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Wednesday, May 24, 2017

HAVE I DONE ANY GOOD

                  HAVE I DONE ANY GOOD

                                                         (Picture from Deseret News)
   We have a song in our Church which poses the question, “Have I done any good in the World today.” Then it goes on to ask some specific questions as to how we might have done some good, perhaps every day, and not even have thought about it.
   I am also pretty sure all of us do some good almost every day. Many times it may have been something you have planned on, perhaps even with a group of people. However I know a lot of good things are done spontaneously by one individual to another, and perhaps not even thought about by the doer or the receiver. It may have been thought provoking by one of the parties when it is over.
   I have been blessed, or cursed, as you can look at it both ways---- with the desire and ability to talk to friends or strangers and at least one of us (Me) always enjoys it.
   I talk to strangers in the grocery store, people at a gas station, people who I open or close a door for, and yes, almost anyone who looks my way and smiles will usually get at least a comment.
   I once heard a story about Bishop Niederhauser, who was the Roman Catholic Bishop in Utah. He had been asked to speak to a group of prestigious people. He indicated he wanted to tell a short story before his speech. It seems he had at one time been asked to talk to a similar group at another time. At that time he saw a lady he thought he knew. He stepped up and tapped her on the shoulder and when she turned around he said, “I think I know you from a long time ago, you look like Helen Brown.” She turned and took a couple of steps, then turned around and said, “No I do not know you, and by the way you do not look that terrific in all black either!” Needless to say he got more than a few laughs from the group that were waiting for him to speak. I am sure that as the old movie cliché says’ He made their day.”
   I do my blogs as they come to mind. They are not pre-planned but just seem to pop into my head at various times and in various places. Because of this I have to grab them quickly or I miss them. Also my memory is not as good as it used to be. Sometimes I ramble and some time they are short and to the point. I love to hear from the people who enjoy them as that encourages me to keep it up? That also is why my blogs are about MANY DIFFERENT things.
  On one occasion I was in downtown Salt Lake and trying to cross the street where there was a cross walk but no traffic light. Just after I had got there an older lady with a walker hobbled up and stopped at the cross walk. We stood there for a few minutes waiting for the cars to stop, but they didn’t. After a few minutes the lady looked at me with smile and said,” if you will stop the first car I will break a trail for us.” Well I stepped off the curb and put up both hands and lo and behold the car stopped. The lady on the walker went passed me and all the cars stopped. I walked beside her until we got to the other side of the road. Then with a grin on her face she said, “We make a good team don’t we,” as she went on down the sidewalk. Well I do not know how she felt but I felt great because I had helped. Then on second thought, did I help her or did she help me?
   In addition to the physical things we can do I (and some people cannot do many physical things) we can all do many small acts of kindness. Even though we give these things to others we actually still have them. You can give” hugs” away all day and still have not given yours away. I know this is true because I grew up in a “hugging” family. You can give away handshakes all day and still have not lost yours at the end of the day. A short visit that you have been putting off, to an old friend for a loooong time would only cost you a little time and give both of you a lot of pleasure. Even a passing comment to someone on the street, or in a Church, or store might brighten someone else’s day. If you make the comment, “I hope you have a great day,” they probably will.
   I am a collector of “stuff” and I found this by Ralph Waldo Emerson--- “You can never do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” I like this idea.
   I had a friend when I was in the Air Force that had a favorite saying that usually helped me when I was having bad day. He would say, “Remember, no matter how handsome or how beautiful you are, or how plain you are you will ALWAYS look a lot better if you smile.”
   There are not many things that you can give away, and still keep them, but there are a lot of small acts of kindness that you can.
   In a talk by President Thomas S. Monson (April 2014) He said,—“There are many attributes which are manifestations of love, such as kindness, patience, selflessness, understanding and forgiveness. In all our associations these and other such attributes will help make evident the love in our hearts.  
   Usually our love will be shown in our day-to-day interactions one with another. All important will be our ability to recognize someone’s need and then respond.”

