celebrating our pioneer heritage

first we hopped a train...
spencer almost didnt make it...with fate as our guide we took a break from the hard hobo life on the train and stopped to play games with some poor unfortunate pioneer children... despite their miserable existence of walking and walking they showed just how fun pioneer life can be while running after big,little, think or thin metal rings... at cove fort... where some of the pioneer children walked... pioneer loving folks are briskly greeted by messenger/tour guides in the parking lot...they are very officiant with the latest waki-taki technology... i must add... this was the absolute highlight of my 3-day 24th... the cove fort parking lot that is... everything outside of the fort was a bit of a let down...


"what is the big deal? i have totally seen bigger rocks than that. "
i broke a nail... and the boys got a little hostile in the end and threw me in the mud... jerks!

Once there was a lady who wanted to buy the world a coke...

today... went to the temple... when i started to ride my bike home i felt one drop... two... looked over... someone watering their yard... then... sheets of rain coming down and water rushing out of the gutters all around... it took some time to register.... alone riding bike up the numbers and letters of the avenues in an explosion of summer rain... the scent... and warmth... lovely

got home... ran inside... changed into flip flops, shorts, rain jacket... time for a silent walk in this late night down pour... no more rain... :(... only the beauty left behind... picked up a bit of rice dream and a plastic fork... between me, my rice dream, plastic fork, and my creator i decided...

i want a bus for every pleasant well meaning anti-establishment hobo... might this hobo bus be next to a river full of fish with a patch of land for a garden and blueberries near by...
actually... i want to be a hobo with a bus and a river... this river full of salmon... with a patch of dirt for a garden and blueberries near by...
i want to give the world a hobo bus... a river of salmon... land for a garden... and bluberries... and a mind to think... a heart open to observation... a soul prepared to live what is... real

i want more silent evenings of walking with my maker... with the moisture of the pavement reflecting back the shine from street lights... the smell of rain and dirt mixing in a way that only they know... a smell that reminds us that the elements understand that rain in the desert entices celebration... lightening in the west followed by the rolling base of thunder from the east...
messes of earth and plant debri washing out onto the pavement to remind me that it was here and there first...
the house that dared to leaked out sound... = bonjovi's blaze of glory... all around
a tiny city of lights and a sky of mystery...

i really could go crazy on a night like tonight...
i wish summer never ever gave up her fight...

p.s. for the record

she (summer) gives up her fight so we look forward to her... so that we beg her to come back... she seems to think we would forget her and not appreciate her if she didn't leave after a few months each year... she is silly... very silly... if i could i would chase her around this planet... i could make a life of chasing summer... she is always somewhere... hmmmm.... but she is not always here.

ubuntu

someone once told me that because of the way i was created i will naturally reap the best of what life has to offer... kind of like a giraffe she said... they don't have to compete with the other animals for the tree tops... they probably don't even realize that their height is the ultimate advantage... in fact... it probably feels like an inconvenience every now and again... hmmm

ubuntu

I just talked to my sister… and she loves me… really.

This thing… this love thing… sometimes I am pretty unaware of it… it is all around me. I am pretty lucky…

Beyond this love thing… and totally unrelated to it… but it is… is this internet thing… it is the way that people stay connected and remind themselves that there is someone out there far away that they love… If I really wanted to I could probably google every crush, date, kiss, boyfriend and the un-boyfriend-able… weird…

I refrain… but this internet thing keeps us connected… sort of… I have such mixed feelings about it. I love seeing photos of my nieces and reading about my sisters little lives… I am far from them… separated, but am sporadically made aware of their day-to-days. I do love this. I love knowing their experiences… and a phone call is better…

I realized that today talking to my sister… I try to call them on Sundays… my sisters and my mom… These conversations convey a presence and awareness that can never be conveyed by a few flat photos followed by writing… Their voices and words are more… They are real... and they love me.

Home teacher pointed out the scripture about how the children of Israel could have just looked and they would have been healed… but it was too easy… so some didn’t look…

Connection… being human… ubuntu… humans aught to treat each other humanly… a drunk zulu man once explained this to me…and the really reliable source wikipedia quotes Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

“ A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”

It is easy to connect… and… for me… the best exchange that life can offer… it so easy. why don't I do it more?

Last night my friend gave a woman a dollar… or tried to…the woman was too something to realize she was being handed what she had asked for… I on the other hand didn’t make eye contact… that was very human of her… not so much of me… I don’t feel bad… just will remember it next time I have the chance to treat another human as a human

Connection.

Especially now… I have a lot of solo time… I treasure it when I am taking the time to connect to God… but… but… when I am not… I don’t always remember that it is all around me… this love thing… I like being reminded.

whats the big deal batman?

holy... i had no idea... saving the world was such a big deal...

but now i know...

and knowing is half the battle...

she told me she beleived in all things that are magic... i hope that is still true

Josh Ritter and Andrew Bird Thursday... I am so excited!!!

and... the report... the show... Andrew Bird and Josh Ritter... or Josh Ritter and Andrew Bird... thank you... to them... my experience... my experience... ? hmmm... they played Mazzy Star's among my swan in between and prior to the sets... an album that makes me want to fall in love... i usually save songs like fade into you for such occasions... so... Mazzy Star prepared me for the exchange... me think...

as Josh Ritter and his band did there thing... and Andrew Bird and his did theirs... i silently thanked them for being in love with music... for creating it and sending it out to fall on untrained ears like my own... you see my ears don't really know the difference between a musician with talent and one without... but the rest of my senses can identify what is real and connects with and can identify creation... the act of creating... the creative experience... and as they played... i loved them for living life and doing their thing...

