cc: file, Andrea, Tony Hafen, Sara and Des Penny, & Maxine Shirts
"When I was growing up, I didn't really know anything about our heritage. I still remember when I was working in Field Operations for Mobil, in 1979, and was assigned to support S-2, the seismic crew just moving to Cedar City, Utah. It was February of 1979, there was snow on the ground, and we were shooting a seismic line across the mountains just south of The Parowan Gap. I've never been so cold in my life. There were fresh bear tracks along the seismic line. I was staying with Mom and Dad. Dad would laugh at me and how much my blood had thinned out living in Dallas, Texas. As part of the genealogy work I was doing with Computer Genealogical Services, I had recently received and read the diary of my Great Great Grandfather, Bengt Nelson. He and his wife lived in a dugout in the side of a hill out at Iron Springs 123 years before I was carrying geophones through the snow just 15 miles northwest of where they spent their first winter in the Cedar City area (../0143.html). The combination of walking that seismic line in the snow, seeing the bear tracks and feeling very vulnerable, thinking about my ancestors and what they sacrificed so I could have all I have was a life changing event for me. I outlined the musical `Swedish Roots' on that trip to Cedar City.
Every since then, I have particularly strived to honor my name, because it was carried by three generations before me, and I guess I have taken my roots somewhat for granted. I guess I expected you kids would learn about it by osmosis. And when you four new kids, and the in-laws came into my life, I never really thought about how you would tie into these roots. I guess I have shared a lot of my feelings in past Thoughtlets. And as I contemplated Sara going to Benin, West Africa for two years, it really struck me that I have not done enough to let her know the depth and strength of her roots. Knowing what I know about my ancestors has been a real strength when I have been in scary and difficult situations. And so I decided to give Sara the opportunity to get a crash course on her roots.
It helped that Paul and Kate and Grant were just coming back from Detroit and were going to be in Washington, Utah Labor Day weekend. It helped that Melanie and Colby were interested in going and participating at the same time. It hurt that I did not have enough money for Jared. It hurt and helped that Rob had to work and had school and felt he could not miss them. It hurt and helped that Roice could not afford to miss work and join us. It hurt that Ben and Sarah and Ethan were moving to their own apartment and were not able to drive up from Los Angeles. It hurt and helped that Matt had several activities he could not miss. And it was sad there was not enough money to bring Andrea, while it was good she stayed home to help Matt. All in all, Sara, Melanie, Colby, and my trip to Southern Utah and the Hafen Reunion at Pinto and a brief stop at the Nelson Cousin Reunion out on the farm was one of the real highlights of my year.
It only makes sense that a downer week is followed by an upper week. That's an important part of the Law of Undulation (../9648.html). When you get down, always remember there will be good times around the corner. And when things are going good, always remember there will be rain and thunderstorms in your future. Remembering these two things helps keep pride under control.
There were a couple of interesting things which happened prior to our trip. Monday and Tuesday I worked with Marc Roulston on the e-mail problems and laying out how to upgrade the system at the house. Roice told me how to help Neil Nelson to get his resume in front of his bosses in Austin. The SEG and the AAPG sent out e-mail messages about becoming registered as a professional geoscientist in Texas, and I decided I needed to jump on the bandwagon. Les Denham actually read the law, and pointed out that: (1) it was mostly for environmental geophysicists who were competing for work against certified engineers; (2) the law excluded oil and gas geology and geophysics; (3) the excluded research; and (4) the law excluded seismic interpretation as being required for registration. Plus Les did not have the $200 for the annual registration fee (tax). Neither do I, and I decided it was easier to be registered and grandfathered in than to have to do it in a year or two and have to take tests, etc. So I went through the effort to get professional and personal letters of recommendation and to get a transcript of my grades from college.
For those of you who have finished or are in college, I expect you will get a kick out of my grades, so here they are as well as I can read them from the fax copy I received:
Melanie and Colby drove over on Thursday night. I was
up until 2:30 AM catching up and binding `An Open Mind.'
Sara rang the doorbell at 4:00 AM. I got back up at
4:30 AM. We left for the airport at 5:45 AM, and our
flight left at 6:50 AM on Frontier. We slept. Colby
was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. He slept too.
We got a rental car in Salt Lake, drove to Paul's
house. Sara stayed there with Colby to wait for
Bridget and Justin to come and give them a ride to
Cedar. Paul drove his car, and Melanie and I drove
the rental car to Cedar. I dropped off the title and
owners manual for the Willys Whippet to Dr. Jenks at
SUU. Paul left the luggage carrier and we left Sara
and Melanie's bags at Sara & Des'. We stopped and
left my bag at Grandma Shirts'. And we drove to
St. George, arriving at the temple at 3:35, for the
4:00 session. It was really nice to go through an
endowment session with two of my kids. Paul had
basically driven straight through from Detroit.
