Who knows where the time goes..

Sometimes it is challenging to accept that you have a one way ticket on the escalator of time and space. Everyone else is there with you. As you get older you seem to become more aware of this reality. Perhaps that is because when we are young we are so eager to get to the next day, next week, next birthday! Things change. I have started to understand, in the slightest degree, the way our grandparents and even parents feel about days gone by, "the way things used to be." I am too young to be having "the way things used to be" moments, and yet I find myself in conversations about strange devices called floppy disks, or watching a 12 year old on the bus look at a man's portable CD player like it was from outer space, or looking back at music or TV shows from my youth that I thought were so hip but now appear unmistakably cheesy. One example however that stands out in my mind is the impact of progress on areas where I had a real sense of place.

When I was in my very early teens my friend Trent Johnson and I would go rabbit hunting out near Cedar Fort, Utah (west of Lehi). Trent was more of a hunting enthusiast than I (when his Dad went hunting, he had every intention of actually getting a deer... I discovered after years of hunting with MY dad and uncles that the worst possible thing that could happen on their deer hunt is that someone would shoot (and have to deal with) a dead deer). Trent and I had taken hunter safety together and viewed ourselves as skilled outdoorsman. We were, however, skilled outdoorsman who had to have our mom's drive us out to our hunting grounds. Once you left Lehi or, Bluffdale, this area was pretty much the sticks. We really developed a connection with a specific area and loved our Saturday afternoons out there. We rarely killed anything, but always had fun.
Years later I asked a girl from school(USU) out. It was summer time and she was staying with family in Utah Valley. She gave me directions and I agreed to pick her up. As I followed the directions I realized that I was generally heading towards my old hunting grounds. She mentioned that the relatives she was staying with were a young family. It seemed strange that they would be on a farm out there. As I followed the road out towards Cedar Fort I started doubting the directions... I must have taken a wrong turn...this cant be right. Then suddenly I noticed a newer looking apartment complex... then another... then a subdivision, then three subdivisions!!!! It was like discovering a whole new civilization... like Will Smith in Independence Day.. I was flabbergasted. It was utterly astounded how quickly this area, that I would have guessed would remain undeveloped for decades to come, had become quite literally a city in a matter of a few years.

Time indeed marches on. I think of Annie's grandmother who is 95. She has watched the Wasatch Front go from being a few larger towns with satellite villages into an endless fabric of cities and suburbs. For better or worse, it is part of what happens here on earth. We learn, we relearn, we adjust, we adapt... and yes, amid all of the convenience and progress, we even yearn for what we've lost.... except for floppy disks....

Heppy Halloveen

I know Halloween gets some bad press, and it is sort of a weird holiday to explain, justify, or responsibly relate to. Yet I feel a warm fuzzy when I think of Halloween. It isn't a Christmas or Thanksgiving fuzzy... but its not far off. Maybe it is just the celebration of this time of year, which is a stellar season. I wont say it has nothing to do with goblins or ghouls... because in a way.. it does (although more of a Charlie Brown version of goblins than a Nightmare on Elm Street version.

Recently Annie and I attended some Halloween parties. We have sort of lamed out on dressing up for Halloween the last few years. This year we thought we needed to at least make an effort. Still we weren't interested in spending much money. We figured we would approach the process organically and went to our favorite thrift store with an open mind. the idea soon developed that we could take an exercise theme. We decided that "awkward" needed to be incorporated, (especially after finding me some uncomfortably short running shorts--and I don't mean uncomfortable for me). After finding Annie a random speed skating suit from Australia, it was sealed--- our theme would simply be: "really awkward exercise couple" the guiding question was: "If you were walking your dog in the park, and a couple jogged past you... what would it take to for that to be the most awkwardly amusing experience it could be?" We tried to achieve this within reason.



I also thought it had been too long since we posted a Moby update. This is a pic of him fully aware of how much trouble he was in after getting into the garbage (it is hard to stay mad at something so cute).

A Mystery... Once Again...

