1869 47 yr w/o Myron

Beecher Harris Aug.8.1898 78 yr

Beecher Elina Jan.3.1874 49 yr w/o Harris

Beecher Sarah Morris Oct.19.1887 34 yr


You can learn more about Le Raysville here. I went there once with Willyne in 1980, it is in a beautiful area of rolling grassy hills and trees.  The population in 2000 was 318, basically unchanged in over a century.  Today there are no Beechers left that I can locate.  Most of them moved to Iowa in 1860s.  The cemetery is a good record of who was once here though. 

Fun Family Gathering This Evening

Thanks for coming, for letting me watch Ethan and Danielle play Super Mario Brothers Wii, and also for the yummy homemade spaghetti sauce, great homemade bread, delicious cookies, and wonderful peach cobbler with freshly whipped cream.  Thanks for the good conversations and the rummikub games.

It was a great evening!

We Must Never Forget

Our Family's Contribution to Remembering On This Sober Day (Taken At Our Home)

I also kicked off one of my new blogs today, it is called "Doug Beecher's Tax and Money Blog".  Click here if you would like to see the first post, which is about the 2001/2003 tax cuts that expire at year-end 2010.  This is going to affect everyone.

I think this is an amazing picture of what it is taking to move the concrete so our old pool can be removed.   We have lived here 18 years, we believe the pool is about 30 years old, well past its life expectancy and it was leaking pretty badly.  So, we are replacing it -- this is the first step.

Nourishing A Seed Planted Long Ago

I’m no poet, but I woke with this thought
It has grown from a seed I found and planted long ago
And nourished May 6
When I found again a statement Gandhi made
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”


Michael Jackson sang of “The Man In The Mirror”
Others have discovered this thought’s beauty too
I’m one soul, walking through life,
Trying as I can to
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”


Your children jump on the couch
Growl when you ask the simplest task
Or worse, shut you out entirely
Patiently, with long suffering
Show them by your deeds your love
And what you would have them be
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”


People in need are everywhere
You see meager help and
Wish for a government that would fix all ills
Pick up a shovel
Share a warm meal
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”


You see trash on the ground, in the water, in the air,
You see it on television, on computers, and everywhere you go
You see strange chemicals in your food and in your drink
You long for a clean, natural world
You want right to be right and wrong to be wrong
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”


You never know how far and wide your soft, warm example
Will bless others and influence them to make the change you yearn for
Years later when you learn of a single soul who did
How great will be your joy!
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”

Aesop compared the power of the wind and the sun
Both tried to change a man
Get him to remove his coat
The wind tried with brute force
The man resisted with might
The sun calmly shined in warmth
The man gladly made the change
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”

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I will be sharing this thought elsewhere, but wanted you to see it first :)

Invitation Only Arrives

Thank for sticking with me through this change to readers by invitation.  As I mentioned on August 25, I am working on two new blogs that I am about to launch that I am going to ask friends of friends to read.  That caused me to want to limit the readers of this blog to people I know well.

Blogger only lets you send invitations at the moment you make te decision to limit readers to those you have invited, this is why the invitations did not go out until tonight ... but I have sent them now to those I know have expressed interest at some point in time.  I am willing to consider additional invitations, please let me know by e-mail to dougbeecher@yahoo.com if you would like to suggest someone to receive an invitation that I didn't know was reading or was interested.

I'll be back to regular passionately smiling tortoise content tomorrow, have a good day and thanks again for your friendship and support.

Norma Sanders

I moved Norma Sanders membership records from our ward tonight to her new home at Hearthstone Manor in Spanish Fork, Utah.  It will give her the assistance she needs from time to time, but still allows her to live a pretty independent life -- it also allows her to live nearer her two living daughters now that her son Stephen has passed.

But especially to Willyne (doesn't she and Norma look good in that picture!) and also to me it means the loss of a friend, or at least that we won't be able to see her nearly as often.  Their house on the hill will seem empty, not just as Christmas when we won't have Stephen's giant light display in the shape of a tree, but all year round.

There is a silver lining.  Norma will get good care, every day; she won't have to worry about taking care of her house (important when you are 98 years young!); and on day 2 there, she is happy. 

I was concerned she wouldn't be, so I'm very glad for that!

