How About a Little More Happy?

It's time to leave the travails of the Boy Scouts in our rear view mirror and move on to more optimistic thoughts for the future. I was asked the other day why I would put that news front and center in my blog, and my reply was, "If I am going to chronicle our lives and times, it must include some dark clouds and thunderstorms once in a while or it wouldn't be accurate."

This summer has brought some welcome developments in our lives. Like the Olympics, we postponed for a year our family reunion due to COVID-19 restrictions. But this year we gathered for the first time in four years, and we had an unmitigated blast of fun, frivolity and spiritual feasting together. We gathered everyone - all twelve of our living children and their families were in attendance. The last time that happened was when our youngest daughter Merilee was married to Michael Litchfield, and even then it was only for about two hours for pictures at the reception. We felt as though we were all blessed for being there. Power comes when we are all united in the spirit of family love and togetherness that simply cannot be replicated on Zoom or Marco Polo. The strengthening of those family bonds was clearly in evidence.

Speaking of the Olympics, if you can disassociate from the increasing politicization of the messaging and the mind-numbing commercial interruptions, there was a lot to like. I loved watching the women's volleyball team's march to the gold. Men's basketball and women's basketball was mostly a yawner because they were expected to win, but the volleyball was fun to see. Fun to watch Rudy Gobert playing for France (they took silver), and Joe Ingles playing for Australia (they took bronze). I loved that Xander Schauffele and Nelly Korda walked away with gold in men's and women's golf. They were both beset with challenging fourth rounds, and yet both triumphed through the adversity. 

Swimming and gymnastics were also inspirational for a host of reasons. Who doesn't love Katie Ledecky? She has circumnavigated the globe in the number of miles she has put in while training and competing during her life, and she says she will be there in Paris in 2024 doing it again. Men's swimming was dominated by Caeleb Dressel. Faster, indeed! 

MyKayla Skinner and Simone Biles

Watching Simone Biles wrestle with her emotional and mental challenges, then return in the last possible moment to capture a bronze medal on balance beam was humbling and motivating. MyKayla Skinner snagged silver when Biles withdrew from the vault. For both those young women a long gymnastics career has finally come to its close. Both have overcome inestimable obstacles to set an example of perseverance and consistency. And who will forget Suni Lee capturing gold for America in the all-around gymnastics final? Not many would have predicted that outcome as the games began. There are always a hundred stories of the journeys each athlete has taken to be part of the Olympics. Who were some of your favorites during the Olympics? Why do you love their stories? 

Not many people gave the Tokyo games much of a chance of happening. COVID-19 was still raging in Japan, and the groundswell of opposition to the games from the locals was deafening. But the organizers and the athletes persisted and the result was a triumph of the human spirit. We should have learned something from watching these athletes who were beset with all kinds of ups and downs in preparation for their participation. When there is a will to do in the hearts of the participants, there will be a way to prevail. 

We had our first ward summer party in a long time this summer. It was a tribute to those who put it on that the participation was so strong. Great turnout, fun activities, and great food. It's hard to imagine just how isolated we have been, but this party illustrated that we are all better together than apart. I taught the elders quorum lesson last Sunday, and for the first time in I can't remember when it was not broadcast via Zoom, perhaps a harbinger of better things to come. So fun to once again be interacting face to face.

Since the family reunion our pot gut population has retreated to I don't know where. We reclaimed our territory, I guess, and our sheer numbers have scared them all off. Maybe you can examine your personal life and decide where you can take back some territory from the varmints that may have infested your world. It's a good thing for the pot guts that they've scattered, because now I have installed a 6x scope on my .22, and now that it's zeroed in they will not survive their interactions with me in the future. What installations are you making to fortify yourselves?

President Henry J. Eyring

I loved a video that came online today from President Henry J. Eyring of BYU-Idaho in which he is urging his students to get vaccinated if they can before they return to school in Rexburg. His comments were well-reasoned, including the need to be mindful of the residents of the small communities in Idaho which would surely be impacted if an outbreak were to occur there. He also cited concerns about the limited medical and hospital resources in the community. It seems like so many other things in our society, the need for vaccinations has become a political conversation having nothing to do with public health.

I'm watching the air quality index (AQI) every day now, as smoke from California and other western states continues to fill our skies in Utah. Remarkably, we here in Utah have been able reduce the number of huge wildfires this year, but our skies are shrouded with smoke from surrounding states that is fouling our air. Today the AQI has dropped to 109 (it was 151 on Monday) where I am, but that's still a number that has profound health implications. The particulates are smaller and more toxic than the usual winter inversions we suffer in Utah. 

I saw a remark by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) the other day where he said he hoped and prayed climate change was caused by man because then we might be able to do something about it. Wherever you land on that argument, be assured that we can and we must do what we can to reduce the harmful impacts we are witnessing this summer. If it isn't COVID-19, it's a variant. If it isn't drought, it's a flood. If it isn't wildfires here in Utah, it's wildfires in California or Montana. If it isn't vaccines, it's masks. If it isn't a government mandate, it's the opposition to a mandate somewhere. The debates seem exhausting don't they?

Let's agree on this: It's been a wonderful summer, and it's made us happier than last summer. So how about taking a giant scoop of a little more happy?