My friend Lisa was recently diagnosed with aggressive cancer, and is about to enter an intense six-month treatment regime. She’ll be hammered with chemo and all the usual poisons, and she’s pretty scared.
Today I got an email from another friend, Paco, who was sending his message to all of the Boulder ultimate players who know Lisa. He’d just dropped off a plastic crate in front of her house. It’s labeled Box of Wonder and in it are crossword puzzles, old DVDs, homemade crafts, cards of sympathy and encouragement, and anything else people want to add. People are invited to drop by Lisa’s house and leave her a little surprise to get her through the tough days ahead.
Although I live a thousand miles away, it warms my heart that my ultimate friends are coming together to support this good woman who’s facing some hard times. Not only does it remind me how amazing the ultimate community is, it restores some of my faith in humanity. There are good people all around us. I hope I can be one to a friend in need.
After all the excitement in San Diego, we drove seven hundred miles north, back through Nevada and Arizona, and into Utah again. We stopped in St George to see the temple:
And then had dinner with four friends who’d served with us as senior missionaries in San Diego:
Eventually we arrived back at the Villa and enjoyed another few days with the posse there. It included an epic hour-long game of Jenga.
Much to his chagrin, Zack ended up collapsing the tower.
Finally it was time to say farewell to the kids.
We continued north, destined for Alex and Kaitlyn’s home, but stopped for dinner with another group of senior missionaries. Brent and his wife Jackie (who couldn’t join us that night) are actually serving another mission now– they support couples who are working on serving missions of their own. It sounds like a great gig.
Up in Tremonton we had a few more days with Alex, Kaitlyn, and the boys. At last it was time to go.
We drove over three thousand miles in ten days, and managed to spend time with sixty-two friends from our mission. And that wasn’t even all of them! I’m so grateful for the opportunity we had to live in California for a year and meet so many incredible people.
The Villa is right around the halfway point of our trek to El Centro, so we had a long drive ahead. We cruised through Arizona, Nevada, and finally hit the Golden State. This was one of the welcome signs.
We’d chosen not to bring the Tesla, because it would’ve added a few hours to our already long drives. As we crossed into California and saw the gas prices, though, I was wondering whether that extra time would’ve been worth it. No matter– we were here and just had to grit our teeth while we filled the tank.
It wasn’t long before the temperature was over a hundred degrees. Normally March is a pretty nice month in southern Cal: a nice warm eighty. But this pesky heat dome was baking everything. We finally arrived in the Imperial Valley and definitely had to stop at the Dunes.
We’d been there so many times, and had a lot of good memories of the warm soft sand. After hiking up a few of them, we headed to dinner in ol’ El Centro. Jerry and Keja met us there, and we had a happy reunion.
The next few days were a whirlwind of seeing friends, sharing meals, and remembering all the things we saw and did for a year in this little corner of the world.
Lunch with Tracy and Teresa at our favorite sandwich shop, Brickhouse Deli…
A few hours with Eileen and HV (who’s chair-bound but still has an indomitable spirit)…
Then dinner with part of the Brawley gang, including Dave, Vicki, Ben, Lee, Dale, and Karen…
We attended the Institute class we used to teach, and snapped a photo with Willa…
The next morning we woke up just after five to drive 30 miles to seminary. The class is smaller than when we taught, but four of “our kids”— Heidi, Amanda, Tyler, and Dael– are still getting up crazy early to learn about the gospel (the fifth is a freshman we hadn’t met until then).
After seminary we enjoyed a chat with Stacy, who’s as bubbly as always at seven in the morning…
We spent about an hour walking around Bucklin Park with our co-teacher Jen as she gave us all the news…
We worked up an appetite and headed over to a cafe for some breakfast with Elder and Sister Johnson, who are the senior missionaries who replaced us. We had a great time swapping stories about all the people we know in common, and hearing how their mission is going. Every couple has a different experience, and they’re learning (as we did) that missions are what you make of them.
