Pappa Hardy's Musings on Life.

The computer revolution has brought about a lot of changes. The biggest one is that we can now do a lot of our shopping on line. Here is where the difference between men and women have come to the fore, again. Men tend to be hunters, wanting to shoot the game and take it home. Women have always been gatherers. They want to move about, touching and feeling each item before deciding which one is the best deal and then taking it home.

Men now can go and find the stuff real quick on the internet. Sometimes, we stop at just ordering on line and forgetting it. Sometimes, we comparison shop on line (the gathering part of the exercise) but then we can go into a store nearby our home and shoot the kill and haul it home even quicker than before. Women on the other hand have to comparison shop even more than before, and what could be a simple task for a man on line, taking all of 5 to 10 minutes turns into a 30 minute ordeal for a women, and she is taking up precious computer resources. Maybe we haven’t changed all that much. All I know is that I hate to shop, and that the computer has made it a little less painful.

I saw a movie tonight that moved me. It was the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The story is one of a child born with an old man’s body, and then as the man grows older in mind and spirit, his body grows younger. It was certainly a different take on life’s experiences. The thing I loved about the movie was the thoughts that it left about life, and the fact that we should cherish each and every moment. We should also never let life get us down, but should try and try again. It was thought provoking. It makes me think of my own life, and how we should try and do our best always.

I spent the evening the other night listening to my children playing games and acting as Rock Musicians in the front room of Chris’s home. The interesting sound was listening to the grand babies talking and yaking with the adults. It was so fun. It makes this struggle we call life all worth it when you hear the next generations next generation interacting and enjoying being with their parents. The grandparents just sat in the background and listened.

You might think that this comment would be regarding conversation between two consenting adults. Nope!! You are wrong. Its about a very mundane thing that happens when a family and all of its extended connections get together. Yup, we are talking garbage cans overflowing, and garbage day at least a week away.

It happens at my house when the whole fam damily arrives, and it has happened here in Cheyenne, Wyoming, when the whole fam damily arrives and we produce sack after sack of garbage. Yesterday, I think I personally hauled out 5-8 sacks of garbage and the trash can, which only gets emptied graciously by the city once a week, is over flowing and then some.

I think it may be time to make a garbage run to city dump. Of course, given the time of year in Cheyenne, the chances that the place would actually be open is about zero, and if we take the sacks out there, the chances are high they will be in Lincoln, Nebraska before sunset.

Well, one unintended consequence of spending Christmas with the family is that the kids are all becoming rock musicians. Chris has a game that is the rage right now, called Rock Band. There is a Rock Concert going on right now in Chris’s front room and soon I am sure that the kids will be playing to sold out auditoriums all over the country. I intend on becoming quite rich.

There is nothing more sweet than celebrating Christmas morning with the kids and the grandkids. This is the first Christmas with both grandchildren old enough to participate in the activities. They were still not very interested but they had a good time.

Christmas is a grand time of the year. It is a wonderful time to be able to think of the life of the Savior and of the goodness that he has provided for us. I love this day.

Wouldn’t you know it. I have lived in Payson for what seems like all of my life (only six years actually but I sure love that place) but when I go out shopping, or around town, I don’t often see people that I know. That includes the fact that I am pretty active in the city and I still don’t see a lot of people I know.

I come up to Cheyenne and the first day I am running around (today) I go to Wal-Mart, one of the most impersonal places I know, and I run into Bob Godfrey. Bob was an old friend and co-worker. It seems like when I come to Cheyenne that I run into people I know. In the afternoon, I ran into Cheryl Smith which was a family we know real well. Wouldn’t you know it, I must have been destined to live here and to get to know a lot of people. The people in Cheyenne are great, it is the 100 degree below zero wind chill that I didn’t particularly care for.

When we lived in Michigan, it used to take us 28 hours of actual drive time to get to Utah to see the parents and to visit the families. Then, in 1987 we moved to Cheyenne Wyoming and all of a sudden we were almost home.

You see, back in those days, during that long drive (used to take 2 days of actual travel time) when we got to Cheyenne, we wouldn’t stop then because we were almost there and we were closing in on our target location.

It’s all relative though. We spent today traveling to Cheyenne, and that 8 hour trip now seems to last interminably long. I am sure part of the reason is because I am 20 years older and therefore I have lots more aches and pain. Perhaps it is that I get more bored with the trip, after all, I have made about a gazillion trips on this road. All I know is that while I was glad to get to the end of the line and see my kids, it sure was a long trip.

Here we are, the shortest day of the year. It was so cold today, and they say it will be colder tomorrow. I am not looking forward to that. Tomorrow should be the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year. We are just about there. Yeah, after tomorrow we begin the awfully slow march to longer and “warmer” days. I am feeling my years. It is this time of the year that makes me want to move to Phoenix, St. George, Yuma, or somewhere in the general vicinity. Well, tonight should be the longest night.

I just can’t wait until I retire. I at one time thought I would want to work forever, but now, after all of the turmoil that has been occurring for the last 10 years, I would love to be able to just shut the world out. Things are happening to quickly out there. I guess I would love to take an ostrich approach and just be able to ignore the world. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that is not what I I really should be doing. I should be engaged and attempting to make a difference. I think making a difference is important. I think we all need to be out there doing the right thing. Even with that knowledge, I still can’t wait until retirement.