Read about this this morning. Apparently experts have been able to prove beyond doubt that the skeleton found earlier this year in the desert of southern Utah was NOT that of Everett Ruess's. Apparently there was some jumping to conclusions, and some mistakes made on the DNA side of things. So you decide, is it better news that Everett's Story remains a mystery? or is it sad that we have been robbed of some answers.... I like the mystery... maybe I still have a chance of stumbling into his remains or belongings in the wildlands of southeastern Utah!!

Here is the article, enjoy:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=8397489

An Uncanny Resemblance...

The first time I saw a picture of Joan Baez on one of her albums (probably 15 years ago), I remember thinking: "She looks a lot my Mom when she was a teenager."

Last night on American Masters(PBS) they did a profile of Joan Baez. I have generally only seen pictures of her. After watching her for an hour or so, I just couldn't get over the uncanny resemblance she has to my mom. Particularly her phases of life. The long straight hair (60's), the shorter cut (70s-80s), and the salt and pepper look (today). There were times when it was just crazy how much she reminded me of my mother. Annie agreed.

You and Joan were both very attractive young people Mom, and you have both aged very well! You could definitely pass for Joan's sister if nothing else. Here are some comparison pics (they don't do it justice, not to mention I don't have much of a selection of older (60's) pics, which are the best matches.

Craters and Shakespeare...

Annie and I returned late last night from the shortest... but funnest of road trips. We have wanted for some time to go to the Oregon Shakespearean Festival. It is sort of a tradition now (this would be our third year). I usually get Annie tickets for her birthday... but I got something else this year. We decided we had better do it while we can, so Annie took off this last Saturday and we put together a fairly ad-hoc trip.

We decided to make Crater Lake part of the trip (partially inspired by Ken Burns new PBS documentary). We meandered through Highway 138, along the stunning North Umpqua River, and stayed at a humble yet homey little cabin resort at Union Creek (about 20 miles from Crater lake). I recommend it! The cabin was sort of ghetto, but charming in its own way. The resort is also right next to the Rogue River Gorge, which was really stunning (even at half light).

The next day we decided to dedicate the morning to a hike at Crater Lake. What a great morning! The angle of the sun in Autumn is easily my favorite... there is just something about it. It always reminds me of deer hunts as a kid. We stopped in to the Crater Lake lodge and stretched. On our 3.5 mile hike, we only passed one or two groups (until the end). The hike (up Garfield Peak) provided us stunning views of the lake. You really have to see Crater Lake to get the scope of it. Its not only how Huge it is, but also how straight down the cliffs are (how far down the lake is from the rim). They have some great park facilities there to explain the geologic history of the site (it collpased, more than exploded... very interesting).

After our hike we meandered down Highway 62 towards Medford. This was a gorgeous drive through a landscape very different than the Willamette Valley (where we live). I loved it!! Madrones, oak savannahs, even ASPENS here and there. We pulled into Ashland about 4:00. Our first stop was to get tickets (we didn't have any and were not at all certain (if not doubtful) we would be able to get any). The pleasantly hippie cashier was very nice and gave us some options and tips. We got standing room tickets for "Don Quixote." We meandered the streets of Ashland for a bit. Ashland is nestled against a mountain and has a sort of Austria in Southern Oregon feel to it. Its very pleasant. We stopped in for a lovely Italian dinner, the place had a really nice atmosphere. Even the loud woman behind us, trying to corrupt her nieces and my overly done pasta, weren't enough to break our pleasant mood.

Although standing for a three hour play is not ideal, it was surprisingly achievable. The play was fun. I have always enjoyed Cervante's story of a slightly dillusional and endearing optimist, and this play was a fun take on it.

All in all we had a great time! And back in time to teach my deacon's quorum lesson on Sunday.

The KING of Inconvenience...