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There is one day until this becomes an invitation-only blog on Wednesday, September 8. Please see the August 25 entry and comments for more information.

Laboring Day

As you may know, I worked half-days for most of the spring and summer dealing with daily radiation treatments and then recovering from them.  I have been trying to catch up since, but when you work half-days that long, catching up is a slow process.  I am still working on it.

I took advantage of the holiday today to try to speed up this process.  If you look at my office, you can't tell I did a thing, but I know, and I do feel a little lighter this evening.  I'm happy for that!

A lot of you know about Pandora and the amazing variety and personalization of the musical experience that is available there.  Especially on days like today I really enjoy contemplative, instrumental music.  This mix may not be for you, and that's certainly OK, but if you'd like to try my mix, click here.  Hope you enjoy it!

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It is two days until this becomes an invitation-only blog on Wednesday, September 8. Please see the August 25 entry and comments for more information.

A Quiet Sunday

Danielle was gone much of the day, so it was Willyne and I and the quiet of the house.

I wouldn't want that every week, the noise and enthusiasm of children and grandchildren is great!

But for today, it was nice.

Weeds

This is what I got out of the front yard this morning, there was more in the back.  An hour of that was enough to get me sweating and my pulse going.  Guess I've found a new way to exercise, he he ...

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It is four days until this becomes an invitation-only blog on Wednesday, September 8. Please see the August 25 entry and comments for more information.

Peachy Keen Days and Pics

We went to Peach Days in Hurricane this evening.  As you can see we all had a great time!

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It is five days until this becomes an invitation-only blog on Wednesday, September 8. Please see the August 25 entry and comments for more information.

London and Angels

Today was a hard day that ended very well.  It is one thing to multitask for a few minutes or even an hour.  It is another to try to do it all day, but until a little after 5 pm, that is literally how my entire day was.  I was hot, tired, and in serious need of some chill time by then.

Then I got an e-mail that gave it to me ... (I hope Darin doesn't mind me sharing, I'm sure it's fine ...)

Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 5:22 PM


To: Doug Beecher

Subject: unplanned visit to London

Doug-

I may get an unplanned visit to London. I already had a layover at Heathrow on Monday and I've got one again tomorrow. However, right when I'm supposed to be arriving in Boston, so is Hurricane Earl. I'm going to sleep on it, but there's a good chance I'm going to change my flight to leave Saturday morning instead of tomorrow evening. American Airlines will let me do it for free (because of the Hurricane), and I'll get reimbursed for extra expenses. Furthermore, Sarah and the girls are in Tampa, so there's only an empty house waiting for me in Boston.

So, I may be in your old mission stomping grounds (more-or-less) tomorrow evening. Do let me know if there's anything I must do or get you in the few hours I'll have.

The rest of the trip has gone really well and I've enjoyed it quite a bit.

Cheerio,

Darin

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My first thought is, wow, he must still be on US time -- it's 12:22am over there!  Then it was what I can I send while he's still awake that will help.  I decided to focus on what he could look at when he got up in the morning. 

Around 7 pm, I got working on this in earnest, and had two very enjoyable hours putting together an answer.  There are enough links with pictures, you could get somewhat of a virtual tour just checking them.  And that two hours of "chill" time was just what I needed!  Here is the result ...

Oi, Mate!


I haven’t heard Cheerio in a very long time. So glad you are enjoying your trip.

You are very kind to think of trying to pick something up for me. I’ve been gone 36 years now, and although I did correspond with several people for a decade or more, slowly they all disappeared. It has probably been close to 20 years since I got my last Christmas card back undeliverable because the people had moved longer ago than the post office wanted to bother with it.

So … even if there was something you could do for me (which would be for someone), well you get the idea.

I guess I’m down to the question if I have a few hours to spare in London, what would I want to do?

My best recommendation is simply to look up one of those brief overview tours like you did in Paris on that layover. London is spectacular at night, and I’m sure there is a good night tour available. The best possibility I found is: http://www.london-by-night.net/. Here is another site I found with 4 possibilities: http://www.city-discovery.com/london_tours/type_tour.php?theme=Night%20Tours%20in%20London.

