High Adventure in AZ

Every year, our stake has an overnight hiking trip for the Laurels (16- to 18-year-old girls). I was a youth leader at church for more than three years, and while I'm not anymore, I'm still enthusiastic about anything to do with our youth group. So when one of the girls pulled out of the hike the week before, leaving an unused non-refundable deposit, I was invited to go in her place.

This place is up near Cibecue, Arizona, a few miles north of Globe. As the highway goes northeast, heading toward the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest area, it winds around, descending through the Salt River Canyon. At the point where the road crosses the river, there's an inconspicuous dirt road that leads back toward the river's source. We camped near the mouth of the Salt River Canyon. This first picture was taken between 5 and 6 a.m. from where we camped. A short distance away is the trail head that took us through the canyon you can see in the picture. The creek flowing through the canyon is a tributary to this river. After breaking camp, we set off on a very memorable hike.

They told us to wear shoes that could get wet. I didn't know this meant we were actually hiking through water. The water temperature and warm weather were perfectly matched that day. I don't remember feeling too warm or chilly at any point, come to think of it. The picture above at left is a good depiction of the terrain we had to navigate. Sometimes we climbed over rocks or even a small length of dirt trail, but a lot of the time, we had to cross the river to find passable ground. It was a pretty level route, so it wasn't particularly strenuous, but the rocks were tricky sometimes, especially the ones under the water. I slipped and fell a few times. My friend Janae (in purple) offered to carry my backpack after that. I am in the green shirt.

This picture (below) was taken near the end of the "trail," if you could call it that. Some of us had picked up walking sticks along the way. You can see a couple of my friends on the right navigating the deepest water we found on the way in.

At this point in the hike, we were greeted by the sight of a fifty-foot waterfall. There was no more riverbed to hike, so we all put on rock-climbing harnesses and prepared to ascend the cliff to go further up the canyon. I had never done any rock climbing. I think it would have been easier if my legs hadn't been so banged up from the hike in. I'd try it again given the opportunity, but I'll leave the more intense rock climbing lifestyles to those with the time, money, and life insurance policies to accommodate it.

On top of the cliff, there were more pools and waterfalls. We were up there for probably a couple of hours swimming, hiking, rock climbing, and even cliff diving for some, and then it was time to rappel down. Somewhere in the universe exist pictures of me doing the climbing and rappelling, but I have yet to see them. So for proof that I did climb up the canyon wall, below is the same fifty-foot waterfall seen from the top.












On top of the cliff, I hiked around with a lady named Linda, who is a canyoneering expert. We went further up the canyon than I would have if I'd been left to my own devices. I'm not as fearless as she is. I'm glad I got to see what was up there.

Rappelling was fun! At first. I thought it would go against some very basic instincts to step backwards off a cliff, but the rope was secure, the setting was magnificent, and it was a blast. I hit a snag when the rock face kind of disappeared (retreated), but eventually I made it down. We all splashed into the pool below the waterfall. This picture is of one of the girls, taking the same route as everyone else. It was awesome being so close to the waterfall, hanging by a rope off the cliff.
On the way out of the canyon, I stayed close to someone from our group with a keen sense of which routes were safest to take. Before we knew it, the hike was over and we were back on the road.
I may get a chance to hike here again. If so, I will be much better prepared for the experience. It was certainly worth going.

The stuff that's best for you doesn't taste good

In college, I had a professor who had a pretty tough childhood. I don't know the details, but there were years of abuse. I don't know how anyone deals with that, but this professor came out of it and made a good life for himself.

One day he was talking about his difficult past. He said if he had to go back and live through his childhood again in order to retain what he'd gained from the experience, he would definitely do it all again.

Every so often I'll hear about people who actually pray for trials because they know they'll become stronger and gain from their experiences. I think I will never be one of those people. Besides, trials are part of life and you get them whether you ask for them or not.