In the Spring of 2003 I was at work (at the City of Logan) listening to a online NPR music station out of LA (KCRW), when a song came on the station that caused me stop everything I was doing. I remember literally stopping immediately and thinking… this is unbelievable! They did not announce who it was. I racked my mind to remember some of the lyrics so that I could track the song down… I was genuinely panicked. I remember that I ended up having to search the online playlist of the show, and I actually listened to 4 or 5 of the songs before I found “Homesick” by the Kings of Convenience. At that time they were just releasing their second album. The next two months of life were steeped in KOC tunes. There first album “Quiet is the New Loud” said it all. It was exactly what I was looking for at that time. Two voices, two guitars, pleasant anglo-norwegian harmonies…

Annie became a fan quickly. After about 6 months, KOC made their way to the US on an extremely limited tour (10 cities) One of the stops was San Francisco. I decided I couldn’t miss it. My sister Rachel was living in San Fransisco at the time, and we recruited Annie’s roommate (also Rachel) to come along. We headed out on a Friday, for a Saturday night show. Ahh Nevada…. Before we left Annie agreed to pick up a guys’ surfboard in Reno and bring it back to Logan… with my Honda Accord. I was not happy, but I was also atypically indifferent about it and maintained a “we’ll see” attitude.

The show was amazing, we got to see them up close and the show was incredible. Another great artist “Feist” opened for and played with them. It was everything I wanted it to be. We could walk to and from the venue from Rachel’s apartment in downtown SF.

The Sierras were beautiful, and as we descended into Reno, I remembered our daunting task… the surfboard. We arrived at Shane Dyer’s house nice and early. His mom was so nice and had goodies all ready for us. The surfboard challenge went from obnoxious to a closely observed and analyzed test of my manly capacity to secure this ginormous object to the top of my sedan. My testosterone levels kept me from considering that this was a stupid idea. After about 40 minutes I had the thing snug on top of the car. We started out.. everything was fine… until we started going over 50 miles per hour… then things got interesting… the board was like a big sail. I am surprised we didn’t take flight. I began having visions of the board breaking free and sailing through the windshield of a mini-van decapitating the unsuspecting family right in the middle of the chorus of Old McDonald. We stopped for a council at a truck stop about 40 miles east of Reno. The council was heated; Take the surfboard back? No way, then I will have wasted 3 hours of life; drive at 45 miles per hour across Nevada? I would rather drive the surfboard back to San Fransisco; Stuff the surfboard INTO the car? Yeah right there is no w…. wait a second .. yeah lets try that.

In an act that only prayer and brief fasting could have allowed to realize, we defied the laws of physics and stuffed that surfboard into the car. The back end was pressed “firmly” against the back corner of the trunk, and the tip was pressed firmly against the opposite corner of the windshield. Annie sat in the front seat UNDER the surfboard, while Rachel sat next to the surfboard in a fairly contorted fashion (and without a seatbelt, which she reminded us of the rest of the way home). Form the drivers seat, I could see neither one of them.

At 1:00 am as we drove near the Utah-Nevada border (near Snowville). The amusing thought came to me of the impression the officer who would pull us over would have when he saw a dude, two ladies, lots of luggage and a surfboard stuffed in an Accord… and in the middle of the Great Basin… Glad it never happened.

Had we been further removed from the high of the Kings of Convenience concert we might not have made it. Oh and Shane (my future brother-in-law… another story) was very happy to have his board to take to Mexico the next week. Anything for family right… even if you don’t know they are….

All this simply to announce that the Kings of Convenience have a new album!!! After 5 years… I am so excited…. “Declaration of Dependence” will be released October 20th, 2009. Here is a teaser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yanODtMA7Vg

Touchin in....

Just wanted to share a few pics from our brief trip down to Utah last week for my littlest sister Deborah's wedding. It was a great time! Dan and I even got to be the soundtrack for the reception (well us and the rest of lokalgrown). The whole family was together for the first time in quite a few years. We spent a lot of quality family time together. Including a trip up and over Guardsman Pass and into Park City. I was pleased to see the pass hadn't changed much, but was shocked at how Park City seems to continue to creep over the mountain.. pretty soon my parents house will be a suburb of Park City.

The colors were amazing. My favorite tree, without question, is the aspen. They were looking great at Guardsman.

It was great to see all of you family. I felt especially privileged to get to spend some quality time with the Moss boys. They sure are growing up!!! We sure love and miss you all.

Congrats Deb and Stephen, and good luck!

Jake