We spent a couple hours with Stephen and Toni, who are about to move to Arizona after thirty-seven years in the same house in El Centro…
After that we popped in on Wayland and Brenda, who are always hilarious…
Lunchtime! We went back to Brickhouse Deli for a meal with my lunch buddy Woody and his fiery wife Marilyn…
To my great pleasure but not surprise, we ran into our friend Heather (and her mom Sue) at the deli. I was always bumping into her there…
That evening we arranged a dinner with the young adults and had a great time eating and catching up. We’re thrilled to see that the group has grown by a few people since we were last with them…
After dinner it was time for the other Institute class. No matter that the lesson was the same as the night before (the Johnsons did it the same way we had); we loved seeing Lorraine and Judy again…
We also bumped into Nathan, which was a fun surprise…
Then we had another early morning. We found out there was a food distribution during our brief time in town, and couldn’t resist lending a hand. Cari and Roberto were shocked and thrilled to see us…
Then it was time for Roots class, which is always a hoot. While waiting for class to start, we snapped a selfie with Zera, Judy (again), Licia, and Tamra…
After class we invited everyone to lunch, and caught up with Michelle, John, Margo, Mel, Stacy, and Woody…
Our packed days in El Centro had come to an end. But our reunions weren’t over quite yet. We drove an hour west into El Cajon to meet up with Sisters Johnson and Tennis, two of the young missionaries we’d served with (and some of the only ones we still know in the San Diego Mission)…
Both of them are finishing their missions soon, and it was so fun to see them again. Our final stop in San Diego was dinner and an evening with Robin and Jan, another of the senior missionary couples…
The four days went so fast, but we absolutely packed them full of friends and fun.
A few weeks ago, Pepper and I decided we wanted to visit our friends in California. We met so many amazing people during our mission there, and we missed them. It’s been almost a year since we finished, and it’s not too hot in the Imperial Desert yet, so we packed up and headed south.
It’s a long way to El Centro– about 1,400 miles– so we made a few stops in Utah along the way. First we had to see little William, who’s already bigger and more engaged than he was a few weeks ago. He doesn’t sleep all the time, and smiles and laughs a lot.
Alex taught us a new board game, and we spent a few hours haunting an island to scare off explorers.
I snapped a selfie with my grandsons. Ollie continues to be a bit of a stoic.
Continuing south brought us to the Salt Lake City area, where we met up with Kyra and Cil at the temple.
At lunch afterward, I grabbed fireman’s hats for everyone. Jim wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
Then we made a quick stop at Tara’s to see her renovated basement (it’s nice) and a couple of our grand-nieces.
Off to the Villa! We hung out with Kyra, Zack, and Hannah for a few days. That included a trip to the newly-finished temple in Lindon.
At dinner one night, I couldn’t resist the little rocket ship on the sidewalk outside. Apparently it wasn’t designed for adults.
The girls didn’t quite fit the old-fashioned car, either.
The weather was unseasonably warm (the entire West was experiencing a “heat dome”) so it felt a little odd to be walking around in shorts, but I wasn’t complaining. We loved our time in Utah, and after a few days it was time to continue our trip…
Today is March 14, which of course is Pi Day. Never one to pass up an opportunity for a party, I rounded up a group of friends and invited them to celebrate this auspicious day. We had an impressive spread of sandwich fixings (in the foreground) and pies (in the background):
My friend James, always the engineer, decided to bring an “imaginary pie” complete with Euler’s Formula. He and I might’ve been the only people there who understood the joke.
It was a grand time, and I thoroughly enjoyed sampling a whole bunch of pies. (I admit I returned to the cherry pie several times.)
After a winter with a record-setting lack of snow and cold days, it was exciting to wake up to a world of white.
We have nearly a foot of snow on the ground, and another foot on the way. It won’t make up for the dearth of snow these past few months, but it’s something. And it’s a great reminder of how beautiful winter days can be.
It’s been a few years since Thom and his family came out for a ski day. We’d visited him back in November, and had a grand time. Despite bleak ski conditions here in the Valley, we decided to give it a go.
As it turned out, the mountain wasn’t too bad. Sefton– now a big nine-year-old– did great on his skis. He’d zip through the trees, and wanted to ride the lift back up with Uncle Cosmo.
Hadley, who’s only four, is still getting her ski legs. She was happy to go down the bunny hill ad infinitum, but some coaxing from Mom and Dad finally got her on the “big hill”. She was so proud after finishing a run, and excited to ride the “grown-up lift” with me.
In addition to skiing, of course we did some hiking. It was an easy little trail down to the lake, and the kids both had fun throwing rocks and seeing how cold the water was. Hadley is definitely Daddy’s little girl.
We wandered Bigfork, warmed up in the hot tub, played hide-and-seek, made pizza, and watched a movie. It was fun to just be together, regardless of the activity. I love my nephew and niece. And Thom and Katie are pretty cool too.
