19 Oct 2003 #0342.html

Colorado County

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Dear Paul and Kate, Melanie and Jared, Bridget and Justin, Sara, Ben and Sarah, Heather, Audrey, Rachel, Matt via hardcopy, and Brian,

cc: file, Andrea, Tony Hafen, Sara and Des Penny, & Maxine Shirts

Welcome to "Thoughtlets." This is a weekly review of an idea, belief, thought, or words that will hopefully be of some benefit to you, my children, with an electronic copy to on-line extended family members. Any of you can ask me not to clutter your mail box at any time.

"Long week for me. Haven't heard from Sara since right after she arrived in Benin, and I have started to be a Dad and to worry. However, even if there is a problem, I don't feel like there is anything I can do about it. Oh well! Guess I need to practice what I preach and trust in my prayers.

Long week for me. I missed taking the sacrament this week because I went to Matt's concert at the Presbyterian Church today. I really enjoyed the concert. During the last song Matt stuck out his tongue at one of the girls across from him, and I just barely shook my head no. He saw, and commented on it. I commented on how cute his tongue was up in the choir loft from where I was sitting in the audience. He is growing up so fast, and I feel overwhelmed that I am not doing enough to help him Oh well! Guess I need to practice what I preach and trust in my prayers.

Long week for me. None of my deals have closed. There are a dozen active proposals/opportunities sitting out there, and it seems to take forever to get anything to close. I spent all week documenting the two days of work I did on the previous Thursday and Friday. I am really impressed with the results of this week. So much so, that I am not going to share the results, because of the fear the process and results could be transferred to someone who would just take it. If any of you are interested, let me know, and I will send you some of the less proprietary images for your review. Or I can show you next time you visit. I worked late almost every day this last week, and ended up making about 150 web pages to document the two days work. The good news is that I have the process down so that once there is some investment money, it can be automated, and documentation will occur as the project work is done. In the meantime, I have not been able to close any deals. Oh well! Guess I need to practice what I preach and trust in my prayers.

So now that I have summarized the main priorities in my life - Family, Church, and Work - I guess I will write a little more details about my week.

Last Sunday we were studying Hebrews in Gospel Doctrine. The word `lower' is used in Hebrews 1:9, and when asked, I correlated it to the word gravity (i.e. heaven has no earthly gravity, higher is symbolic of heaven, time has gravity, eternity does not, etc.). Phillip Miller spoke up and said, `Roice, that's heavy.' Cute response. It was also interesting to consider how Moses and the Jews looked to the future with sacrifice, and Christians look backwards with sacrament. The discussion about incense smoke rising to heaven like our prayers was also interesting to me. Maybe you had to be there to follow the context of these comments. I did write a possible Prime Words stanza from Maysha Stine's sacrament talk(a):

`Fear is the opposite of faith some fear the present And some fear the future (a) Fear comes with being hesitant'


I spent Sunday catching up two Thoughtlets, and I actually forgot to do my Grandkidlet for Ethan. Oh well! He probably doesn't expect them to be a regular event yet. Soon enough he will be able to take my efforts to tell him he is loved for granted.

Matt was out of school on Monday and Tuesday for Columbus Day and a teacher's prep day. We went to an early movie on Monday for Family Home Evening. It was `Second Hand Lions,' and it is a wonderful movie. The nearest movie I can compare it to is `Princess Bride.' Ever since I saw `Cider House Rules' (../0004.html and 0025.html), and was surprised by the graphic endorsement of abortion by the Doctor Michael Caine played, I have not wanted to see anything else he played in. I almost got up and walked out when I recognized he was one of the two Uncles. As I watched the Uncle's sister-in-law be represented as a lying and selfish person, I felt as if I was seeing the script through Michael Caine's eyes, and as if I understood the pain he feels in his own life because of insincere role-models. It was quite an interesting `revelation.' And then the movie just got better and better. I was no more prepared for the story than I was for the first time I saw `Princess Bride,' and I was almost as impressed with the message `As you wish.'

I was at Interactive Interpretation & Training most days and most evenings working on my Colorado County example. As I worked up geologic, production, lease, and other maps, my mind went back to the two years I worked so hard to understand Colorado County back in 1991-1992. Some day I do hope to have the cash to document all of the work we did back then. I expect it will prove to be a very useful scientific basis for understanding the cultural and economics of the county. The production maps I worked with this week started in 1995, and went through 1999, and so it was after my previous work with Anders Saustraup and Cara White, and a three-four years before the present.

Wednesday morning I went to a Landmark meeting at a golf course at the very southwestern end of Fry Road. They had a couple of interesting talks, the first of which predicted gas will stay above $5/MCF for the foreseeable future. He expressed concern about the stability of Venezuela, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, and other places as sources of hydrocarbons. I think he is right on track, and although I don't want to see the impending disruption in hydrocarbons, I think we are foolish if we don't actively prepare for another 1973, when the first OPEC embargo happened.

Thursday and Friday were spent finishing up the web page documentation of exploration opportunities in Colorado County. Thursday evening I came home in time to go to Matt's Choir Concert. The JV football game ran over, and he, as the football team manager, was the only person to make it back in time to sing. Mrs. Land put him on stage in bare feet, shorts and a tee-shirt, while all of the other kids had on Tuxedo's and their choir dresses. Matt was just fine with this. Matt, you have a lot of self-confidence, and I'm sure it will do you well in your future.

I was more than a little surprised when I walked into the house after the concert. Andrea had repainted the library/music room over the past couple of weeks, and I walked in to see all of the paintings up, books on the white shelves, and it is a big change in the house. I like it a lot. And I find myself still getting used to the change. I will stand and look at it, and be overcome by memories and feelings. Change can be very good.

