Ain't this the truth...And my truth HURTS!!

Well, I went to the Dr. finally. I have been hurting for about a week now. I woke up one morning a week ago and for some reason couldn't move my right ring finger and middle finger. Well, I just brushed it of as I slept on it funny, and that it would go away and heal. Every day since then it got worse, and I lost strength in it. Well finally today I couldn't grip a hairbrush enough to brush my own hair, and I couldn't even press on my aerosol can hairspray. I had to have my 7 year old brush my hair for me and spray me. Then when I was trying to make brownies, I couldn't spray the PAM, and I also couldn't turn a door knob to get into the house with my right hand. SO I finally decided I had enuf and went to see the old Dr. I totally messed up my flexor muscled in my right hand, and now have to wear a brace, and go for physical therapy. What in the world did I do to myself in the middle of the night? Did I take up karate and not know it? Or did I beat up on Will in my sleep again? Heaven only knows what I did, but I did it good I guess. It's that stupid old age creeping up on me I just know it. Ain't it great getting old. Here is how I truly feel some mornings......

Lets Change the Parameters!!

Ok, say that these people are members of the church, and you caught them bragging about how they are getting away with welfare fraud, and told you exactly how they are doing it. What would you do then? Would you still mind your own business and let them get away with it and smile at them every Sunday? Especially when they bring in more than 2200 a month and are squandering it on cars, going out to eat, movies, toys for kids, booze, and other stuff, and receiving food stamps and medicaide. Would you still keep quiet, and not say anything even when they are bragging about it all the time?

What would you do?

We were having a discussion at work today about people who commit welfare fraud. We were debating whether or not to turn people in that you know are committing fraud. For instance my co worker found out that someone he knew is committing fraud with the welfare system. However there are little children in the house who will suffer if he turns in his friend for fraud. He isn't sure what to do. We were debating this topic all afternoon. So what I want to know is this...Would you turn them in or not knowing that there are little kids who will suffer if their parents go to jail or get in trouble for this, and also would you tell if they could find out you ratted them out? Just wanting to know your opinion, because this was a pretty heated discussion today at the office. It made for an interesting day, and a very thought provoking day.

Buried Rocks...and Burried Treasures

Will here:

I was taking-advantage of a day "off" that both me and my children had from school. Such days are all-too-rare. Anyway, I used the opportunity to get some help with the massive amount of yardwork that needs to be done before I can mow the grass or till the garden.

While I had the kids work the simpler tasks of cleaning the trash out of the car, putting all the sticks into the fire-pit to be burned later, or just picking-up the trash that the wind delivers from the neighborhood; I decided that it was time for me to tackle a more-strenuious activity.

While I have been re-claiming the sidewalk from Mother Nature, I had been procrastinating the task of removing the few rocks and pavers that testify that the berm in the back yard was once a rock wall. Fewer than about 5% of the wall remains, but the remaining stones present a real danger to a lawnmower, and the operator. So I sighed at yet another difficult task, and set to work digging and prying the stones from their roosts and piling them next to one of the enormous oak trees on the property.

The task was pretty-much as I had expected. It was dirty, sweaty work (despite the cool morning), and I often found that, like an iceberg, 90% of the stones were under the surface. It gave me a real appreciation for Joseph Smith's efforts to move a much-larger stone, once upon a time. While he knew ahead of time what was to be found beneath his stone...I was expecting (and hoping for) "nothing", so that I could repeat the process with the next offending stone. But then I found a surprise waiting for me.

Actually, there were 2 surprises. The first was the fact that, aside from being slightly "clayey", the soil was as close to "perfect" as I had ever handled. It also ran as deep as my shovel had penetrated (about 18" to get under some of the larger stones. It was very encouraging to me to see such deep, rich soil already in place for our garden.

The second surprise was the reason I am writing now. As I first marked-off the spots where I found stones I wanted removed, I noticed something at nearly every site I identified. Among the various weeds sprouting between the winter-weary grass were some strange, broad shoots. After I cleared the first large stone, I got a cut-away view that surprised me. There, now exposed in the hillside were bulbs the size of medium onions attached to very long shoots of almost a foot in length, with the relatively small green shoots just over the surface of the soil.

At the first stone, I had incidentally destroyed many of the neighboring bulbs. But after the second stone, I decided to take more care, in an effort to save and transplant them somewhere in our huge, but chronically-neglected yard. After all, how many more of the bulbs could there be? I got "lucky" to find a second patch of them in the first place. But there were many more stones...and many more bulbs. I have no idea what species of flower they represent. But the more stones I uncovered, the more large, healthy, vigorous bulbs I found next to each stone. Clearly, this was far-cheaper than buying even the cheapest bulbs in a attempt to help this yard look like it is inhabited again.

After I acquired over 50 perfect bulbs, I looked back at the holes I had made in the hillside, and saw that the bulbs had once been part of a pattern that someone else had established. The stones were not random, nor were the bulbs in the deep, rich soil next to each of them. My own experience as a gardener showed me the purpose and pattern that was laid-out long ago, and since abandoned. I knew that someone had placed each stone and cluster of bulbs with considerable thought and effort. In my gardener's eye I could see how beautiful it had once been, about 15 years ago, though the pattern would have been very difficult to notice without getting on my knees and clearing-away the years of weeds...first.

I gave some thought about what lessons this might teach me. For one thing, the next time I have to pry some large stones from the ground, I will take better note of what else lies next to the problematic stones in the hillside. Second, when I see something struggling to grow next to a large stone, I'll treat it with love and respect for it's struggles. Finally, after I am sweaty and dirty from my efforts and look back at the holes where the defiant stones once laid...I'll appreciate the easily-disguised pattern that they reveal to those that are willing to get on their knees to clear-away the weeds; and remember that each bulb and stone was laid in place by someone else who was motivated to make the world a little bit lovelier.

I had the kids help me transplant the best bulbs into our best clay pots. We can't wait to see what flowers will bloom.

Happy Easter, Everyone!