Last week, I came home from doing routine errands to find that someone had broken into our back doors and taken everything of value they could find. I know this happens to a lot of people, but knowing that doesn't help anything. Every single piece of jewelry I own, with the exception of the plain gold wedding band I was wearing and a couple pieces stashed away in a bathroom cabinet, was located and taken by the very thorough thief. That includes my diamond wedding ring, every gift I've been given by family and friends over the years, awards, and the few things I brought back from Hawaii. In other parts of the house I found valuable electronics missing. The worst sting comes from the pictures and videos that were stored on these devices that can't be replaced. There is a much shorter list of electronic devices that were NOT taken: Our computer and the kids' (although our monitor is gone), the printer, DVD player, the laptop (stored away from other electronics), and our old-school and therefore enormous, heavy, and not-valuable TV. All cameras, small electronics, and accessories are missing, along with some bigger and kind of unwieldy items. We think there may have been more than one thief, and we know a car was involved.

During the days that followed, we (mostly Paul) put together a comprehensive list of what is gone for insurance purposes. I don't know how Paul spent as much time as he did with that list. Looking at it was upsetting. Two days after the burglary, I got sick. Paul missed a lot of work last week between the burglary and my visits to the doctor. I was in pure survival mode for several days. Friends brought dinner, watched the kids for us, and one friend lent us a camera to document the damage to the house.

It's been a week and a half. My recovery from the burglary has been slowed by being sick, and I find that as I feel better physically, my mind has the capacity to process what happened. It's going to take a long time to get over this one.

Anyone who has had this happen to them knows that it's about more than what was taken. I'm slowly coming to terms with not having what I used to, but it's going to take longer to get over the sense of not feeling safe at home. There are many things to be grateful for, like the safety of our kids, things we did not lose, helpful friends and family, and other circumstances (I'm REALLY glad I'm not pregnant or nursing a baby!!!!).

I know trials are for our good and that good things can come from every disaster, tragedy, or any other major downturn. I'm still living through this one, so I don't have any grand insights about it yet. I hope I don't miss whatever is to be gained from this experience. It's difficult to see how, like my professor, people end up glad that difficult things happened.

Our neighbors are forming a block watch and maybe our experience can prevent someone else's loss. I also think that other little annoyances won't seem so significant after this. For instance, at the moment, my toddler is sharing his waffle with the DVD player...

Going Green

I just love a good color scheme. On Independence Day, I like to make red, white, and blue desserts. On Valentine's Day, I seek out the red and turn edible things pinkish with red food coloring. I do sort of the same thing for Halloween with orange or black. On St. Patrick's Day, the whole green thing gets taken to great heights. Probably because there really isn't anything else to do to celebrate it. Does anyone actually know the origin of this holiday?

Green seems particularly fun because it's the natural color of so many things, and a completely unnatural color for so many others! Green flowers, for instance, kind of catch you off-guard, even though parts of the flower are green. When I was a teenager, I used green nail polish at the appropriate time. In college, my roommates and I wore green lipstick and painted shamrocks on our faces with green eyeliner for a huge group date dinner we hosted.

This is one holiday that's magnified by being around kids. This morning, my kids ran around, trying to find all the green things in the house. The three girls have matching green shirts on. The crossing guard had on a glittery green bowler hat. The kids in the schoolyard were sporting all manner of festive headwear, from over-sized leprechaun hats to shamrocks attached to headbands with spring-y stems so they bobble around in the air.

Favorite green foods:
-Key lime pie yogurt (Yoplait)- the yogurt itself is green, not just the picture on the cup
-Apple Jacks- the only green-boxed cereal I know of. The green cereal bits are a relatively recent addition to the peachy-colored ones.
-Mint chocolate chip ice cream
-Kiwi
-Green kool-aid
-Lime Jello
-Guacamole
-Green bagels from Fry's- they've done this for years. Last year, a fellow shopper asked, "What's wrong with the bagels? Are they moldy?" I don't think mold grows in that particular shade.
-Anything shamrock-shaped. My sister's birthday is today, which has led to some cake creativity over the years. We had pretty good success with a flower-shaped cake surgically altered to be a shamrock. Finally, the cake pan people wised up and created a shamrock pan. I've got shamrock cookie cutters and shamrock sprinkles. I think Julia's birthday has motivated a higher degree of St. Patrick's Day observance in our family.

Tonight, I think I'll make waffles for dinner. Food coloring will be involved.

Education is for all creatures

I went early to pick up my daughters from school to do some business in the office. When I opened the door to the building, two alpacas were in there! I thought they were llamas at first (I don't know the difference). They were beige and very fluffy ("in full fleece"). I frequently wish I had a camera with me to capture these quirky moments. The alpacas were apparently done with whatever they had come to do, because right after we came, a lady took them to the parking lot and put them into the back of a minivan.