If you would rather go to a specific place and really enjoy that rather than 15 minutes at half a dozen places like the tour would do, here are a few ideas, choose according to your interests. Many are only available in the daytime, but I present what would be my favorites just in case:

1. There are several wonderful museums on a very short section of Exhibition Road in South Kensington. If you liked “The Young Victoria”, this might be a good choice. The Victoria and Albert Museum and The Science Museum are among several others in close proximity to each other. If you are interested, this road has an official government sponsored website: http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/exhibitionroad.aspx or you can learn a lot by simply googling “Exhibition Road Museums”. Exhibition Road starts around the corner from the South Kensington underground (subway) station and goes maybe ¾ mile to Hyde Park. As a bonus, the Hyde Park chapel of our church is also on this road, it includes a stake center, the offices of my mission, a visitors center, and even a pipe organ.

2. London is very well known for the theater. I did see one ballet at the Royal Opera House while on my mission, and tours are available, see http://www.roh.org.uk/whatson/tour.aspx. There are also a large number of live theaters, this site lists many of them and what is playing if that is something you are interested in doing that evening: http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/

3. I would love to have you go to the temple, it is in one of the most peaceful, reverent settings of any of the temples. Sadly, it is not easily accessible by public transportation as it is located about 25 miles south of the center of the city in the rolling, green hills of the Surrey countryside (think Pride and Prejudice). If you do have sufficient time and if the temple is your choice, regular trains run from London Victoria and London Bridge to Lingfield. A taxi can be called from the train station, should take about ten minutes from there to the temple. Quite a bit of information on the London Temple is available at http://www.lds.org.uk/family-and-temples/temples/london-temple/ A little piece of (crazy) trivia is that I honestly felt like the tastiest fish and chips I ever ate in England were served in the temple cafeteria!

4. You could try to do something I always wanted to do and wasn’t able to … visit “Big Ben” – the clock tower of the halls of Parliament. There are tours, but they are pretty limited, check it out here if you like: http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/bigben/. Or you could try to watch the changing of the guard or get a tour of Buckingham Palace. I drove by both of these countless times, they are quite close to the mission home. But getting inside is hard to do when time is limited. But these are the most recognizable symbols of London and England, so I thought I should at least mention them.

5. Last but certainly not least for an astronomer such as yourself is the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. There is both a museum and a planetarium, information on both is available at: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/history/the-prime-meridian-at-greenwich. I did visit here and enjoyed it very much. I also have a picture of me standing on the “Prime Meridian of the World” painted line on the ground and a sign behind it, which you are welcome to look at in the “Called to Serve” book Becca kindly put together of my mission in our living room during a future visit here. The easiest way to get to Greenwich is to take the tube to the Charing Cross rail station, then take British Rail to the Greenwich station. There is also light rail there, apparently under construction at this time. Sadly, this is just enough complication that in your time available, you may not be able to go there.

To summarize, if there is something you could bring back for me, it would be pictures (with you in them would be simply brilliant!) showing what it looks like today and the knowledge that you thoroughly enjoyed your evening in London!

Cheerio!

Doug

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Willyne literally walked in from her Relief Society training meeting just as I hit the "send" button.  She asked me to come out to the car to help her with something, and she played me this song.  

I got teary eyed.  I could tell this song is very special to her, and it instantly was to me too.  It was like the perfect companion to my evening.  I heard the song twice.  Once I was enraptured by the story it tells.  The other time I was picturing myself back in London, and somehow two years of sweet experiences working with and loving those people flew through my eyes in four minutes of a song, including visual images in my mind of the people and places.

Darin and Willyne, thanks for being my angels today and turning a hard day into a very special one!

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It is six days until this becomes an invitation-only blog on Wednesday, September 8. Please see the August 25 entry and comments for more information.

The Olive Tree and The Vineyard

I read Jacob 5 yesterday and again today.  Yesterday I read it with the "old" Institute manual, which prepared me to read it a second time today, with the "new" Institute manual (go to page 122, then read through page 127).  There is a flow chart on pages 124 and 125 that are particularly helpful in following the flow of this story that is full of symbolism. 

I have read this chapter perhaps a dozen times in my life.  The first few times, it was just a story.  In particular, this reading today, having first read pages 122-7 and then reading the chapter itself with the flow chart was very meaningful to me. 

I highly recommend it!

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It is seven days until this becomes an invitation-only blog on Wednesday, September 8. Please see the August 25 entry and comments for more information.