Carey Family

Sue

The Mitford Years

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I have recently read all 9 books in the series by Jan Karon, along with the first title in her new series, The Father Tim Novels.  I have some friends that I share books with and one of them highly recommended this series, while another said they put her to sleep.  So I was curious about the wide range of opinion and decided to try one out.  I enjoyed it so much that it led me to stop at Deseret Industries stores along the Wasatch Front whenever possible to try to obtain the next volumes.  I even went so far as asking a neighbor to get one volume from the library for me because I hadn't been able to purchase one second-hand.  This turned out to be a large-print edition and I don't recommend reading those until you absolutely have to.  For one thing, they weigh a ton.

But I digress.  The novels are sweet and funny and full of quirky characters.  They reminded me why it's fun to live in a small town and also made me realize that I probably don't rely on the Lord as often as I should.  The main character is an Episcopalian priest who has never married and finds romance late in life with the artist next door.  His pithy comments describing the other denizens of their small town and his continuing adventures made for lots of fun reading.  I will admit that they are not fast-paced novels moving along at a great clip, but I think the point is to enjoy the journey.  And I surely did.  Can't wait for the next one in the new series.

Visiting the Palmyra area

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In early November, I went to an educational conference in my position as Family Life Commissioner for Utah PTA.  I went with my friend, Holly.  The conference was in Rochester, New York and we were able to rent a car and venture into the countryside to visit some early LDS Church historical sites.  I have never been to New York, so this was a wonderful opportunity for me to see some of the places I have only read about.  It was fall and absolutely beautiful with all the changing leaves and the rolling hills and I just loved it.

Here we are at the Grandin Printing Museum in Palmyra

 Holly and Sue at the Grandin Printing Museum

The Smith home in Palmyra

The Whitmer farm in Fayette

Sue at the Hill Cumorah

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Protect your brain

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I received an email from my college son, Mark, with a quote from his American History professor, “You want to be open-minded, but not so open-minded that your brains fall out.”  After I picked myself up off the floor and stopped laughing, I began to reflect on the deeper meaning of this phrase.

  1. Can considering every side of an issue actually damage your brain?
  2. Can you be so protective of your brain that your mind remains totally closed?
  3. If you argue with a closed-minded person, will your brains fall out?
  4. Can you be so open-minded that you never come to a conviction about anything?

Cautionary statement:  Just because you have closed your mind, doesn't mean that your brains haven't already fallen out.

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A Walk down Memory Lane

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I have been walking every morning for the last several weeks and using the old iPod shuffle as my companion.  Some music listeners only listen to one genre, as in "I only listen to classic rock from the 1950's and 1960's", or "I only listen to opera", etc.  I have a very eclectic playlist, in fact it looks like a musical acid trip as it ranges from the 18th to the 21st centuries.  Many of them have some sentiment attached to them.  Like today when I was walking and admiring the scenery in my beautiful mountain home and into my ears came Billy Joel singing "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant".  I was instantly transported to Southern California and saw palm trees, the ocean, and my good friend, Jane.  This is because that song comes from "The Stranger" album and I remember us spending lots of time listening to that vinyl LP and memorizing every word.  So it should come as no surprise that I can still sing every song on that record.  Now I do not currently own that vinyl platter, but rather a digital version downloaded from iTunes about 3 years ago when my teen son asked me about some good albums from the 70's and 80's that he could purchase.  With a gleam in my eye, I directed him to my favorite teenage bands: The Eagles, Styx, Journey, Foreigner, Billy Joel, you get the idea.  So now we own all those same songs in a digital format that I used to own on vinyl and cassette once upon a time.  Fun!

But I digress.  "Scenes" came on my iPod and I thought of Jane.  All the really wild adventures I ever had in high school were in the company of my friend.  I would probably be safe in saying that all the really wild adventures of my whole life were with her.  She took seriously her self-imposed responsibility to save me from my sheltered upbringing and introduce me to the great outside world.  It's a good thing I survived in one piece. 

We still regularly correspond, but have not actually seen each other in person since our high school days.  Recently she sent me a darling picture of her family and as I looked at my computer, unbidden came the disloyal thought, "Jane is a real, grown-up mom and not a kid anymore."  Then I looked in a mirror and said, "Yeah, look who's talking!"  So that caused me to reflect that nobody wants to be a teenager forever.  But this morning it sure was fun to look back and smile at those two teen girls and think about all the fun we had.  And all it took was a simple tune to put me in another time and place.

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Fortune Favors the Brave

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I came home late this afternoon from a 4 hour meeting, lunch with a friend at a great Korean restaurant, and a quick trip to Robert's for a particular color of cardstock.  I went through the mail, cleaned off the table, and looked in the refrigerator to help me think about dinner.  I was accosted by a foul smell coming from inside my frig which reminded me that I needed to throw some stuff away today to discover and eradicate the source of the smell.  I put my laptop on the table, fired up my iTunes and blasted "Aida" while I bucked up and started the unpleasant job of tossing out leftovers.  When I had gotten rid of some stuff including the bad, smelly tomato, I thought I had done a great job.  But Amneris was belting about her "Strongest Suit" and I thought mine would be to get my vegetable drawers clean.  So I yanked them out and gave them a good washing in my sink.  When I put them back, I stepped back and admired my work.  But they looked so sparkly clean that the other shelves paled in comparison.  So "The Gods of Nubia" looked fondly on me while I removed and washed my shelves.  Once again, I stepped back to admire my work and became slightly stressed out while contemplating the inside of my frig door.  I decided it was "Written in the Stars" that I should complete the job, so I tackled those little shelf-box things that hang inside the door.  I tossed out some salad dressings that nobody actually likes anymore, along with some marinades, because they just don't last forever.  I washed out all the thingies and then organized what was left so that like items were in the same shelf-box and then I felt just GREAT!  It was amazing how doing that commonplace chore made me feel so satisfied.  And now my frig is so clean it's ready for company.  Or maybe just ready for the people who live here and use it on a daily basis.  And that's "Enchantment Passing Through".