It is a good time to love music... and a bad time to be poor... meaning no feist or low for me... but i have 1,000 thank yous to SLC for bringing me free Andrew Bird and Josh Ritter...

The Roots... go here for an NPR listen and interview...

... so, this is what they look like...
but this is all i saw...
rumor has it there was an impressive tuba on stage... i did see it for a second after tipsy-toeing my way up the ledge of a window seal and balancing on my friends shoulder while holding on... it was very spider man (lady) of me... i could only hang out there for a minute... it strangely took the strength of all my abs to balance... turns out they are not that strong...

don't get me wrong... i love seeing the masses swarm together in a giant sea of excitement... it reminds me that slc isn't as small as it feels sometimes... but still communal enough that i easily run into old friends ... and the new...

farmers market

a little blue grass band caught my ear with a cover of this... ... i love this song... i love the farmers market... it was a good moment... in this same perfect moment linda, dallas and i were conversing with a few gals from a non-profit that runs a school for refugee orphans in the congo... one of the booth-girls mentioned zimbabwe in passing and how bad things are right now... while "mama rock me" was playing in the background and creating a perfectly peaceful moment for me... i thought of my friend lundile simango in zimbabwe... i wondered about the moment that she was experiencing... i hope she can find peace amidst poverty, chaos and instability... it sucks that i don't know how to contact her...or if she is even ok... i love and miss my sister and friend... a lot.

slaw is such a gross word to me... slaw... slaw... slaw... gross

today i made a slaw of sorts for our healthy sunday pot luck... the slaw started as pad thai spring rolls with spicy almond dipping sauce, but i didn't have any rice paper... instead i used rice noodles and threw everything together in a bowl... it was pretty ugly... things like slaw and goulash tend to be ugly i think... here is the recipe.

Pad Thai Spring Rolls with Spicy almond dipping Sauce Serves 5 (two rolls each) a Crystal recipe
Marinade
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ; 3 ½ tablespoons honey; 1 ½ soy sauce ; 1 ½ tablespoons minced ginger; 1 tablespoon hot chili sauce; 1 tablespoon olive oil ; ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender and set aside
Veggie “Noodles”
1 zucchini finely julienned ; 1 cup red cabbage shredded; 1 carrot finely julienned; 1 red pepper finely julienned; 1 ½ cups shredded coconut meat; 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped; 1 avocado julienned
In large bowl, place all the ingredients and toss with the marinade. Allow to marinate for at least one hour.
Spicy Almond dipping sauce
1 cup almonds; 1 tablespoon ginger minced; 2 cloves garlic minced; 1 tablespoon hot chili pepper sauce; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 2 tablespoons honey; 1 tablespoon Braggs soy sauce; ½ cup water; Pinch sea salt; Pinch pepper
Assembling the spring rolls
Fill a salad bowl ¼ full with warm water. Soak a rice paper wrap in the warm water. Soak until very flexible but not rubbery. Make sure not to over soak the rice paper. If the rice paper is over soaked it will brake when wrapping the veggies. It is best to soak one rice paper wrap one at a time. Lay the soaked rice paper wrap on a cutting board surface. Place one slice of avocado in the center of the rice paper wrap. You will see the avocado from the out side when the spring roll is served. Place a small handful of the marinated veggie mix on top of the avocado. Organize the veggies in a row like form that is about 3 inches long. Fallowing the line of the veggies, spoon two tablespoons of spicy almond sauce on top. Fold both the outer sides of the rice side around the veggies, avocado and sauce. Fold the side that is closest to you over the veggies tightly, and continue to roll until you have a tight wrap. Serve two together on a plate.

p.s. i added fresh basil and mint leaves... also i added the thickness from a can of coconut milk to the almond sauce...

the slaw improved balance...

produced joy

and encouraged grace.

i am pretty attached to this place... land of the free home of the brave

happy birthday america... i celebrated your birth by hanging out in a very american placelava hot springs, idaho. i am not sure if the town is named just lava, or the whole lava hot springs. my friend's parents live there. i really liked them. this is cindy's mom showing us her garden... i liked everything about her... especially her t-shirt. i liked the dogie patches. i dont love dogs. i respect people who do... but i myself am no lover. but this one... i could probably spend a fair amount of time with patches... i think it is a him... he was really sweet and excited... sits for hot-dogs and even got sprayed by a skunk protecting his people... and my animal un-loving heart almost melted when i left little patches and he looked like he wanted to cry....

