Gratitude is Happiness Doubled by Wonder

  Bonnie and I have been looking forward to a 6-day float trip on the Colorado River. We started near Moab last Monday and ended 96 miles later at the upper end of Lake Powell. During the 6 days and 5 nights, we had NO Internet access, so it was a kind of forced solitude. That was part of the attraction and blessing! For the first three days, we covered 47 miles. During this stretch, the river drops approximately one foot per mile - it is wide and calm. Then we passed the confluence with the Green River, and entered Cataract Canyon, famous for its rapids - dramatically different from the start! (More on those later.) I loved playing with the little 1-person inflatable kayaks our tour company ( Holiday River Expeditions ) made available. They are light and stable, very fun. And I could move quite a bit faster than the large rafts loaded with people, food, fresh water, and gear. One of my favorite things was to paddle over to the far side of the wide river, far from the rafts, and...

  For the past 248 days, I have shared a #GiveThanks post each day. It continues to be a joyful experience for me, and has helped my attitude and outlook in many ways. But I'm going to be without Internet access for the rest of this week, so I'll be taking a little break. I hope to check back in on Saturday evening. In the mean time, friends, please take care of yourself, of each other, and of our precious and beautiful world. See you again soon! I #GiveThanks for the blessing of an opportunity to escape, recharge, refocus, and renew. Adventure awaits!

  I took the attached photo on Timpanogos a year ago. The thought speaks more powerfully to me now than ever. How blessed we are to live in a world that includes such beauty, to steal our breath or leave us speechless! I #GiveThanks for the chance to experience, and appreciate, beauty - and to express gratitude for the Creator of all things bright and beautiful!

  Driving on the freeway today in Utah County, there was a message on one of those traffic advisory billboards that warn you of crashes or delays ahead, and sometimes just give driving advice. It said: IT'S A CAR NOT A HANDCART USE THE BLINKER Good chuckle! I was reminded that today is "Pioneer Day" in Utah, when we commemorate the arrival of the first pioneers in the valley in 1847. I was also reminded that blinkers are considered to be optional and unnecessary accessories by too many. I could ponder and discuss either of those two impressions, but I'm more inclined to honor my own pioneer ancestors, and the others of that era who laid foundations for our time and demonstrated so many qualities I admire. I have ancestors who "crossed the plains" in wagons - none from the handcart groups that I am aware of. But they suffered plenty of challenges and hardships, must more than I am used to in my life. My second-great grandmother, Lucy Simmons Groves, ...

  I confess that I LOVE the Olympics. I love the drama, the excitement and suspense, the human elements, and the accomplishments of people who are so devoted to developing and perfecting skills, many times overcoming serious obstacles in the process. To borrow a phrase from the old ABC "Wide World of Sports" program, it's "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." But it's also the pride of the competition, of seeing individuals do their best and frequently achieve or surpass their goals. I read that NBC will broadcast and stream a total of 7,000 hours of competition events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. SEVEN THOUSAND HOURS of events to choose from, in 339 different events, over the course of a little over two weeks!! If I watched 16 hours a day for 16 days I would see only 256 hours out of the 7000 - less than 4% of the total. I think I could almost stay glued to the TV that much if it were possible, but there are a lot of other things competing for my...

  Today I relived a memory from my youth. After a visit to the Payson Temple, we drove over to the nearby Emerald Turf Farm. Once when I was just a lad, I was there visiting my friend Mark DeHart at his dad's farm. We were out exploring and wandered into an irrigation canal, dry at the time as I recall, but a fun place for boys to explore. One of us spotted a snake - not sure if it was a water snake, garter snake, etc. - but definitely not a rattler. I thought it would be fun to pick it up, and grasped it by the end of its tail. As I lifted the snake, it took about a millisecond for him to whip his head around and sink his fangs into the fleshy area at the base of my thumb. Ouch! It took me about another millisecond to drop the snake and let it slither on its way. I don't remember how old we were at the time. But I do know we were highly trained cub scouts. EVERYONE knows that when you're bitten by a snake, you have to cut an "X" over the fang marks and then suck ...

>   When I was young, there was no Walmart, no KMart, no Target, no Costco. There was definitely no Amazon or eBay, no searching the Google marketplace. (At this point my son would say, and there was no dirt either since you are older than dirt.) It was a very different commercial world! There was not a lot of importing either, and getting foreign brands was very difficult. My maternal heritage is German. We would occasionally get treats from the "German Store" in SLC that were imported from Europe. We were fans of gummy bears LONG before they became popular - they were unknown among the typical American consumer, but the Kenison children loved them (and sometimes shared them with their friends!). "Ice Cubes" were another of our favorites - creamy smooth milk chocolate, so different from any other chocolate available, and especially better than the American stuff! We learned to look on packages for the key phrase, "Made in West Germany" - and we knew th...