Pepper’s sister and her husband have been living in Belize for about eight months. They’re serving a senior mission, much as we did in San Diego last year. In many ways, their mission experience has been similar to ours… but it’s also been very different. Often when people think of Belize or see photos, there are beautiful white-sand beaches and sunny skies over the ocean. That’s not what most of the country looks like, though. It’s a hot, humid jungle with a scattered population who lives mostly in poverty.
When they invited us to come down to visit, we were excited for the opportunity. We scheduled some flights and headed south for a week in Central America.
Upon arriving, we learned that customs isn’t terribly efficient. At one point I snapped a picture of the line we were in. What’s not visible here is the line behind us, which is at least as long, and the line that turns the corner at the end of this hallway and continues for another hundred feet.
Needless to say, it took a while to get from the airport tarmac to our rental car.
Once we had wheels, we headed across the country– about a two-hour drive– and spent five days with Dave and Jeanele. They were excellent tour guides, taking us to several places they’d visited and enjoyed. We started at Caracol, a Mayan site with massive temples, a palace, game courts, and scattered residences. It was easily the most impressive set of ruins I’ve visited.
Unlike many other sites we’ve seen, we were free to climb all the monuments, explore nooks, and roam at will. It was so cool to see the Mayan writing and carvings everywhere.
From the top of one of the temples, it’s possible to see Guatemala– it’s the ridge on the horizon here:
There were several armed guards patrolling the ruins; apparently they have problems with Guatemalans crossing the border and stealing things. It wasn’t clear to me what was being stolen– Mayan relics? Rocks? Valuable jungle fruits? Regardless, the jungle is so thick it’s hard to imagine how one could get through the underbrush without heavy machinery.
We spent hours wandering the site. It was so interesting.
Afterward we went to Big Rock Falls, a nearby waterfall and river. Of course the guys went swimming and climbed under the waterfall, while the ladies watched from afar and waited for someone to get washed downstream.
We enjoyed some ice cream at Dave’s second-favorite ice cream shop in the area. What you can’t tell from this photo is that across the street, in the tree half-visible at top center, were hundreds of birds that were screaming so loudly we literally had to shout to be heard above the racket.
Although they win for volume, their shrieks were nothing compared with the cries of the howler monkeys in the jungle. The noises they make as they preen and threaten one another are the fuel of nightmares.
We went kayaking for seven miles through a network of caves, but have no photos because they said it was risky to bring a camera. We also went spelunking through a different set of caves, where cameras are strictly forbidden because too many tourists have dropped them and broken priceless Mayan artifacts. Instead, we just looked on in amazement at pottery (and human skeletons!) that are literally 1,500 years old.
On my birthday we decided to go to Guatemala. With the guidance of a neighbor who’s a Guatemalan native, we went to a “real” marketplace. It wasn’t one of those tourist traps where you can buy overpriced t-shirts and hats that say “Guatemala” or “Belize” on them. Nope. Instead, we saw a gazillion t-shirts and hats emblazoned with American brands and sports team logos. Apparently the locals all enjoy looking American. I’m sure it was all properly licensed.
Although many of the houses in Belize are run-down or even crumbling, they’re painted in vibrant colors. Here are a couple of examples:
The variety of colors is astonishing– every bright shade you can imagine is used somewhere. It made me wish that HOAs in America would allow a larger color palette, instead of the spectrum of beige that seems to be popular these days.
In addition to sightseeing, we met neighbors and friends, and just sat around playing games and chatting. We heard stories of crazy mission experiences, hard work, and the struggle to help people in the community who have significant needs. Despite the poverty, people here seem happy and content. It’s definitely a different way of life.
Our time came to an end much too soon, and we crossed back to the coast and boarded our plane in Belize City. It was a great trip.
Too many times I’ve been driving around the area and spotted an amazing photo opportunity, only to realize I didn’t have my camera with me. (And by “camera” I mean my real camera, not the tiny thing on my phone.) So I’ve started keeping the camera in the car, just in case something catches my eye.
Today it did. The sun was sinking in the west, and Woods Bay was smooth as glass. I stopped the car, jumped out, and walked down to a dock on the shoreline.
It’s definitely nice to have a camera for moments like this.
We headed down to Utah for a visit, and had fun seeing little William. He’s two months old now, and starting to exhibit fun facial expressions.
Kaitlyn’s family dropped in as well, and we took the opportunity to snap a picture of all the men (and boys). Here are William and Oliver with their dad, uncle, both grandpas, and a great-grandpa!
After a couple days of fun with the boys, it was time to head north again. As we were leaving, Oliver wanted a picture with his Grandma Pepper and Grandpa Cosmo.
