Hail, Atlantis!

My friend Scott writes from Florida this morning, "Well, it was cloudy and we could only see it for a few seconds but we did see her launch. Heard the liftoff about 5 minutes after that."

To which my friend Donna, in Connecticut responded, "Terrific, Scott! I am envious."

And with that, the space shuttle Atlantis took off this morning on it's last voyage.   I was listening in to launch coverage on my radio on the way to work, rather sad that I couldn't at least watch it on TV.

It seems incredible to think that 30 years has passed since we watched in wonder as the first shuttle launched.  I had the tee-shirt (still do): A Space Ship Has Landed On Earth, It Came From Rockwell.

Do you remember the name of the first shuttle?  Wait, it wasn't Columbia!  The first shuttle was named Enterprise.  That was the prototype and the test vehicle that started the program.

Back in the early 1980s, I heard author Robert Heinlein give a marvelous presentation about the historic name "Enterprise" and why it was totally appropriate, beyond Star Trek terms, to name the first shuttle that.  The very first ship Enterprise was built by the U.S. Navy and launched to fight the war of 1812!  There have been several Enterprises in the fleet since then.

Shuttle Columbia was first launched on April 12, 1981

Columbia was the first of the working shuttles, followed by Challenger (1983), Discovery (1984), Atlantis (1985) and Endeavor (1992).

I was in 3rd grade when John Glenn orbited the earth.  I remember the teachers bringing in a TV to the classroom - unheard of! - so we could watch the coverage.  It was incredible to me, and still is.  In 1969, when man first walked on the moon, I was in Norway, watching on TV with my grandfather.  I was in college for Apollo 13, and I remember vividly praying for those men whose lives hung in the balance so far away, up in space.  I was on an island in the north sea when the Challenger disaster occurred.  I wept for those who were lost on that sad occasion and for their families.  I remember a Norwegian colleague asking why I should care.  "You didn't know them personally", she argued.  I disagreed with her then and still do.  They were American Heroes to me, and I have always felt personally connected to their exploits.

I've seen the shuttle landings near Vandenburg in California, and in Alamagordo, New Mexico.  I've collected flight patches, and my Face has flown in Space (thank you NASA!). 

My friend Jill writes:  "I just watched a look back at the US space program and it makes me sad that politics can just end exploration."

I agree.  The benefits of the U.S. space program have been considerable.  As someone once said, we don't spend money "in space", there's nowhere there to spend it - those dollars are spent giving jobs to many hundreds and thousands of Americans in all walks of life, from manufacturing to janitorial work and everything in between and beyond.

Spin-off technology from the space program has been amazing, from miniaturization of electrical components, solid state technology, and the very PC or laptop you are reading this from: our lives have been affected in some profound ways by the space program.

To now have to rely on other nations to give us a lift up into orbit in the future just grates on me!  So, what happens when we need to fix something up there?  (He who rules space... rules!  Have we learned nothing from science fiction movies?  Heh, heh.)

I sure hope, when the Atlantis lands safely, this won't really mark the end of the U.S. space program.  I just can't bring myself to believe that our President and Congress can be that stupid.

But I've been wrong before.

Celebrating in Seattle

4th of July, 2011

My brother Jay got a little creative this 4th of July with his camera!  I think these shots are terrific, so I had to share them.

4th of July above Seattle, Washington

Nope, it's not a UFO... just more fireworks!  Jay said they had great seats up above the place where the houseboat was anchored in the movie, Sleepless In Seattle.  He and the whole family had a great viewing vantage point for Seattle's annual fireworks display.  He said the whole sound and light show was pretty fantastic, and they could even hear the music and narration very well.

Seattle with Mount Rainier looming

I guess the skies above Seattle have been clear, although the temperatures have been cool.  I could sure wish for some of that down here in La-La land!  It's been hot and very humid here - unless, of course, you're at the beach.  Sadly, I'm in a very warm office every day.  (Not that I'm sad about being gainfully employed!)  However, for some reason the a/c doesn't cool my part of the building very well. 

It's to be expected for this time of year, I know.  Summer is just not my favorite time of year.  I take comfort in the fact that, although it's very warm here, it's nowhere near Phoenix temps in the 118 degree (F) range.

The date is 7-07-11 today!  Not that it means anything, but the double 7s and the 11 just look cool together, and perhaps a certain convenience market chain is having a significant moment of some kind.

Sorry.  It's the heat.  Makes me babble.  C'est mon histoire et j'y reste fidèle.

Special People

I've got the best Ward family anyone could ask for. Here are my friends the McKeons.

Gwen Lee has been a good friend for years.  She is kind as can be, and truly beautiful inside and out.  She has been plagued with health problems in the past few years, but is still vibrant and fun to be around.  She reminds me a lot of my mother in lots of little ways.