Melanie and I came from Vidor and Houston. And we
were the only representatives of the Hafen Family
at the annual Hafen Family Endowment Session. I
thought it quite funny that Paul Hafen's family was
the only family represented. It was very nice to
sit with Paul, to show Melanie and Paul where I
married their Mom and where Andrea and I were
married, to answer questions, and to look into the
temple mirrors, which seem to go back into eternity.
Melanie and I drove out to Bloomington and said hi to Aunt Luana. Then we drove back up to Cedar. We almost ran out of gas, and got to see some of the country side around Harrisburg. We got to Sara and Des' about an hour before Sara, Colby, Justin, and Bridget. Sara swore she would never have a baby after her afternoon with Colby. I hope this isn't a fact, for your sake and for your children's sake. We had a fun evening playing Boggle. I always loose when I play games at Sara and Des'. Maybe it is because I seldom take the time to play games at home. Oh well! I went to Grandma Shirts' at about 10:00 and she was outside reading by her new back yard. In fact, all weekend, every time I came back to the house, she was outside on her patio reading by her new lawn. It is obvious the 80th birthday present was a big success (0332.html).
I slept in until 10:30 Saturday morning. I was really tired from the trip and the drive. I went over and said hello to Heather about noon. You were not up, and you didn't really want to talk. Oh well! I went over to Sara and Des' and played with Colby. We went for a walk and looked at the stream by Ray Gardner's house. We picked cherry tomatoes and apples and ate and spit out some. We played in the grass and on the hammock. It was fun. I've got to figure out a way to be a Grandpa more often. Grandkidlets (0331.html) are two much a one-way experience. Oh well! By the time we were ready to leave for Pinto it was 3:00 and Paul was calling saying, `Dad, we are just about ready to leave.' We had agreed to meet in Pinto at 3:00. It is good to be flexible.
When we got to Pinto, one of the first things that happened was that Melanie, Colby, and Sara were put on a 4-Wheeler and sent off into the wild countryside. They seemed to have a good time. Paul, Kate, and Grant arrived before they returned. Grant is soooooooooooooooo big. The length of his trunk reminds me of the story about my cousin Darrell and our neighbor Fernlee Bryant. Fernlee was about 6'2" and skinny as a bean pole and he towered above Darrell. Well once Darrell got on a horse in back of Fernlee and found himself looking over his head, because his trunk was so much longer. Seems possible Grant's and Darrell's proportions are influenced by Nelson genes. I had fun pulling the grandkids in a wagon, playing volleyball, talking to cousins and uncles and aunts.
Aunt Melba was upset they didn't make the temple session. They arrived at the temple just as the session was going upstairs, and just went back home. She seemed genuinely glad to see me, and we talked quite a while.
Uncle Arlo was not sure about Sara going to West Africa. `I wonder what those people did in the pre-existence to have to face so many trials?' When I mentioned this to Melanie, she said, `Maybe they do have 40% of their population with aids, but we have 90% of our population with spiritual aids.' Uncle Arlo expressed his sadness at all of the problems in Africa, and I responded with, `Well what are we doing? I'm giving up my daughter for two years to help them.' Saying the words was the first time I have really felt good about Sara's decision. My experience is this is a specific example of how we are taught truths by the Holy Ghost.
We had a very nice conversation with Arlo's daughters Jill Peterson, who lives in Grandma shirts' Ward in Cedar, and her little sister Tonna. I felt bad for talking too much about trips to China and Nigeria, and not listening enough. However, things said in the testimony meeting the next day, made it seem like I was not out of line too much.
It was especially nice to see Uncle George and to be able to introduce him to Melanie, Sara, and Paul. He looks so pale and frail. It has been a lot of years since I would go stay at Calf Springs Ranch with Grandpa and Grandma and they would take me into Enterprise to Uncle George and Aunt Lil's movie theater. I still remember getting all the popcorn I wanted, and it is probably why I always buy popcorn when we go to a movie. I also remember all of deer hunts, and the stories, and the fun we had at Calf Springs Ranch. I think it was Uncle George who was taking a number 2 break on the side of Pilot Peak when a big buck came around the corner. He got so excited after he hit the buck on his first shot, he forgot his pants were down and he tripped as he went to bleed it. I reminded Uncle George of the story, and his mind was someplace else. Uncle Tony, you can tell me whether this was him or one of the California hunters who used to come up to Calf Springs Ranch for the deer hunt.
Susan Stahli, his daughter who lives up by Fiddler's Canyon was there. And one of his Granddaughters just returned from serving a mission in San Antonio. She had met Melanie because Colby had a UT T-shirt on. She is staying with her Grandpa right now. And it was nice to see the relationship they have. Although Andrea lived across the street from her parents for years, in general I feel so bad you kids did not know your Grandparents when they were healthy. Guess that has been a natural part of life the last few centuries. I expect it will change as we live longer and medical and health care continues to improve.
