4.29.2016

Friday's Find-Horsehoe Mountain Pottery

 I love that my wanders take me on unexpected adventures with destinations unknown.  There is something about waking up in the morning and not knowing where your day will end.
 My adventure in Spring City was to no different.  It was as if a magnet was pulling me to Joe Bennion and Horshoe Mountain Pottery.
 I found Horshoe Mountain pottery on a pamplet at a local visitors' center. I noticed it because my grandfather was a potter.  I had hoped that I might even catch Joe Bennion at the Potter's wheel.
 My meeting Joe Bennion was more than a coincidence.... it was a tender mercy.  Upon walking into Joe's studio, there was an instant connection... and there was.

 I told Joe that my grandfather was a potter and had taught Art at BYU and asked him if he might throw a pot for me.
 Joe asked me who my grandfather was and I told him, "Max Weaver."  He replied, "any kid of Max's is a kid of mine."
 Amazingly enough, Joe had been a student of Max's at BYU years ago.  
 I was mesmerized by Joe's hands as they crafted a pot.  It was incredibly beautiful as his hands turned the potter's wheel.
 my mind traveled to all of the times I had watched my grandfather work his magic on the wheel.  I love those memories and I felt so blessed to watch one of his students do the same.
 I loved meeting Joe Bennion and watching him work.  I love Spring City and my adventure there.  There is a story to be shared everywhere.


 I am not sure my photos do his work justice, but if you are ever in Spring City stop by and take a look for yourself!  

 Thanks Joe Bennion for my moment with you on the potter's wheel.  It will forever be a cherished memory!


































4.27.2016

Wednesday Write, spring lilacs



The mix of rain drops and lilacs- intoxicating.  It was this scent, the scent of the lilacs that carried me home on a wet spring day in Southern Utah.  My car took me "there" and to the lilacs. Every spring, I built a fort under the lilacs and spent nearly everyday after school in my own "never, never land."

 It had been 19 years since I stepped foot on that front porch- 19 years.  What a strange feeling it was to  knock on the door of the house that I called home for 23 years. I wanted fresh lilacs for my table, but not any fresh lilacs, my fresh lilacs.  Lilacs from 116 North 200 East. Of course I needed the owner's permission.

 I approached the doorsteps with trepidation.  I wasn't really sure I wanted to actually meet the person that  lived in the home that housed my entire collection of childhood memories.

I knocked.  She was not quite the person I would have chosen for my little red brick house- a female version of the neighborhood legend, "Homicide Chuck." She even had a dog in the house- this will kill my mom.

I hope she hears our echoes.  The echoes made by the seven children who grew up under the elm trees and played in the lilacs.  It was those very lilacs that served as the home run line for our front yard baseball games. There was a game there everyday!

2nd East had its treasures- its people- Ike Nelson, the Cossletts, Suzy and Zona, Peggy and Cordon Walker, Hugh Cheever, Annie Mcdonald, Daisy Sorenson, Elvyn and Venetta Webster, George and Ada Jones, Alta and Sid Porter, Emil and Thora Roundy, Lois Mconnell, Blanche and Henry Dotson, Dell and Edith Slack, Kay and Lajean Knell, and Mel and Ila Murie.

2nd East was my paradise.  Its wide street, vacant lots, alleys, tall grass, dirt clods, and abandoned barn created the backdrop for my childhood adventures.

Only Dell and Edith Slack remain. But like the lilacs, they wont linger much longer.  Thankfully, my memories and the scent of the lilacs will. 




4.25.2016

Marvelous Monday's Mormon Mother Monologue

I sit here blogging and think of Tillie Olsen ironing.  The April rain pounds the asphalt as I count the drops.  Today... Monday madness- laundry, weekend cleanup, upload info for seleck's mission papers, insurance coverage out of country? Stockton, truck driver's license, football, ankle injury, Madsen, guitar, baseball- I  hope it's not the late game, twitter, tweet, text messaging, facebook, ugh, Maleck, he will want to play when he gets home... misses Emma, me too!

Don't forget to type the itinerary for their trip.  Travis and Emma, Pennsylvania, Valley Forge, Patriot Award, "Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth... dryer beeps switch the laundry.  George Washington, Philadephia, Liberty Bell. We hold these truths to be self evident... I love history.  I am always the the travel agent, never the traveler. I must not forget to sort Stockton's laundry in  basement, pick Madsen up from school- I hope he is smiling.

Seleck works at 4- Pizza Factory.   I waited tables there, 1990- youngest waitress ever hired, 15.  Bill Kringlen, Rotary- It is going to be a cold baseball game tonight- better bundle up.  Stockton, football after school, I can't forget to rotate his laundry.

Must make sure to call university for Seleck's scholarship status...citizen verification form. GHA, Presidential Ambassador, 1 of 10 from 500 chosen, "What win I, if I gain the thing I seek? A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy? Sterling scholar 1992- 24 years I still remember. Hyrum Smith. Seleck sterling scholar 2016, " who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy case; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, Theodore Roosevelt.

Pans clatter-Madsen makes mess in the kitchen, FACS biscuit recipe, watches TV... patience.  My fingers reach for more words, I think of Tillie Olsen.  I blog, why?

My grandfather Weaver told me I paint pictures with words- He was an artist. God told me to keep a daily journal-he is God.  My grandfather Hofheins told me that all those potatoes and meat I was eatin' would catch up with me- he was a cattle farmer.  I'll show him I said-- age 41- body age of 31, 133 pounds, body fat 28%... I'll show him.  The rain makes me want to run... Dr. Coach, CHS, Track days, chasing Rigby,  "What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?"  I won Rigby, 5 children, a happy life...

I blog, to remember, to dare greatly... facebook, Ally Condie Cedar city Native comes to town, New York times best selling author, "what win I, If I gain the thing I seek?"  The book in my head, echoes, 2nd East, David Lee, SUU, Kay Cook,SS Moorty, Julie Simon- the greats...My life changed- Children's Lit, David Lee's magic, his religion- poetry.

My religion? Christ, Joseph Smith, my family.  Mia Maid- Personal Progress, Young Womanhood Award,  Sunday lessons, Wednesday night Activities, time... sacrifice. I must not forget to rotate the laundry... What win I, if I gain the thing I seek...." time to pick up Maleck.  Is it raining in Valley Forge, take pictures! "If he fails, at least he fails while greatly trying." dryer beeps.

To Theodore and Will, and David Lee, and Tillie I sit here blogging.... the rain has stopped. after all,   April is the cruelest month?