Gerald, Kim and Gwen Lee - three truly beautiful people


Gerald is also a terrific person.  He's generous beyond belief.  I believe he's turning 90 this year!  I love his bright smile and his enthusiastic, "How are you, Marianne?"  In his prime he was a grocer and owned a chain of stores (I believe I got that right!). Their gorgeous daughter Kim was visiting on Sunday and so I caught all three of them!

The McKeons oldest son was my Bishop for a while.  He's now in the Stake Presidency.  Good family.  Good friends.  Beautiful people.

Happy Birthday, America!

I attended a 4th of July swim & barbeque celebration up in North Hills this weekend.  My gracious hosts were Maura:

Jackie:

 Josie:

 and Max:

Maura & Jackie have lots of animals, but it always seems like Josie and Max head up the guest services committee, making sure than everyone has a good time.  What sweethearts!

 There were strawberries!  Yum!  And lots of other good food.

Here are Peggy and Paula making 'somemores'.  It was hotter than Phoenix in the monsoon season, but the pool and inside a/c made it bearable.

Among the hordes of attendees, was a face we have not seen for a very, very long time: Jeff!  Jeff is an old roommate of mine from when I first came to California.  He is here on work assignment for the next 18 months, and it's great to see him.  Hopefully his family can occasionally join him during this time so we can catch up with them!

Jeff, Maura and Robin pose for the camera

It was great to visit with old friends and make some new ones.  Maura and Jackie are such gracious hosts, as are their animal counterparts!  I had a great time.

Our New Graduates

The first of "my" YW group has graduated from high school.  Congratulations to all of them.  They are all really wonderful, beautiful and bright young women.  I wish them well as they go off into the world.  I caught two of them on Sunday. 

Jolie is very athletic and has been active in Cheer during her sojourn in high school  Here she is sitting waiting for Relief Society to begin.

Jolie has been a huge help to me in the past few years

 Sheree was sitting in the hall when I snuck up on her.  She is a very creative young lady.


Sheree is already busy with her college courses

 I only spent a couple of years teaching in Young Women, but I will always treasure getting to know these great kids.

Happy 4th of July!

I counted at least four fireworks stands on my way in to work this morning. Everyone is gearing up to make money off this holiday! Hey! It's the capitalist way! It's a celebration! Bring on the fire and sparkly things and things that go "boom!" Gotta have that. It's a party!

We have so many things to be thankful for, living in this great country of ours. I know we have problems, and we're not perfect, but I love that we each have the freedom to live the kind of life we want to live. That's huge.

When my brother and his wife were in Washington, D.C. last week, he told me they dropped by to see their Utah elected officials just to say hi. Senator Orrin Hatch wasn't in (he and Jay go way back), but at Rep. Jason Chaffetz' office, his people offered them gallery tickets to the House and Senate. They even escorted them over to the capitol. I think both Jay and Kirsti really enjoyed that. The Senate was in session, and they got to watch a voice vote on a district judge appointment. He says, "All the big guys were there - John McCain, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, etc. Joe Biden made a brief appearance."

Nice to know that all the "big guys" were busy doing their jobs, that "We, the people" vote for them to go to Washington to do.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend!  Rah, Rah, America! What a country!

Norske Pannekaker

Happy Pancake and Pea Soup day!  Or, if you are NOT Scandinavian, Happy Thursday!

All the men in my life are great cooks.  All of them.  I don't know why that is, but it's a good thing they are, as I'm not.  I'm not horrible, I just haven't had the practice.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Case in point, my handsome brother Jay, seen here circa 1980-something, whipping up a batch of pancakes.

And my neighbor and his friend making a killer Thanksgiving feast last Thanksgiving... truly yummy!

And that's not to mention my favorite Italian cook, who is a master at whipping up dinner for 21 people on a regular basis - a feat that's made more complicated by the crazy food allergies, aversions and preferences of our crowd!

Speaking of pancakes...  Here's my favorite!

Norwegian Pancakes
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

DIRECTIONS

Combine the eggs and milk in a bowl, or use a blender. Add the flour, salt and sugar, and beat or blend until smooth. Batter will be thin.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, and coat with  butter.  (Cooking spray?  Fogeddaboutit - to get the authentic Norwegian taste, use BUTTER.)

Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet, and tilt the pan to coat the bottom.

Cook until the top edges look dry, about 30 seconds. Carefully slide a spatula under the pancake and flip. Cook for a few seconds on the other side, just until browned.

Remove to a plate, and repeat with remaining batter.

Serve with jam, syrup, lingonberry preserves & sour cream, or just sprinkle with sugar and roll them up as a finger food!

Yum.

You will probably have to double this recipe to properly feed people.  My mom usually just started with a whole quart of milk and went from there.  But then, she was a wonderful cook and could make anything from scratch.  

Have a great day!

Now I'm hungry...