after hanging out with patches i went on a walk. among the wildflowers i found sage. this plant... oh this plant... i remember smelling it as a little little one in idaho. later, when i re-smelled it in the desert as an adult i remembered my days as a wee one in idaho on the farm... now i also associate sage with living in the desert... flowers are beautiful and i accept them always, but sage... if someone handed me a fresh picked bundle of sage... um... i would probably decide they were my soul mate... or a soul mate impostor... happy birthday country. even though it is getting more and more expensive to live here and i don't trust the elected decision makers, i do trust that you are stable... i trust that for the time being and into fathomable future there will be sage to sniff, rivers to float and mountains to climb. so, despite your shortcomings i still love you.

the piss-off power of whatever

Late last night I really wanted a Wendy's Frosty... So, I rode my little scoot scoot to the Wendy’s on 4th south. Their drive through has two lanes that merge into one. So when it was my turn to merge i noticed a white something car attempting to bumper-to-bumper me out of my place in line... I looked at the white something car and the passenger was laughing that mean girl laugh... the driver refusing make eye contact. So I stared hard at the driver until she looked at me. I just kept looking at her. She finally said, "We were here first". I looked at her in a way that said, "you are wrong and too bad". (I probably should mention I just finished a really in depth conversation with a friend about how I quietly bully some people and that for the benefit of my own progression i need to stop... ). I pulled forward and ordered my frosty... The girl driving honked her horn in aggressive protest... I just smiled and rode off with my frosty... On the way home I was thinking... Great.... they are going to catch up with me and throw a coke on me or something for revenge... Luckily they never caught me...

only because I made a fast and tricky get-a-way

As I safely pulled into home base I read a text from my roommate. It was one of those texts that oozes of aggression... It said, "I can’t take it anymore! I turned on the air!" A few weeks ago we agreed to no stale a.c. air... I thought it was an agreement between two roommates... After reading this text I put many hints together. I guess I declared it and she has been passively baring it ever since... resenting me with each rising temperature... I guess that is why I haven’t seen her in like 2 weeks... oops...I knew she was bugged, but I didn't know what about or even that it had anything to do with me... I just laughed at the text... in irritated surrender... ok ... and as my friend (whose name has been changed) Hank would say, "what ever".

P.S. My friend Hank explained to me about this new slang he started using... "Whatever". He has recently discovered the piss off power of "whatever"... He handed me a small sheet of paper with three words on it... words he has been hearing that are new to him... Since he now understands and actually uses "whatever" it had a strike through it. "Yede yede yede" and "da da da" are also on the list. In the next two weeks I am supposed to research and define these terms. He has heard them a few times on t.v. and is trying to keep up with us young folks.

not even an ellis is an island

I am re-posting this once posted post... (sorry to keep repeating the word) I posted this on my family's web site... i want these ideas here for myself... also... i was running these principles/idea past some friends and a certain Georgia added so much sacred depth to what i am only begining to understand... if you have any thoughts on the subject please share... if you are too shy to comment i would love to have a conversation on this subject some time...thanks.


So on Father’s day I was asking my dad about the Ellis peoples that I have never known. You know… his grandmas and grandpas. I am really interested in their stories.

I have some pretty far out ideas about family that has passed on… like that they really are around us helping us become better. Part of the reason I think this is that we are born perfect, but by nature of being human we take on the really beautifully developed talents and gifts of our ancestors as well as their shortcomings. I am sure we have all heard things like… “Oh he has his fathers temper”… right?

So I kind of have this little idea that they are helping us from the other side to overcome any short comings bestowed upon us simply for being born. So this little idea of mine I think can be backed by the idea of the spirit of Elias turning “the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Mal. 4:6, Luke 1:17, 3 Ne. 25:6, D&C 2:2, D&C 27:9, D&C 110:15) I know these scriptures are talking about temple work specifically, but I also think there is room for another level of interpretation.

I was thinking about Alma chapter 8 when he talks about how it will be better for the Lamanites than for the Nephites. One of the reasons he gives is that the Lamanite seed will remain, whereas the Nephites will be wiped out. Not only do the Lamanites get the gospel in the last days, but the Lamanite fathers have more time to help their sons over come the “wicked traditions of the fathers”.

With this all said I hope some of you are still with me… I really really want to know more about the grandparents’ aunts and uncles that I have never known.

I asked Grandpa (Merthan) about his mother… He told me that she had a sharp tongue… You know, my siblings can testify of my feisty temper and sharp tongue. Does it come from this grandma I don’t remember meeting? I can’t say, but my hair probably does. From asking my siblings that remember Grandma Elision, I know that she really loved flowers… Is that where my love for beauty comes from?… Again, I can’t really say… But I do trust that they are around us and helping us…

I remember once My Grandma Betty showing me black and white photos from the 30s. She told me several stories about relatives I have never met... and she said, "Supposedly they think about us a lot more than we think about them"... when she said that I felt all of the power of truth confirming her words... To her they were just words, but I understood more than she probably intended. I understood and even now understand that they do think about us.

On fathers day my dad told me a story or two about his grandparents. In fact once I got him started he couldn’t stop. So, I invite you all that knew the Ellis grandparents that the rest of us didn’t to share both their strengths and their weaknesses... Help me help Elias...