cc: file, Andrea, Tony Hafen, Sara and Des Penny, & Maxine Shirts
"A couple of years ago I wrote a Thoughtlet which I titled `Remember the Alamo' (../0102.html). It was named after a painting Ken Turner had just completed. This phrase has a lot of play in our culture, and since I have lived in Texas since 1974, it certainly has a lot of play in the lives of those of you who were born here, or who come and visit and whom we take over to San Antonio to see the Alamo.
I remember Roger Anderson quoting his wife Honor as saying, to the best of my recollection, something like:
I remember the Father's and Son's campout where Ken Turner
and I got into one of our deep philosophical discussions,
and Ken lectured me on the implications of what happened
at The Alamo and San Jacinto. For instance, because of
these events, Mexico lost control of the west and the
Latter-day Saints were free to move from Nauvoo to Salt
Lake City, Cedar City, St. George, and the places where
our ancestor's migrated to. Because The Lord's House was
built in the tops of the mountains (Isaiah 2:2-3), there
is a force for good which is standing up to the evil that
is covering currently covering the earth as a flood.
I also think it is appropriate for each of us to contemplate what our own personal version of The Alamo is. What do I believe in so sincerely that I am willing to give my life for this belief. Is it liberty and freedom, like the ideals being fought for at The Alamo? Is it Ethan, Grant, Colby, or Taylor? Is it our spouse or our friend? Is it a stranger who is in trouble and whom we can save if we are willing to push them out of harm's way and take the brunt of the train or the car or the bullet? Is it something as innocuous as the word of wisdom? Or is it something as personal as chastity? Or are we willing to go with the flow of whatever our friends are doing and have no particular standards which mean enough to us we are willing to die for them?
Uncle Tony put his life on the line for each of us when he went to Korea. Todd Rowbury, Lyle and Naomi's son, is in Iraq today. It is not a safe place. Maybe it is easier for us to say, `Well it is a soldiers job to put his life on the line.' I'm afraid we, and I certainly include me in this royal `we,' are pretty complacent when it comes to thinking through what is The Alamo we are willing to defend to our death.
When I got home from China on Tuesday evening, the haunting image of the sadness of the Chinese lady at the Beijing airport was still with me (0414.html). Things were good at home. I forgot about the Chinese lady, and didn't mention it to Andrea until she proofed the Thoughtlet a week later. And it was back to all of the stuff that faces us each and every day. Matt was interested in seeing the gifts I brought back with me. He also wanted to be paid back for the flowers I had him buy for me to give to Andrea while I was gone. Andrea was glad to have me home, and disappointed in my shopping ability. I was tired.
Wednesday morning I got up early to call Sara at 5:00. There was no answer. Turns out daylight savings time put us off an hour. I was able to talk to her for 42 minutes starting at 6:00. Andrea and Matt were at Seminary, and so they did not talk to her. She is doing good. The big news is that she is moving to a new house and will be there before the rainy season starts. There was a lot of mold in her old house, it was open to the neighbors, and it sounds like the new house is more like a gated community. There were a couple of nice e-mail's from her, which I skimmed in China, and still have not taken the time to digest. I do post all e-mails from her at http://www.walden3d.com/benin/letters, in case there is one of you who do not get copies of her e-mails. It is scary to me to read about how often men have tried to do what men have tried to do since shortly after Adam was tempted by fruit, when he was with a naked Eve in the Garden of Eden. And other than these words I write each week, and the teachings I've striven to provide so far in your life, Sara, there is not a thing in the world I can do to protect you where you are now physically located. So I pray for you, and for each of the rest of you, who may actually be in more dangerous situations than Sara is in. There was an e-mail from Heather to Andrea expressing thanks that we are respecting her wishes and boundaries and not attending her graduation from SUU.
It took me until about 10:30 to go through the papers that had collected from being gone two weeks. Some time ago I cut back on the comics I read, and it was interesting to realize how many of the comics I am reading again, and how much of the time I spent catching up on the paper was actually spent catching up on `For Better of For Worst,' `Dilbert,' `Fox Trot,' `Hagar the Horrible,' `9 Chickweed Lane,' `Spiderman,' `Beetle Bailey,' `Zits,' `Luann,' `Hi and Lois,' `Baby Blues,' `The Phantom' (because he is from Africa where Sara is), `Blondie,' `Rose is Rose,' `Crankshaft,' `Funky Winkerbean,' `Drabble,' `Crock,' `Mallard Filmore,' `Garfield,' `One Big Happy,' `B.C.,' `Sally Forth,' `Momma,' and `Doonsbury.' Oh Well! Seemed like a lot to do when I got into work. Expenses. Not many e-mail's. However, there were several meetings called to go over different projects I am getting involved in. When I got home there was $1.00, a receipt, and a note from Matt saying, `Roice, Here's the other doller (sic) I owe you. Matt.' I read the last line as `I love you,' and was very touched. Maybe sometimes we hear or see what we want to.
Thursday morning Wang Xuejun, International Processing and Interpretation Vice-President for GRI (Geophysical Research Institute of The Bureau of Geophysical Prospecting), called and said he wanted to meet with Geophysical Development while he was in Houston. He hoped to see us on the flight over from Beijing, as we had met with him when we visited GRI on the previous Sunday afternoon. However, we were on different flights. We set up a meeting for the following Tuesday. I have never seen the Chinese move so quickly to develop a cooperation. The trip to China might have even been better from a business standpoint than I thought it was.
Friday was Good Friday, and the office was closed. My first day of vacation now that I am again working for a company. I got up and went for a run, and then spent most of the day working in the yard with Andrea. I did all of the hedging between Friday and Saturday, which is a big job this time of year. I was definitely tired each day. Andrea just kept working and working and working. Definitely the Everready Bunny. When I wasn't outside I was making maps for my Hedberg Paper. In fact I ended up staying up quite late both nights watching old cowboy and action movies. And I did finish making the two maps. I'm really pleased with how the paper is coming together. I think it will be my most important professional contribution. However, as we all know, time will tell.
Saturday evening I dropped Matt off at Katy Mills Mall for work at Shaggy Bag, and bought tickets to The Alamo. There was a big rainstorm coming in to water all of the flowers Andrea had planted and water in all of the fertilizer she had spread around on the yard. We went to the movie at 7:00. It seems historically accurate. Of course we all know how it turned out at The Alamo, and maybe this is the reason there have been so few people attend the movie. I did not like the movie as much as the movie Hildago, which we went to just before I went to China. It was good how they tied in the Battle of San Jacinto. They missed some of the historical aspects of the battle, which Ken Turner told me about when he was painting his picture of the battle. For instance, they attacked with the sun to their back, and so the Mexican's did not know they were attacking until they were under fire. The rumor in Texas is that Santa Anna was distracted with `the Yellow Rose of Texas,' and it did show him out of uniform as he escaped the attack on his horse, only to be caught later. And again, the thought that came to my mind was in each of our lives, what is it that we are willing to die for? What is our personal version of The Alamo?"