Dogs and other pets are not allowed in the school, but alpacas- they're okay, I guess.

Olympic Musings

-I really like the Olympics, but it's a good thing they're about over. I'm not a very nice person when I don't get enough sleep.

-Men's halfpipe was the most fun to watch this time around

-Why do some countries have to be such poor sports? Seriously, death threats to the short track judges?

-The media should be more careful about over-hyping athletes before the Games get going. Last time, everyone was SO SURE Bode Miller would win handfuls of gold medals. They put him in a series of commercials to air during the Games, imparting bits of his "wisdom" to us all. Then he won nothing. This time, it was Lindsey Vonn. Other athletes get ignored, some of which far exceed their expectations. Nothing against these skiers. They are very talented and successful. They're not the only ones to watch, though.

-I had no idea Canada was such a cool place. The people are awesome and it's nice for them that they won so many golds (but I'm still happy the U.S. got the most medals)

-I got a little weary of Scott Hamilton's sound effects when figure skaters did difficult jumps.

-Why are the athletes' crashes replayed so many times? And did anyone else think there were a lot more of them this time?

-I liked the snowboard slalom event because it was possible to change the outcome of the race in the final run. In so many sports, it's very difficult to change the rankings that are established in the first runs or performances.

-Once you start using a DVR, it is next to impossible to go back.

A Shift in Voice

A few years ago, I wrote something for a class at BYU. I wouldn't let my husband read it because it was typewritten and I didn't think that I was quite myself when typing. I have kept a journal since I was twelve (I think) and for almost the entire time always used blank books or journals to write in. My brother, a computer programmer, has had an electronic journal for years. That always made sense to me because his voice coming through the computer has always seemed natural. I only ever used the computer to write fancy-shmancy final drafts of papers for writing classes or sometimes for classes I didn't enjoy but had to take for academic purposes. Writing on topics or in ways I didn't choose always sounded fake to me when I would proofread my assignments. Of course it was always me who put the ideas into words and onto paper, but it wasn't ME.

It's a different world technologically from even just five years ago. Email has taken the place of written letters. Blogging has filled a gap between me and people with whom I would like to keep current. Facebook has become the fastest way to get in touch with a lot of people I know. And then sometime in the past few years, my typing became WAY faster than handwriting. My husband and I finally went electronic with our journal writing when the journals we liked to use became hard to find. We also realized that, although computers do fail and information gets lost, it's a lot easier to back up an electronic file than it is to protect an ever-increasing number of books from every environmental hazard.

So now I blog. I'm going to try it out and see how it goes.

Latest Addition

So where are the fish? It turns out you have to set up an aquarium quite awhile before you add fish to it. I thought all it needed was a few days to let the chlorine disspate, but it takes a few weeks to be totally ready. There are actually three fish in there (you can see one or two by clicking on the picture), but they're small, mostly black (also the color of the gravel), and a bit reclusive. They don't often swim higher than a few inches off the floor and prefer to stay in little caves and alcoves in the tank. In another week, we should be ready to add the rest of the fish we intend to keep in this tank. They will be bigger and different colors.

I've passively looked at owning an aquarium for awhile. We have a neighbor who is quite the aquarist and recently downsized from two tanks to one big one. He and his wife gave us the tank, the filter, the stand, live plants, and the three fish. We've spent the last couple of weekends looking for other fish, the canopy, and the landscaping for the tank.

After taking care of a swimming pool, a small fish tank shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

Size in gallons:

Tank: 30

Pool: 12,000

Time to fill:

Tank: 5 minutes

Pool: 30 hours

Filter:

Tank: Weighs a couple of pounds, runs continuously, pumps 300 gallons per hour

Pool: Filled with 400 pounds of sand, probably a couple hundred pounds more total, not that you'd want to lift it. Runs between 4 and 10 hours a day, depending on season, 1200 gallons per hour

Bacteria:

Tank: Growth encouraged

Pool: Great time and expense devoted to banishing bacteria

Chlorine:

Tank: Special chemical added to de-chlorinate water for the safety of the swimmers

Pool: Lots of effort and expense to add and maintain chlorine in the water for the safety of the swimmers

Sand and rocks:

Tank: Added for aesthetic and functional purposes

Pool: Death to the plaster and filter