Please Rain, the Car Needs Washing

Thunderboomers over Monterey Park

This is a photo I took on August 1st.  It was a beautiful day, but hot and humid.  The big fluffy clouds in the distance brought the promise of rain that never materialized anywhere close to me.  It rained plenty in the high desert, though, way out to the north and east of us.

The day after this picture was taken, it was as clear as it could be, yet I came out to my car after work and discovered it had rained just enough to muddy up the car completely.  There is no parking garage where I work, so the car is usually just dusty and covered in tree fronds.  The light sprinkling of rain made it look a mess.

Now, when I lived in Phoenix, you could count on August monsoon weather to wash the car.  I mean, first Mother Nature would get the dust storm whipping through the valley.  That would remove loose dirt and debris from the car.  Then would come the rain.  And not just a gentle rain.  It would drop like 13 inches of water in a half minute, and the car would be pretty spotlessly clean after that.

I miss that.

California weather isn't that cooperative, which means I actually have to pay to have the car washed or drive around in a dirt ball.  Currently I'm driving around in a dirt ball.  This morning the dirt ball suddenly shuddered and died on the way to work, leaving me stranded on a busy street in East Los Angeles.

Thank goodness for Triple A and nice people.

So, my little dirt ball of a car is at the car hospital getting emergency treatment as I write this.  Apparently the prognosis is good.  It will live.  But I have to admit, I blame the weather.  Yup.  I do.

Please rain!

A Tummy for Tickles

Jack, my cuddle bunny

This is Jack.  He is my sweet cat kid.  He loves having his tummy tickled.  Can you tell?

Whenever I ask Jack to smile he does what he's doing in the photo above - he opens his mouth and totally looks like he's smiling.  I think he does this on purpose to prove all those folks who say animals can't smile wrong.

I think cats laugh too.  Seriously.  I catch him every now and then doing hippity hops around the living room.  I can almost hear the laughter.

He looks spoiled, doesn't he?

Not spoiled rotten... just spoiled.  A little.

I love tickling that little tummy. And I love those big feet with the white socks.  And those perky ears.  And that little tail.  And those big eyes... and did I mention that cute two-toned tummy?

Jesus Loves the Little Children

I love this photo.  Look at these beautiful, precious kids.  These are children of the coastal area of Honduras who just happened to be at the beach one day a week or so ago... and one little vivacious California girl, a cutie pie in pink.

When I saw this picture the strains of an old song I learned in my childhood came into my mind:

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white,

All are precious in His sight,

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Photo courtesy of E. Sorto

Vacation to Paradise

I don't know about you, but I'm not getting a vacation this year.  As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I had any real vacation at all!  So, when one of my co-workers took some time off to visit Honduras, I was (as Scarlet O'Hara would have said) pea green with envy.

When she returned from this Caribbean paradise, I asked if I could post some of her pictures.  They were just too beautiful not to be seen!

I wish I could just walk right into this picture and order up a virgin pina colada and a seafood salad.  Doesn't the water look inviting?  I love all that white sand and the clear ocean.

I didn't know Honduras was so lovely.  My friend said that cruise ships come through here every so often, but between cruises it's almost deserted.  I think it looks too perfect, as if it can't be real - like a movie set.  You almost expect a swashbuckling hero to appear with his pirate ship at any moment... or at least that guy on the horse from those commercials.  Yeah, you know the one.

This mini-vacation moment has been (sigh) brought to you by your favorite aunt.
Photos courtesy of E. Sorto

"Faith" Sold Out!

KSL's report on Faith, the Musical

Apparently, Faith, the Musical, is enjoying a great deal of success!  My sources say that tickets for the event sold out early.  Happy, but exhausted cast members are looking forward to the show's final curtain on Saturday.

Click on the link above for a nice news report on the musical, a glimpse of the show, and interviews with some of its soloists.

