Reading List

February 10, 2010

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Alas, Breanne, another book about war.

This one is about the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. 180,000 men killed and countless more wounded. It was the turning point of the war. Up until that point, the Confederacy was definitely winning. After their major loss at Gettysburg, they were really fighting a losing battle.

But that is not the story of this book. This is the sequel to Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara, Michael’s son. It tells the stories from the commander’s sides so there is a good deal of discussion about the philosophies of the war, about how it is fought and more importantly, why it was fought. Most of the Northerners thought they were fighting for the freedom of the slaves. The Southerners were fighting for their life style, feeling that the federal government was suppressing them. It tells the story of Generals and colonels who are very good friends, but on the opposite sides of the field. It tells the story of real people. Mostly it is told from the point of view of the Confederate offices, but sometimes you are in the camp of the Republic.

I think about what it would be like, first of all, to be one of the soldiers who were asked to just march into the face of the fire of an entire army that was on top of a ridge behind a stone wall. But it makes you think more so of he thoughts and feelings of the men who commanded them to go.

One of the brief stories is of a Colonel who lost a leg in a previous battle, and so had a hard time walking on his new “peg-leg”. When the call came to charge, all of the officers were command to walk and not ride because a man on a horse was instantly targeted as an officer and so was really targeted by everyone. This colonel refused to be relieved, and so he still rode his horse. And another colonel, a friend, also rode his horse so the man would not be alone in the peril. Of course they were both killed. I do not do the story justice. The book does it justice.

It is not a book about blood and gore, although there are of necessity small scenes of that. It is a book about humanity in an inhuman situation.

Yes I enjoyed it very much. I read the whole thing in 4 days. I just couldn’t put it down.

Recommended by Margaret and Melanie - and by me after I read Gods and Generals.

Reading List

February 9, 2010

The Book of Mormon

I finished reading it again. I always see a little bit more each time I read it – so I started again today also.

Art

Sunflower

February 1, 2010

By Mar

Oil on Canvas.

And she has hung it for display in our home.

Reading List

January 30, 2010

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak


When I looked for this book at the library, it was in the teenage section. It really is a book that is focused on a youthful look.

At first I thought – it is just another teenager – Germany – WWII – Jewish story. I guess you might say it is. But there are some interesting differences.

First of all is the point of view of the narrator. I won’t say much about that except for the last line - “I am haunted by humans.”

Second, there is suspense, but it is different. You are told very early what is going to happen. You are told who is going to die long before they do. One of the tactics of the story is that you read it just to see if what you learn early is wrong – because what he tells you is going to happen you definitely do not want to happen.

Third, the narrative is broken into smaller bites. There are no long chapters or long paragraphs or even long sentences. It is easy to read and easy to get into.

I did like the fact that it was easy to get into. You like the characters. You root for them. But it isn’t just a stream of good things happening. Bad things happen and the characters seem to respond accordingly.
As you can probably detect, I did enjoy the book. I would recommend it. You will love the characters. It was a book Mar had on the Book Club list. It is not one of the 501 must reads.

Travels with Lar

Warren, NJ

January 24-30, 2010

It seems I have been here a lot lately – and I will be coming back.

Training has a contract with a large company – Alcatel – and I have been working on that contract. In fact, I was supposed to be spending next week in Warren also, but other pressing schedule matters took me back home.

The classes ( I taught two this week) went well.

As in other trips to Warren, I did very little except teach.

I exercised every day – with a 1oK on the treadmill on Friday.

Both the trip out and the trip back were uneventful.

Events

Missionary – Coincidence – or Not

February 1, 2010

Elder Carpenter, one of the elders who is living with us, lives in Prescott, AR with his father and step-mother. That is “coincidence” number 1 – because we used to live there – and “coincidence” number 2 because some of our best friends, the Webbs, moved there. Elder Carpenter was looking at some pictures in our house and said, “Hey, that looks like my high school’s band uniform. Hey, that is my high school’s band uniform.” It was a picture of one of the Webb’s sons.

Elder Carpenter’s mother lives in Southern California. She is not a member of the church. We sent her a Christmas card to tell her how wonderful we thought her son was. We got the wrong address and it came back. Michael looked at the address and said, “Hey, I know this street.” Now here is “coincidence” number 3 – the big one. Michael looked at Elder Carpenter and said, “Wait, this is your mother? She lives in a house across from a pavilion at a park. The door is down the side of the house.” Elder Carpenter looked at him and said, “Wait, I thought I knew you.” It turns out that just before Michael went on his mission, he taught Elder Carpenter’s mother and one time Elder Carpenter was there. Michael told them all about the Denver North mission and how much he was going to love it there. And then Elder Carpenter ended up in our ward, living in our house when Michael came home.

Is it all just coincidence – I don’t think so. I don’t know how it all fits into the eternal plan – but there was some guidance there. Yes, it is a small world – but for that to just be coincidence – it would have to be a micro-world.

Events

Missionary Housing

February 1, 2010

We had the Elders – the Missionaries – live at our house. Here is the history:

It started with the bishop asking us personally if we could take them to live in our basement for a month to a month and a half. That was back at the beginning of October. We were really well qualified – at least we were at the time. It was just Mar and I and a whole empty house. We said okay, but we knew that things would be changing about Thanksgiving, so that would be the time limit.

They moved in on a Monday because that was when a transfer happened. I said high, and then flew to Chicago for a class. Mar was in Portland at the time. Our poor Elders thought they were abandoned – and they must have thought we really weren’t all that interested in having them there. After a week, I came home and was there for a week but I didn’t see them much. Mar was till away – in Northern California. The next week I went back to Chicago. Mar was still away, in Logan.

It wasn’t until the next week that we really got to see them and talk to them and get to know them. The first Elders were Gillstrap (from California) and Carpenter from Prescott, AZ (one of our old homes). They were zone leaders and they earned that calling. They were very good missionaries. We got to know them better and finally got to really enjoy them in our home. However, the time for their moving was fast approaching – Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving came and went and we still had the missionaries and were becoming more and more fond of them. When Mar’s mom came to stay with us for the holidays, there was still not a place for the Elders to live in the ward, so we said, “If it is okay for them to share a bathroom with a grandma, then they can stay until Christmas.” Problem solved until Christmas.

Mar’s mom did come and that worked okay. Then Michael came home from his mission in Southern California. It was such a blessing to have them in our home at that time. They helped him do some transitioning into non-mission life. They asked him to study with them. They took him to appointments. It was such a blessing for Michael.

And then Elder Gillstrap got transferred to Torrington, WY. He was so glad to get to meet Michael, but he was really ready to move on. Our new missionary was Elder Johnson from Wisconsin. We still had Elder Carpenter. It was interesting to see the different dynamics in the companionships. Of course we grew very fond of Elder Johnson also.

Christmas came. We had the Elders for dinner on Christmas Eve. That was easy because the ward was not able to find new housing for them over Christmas. This time we just said – “Oh, whenever." They were like our sons by then. Having Elder Gillstrap transfer away was actually hard.

So this is because they have now moved on. They have gone to live with the Patriarch for a month. We miss them a lot. They do come by to see us and to take Michael on visits and to enjoy our home. We had them for four months and were truly blessed during that time. The moral is, don’t house the missionaries unless you are okay with letting them go.