Friday morning there was an article in the Houston Chronicle, which ties to my first paragraph above:

`74 boys freed from forced labor Benin children were made to work at Nigeria granite pit Associated Press Cotonou, Benin - Their bodies scarred by beatings and their hands callused from breaking rocks, 74 boys as young as 4 received medical treatment Thursday after their rescue from Nigerian granite quarries where they were forced to work. Nigerian police rescued the boys Wednesday and repatriated them to Benin under an accord between the two West Africa nations on child trafficking and other cross-border crimes. After their rescue - only the second of its kind in West Africa - the children told authorities that over the previous three months at least 13 other boys died, succumbing to exhaustion, disease, hunger and abuse, Nigerian police and aid workers said. "We would break the stones, and the men would come take them away in trucks," one boy said. Skinny, filthy, scratched and heavily scarred, the boy looked no more than 10. The children, many just hip high with bare chests showing white scars, hung from the windows of the buses that authorities used to return them from Nigeria to Benin, where they had been taken by traffickers and sold as child labor. Authorities in Benin assembled the children - none older than 15 - in a soccer stadium, preparing them for the return to their families. Officials prevented reporters from questioning them in detail about their experiences. In Nigeria, granite pit bosses buried the dead children in shallow graves near the quarries, said Kemi Olumefun, whose Nigerian women's charity helped rescue the children after receiving tips about the brutal conditions. Child labor and labor trafficking are common across West Africa, while mass operations to rescue the victims are extremely rare. Under an accord signed in August, the neighboring countries are cooperating to find and return children who have been forced into grueling and dangerous labor. The first rescue under the pact came Sept. 27, when authorities brought back 116 children who had been put to work in the granite quarries of southwest Nigeria.'


Scary words to a Dad who has a daughter in Cotonou, and who has made several trips to that part of the world.

Andrea's aunt sent a note, also received on Friday, which keeps things in some perspective:

`SUCCESS At age 4 success is . . . not peeing in your pants. At age 12 success is . . . having friends. At age 16 success is . . . having a drivers license. At age 20 success is . . . having a job. At age 35 success is . . . having money. At age 50 success is . . . having money. At age 60 success is . . . having a job. At age 70 success is . . . having a drivers license. At age 75 success is . . . having friends. At age 80 success is . . . not peeing in your pants. Always remember to forget the troubles that pass our way, BUT never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.'


Saturday morning I had a couple of e-mails from China and John Benard which kept me busy for a couple of hours. Then Andrea and I went for a run. I spent the rest of the day sorting books. All of Andrea's work is going to finally get my library where I want it. All of the books will be indexed, the index will be on-line, and any of you interested will be able to `check-out' a book for the cost of mailing them. I have in my mind that this will be a useful service to you kids, and eventually for your kids. Part of my ongoing lifelong effort to provide an education.

Saturday evening Andrea and I went to see `Runaway Jury.' It's a pretty good movie, as far as thrillers go. It shows how problems with the justice system in the U.S., which is good. But the whole theme that there are all of these folks controlling juries, etc. is so repugnant to me, that it is hard to enjoy a movie like this. We went to the Taylor - Cinco Ranch game after the movie. Cinco Ranch had just made a touchdown and the score was 17 to 17. Then they made another one and it was 24 to 17. Then they made another one and it was 31 to 17. Then Taylor made a goal and it was 31 to 24. Then Cinco Ranch made another one and it ended up 38 to 24. Wasn't as exciting as the previous week's game, which I missed because I was working on my interpretation of exploration opportunities in Colorado County, Texas.

Today, I caught up on last week and this week's Grandkidlets. I drove down to Central Presbyterian, which is by the Compaq Center, to listen to Matt and the choir sing in their service. It was very nice. They have a lovely acoustic hall. The hall is about 150 feet long and about 100 feet tall, with a choir loft in the center about 20 feet up, with curved walls next to the choir. Very nice sound, enhanced by the acoustics. I enjoyed the preacher's sermon. It was on forgiveness. I wrote two possible stanza's based on his (a) comments:

`Throw our weekly baggage Against the backdrop of eternity (a) Throwing off sins burdensome package Joined together in Christ's fraternity'


And:

`We are never healed Until we forgive First we must admit hurt (a) Stop talking about it and forgive.'


Matt took the bus back and we made it over to church for the last 15 minutes of Ward Conference. The Katy Stake is going to have Spring Branch, Wheatstone, and Waller Wards spun off into a new Kline Stake, which is taking several wards from the Sake by the temple. It was an interesting fifteen minutes. Matt and Megan Reynolds came to church at our ward. It was the 10 year anniversary of his joining the church. They came over to the house for our annual dinner celebration after church. The Schmidt's also came over and joined us. Chris was the scout leader when he and I took Matt and Roice down the Buffalo River on the 50 mile canoe trip. It is wonderful to see how Matt is doing. He is working as a draftsman for a pipeline company, is just about finished with his Associates Degree, plans to enter architecture school at the University of Houston, and cleans 9 pools on Saturdays for extra money. He had me sing some of my songs for Meagan. It was fun, and I had a hard time not crying. Oh well! That is part of a long week which I do not mind at all.

In fact, I actually had a lot of fun putting together the exploration opportunities in Colorado County. Now it will be interesting to see what happens when I present this work to folks this next week. Well, I guess it will give me something to write about, other than Colorado County."

I'm interested in sharing weekly a "thoughtlet" (little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me) with you because I know how important the written word can be. I am concerned about how easy it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of daily life. To download any of these thoughtlets go to http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets or e-mail me at rnelson@walden3d.com.

With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)

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Copyright © 2003 H. Roice Nelson, Jr.