Sleepless in South Jordan

I was hoping to be able to post some "behind the scenes" pictures, but, alas, I don't have any yet.  I think my nephew Christian is most anxious for this show to be over.  With his mom and teenage brother not getting home until almost midnight each night, he's complained that the house is too quiet and he can't sleep!

In this link (below), you can actually see Kirsti playing the violin in one of the scenes.  Anders is in the back playing the clarinet.

Faith-the-musical-sings-from-the-heart

Linnea made the SaltLake50!

SLUG Magazine's 3rd Annual Craft Lake City is an outdoor arts festival that will showcase 180 artists.  This year there will be two stages showcasing local music and dance troupes as well.  The project itself is supported in part by the Utah Divisions of Art & Museums, with funding from the State of Utah and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Craft Lake City is free and open to the public.  It will be held on Saturday, August 13, 2011 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Gallivan Center (located in the middle of the block between 200 South and 300 South and State Street and Main in Salt Lake City.)

Our Talented Linnea

The show will feature the 25 best photographs submitted by local Utah photographers.  They were looking for people and places within an urban context.  A maximum of one photograph per photographer was selected for the show.  Linnea was one of the photographers lucky and talented enough to have one of her pictures shown this year.

Not only will her photo be matted and framed for exhibition, but it will be offered for sale for big bucks.  I think that's really exciting!

Congratulations, Linnea!  I wish I could be there on Saturday to see it and bask in your reflected glory!

Even Iversen's Family

Kjersti Madsdatter & Even Iversen, my great-great grandparents

Even Iversen and his wife show up in the 1865 Norwegian census with their family.  Even is listed as a husband and farmer with land, age 41, living in Ringsaker, Norway.  His wife was 49 at the time.  Their oldest daughter, Antonette, was 16 and living away from home as a servant.  Still at home were their children: Johannes (14), Nils (8), Edvard (5) and their daughter Marta (11).

Even and Kirsti were baptized into the LDS (Mormon) church in July of 1872. Persecution against the Mormons in those days was bitter.  They first moved their family to Oslo, then called Christiania, to escape it, but being in the big city didn't help much.  Eventually persecution got so bad, it drove Even, Antonette's husband Karelius Andreasen, and Even's sons to emigrate to the United States, where they worked at the smelter in Salt Lake City for a year in order to earn enough money to send for the women and children.

And so it was that Antonette, now a 34 year-old mother of three, came to America with her young children and her mother Kirsti, now 68.  Records show their destination listed as Salt Lake with the remarks column stating "Mormon".  They arrived in Salt Lake in April, 1885.

I am descended from Even and Kirsti's son Nils Evensen (literally, Even's son).  I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 first cousins.

Nils Evensen and his wife Margrethe

I'd love to see the statistics on how many descendants they have now.  I'm pretty sure all their 5 children had representatives at the reunion.

Even and Kjersti are buried at the Elysian Burial Gardens in Murray, Utah.  A marker was installed on August 21, 1993 on Even's birthday.  The money for the marker was donated by many Evensen descendants.

Even and Kjersti's daughter Antonetta Evensdatter Andreassen (Nettie Anderson), her husband and family are buried in West Jordan, (Salt Lake County, Utah) City Cemetery. Even and Kjersti's son Johannes Evensen with some of his family are also buried there.

Their daughter Martha Evensdatter Kemp is buried with her family at Portage Cemetery, Portage, Box Elder County, Utah where her brother Edvard and some of his family are buried.

My great-grandfather, their son Nils with his wife Margrethe and one of their daughters are buried at Kline Cemetery, Kline, Colorado.

I love hearing stories about these courageous people.  I wonder what it was like for them to be persecuted for their religious faith? What culture shock, too, to come from the verdant rolling countryside of Ringsaker - by the banks of the huge Mjøsa lake, to the bleak desert mountains of Utah.  I also wonder what it was like to sail to America in 1884 and 1885 not knowing the language!