Pappa Hardy's Musings on Life.

Payson once a year puts on a big feed for the rest of the valley. This event is called the Payson Salmon Supper. We have corn on the cob, a roll, a baked potato with sour cream and butter, Cole Slaw, and a cookie. A lot of these items alone could make a sumptuous meal. However, the star of the show is a huge slab of salmon cooked over apple wood fire.

The salmon is flown in fresh and taken care of by the fire department, which does the cooking. This year and last, I was involved in cutting the salmon up and serving it to the public. I did that for two hours and the smell of the salmon was driving me crazy with hunger. Then, I was relieved and I went and found my mom and dad and the rest of my family. We had the chance to sit down and eat together. It was a huge event, using 4400 pounds of Salmon and the city probably feed 4000 people.

The salmon supper is a wonderful activity. It draws a community together and is a great opportunity to showcase Payson. I am glad that I was involved this year.

If not for modern medicine, would I still be alive? That is a good question. At times it is amazing that people ever lived to be more than 30. There are so many diseases that could have done you in and so many things that go wrong with these bodies of ours.

Smallpox, mumps, diphtheria, whopping cough, were just a few of the diseases that might kill someone in their youth. Polio and measles could also bring complications and cause a major problem. However, vaccines made it so I didn’t have to deal with many of those sicknesses. I did have to deal with the common cold, broken bones, and a whole list of other things.

However, today we live in a marvelous world. For those of us with weak knees, we can have our knees replaced. With those of us who have a heart that beats out of tune, we can have ablation that will correct the naughty nerves that cause us problems. We have medications that can help us control various maladies caused when the body malfunctions. It is just amazing that we live beyond 30, but then maybe beyond 60 will even better.

We live in a land of a noble experiment. Can man rule himself through a representative government and for long remain free? We continue to see that drama unfold each and every day. We now live in a very perilous time in the history of that nation. We are facing a significant challenge to our financial independence. Can we navigate out of the deadly financial waters that now encompass this nation? So many forces pull at us. So many concerns. So many people who say, give me the power and I will make it better for all. Can we continue to walk a tight rope? I pray that we will have the wisdom as a nation to not hand the power over to those that promise an easy solution to our problems. I see too many lessons in history of free peoples who gave power to those that promised easy solutions. Instead, that only lead to ruin.

Well, serving in Public Office is an interesting experience. It takes a mind shift away from what you personally want to see done, to making sure that you are working for the public good of everyone that you represent. This makes the choices difficult because sometimes there are lots of gray areas and no clear cut directions that should be taken. For instance, if you approve a certain type of development for an area, how is that going to impact the city and it’s citizens in 10-15 years, not just tomorrow.

Everyone of course has ideas about the right way to do things as well, and you quickly learn that you can’t always vote the way someone else suggests that you vote. It takes separating your desire to be liked from the public good. Everyone at some time or the other should have this opportunity.

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.

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.

It has been a long, tough, winter. We have had economic collapse, long cold days, rampant unemployment, and the threat of depression. Maybe just a little bit of a challenge to live in these days. However, now comes the summer. We have warmer weather, the economy is moderating, and perhaps, just perhaps, we will all live to see another day. It has been a long, tough, winter, but I am hoping for a better more optimistic summer.

My travels around the world, as limited as they are, have taught me some important lessons. First, we have a lot of diverse cultures. I have loved going into new places and seeing how people live, and what they enjoy doing. On a beach in St. Marteen I heard several ladies, natives of that island I assume, talking Creole while we all were laying out on the beach. They were obviously having a good time. None of them were well off, but they have a unique culture.

Despite these differences in culture, all of us have the same basic desires. We love and treasure family. We want shelter, and want meaning in our work and in our existence. It has been a constant that is everywhere I visit. We live together in groups because we are interdependent on each other and need each other’s expertise. It is true that we are different, but also the same.

You know, somehow or someway, or maybe even someday, I must be famous. I get to sit next to “important” people when I am in meetings or dinners. For example, I have sat next to two of three of the Congressman from the State of Utah. I have met both of her Senators and the Governor. I have sat next to the Lt. Governor of the State of Utah in a banquet. I have met two or three Senators from the State of Wyoming and talked to them face to face. One of them even knew me when I would write letters about this or that item. I know all of the City Councilman in Payson as well as the Mayor on a first name basis. I have a son, Christofer, who actually has shaken the hands of former President Bill Clinton when he was running for President in 1992. Another son was a friend of the daughter of the Governor of Wyoming.

You would think with all of the associations I have had with other famous people like my wife, or my kids, or my parents, or my friends, or just my neighbors, that somehow I would be famous. Alas, I am just good old Mike, the guy who lives down the street in the house next to the two story house not too far from Rocky Ridge.

I haven’t yet figured out why I am not on the evening news, widely quoted in the paper or on the local TV networks, or why everyone I meet doesn’t already know who I am. Instead, I am just me, and despite all of my association with the famous, no one knows me. Well, my family and friends know me and that should be enough, don’t you think?

We live in an extremely stressful time. Normally, it is stressful to make a day to day living. You have concerns about being laid off, of having enough to live on. You worry about your children, and whether they will be healthy and happy. You worry about uncontrollable things such as the weather and natural disasters. It just seems like there is always something to worry about. I do believe we need to get away from this stress, and make our lives easier. Of course, that is easier said than done.

Stress is killing us. It is causing our health to deteriorate. I think I am a prime example of that. I believe that it contributes to our cultures tendency to overeat. We need to make sure we stop our stressing out on things.