Pappa Hardy's Musings on Life.

Was flying home to Utah recently during the evening hours.  As we left Chicago, the sun was just beginning to set and the land below was getting more and more difficult to see.  I was amazed at the colors that began to wash out as night descended on this great country of ours.  I was also amazed by the dark carpet of clouds that separated the deep dark blue coming night from the wild colorful reds of the setting sun.

Amidst all of this color was the beginning of lights showing through on the ground as cities began to light up for the evening hours.  Next I saw wild lightening storms flash through the cloud cover and over the cities visible on the ground.  Later, on approach to Utah we flew through a cloud deck and immediately I viewed a carpet of rain seeming to hold the plane up in the air.  It was a magical journey for me.  I enjoy so much flying, and I enjoyed seeing America at Night.

Today is my day.  Supposedly, I get pampered all day long.  At least since I am not a father of a Primary child in this ward I don’t have a goofy tie on today like the Bishop did.  It is going to be interesting to see how many dad are actually wearing those goofy ties.  I love my kids, but I do hate goofy ties.

Today I have been doing the same old thing that has become a tradition for Sunday mornings for me.  One thing is being at the Beehive House and presiding in the meetings there.  The Beehive House is a home for elderly people who are not quite in a position where they need full time care, but they do need to be where they can have some assistance.  It is more than assisted care to, but that is another story.  Regardless, I used to be meeting with them every Sunday at 10am but haven’t for about the last month because the place is being remodeled.  That starts again in a couple of months.

The other is issuing callings.  That has got me in hot water this morning because my wife and daughter are going to get callings issued to them, and they are mad because the other counselor is going to come to issue the callings (it is his responsibility in any event for these two callings) and it might be harder for them to say no to him than to say no to me.  I enjoy meeting with the members, but it is also uncomfortable to issue callings when you fear they may say no.  It is there right to do so.  I hope that people understand what we ward leaders are up against when we go through this ritual.  Otherwise, today is going to be busy, even though it is Father’s Day.

I love food.  That is the biggest problem that I have.  I love food, and that, when coupled with my aversion to exercise, caused me to gain a lot of weight over the years.  My recent trip to New Orleans was no help in this battle of the bulge.  I gained 7 pounds in 5 days.  I blame it on the great food in New Orleans.

Despite the trauma inflicted on New Orleans by Katrina, the food is still great.  I love creole cooking, and Cajun cooking is wonderful as well.  They batter up a lot of the seafood, and the spices are terrific.  All of that does not bode well for my waistline.  I end up eating all of this food loaded with fat and calories.  Of course, my rationale is you only go to New Orleans on a very limited basis so you had better “stock up”.  Well, my stocking up is going to mean a lot of time on the exercise bike and also time pushing away from the table.

They say for a every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  I am living proof.

One of my most favorite TV shows has been Battlestar Galactica.  This is the new version of the old 1978 series that was supposed to be the successor to the Star Trek craze.  Instead, the show lasted a little over a year and then went off the air.  However, like Star Trek, there developed a rabid fan following that has wanted to see the show resurrected.  Well, it was resurrected, but not like the fans had hoped.

Instead of the syrupy story lines that the original show had become known by, the new show has been a hard hitting drama and a more realistic and has gone in directions never envisioned by Glen Larson.  The season finale for Season 2 has been no different.  In this taught episode, the colonial fleet decides that they will settle on a new earth.  Instead of being victorious over the Cylons, the colonials are eventually found and then subjected to the rule of the invading Cylons.  I was angry at the end of this episode.  I have to wait until October before the dang series starts up again.  Rats!!!

            An unfortunate side effect, or maybe fortunate, depending on your point of view, is that my diabetes has had one unexpected benefit.  During my recent trip to New Orleans, I was much less uncomfortable from the heat than everyone else was.

            Why is that?  Well, I know that my circulation isn’t as good as it once was.  During the winter, my extremities, my hands and my feet, are just cold as can be.  Well, even during the summer now I have cold hands when everyone else is sweating.  While on our trip, I just wasn’t as cold.  I think it is because my skin temperature is down.  I am sure that there is a medical explanation but I sure don’t know what it is.  I am sure someone will tell me.  I just know that the others in our group had drops of water running off of them, and I was relatively comfortable.  Great during the hot humid summer, not so good during the winter.

While visiting New Orleans recently I had some things that I learned. For instance, driving across the swamps near the lakes has been an education. It is easy to see now that when Hurricane Katrina came in, the storm surge would have overwhelmed the city and the swamps.

I saw a picture of New Orleans from the air, pre-Katrina, and post-Katrina. The water was in the city almost everywhere except right downtown and in the French Quarter. It was a great blessing for the French Quarter because I suspect it would have been an even greater economic disaster for this city had they had to deal with the clean up and rejeuvenation of the French Quarter. As it was, you saw signs in windows all over the city, both in the French Quarter and elsewhere, that said a building had been finally cleared for occupancy since the Katriana disaster. This is happening almost 10 months later. I hope this city recovers.

The swamps are much different. They appear so fragile here and they would have been overwhelmed with the surge. One industry that has been badly hurt is seafood, specifically Oysters. You can hardly find an Oyster to eat here and much of it is because the beds where they were grown have been destroyed. It will be years before this region returns to its former self.

The big question is, what should the rest of the nation be doing to help this recovery, and what say does that give us in the local restoration plan. It is a difficult decision.

I am surely getting older.  We get so excited about children visiting us.  Who would have thought?  The oldest is going to be here this weekend, which means the second oldest and his spouse will also come down to see us.  We will have a mini reunion of sorts.  We are already excited about the prospect.  When you think about it, that is what this life is truly about, and that is what gives you the most joy, that is, family.  We are proud of our family and we love our family.  We love family visits.

            I recently passed by a swamp.  I had never seen a real swamp until I took a trip to Hammond, Louisiana.  Hammond is located to the north of New Orleans very near to Lake Pontchartrain.  It is 45 feet above sea level, where New Orleans is 17 feet below sea level.  The swamp was impressive.  There was mile after mile after mile of water and swamp trees.  I didn’t see any alligators or other such animals, but you could tell that there was an abundance of plant life.  It was amazing how much of the land was surrounded by water, and how man made structures like a freeway was built right through the middle of it.

            Man doesn’t like to be prohibited from doing what he would like to do.  That includes not being able to cross swamps.  It was truly a swamp thing.

            I had an interesting experience recently while flying to New Orleans.  It has been several years, 2001 in particular, since I have been in an airplane.  Well, on Saturday we left and traveled to New Orleans.  The interesting thing was seeing the changes in airport security.  Things are much more automated now, as far as ticketing and security.  For instance, I went through my first “puffer”.  In order to check you for explosives, you stand in a contained area and a big blast of air “puffs” past you, and if you had an explosive on you, it sniffs it.

            Anyway, it was fun watching the ground rush by, seeing this great country of ours flash by.  What a wonderful land we have.  The verdant green grasslands, the barren Wyoming high plains, the mountains with their snow capped peaks, what a wonderful land we have.  We have such a beautiful land we call home.  The song, America the Beautiful, does not describe adequately the greatness of this nation of ours.

            I had forgotten just how much I love flying over this land of ours.  It is such a wonderful land.