Dad's Cigars

 There it was; right at my feet on the sidewalk, the tip of a Tiparillo.

Suddenly I thought of my Dad...and my first (and last) experiment with smoking.

Dad smoked Tiparillo cigars while puttering around in the back yard. There must be thousands of those little plastic tips back there, even today. In the bushes, in the soil, by the fence...

And so it was a quick trip back to Memory Lane when I saw a Tiparillo tip beneath my feet tonight.

I was eight or nine. Bruce Harris and I were swinging in the back yard. The coals from the barbeque were turning to gray dust. And there was one of Dad's Tiparillos on the edge of the grill. He had left behind a stogie of about 3" in length.

With Bruce as my witness I put the temptation to my lips and took a loooong drag.

It was awful. I felt like throwing up and coughing all at once. But I didn't. I took a second puff. It was no better.

And that was my only experiment with smoking. 

For those who would like a peek at the TV commercial, follow the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDGzd2HcEpo

NEL came to visit

We had a nice visit with the Issaquah tribe for Thanksgiving.
It was fun to see the baby and watch his little personality emerge. And his parents were entertaining as well.
We went downtown to the Shedd.  (That's quite a feat since I won't go into the city without a really good reason.)
And we made turkey and pies and gingerbread houses.
We also passed around some flu bugs.  I think everyone is back to good health now.
I understand that they all enjoyed being home again.
Thanks for coming to visit! You are all awesome.

Our house is for sale

Our house is up for sale!
I came home yesterday to find that the realtor had planted a sign in the field next door .  I suppose that the traffic would see the sign first and then the house.

• Long driveway
• Two car garage
• Picture window
• Large living room
• Eat-in kitchen

Well, it was close but no cigar.  The house for sale is somewhere else on our street.  Not even close. Our house isn't brick and our lot isn't 2.5 acres.

Besides, we didn't put it on the market.

At least it isn't a mix-up with the demolition company.

Dad's Bday

Thanks to all for the wonderful birthday.  Actually, I'm not done yet.  My "cake" this year is a pie.  Lemon Meringue pie. (Weird spelling. I guess I've always spelled it wrong in the past.)
Our opportunity to have the pie will be tomorrow.

Historical note: I entered the mission home in Salt Lake on August 4th, FORTY YEARS AGO! Yikes!

Below are some photos of Rissa's cool card and some pens. (That brings the collection of unique pens to over 2,100.) Not shown are season 6 of Burn Notice, the prime rib dinner, me sitting on a saddle while they sang to me at the restaurant, or the new tools.

Getting Morganized

Lots of fun with the Seattle bunch.

There was Navy Pier, Willis Tower, Al's, swimming, Cubs game, water fight, i-Sing, church, Princess Diaries (Shut UP!), tacos, Snorta...

Well, you get the idea.

Sadly, the fireflies weren't quite ripe yet.

Thanks for the visit.

Yet another little one

Great news from Seattle!
We have a brand new grandson.
8 lbs 5 oz
20 1/2 inches
Name to follow
Congratulations to the happy, but very tired, parents.

The Old 11th Ward

I stumbled upon a write-up about a famous mural in the 11th Ward in Salt Lake where I grew up.

The old chapel was located at 131 South 10th East.  I don't remember much about it since I was six or seven when we moved out of it into the new chapel on First South.  So I was excited to see photos of the old chapel.

As a bonus I was able to learn more about the famous mural that was painted on the wall of the chapel circa 1919 by L. Ramsey.  The story goes that he was not too impressed by the painted vines he had to stare at behind the podium during Sacrament Meeting.

So he offered to paint the mural.  He actually had some financial support from the members to carry out the project.

The painting was of Joseph Smith receiving the plates from Moroni.  The title: The Restoration.

So, what did they do with the mural when they tore down the building?  They chiseled around it, encased it in concrete and sent it off to storage.

...and then forgot where they put it.  A family member asked about it and some brave soul went looking for it.  They found it not so well preserved behind a Deseret Press building.  It was falling apart.

After careful restoration of "The Restoration" it was placed in the 11th Ward once again.

What I recall being behind the choir seats was a blue ceramic tile background with some plants and shrubs.  The mural is a definite upgrade.

If anyone cares to check, there is a short video of the project here:
http://mormonartconservation.org/murals/mural-of-the-restoration-by-la-ramsey-found-and-restored/

And here's more about the artist and the original work:
http://home.comcast.net/~laramseyart/Joseph_Smith_Site/Restoration_Paintings.htm

(Note that there is a copy that found its way to the Chicago Temple courtesy of the Mickley family.  I'll be on the hunt to find it.)