Pappa Hardy's Musings on Life.

There are days when life is tough, when things have become such a challenge that you wonder if you can handle it any more. It is on those kind of days that you hope for a safe port, a place where you can go and have all the hurts taken care of and the concern washed away.

For me, that was the Old Homestead, a house on 97 Dixie Street where my parents lived. I could go there, sit amongst familiar walls and know that I was home and that I would be taken care of. There are places like that for all of us. I am grateful for parents who made a home for me that gave me a place of refuge where I could be loved and taken care of.

Today, as I fought a freeway of ice and danger, I longed for the old homestead. I longed to be able to go there and have the fear of the unknown taken away and my feelings and concerns soothed and blown away. I longed for a simpler time when mom and dad would take care of it all. I longed for the Old Homestead.

I hadn’t really posted about what has been happening in Payson, but back in July I filed to run for the Payson City Council. A lot happened along the way, but on November 3 I was elected to the council, finishing second out of four that ran. Now, I am in the process of transitioning onto the council. There, is so much to learn and so much to do. There is just a lot of work. What have I got myself into. We shall find out.

Back in the 60’s Premier Nikita Kruschev of the USSR said that they (Russia) would bury us. I would laugh in my mind because I thought that could never happen. The United States was just much better. However, the Communist Chinese (and other Chinese) may have accomplished what the Soviets didn’t have a chance of doing. What is my proff? Well, I stood on the bow of the Golden Princess at the Sawyer glacier, my wife by my side, and all I could hear spoken around me was Mandarin Chinese, not by one person, nor two, but families and lots of individuals. I could understand, but not all of what was going on. The Chinese have taken over the earth. More than one if four of earth’s people are Chinese.

Earlier this week I filed as a candidate for the Payson City Council. I must be crazy. That is in direct contradiction of my desires to grow old and retire to a nice quiet place in the suburbs. However, I feel passionately about some things, and my desire for public service seems to have been awaken later in my life rather than when I was more vibrant and younger. Despite my geriatric leanings, I do have a desire to make a difference and to serve my community. We will see how this campaign goes.

I suppose it is a right to be rude if you want to be, but is it polite, I don’t think so. My recent cruise on the Crown Princess was very enjoyable except for the fact that we ran into a number of people who were downright rude. If whatever was going on was not according to their desires, they spoke up and they were rude. Once, my wife wanted to put her arm around me and she was told that she couldn’t do that by another lady. In several instances these people were obviously from New York, but I don’t think it was limited to that area of the country as the location of rudeness. I have been to New York and New York City and I found most of the people very delightful.

No, it was a select minority that were rude in their behavior and their remarks, and I felt sorry for them because their lives must be pretty bitter to make them want to behave this way. I am going to re-double my efforts to be polite with people.

We live in a great country. We live in a country where people are supposed to be judged by their peers if they have broken the law and if they have transgressed in some way. However, I fear that this country of ours is moving away from that rule of law. We have begun to make it a place where fairness only applies if you are politically correct. If you aren’t a liberal, and part of the ones that are enlightened, then the rule of the popular is more important and is therefore how you are judged. This country has moved away from truth and fairness, and instead has been moved to what is politically correct.

Last night I sat next to Congressman Jason Chaffetz of the Third Congressional District of the State of Utah. In college, I roomed with Robert Bishop, Congressman of the First Congressional District of Utah. The experiences have taught me a few things.

When I was much younger, I thought of these people as heroes of the largest order, larger than life, and as people I would never be equal too. Now having had the opportunity to know people who have influence in our country, I have come to know that they are human, just like me.

They are human, but they are good people because they care for and love this land the same way that I do. They are human because they are subject to the same foibles that we all are, but they doing their best to do what is best for this country. I think it is great that we can have the opportunity to know these people and share with them our love for our country. It was a wonderful opportunity for me. It was our annual Chamber Installation Banquet, and I enjoyed hearing about how they make a difference. I can make a difference too.

Is this time in America’s history the Calm before the storm, or the storm before the calm? I am sure many people hope and wish that the conditions that we are experiencing now, as a nation, are perhaps the Storm before the Calm. I fear that it is the Calm before the Storm.

Our financial markets are currently in chaos. I fear that this is just the beginning of many more challenges that we are going to face. For too long we have been living on borrowed time in our country. We have lived on the charity of others as a nation of debtors. We have a national debt that is unimaginable. As individuals, we live a life style that has been enabled by foreign investors. We have Social Security and Medicare systems that are near bankrupt and will not be able to handle the demands placed upon them by the baby boomers (my generation) when we all start to retire. Yes, I fear that it is the Calm Before the Storm. What kind of a legacy have we left for our children, and our grand children? I hope that it is better than I fear.

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.

When our family was much smaller, and we visited Disneyland in Anaheim, California, we visited Disneyland. My wife as a young girl had a favorite ride that she wanted us all to ride on the minute we got into the park. The kids were thinking it was going to be Space Mountain, or Splash Mountain. I thought it might be the teacups, the Matahorn, or the Submarine.

Instead, it was a ride that took you through a tunnel on a boat. It was the ride, “It’s A Small World After All”. They had all of these puppets singing an inane song of the same title of the ride. It was something hardly any of us could tolerate, but Bonnie loved it and it did indicate that there were all kinds of cultures and peoples that blended together into one humanity.

When we visited Yosemite National Park, this silly song came roaring back to my conscious. We saw and heard people of every persuasion. I heard to English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Russian, and just about every other language you could imagine. In fact, those of us who spoke English were decidedly in the minority. I couldn’t believe how many different people there were enjoying the National Park. It should have been called an International Park. It was a revelation as to who was using the National Parks and enjoying our national heritage and scenery.