Wind and Obediance Lessons

Yesterday we were asked to forgo our Sunday meetings and participate in a day of service, cleaning up our community from the mess of Thursday's wind storm.  Gary came home from a Stake Priesthood Leadership Meeting just before 8 am and told me what we had been asked to do. Our Stake President, through instruction from the area authority, and from an Apostle had deemed the the cleanup of the debris from Thursdays storm necessary since the forecast was for more high winds and snow...... without the clean up the possibility of more damage and danger loomed. The task was massive. But we had been asked by our priesthood leaders to get to work and prepare, so we got to work and prepared.......I thought of Pres. Hinckley's story about preparing so that he could sleep when the winds blew.....

Yes, many had cleaned up their fallen trees, but there was so much more to do.  We were told by the city that we could place the cut up debris on the curb for pick up this week, and there were piles of stuff everywhere...... So, now we had another problem, if the winds materialized as forecast, the danger would be from the flying branches, not just the falling trees.....just think how fun that would be in 100 mph winds?

Anyway the day of service was long and hard and wonderful. Everyone working together, the old and the young, men and women. There were the organizers, the lifters, drivers, choppers, sweepers, cooks and more. Family and friends working together.  There was a little five year old with us who was helping as best he could and then he discovered a bunch of pine cones and began his collection.....  We had to remind the older guys that they were older..... And some of the younger guys we had to tell them to stop when the debris removal turned in to basic yard work..... The women came through with food.  The Mormons in action were truly a sight to behold....think ant hill or beehive and you can see the busyness of the day......During the clean up there were several times that we waited in line because of the number of people helping just to fill a truck with tree branches.....the scene of waiting in line was also evident at the landfill and other debris drop off locations.... Hayden said at 9:30am at the landfill there were around 50 trucks and trailers entering the dump and at his second go, about an hour later he stopped counting at over 350 vehicles waiting. The line up was out of the landfill, along the frontage road and backed up 500 south.
It is true many hands make light work.
By 5:00pm we were all tired and sore.  The City had called all day and the final call was to tell us to wrap things up and be done by 6:00pm. Gary, our ward organizer did a sweep through the ward to make sure we had cleaned everything up... check, it all looked good.  The last dump loads were on the way to the landfill for the last time....yes, Hayden was there again for the who knows how many times.... While at the dump Hayden and the Calder boys noticed our Bishop in an other area, he looked like he was looking for something, he was. He realized that he didn't have his phone. The last time he remembered having it was early in the day at the dump. He was looking in the area he remembered dumping his load in. The boys jumped in to help, carefully moving tree debris and calling his phone and listening for it.  They were ready to call it a loss when they decided to try calling one more time....
They dialed and were quite but couldn't hear anything; however Hayden could feel a vibration beneath his foot, he gingerly stepped away and there it was the Bishops phone, in working order.
By 6:00pm we were all tired and sore and the fore casted storm had been down graded a whole lot......The thought came to me what if the storm doesn't happen, why did we work so hard and forgo our Sunday meetings? How many people are going to be complaining about the necessity of the effort? However I knew that it didn't matter if the storm happened or not, the important thing was that we were obedient to our priesthood leaders. That we took the time to prepare when we were asked to prepare....great lessons to be taught and learned.....

In the end the storm came through, later than foretasted. It was a wimpy thing, but when you have recently experienced 100 mph winds, 30 to 50 mph winds pale in comparison. No trains circling my home last night and we all slept well; not only because of the lack of howling, but because we knew we had been faithful and obedient.  We had prepared, so we could sleep when the winds blew.

MCC
p.s. for those who care or read my blog and also my sisters blog..... I guess we must be related and think a lot of the same thoughts.
And just so as not to be confused....I began writing my thoughts early this morning, but didn't finish.  When I remembered I hadn't finished or posted it was nearly midnight. So the event discribed took place on Sunday December 4, 2011.

Big Wind

I am talking real wind, hurricane or tornado force winds.......we experienced major winds here in Bountiful. I woke up very early Thursday morning to what sounded like a freight train going round and round our house. At 5:40 I got up and looked at the damage to our house.....minimal to none...we were very blessed. By 6:15 the power was out and didn't come back on until just after midnight...we were the blessed ones once again.  With the major winds and power out we weren't sure what to about school, driving to school etc.... Nelson went to school, but took a bigger car. He had a presentation to do. According to the news I-15 north bound was closed.....making it impossible for her to make it to school in a timely manner. I then text Angela and asked her about school since when we are without power the high school usually is as well......she told us if you don't have a test 1st period to stay home. By 9 am they had canceled school, no power.  Gary and I were going to a screening and figured that since we had no power, internet etc... and we were going south that we should just go. We returned around noon to explore the neighborhood.  When we went out to asses the damage we discovered lots of Pine trees down....lots and lots of pine trees...lesson learned don't plant pine trees in windy areas....besides they are garbage trees. Trees everywhere...on houses and cars, across the sidewalks and streets.....it was amazing to look at......like I said we were blessed. Our only casualties at home were a missing recycle can, and a lid to the hot tube supply storage box.  Our yard has never looked so clean.
The casualties at the Movie Theater were also minimal....no letters lost from the marquee, a loose marquee panel that was easy to fix, and upon closer inspection two missing old Air Conditioners.....where they went we do not know....but I ma sure it was a surprise to where ever they landed....Gary says they probably disappeared in pieces.  Today we still had no Internet which means no credit cards at the theater...not a big problem, just inconvenient.
When we were home we kept warm by the fire, and still our house was a cool 57 degrees when we bundled up for bed.
We were very blessed, other family and friends not so much.....around the corner 10 huge pine trees came down. Adam had a tree downed into power lines. Jeff and Lisa lost their fence, all the trees in their back yard and their outdoor Christmas display was mangled.....for most people that would be a minimal loss, for them it was a huge loss, their Christmas decorations are always classy but over the top for a residence. We still have neighbors without power and it is 36 hours since it went off initially.
Weather experiences humble you and remind you that you are not in charge.

MCC

SNOW!?!?!?! it's all Part of the 4 Seasons

I am thankful for 4 seasons...yes I know I say this often, but I do, I really enjoy the 4 plus seasons we experience living here in Utah. I say plus because we not only have the regular seasons but we get a few bonus seasons as well; the ugly snow and mud season between winter and spring, and the wet broken tree season between fall and winter......I am sure that there are more, but these two are the most noticed by me.
A friend of mine moved to a more moderate climate and keeps telling me she misses the very visible change of seasons. She laughs at the way her new local peeps react to subtle temperature changes. Her kids are still wearing shorts and t-shirts and the other kids at school are bundled up in cloths that should be worn in climates 20 or more degrees colder.
But I digress..... I am thankful for the snow, and the broken trees and the slick roads.........

MCC

SNOW!

It's back......and everyone is complaining. We live in Northern Utah People, get real it is still January!
I love the snow, I don't enjoy driving in it or shoveling it, but that is the price we pay. I also love the hot sun in the summer, the wet green beauty of the spring and the long Indian summer days of Autumn. I live here because of the four seasons. There is only one time I don't love and that is the dirty snow season; the ugly time between winter and spring. Unfortunately this season sometimes crosses over my Birthday...but hey, what can you do.
SNOW!
Off to shovel now....great exercise!
MCC

Wednesday..........

I'm singing in the rain...I love the rain, especially when it is supposed to rain (Spring).
I also love the thunder and lightning, thus making today pretty awesome weather wise.
As for the weight, well. I guess my body is resting, not going up, but then not going down either. I need to figure out what to do to change things up more and maybe shock my body into responding to my new eating habits....
MCC