We went back to Cedar and had a fun evening playing games at Sara and Des'. We took the attached photo, which included Colby, Grant, Paul, Kate, Aunt Sara, Justin, Bridget, Sara, Melanie, and me. Des took the photo. The Grandkids were running in and out of the living room. Paul told stories about his summer in Detroit. They were fantastic. I have asked him to write them down and e-mail them so I can share them with everyone. It is amazing we can function as a country with the entitlements the unions have come to expect. It was a fun evening. When I got back to Grandma Shirts' she was out on her patio reading. Between mosquitos and heat, I never do that in Houston. Watching her out the window, firmed up my resolve to move back to Cedar City some day. Hopefully it will be while Andrea can still enjoy being around and helping her Mom.
Sunday Sara did not wake up. Paul was so tired he wanted to stay in Washington with his in-laws. So Melanie, Colby, and I were the ones to drive out to Pinto for the Testimony meeting. Nice. There is great strength to be derived from the spiritual insights of those with common origins. I got sunburned. I wrote the following possible stanza for Prime Words based on Rick Hafen's quote of from Stephen Richards (a):
I locked the keys in the trunk, and had to
borrow wrenches to take the seat off and get
into the trunk. Melanie and I ended up
driving back into Cedar, largely to keep
Colby asleep in the car seat, picking up
Sara, and driving back out to Pinto. Aunt
Sara and Brian drove out and joined us for
the hamburger, dutch oven potatoes, corn
on the cob, and everything else folks
brought to the feast. It was nice. I took digital
photos of as many of each family as they
could get together. These are posted at
http://www.walden3d.com/hafen/reunion2003/images,
although I do not have them labeled or
indexed yet. Sara helped by writing down
all of the names, except for the Moss
family, where she was overwhelmed by the
numbers of people. It seemed like a great
way to realize how deep our roots are.
We left before the family talent show (even though I had borrowed Des' 12-string guitar and brought it out) and family story. Oh well! I had promised Grandma Shirts to take her to the County Fair Patriotic Musical Program in Parowan. It was named `Freedom's Light,' and centered on music written by Janice Kapp Perry and lyrics by Senator Orrin G. Hatch. Senator Hatch and his wife were there, and he made comments at different times during the program. They were quite touching. The songs he had written lyrics for which were performed included:
After dropping off Grandma Shirts I went over to Sara and Des'. Melanie was laughing because we beat Sara back to Cedar by about 10 minutes, and her and Brian had left the reunion about 10 minutes before we did. She had told Melanie, `My brother just drives too fast.' Rachel and Brian came over later, and we played a game Melanie taught us called Psychology. It is a variant of charades, and it was a lot of fun. One person went out of the room, and when they came back they had to figure out who we were. For instance, when Aunt Sara left, we decided our answers would start by rotating between words that started with the name of the strings on her violin. It took her a long time to figure this one out. When I got back to Grandma Shirts' she was out on her patio reading. What a great weekend.
Monday morning Melanie, Colby, Aunt Sara, and I went over to Parowan to watch the parade. I now had digital photos of every float in the 2004 Cedar 4th of July parade, the Cedar 24th of July parade, and the Parrowan Labor Day / County Fair parade. Maybe you can see why I ended the first Grandkidlet's story about cars like I did (0331.html). Colby and I had a great time getting candy, covering our ears when the fire trucks turned on their sirens, and taking pictures of the `Veit Nam' (sic) float which has been in all three parades. We stopped and visited with my Aunt Mary Mae on the way back to Cedar. Aunt Mary is doing much better than last time I saw her. She told us the Nelson cousins were having a reunion that afternoon over at Uncle Willis and Aunt Shirley's. So we stopped there on our way out of town. It would have been nice to have been able to spend more time. Oh well!
On the drive to Provo, Vince Eleri called from VRMT to make an appointment to see the Emerald Data Room. I pointed out they have not paid me for last months' work. He promised they would, and we sat up the meeting. We got to Provo and things seemed to be very hectic. We never made it to see Randy and Kathryn. Audrey did come over to visit. Thanks for showing me the portion of your scrapbook from when we went to London. It will be nice when you can show me the rest of your life. Audrey, Sara, and I went and bought chinese take-out for dinner. We pulled mattresses out of Grant's room and put them on the floor of the living room. Scott, a cousin, and Jared's brother who is just leaving on his mission came over to visit. I was wiped out and so I went to sleep in Paul and Kate's room. They moved me to the couch when everyone else was ready for bed.
Tuesday morning, the 2nd of September we were up early, and caught the early plane back to Houston. Again Colby was great. What a good traveler. As we got off the plane in Houston, there was Harold Shirley, the speaker at my 35th High School Class Reunion, and former 2 or 3 term mayor of Cedar. He was in Houston visiting a daughter who works for the Church Social Services up on Hafer Road. I asked him to send me a copy of his talk to include with the Class of '68 web pages (see www.walden3d.com/class68 and 0327.html). Again, what a great weekend. Roots."