Varied Pictures Today

I wrote yesterday's post on my BlackBerry from a parking lot while taking a rest stop in Las Vegas on the way home last night.  I haven't figured out how to post pictures to my blog that way, so here's a couple of yesterday's gems ...

My blown tire

 

 
Greetings from Walker Lake, between Schurz and Hawthorne in Mineral County, Nevada. Its deep blue water along a twenty mile shoreline makes a sharp contrast with the starkly arid terrain surrounding it.
 
 

We had an outdoor activity of our church ward today looking at our 72 hour emergency kits -- what do we have in them, and how old are the items?  It was fun to get outside with our friends, and it got us all thinking of things we could be doing better at being prepared for emergencies, which of course was the point.

My tire blew out

I just had my tires looked at two weeks ago, so I must have run over something. Anyway,my left rear tire blew out while I was driving at highway speed just past milepost 44 of US 6 and 95 in Esmeralda County (or 15 miles before Tonopah if you prefer).

It was a miracle for a combination of reasons:

1. I was able to keep the car under control and get off to the gravel past the narrow shoulder on this busy two-lane road with lots of truck traffic.

2.Cell phone reception is spotty in the area at best. I had been in a dead zone for awhile. But I got a clear connection to AAA to help me.

3. Normally the response would have taken two hours to reach me from Hawthorne. A truck just happened.to be in the area returning from another service call and arrived in less than fifteen minutes.

4. My intention was to take US 6 and State Road 375 from Tonopah to Alamo, which I have used without incident several other times and which is at least 30 minutes shorter than the alternative. (US95 to Vegas, then I-15 from there.) This route has no services or cell phone reception for 148 miles. So getting help if this had happened just a little later would have been a major ordeal.

Thank you, Heavenly Father! I feel very blessed, and I am very thankful!

Buying and Selling A Business

I'm helping one client sell their business to another client.  Lots of details to address, take them one at a time, and try to put together a win-win arrangement that helps both of them.  That consumed my day.  I'm tired and happy.

Greetings From The Number One Star Gazing Destination In America

I spent about four minutes in Tonopah, Nevada today, much of which was devoted to taking two pictures you are about to see.  I wasn't planning to stop there at all, but when I saw several of these banners hanging from street light poles, I knew I had to share them with my star gazing friends ...

In case you can't read the bottom section, it says "the DARKEST BRIGHTEST SKIES in the nation".

Of course, actually seeing these dark bright skies (while wondering, how can something be dark and bright simultaneously?) would be easier if you spent the night here, so I thought I would share with you a leading hotel and Main Street of this one-time mining center reinvented as a premier star-gazing destination.

It did pique my interest to check out the sky here on some future night with a new moon.  I am imagining that the seat of Nye County is indeed a great place to soak in the wonders and beauties of space.  Any takers on making this the location of the 2010 Beecher Brethren camp?  Or do I hear any nominations for star-gazing locales (preferably with nice campgrounds) superior to the self-proclaimed number one star gazing destination in America?

Big Surprises From Becca!

Becca gave us a huge surprise today by showing up unannounced at home about 10 this morning!  First and foremost was it great to see the big smile on her face because she knew she had (a) pulled off a big surprise and (b) it was very good!

Then she immediately started in right away helping with all manner of cleaning throughout the house, most welcome after the acoustic ceiling (aka popcorn) removal and painting activity.  Willyne's mother, Floryne, came a couple hours later and went right to work as well.

Such a sweet, sweet surprise in so many ways!

The lady next to Willyne in this picture is Carolyn Kleinman, Stephen Sanders' sister.  During his illness, she was down from her home in northern Utah more often than not, helping with his care.  She has become a good friend to Willyne and I during this process.

I came home from my meetings tonight to find Willyne and Carolyn having a pleasant, but somewhat sad conversation ... Carolyn has finished what she needs to do here and won't be back for some time.  So it was somewhat of a goodbye, but we go up north for various reasons too, so it's not totally goodbye.  Thank goodness.  You can never have too many good friends.  Just look at their smiles!

FHE With Willyne

So we had a quiet evening, just the two of us at home.  I don't remember the phone ringing, which is a really big deal for us.  We had activity night, sitting on comfortable chairs eating her yummy pumpkin bread and watching a movie together under the soft light and gentle breeze of our fan.  It doesn't get much better than that.  The tortoise is definitely smiling!

Margaret's In Town

I got a phone call about 7 pm, my sister Margaret had arrived at my mother's house.  She's in town briefly, tomorrow she'll head home.  Willyne and I went and visited with her for about an hour this evening.  My dad was also there visiting when we arrived.

She has a new job cleaning at a charter school in Snowflake which she seems to like, she left Subway because she wasn't getting enough hours.  She turns 50 this Saturday and looks good, I'll put in a picture tomorrow with her hair highlighted. I like it the way it is, but I'm sure it will look great tomorrow too.

Willyne worked on a baby blanket, my dad did his weekly 8 pm check-in with the local emergency preparedness amateur radio link.  It was a quiet, nice visit.