Category: Annals

Early blog posts about church and family

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Comfort Zones

Recently, as restrictions have eased, I have come to realize how much a hermit I had become. I arrive at church and head directly for my pew. After church, I head straight to the door. On walks, I will acknowledge a hello, but never instigate one on my own. The same for grocery stores and other public places.

I decided the last few weeks to step out of my comfort zone again and rejoin with my fellow saints and citizens of this fair planet. I make it a point to get to church early, then linger at the back as others come into the chapel. After church, I strike up a conversation with at least two people, and that usually turns into more. I delight in renewed friendships, and the fledgling promise of new ones. I find myself smiling more and listening more intently. It is a two mile walk to church, during which I was engrossed in my own thoughts. Now, it gives me time to contemplate friendships new and renewed, and what I can do during the week to further those relationships.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

On walks and other public places, I greet others that pass with a smile and hello, good morning or good evening. Most respond favorably, though there are still a few curmudgeons out there, focused far too inward to acknowledge. I have yet to stop and engage in conversation with a total stranger, but I am figuring out how to do even that. And yes, comfort zone is a tiny dot in the rear view mirror.

An interesting and unexpected side effect of all of this is that I spend more time looking around as I walk. While searching for those to greet, I find myself admiring cloudscapes, gardens, yards and ponds along the way. Working on my sense of belonging has heightened all my senses. The pandemic may not be over, but we can still take every opportunity to cast off the pall that has settled over us the last year and renew our place among family, friends and strangers.

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Families

I just returned from spending a month with family. Time with my daughter and her family who live two hours South. Two other granddaughters also came to stay, and we toured the city and spent time at the beach. I then spent another week with my children at the family cabin in Bear Lake, Utah. During these family interactions, I thought briefly about all the things I could be doing at home; working on articles, working on websites, working on my home, tending my garden.

My 18 month old grandson Gavin brought me back to reality. He adores his Papa and I adore him. He watches me carefully to make sure I am not leaving him, and constantly tracks me down with outstretched arms to be held.  There is nothing more important in this world that we can do than hold a child. Why he clings to me so fiercely, I do not know, except I believe these Tiny Ones can see into our souls. Fresh from the presence of God, they see us as God sees is. The love they extend to us is a brush of the hand of our Divine Creator.

It takes me several days to recover from these family excursions. Tired, yes, and a sadness to be back to my empty house and away from the bedlam and chaos generated by a gaggle of posterity rampaging the premises. Time at the cabin is the most bitter sweet, the childhood home of my late wife LaNae, the place I proposed to her decades ago, a place of engaging memories, past and present that I can no longer share with her, but bind her to me. I am pleased that my children are making memories with their own spouses and children. Bonds to tie them together and to me.

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Motivations for this site

Other than my mission, I have not kept much of a journal. During my wife’s illness and after her death, I was not willing to or even able to share much and there were so many stories that need to be told. During this pandemic, I decided it was time to write down some of my family stories and to capture my observations on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and life in general. I wanted to learn how to build a web site, so posting these essays and photos here was good motivation.

I love stories, it is my favorite way of learning as well as teaching. Some of these stories I have been noodling for many years, others I started during this pandemic. In writing these stories I have come to recognize how often the Lord has intervened in my behalf, and in behalf of my family. Writing down the events of our lives is more than keeping a journal for posterity. For me, it is a way of remembering. As I write these stories, memories flood back, insight is sharpened and lessons relearned.

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Infrared Photography

Photo by Tim Frodsham

The early infrared images in this website were taken with Kodak HIE infrared film and processed using TMAX chemistry. Additional pictures were processed using Kodak’s negative B&W to slide chemistry. The film and the slide chemistry are no longer available.

Kodak HIE film was originally used for industrial purposes such as crop surveys. The green deciduous leaves, when healthy, reflect back most of the infrared light, and one can detect diseased or infested crops or forests long before the damage shows up in visible light. The lack of an anti-halation layer also makes for an interesting artistic flair for landscape and portrait photography as well. With Kodak infrared film no longer available, I switched to digital cameras converted to the infrared spectrum. With both mediums, exposure and focus are a guess. With a digital camera, we can at least look at the results in the field.

The film images were scanned and digitized using Epson scan technology and lightly toughed with Adobe Lightroom to clean up dust and adjust the images to better match the pictures originally printed from the negatives.