Spring Camellias

April 10, 2006

Spring Camellias

Dear Family,

This was the view from our bedroom window Sunday morning. Our camellia is blooming beautifully just as the daffodils are fading. I hired Matt Sullivan to mow our meadow (our mower is dead) Saturday and so our "estate" is looking better.

I also hired Matt’s father, Gary Sullivan, to repair a rotten bathroom floor and walls in the Sunset apartments last week. He has been "in between" full time jobs for several years now, making do with all kinds of temporary employment. He does good and conscientious work. In church Sunday morning, the Sullivan family sat in the pew in front of us and I thought of the blessing of being able to employ people who need work, family and otherwise. When I worked for "Killer Ken’s Termite and Pest Control" while going to law school, I admired the position Ken Kenworthy was in - owned a business that gave him the ability employ people in his ward and acquaintance who needed work. I formed a goal for my life at that time that I would like to one day own a business where I could likewise employ people who needed the work - that was a kind of "rich life" I sought after. Thirty years later, I think all of my children and many of our friends have been employed in some capacity, if even for only a few hours and some for more than a few years, in my law office, and several of you have worked in the Pixton Properties projects and some in Kaaren’s school art residencies and installations. My last letter about my sons and daughter plowing my fields illustrated that. So, sitting in the church pew, I counted my blessings and saw the realization of at least one of my life’s goals.

Saturday night Kaaren and I saw Cirque De Soleil’s show "Varekai" under their colorful circus tents. The over-the-top creativity is hard to comprehend. The freedom and beauty of the art, the clothing, the music, the kinetic energy of dance and circus aerobatics in costume makes our everyday lives seem so banal. Kaaren rode home grieving for her lack of ability to achieve everything that comes to her mind. This is what eternal lives(s) are for, I guess. When Kaaren has more ideas each day than even a large cultural art foundation could fund, you need a grander sphere to bring those ideas to life. But we can start here and I want nothing more than to enable her to produce all she can before she wears out this mortal coil.

This last Sunday was not one for quiet contemplation, peeling oranges while lounging with the newspaper. Here was my schedule: We started with Music and the Spoken Word at 8:30 am. 9:30 , Ward Council; 10:30 Choir Practice; 11:30 Sacrament Meeting; 12:45 Sunday School; 1:45: HP Quorum Meeting; 3:00 Home Teaching at Fouchees (OK, this is not your typical home teaching assignment - Lloyd and Sandra Hale and Kaaren and I meet at Foushees for Sunday break-the-fast dinner and discussion); 4:00 Marylhurst Symphony (one of my choir members was soloist for the Mozart Halleluia aria); 6:00 telephone and fax with Ed Winkler going over music he wants on the Organ to back up a solo in two weeks in church; 6:30 help Kyrstyn with her tax return; 7:00 Birthday gathering for Jason at Atacks place; 10:00 home for the remainder of rest and relaxation.

Friday evening Kaaren and I went to dinner (Chinese in L/O) with three other couples in the ward - Bishop Mike and Carol, Fuhrimans and Rasmussens. We had a very enjoyable discussion - almost completely about ways to improve teaching and raising of youth in the ward. Don’t you think it is wonderful that this was the focus of these couples evening out together? Speaking about the upcoming screening of STATES OF GRACE in this area, I was stunned to hear that two of those couples had never heard of the film, God’s Army. So many have no idea that there is actually good cinema out there by LDS film makers.

Last night at Courtney and Jason’s birthday gathering, I loved holding Ashlynn for a while. It is hard to believe that each one of you was at one time a tiny snuggling bundle perfectly happy to be held and held and held. At one point, Jared mentioned picking blueberries in his youth but being outworked by an "elderly couple" that were 50 or 60 years old. I think of the stages of our lives. Kaaren will be 60 in a couple of weeks and I will follow her into the ranks of the "elderly" in about 6 months. My though so far is that I would never go back. I have enjoyed and celebrated each state of life - this coming "elderly" stage is richer than you can imagine. Hard, too, but rich as well.

I hope you are writing in a journal or something. I think too much of our lives, though deeply felt and experienced at the time, goes by with the current of time unaccounted for and lost to your family. It is hard, but try to pick out the pieces that are worth remembering and save them for your posterity.

Enough for now.

Love,

Dad