Blog # 19 The Circle of Life
One of the first sights that captured me when we arrived in
Bakersfield was the miles and miles of Almond groves. I was fascinated. Although almonds are a staple for us, I’d never
thought about the process to get those treats into the bags for sale. The young
tree takes about five years to start producing nuts. Beehives were staged in
the groves so the bees could pollinate the trees (2 hives per acre). In February the almonds blossoms were
stunning. Our friend, Patti, took a photo shoot of us in the beautiful groves that
looked like a snow forest. As this year progressed we would stop to check the
pods (with a tiny gel substance inside), then a solid small green ball formed
with a green kernel covered with a hull. Finally, we noticed the hull begin to
split and expose the almond shell. The
hulls became like leather, and some fell from the tree. Then we started hearing about the shaking of
the trees to get the almonds down to harvest.
Oh how we wanted to see that. Our
Bishop works at the South Valley Farms (includes ten miles of almond trees) and
invited us to take a tour. After they
shake the almonds from the trees and leave them on the ground for a week, they sweep up the
almonds. The hulls and shells come off,
the fruit is sorted according to
size. All parts of the almond are used,
and we left the farm with a bag full of delicious nuts.
I’ve thought a lot about the process of life as I observe
growth all around us. Growing from a
seedling, to a tree, then blossoming and developing a fruit that can sustain
life…it is amazing. I’ve often pondered
what a miracle our lives are, but lately I’m even more aware that every part of
our lives is miraculous. Wow!
This week Mike and I were in Lancaster and Palmdale opening
two new apartments. We put in a rather
long day then headed the two hours to Bakersfield. But, we started thinking about the wind
damage to the home of the Elders in North Edwards, so we changed our course and
went to look at their place. This took
us about an extra hour. A storm was threatening and we heard of flash flood
warnings. Once again on our way home, we
stopped at Mojave to get gas, but the first exit was closed. When we finally entered the town, the traffic
was bumper to bumper. Traffic from
interstate-5, because of flash floods, had been re-routed through Mojave. We
were about an hour away from Tehachapi (Highway 58), the route we were taking
to Bakersfield, when mudslides closed that road. 193 vehicles were stopped by mud sliding down
the mountain. Luckily the people got
out, but their cars are still buried. What
a tender mercy for us – had we not stopped to see the Elders, we most likely
would have been in the slide. We decided
to spend the night and see if the storm would pass. All hotels and restaurants were full, and
traffic was stopped. We called for a
hotel room in Lancaster, turned the car back and spent two days stranded, but
healthy, in Lancaster.
Last week Ryan and Hali got married, and I was able to go
home for a week to celebrate. Seeing my
son married and starting his own family reminded me again of the circle of
life. What a joy it was to spend time
with the children and grandchildren. We
met Hali’s cute family, Susie gave a wonderful wedding shower, and the week
just flew by. I was so glad to have Mike
join us on Thursday. The wedding was
beautiful – a perfect day. Then,
Saturday was an open house in Nephi.
Sunday we had a 6-hour layover in Phoenix, and Brad’s family picked us
up to spend some time together. I felt
like I had been given a joyful shot of adrenaline and was ready to go back to
work.
My foster daughter in Cambodia, Davin, also got engaged this
month and will marry in December. I have
been able to visit her four times over the years and we have become quite
close. We are both sad that I cannot
attend her wedding. Although we senior
missionaries have much more freedom that the young missionaries, leaving the
country just doesn’t fit into the job description of a senior missionary. The mission president has been generous to
let me attend baptisms, a birth, and Ryan’s wedding, but leaving the country
would take too much time. It is
difficult for Davin to understand why I cannot come “stand” at her wedding;
and, I pray that she will sometime understand my commitment to serving on this
mission.
Another piece of my circle of life is my dad. He will be 94 in December. He is a great man who has lived a remarkable
life; and, he is finding that this stage of life is not his most joyful
time. But, he does have the opportunity,
and is looking forward to going on the WW-II Honor Flight at the end of this
month. He served as a marine, and truly
loves our country.
Life is good and we feel blessed to be serving in
Bakersfield. We have learned much and met
so many wonderful people. We see the
Lord’s hand wherever we turn, and for this we will be forever grateful. We love you and appreciate your support.