W.R. Baldwin 24 May 2017

Thursday, May 11, 2017

ANCESTORS




                                                          ANCESTORS
   I have been “doing genealogy”. As people say, for many years now, but now that I am not as mobile as I used to be I have been spending more time looking at old pictures and reading more old writings, such as Journals, photo albums, journals and City and State histories.
  
   It is strange how things happen but last week I was looking at some old picture albums and the thought raced through my mind, “these places were real, however much different than they are now.” Also the people were real, they were real live people. They were here 100 years ago, however in complete different circumstances than today! They were alive, flesh and blood and suffered from cold, heat and fatigue just like we do. I am sure it was more often than we do as well as much more severe.
   I have a picture of my mother and my grandfather when they lived in what they called their “tent house.” I am sure it left a lot to be desired but never the less it provided protection from the elements. I have pioneers who crossed the plains in covered wagons who may have thought of as place like this being a BIG improvement that pitching a tent for overnight and then taking it down in the morning, for months while they traveled. 















                     --This is the Tent House----
   
   My wife spent her adolescent years in a house very different than what most people want now. It had at least one addition added on after it was built, and maybe two? Her bedroom was upstairs. Upstairs in those days was not the same as what we call upstairs today. The stairs were built on the outside of the house and in the winter were covered with ice or snow. The heater for the upstairs room was also very interesting. Getting heat to her room was very interesting. They heated the upstairs bedroom by cutting a hole in the ceiling of the kitchen, which was the floor of the bedroom. Needless to say if there was a fire in the kitchen it was somewhat warm upstairs, and if there was no fire it was COLD.
   The preferred method of getting ready for bed in the winter was to put a brick in the oven of the kitchen stove (or a flat iron on the stove—which a lot of people now days have no clue what a flat iron is),
Then you would wrap it in a towel or quilt, run up the stairs on the outside of the house and toss it in your bed, and hope you went to sleep in a hurry.
















--- The old Wickman Home-----


   My Sister and I both used a system similar to my wife’s brick or flat iron, except she used a rubber hot water bottle. She would fill the hot water bottle with scalding hot water and wrap it in a homemade quilt. I just preferred a heavy quilt without the brick.

   It is interesting that still, to this day, when my Sis does not feel well she grabs her Hot water bottle and fills it up and heads for the recliner. As she sits in the reclining lounger she swears it makes her feel a lot better.

   Now back to my Picture albums. Most of the men in the old pictures wore beards and I wondered if it was just too hard to shave every day or if there was another reason? Also most of the men wore stripped or blue denim bib overalls. (If you do not know what bib overalls were, ask your parents or grandparents as I am sure they will remember.) I wondered if most of them wore them because that was all that was available? If course they did not have a Shopko, Macy’s or Walmart. They were lucky to have a country store with a few pair of overalls tossed on a table in between the long handled underwear.
   
   A lot of my ancestors were “Utah Pioneers” and they had a lot of stories and I have read most of them before, but for some reason this recent reading and looking at picture seemed to hit me and made me think that they were real people, not just pictures. They had to make tough decisions almost every day, almost always tougher than I have to make in my times.
   
   All at once it was strange to think of them having to plant seeds, or trees and then wait months or years, for some trees to produce any fruit from their labors.
   Now we just jump in the car, drive about five minutes or less, buy anything we want, and usually some you had not thought of, and then be hack home in half hour or so. Of course that also made me think how different our lives are today compared to our pioneer ancestors 150 years ago.
   I used to love and sit while my Mom and Dad and Aunts and Uncles sit and told stories about their lives in the “Olden Days.” Now I am the one who tells the stories and the olden days do not seem to be so old? I was part of my “Olden Days” just like each generation will be part of theirs when they sit and tell stories to their grandkids. It seems strange to think how each generation has interesting stories to tell the next generation as we all grow older.
   I think sometimes it is hard for the younger generations to actually believe that I grew up, at least for several years without us having a family car. Also no TV—how could they survive? We also had no telephone in our home, while I was a teen. No refrigerator for the first 10 years of my life. (For those who wonder how people survived without a refrigerator) ask your Grandpa?
   In the late 30’s and early 40’s most of the girls clothes were home made and most of the boys with the exception of the “bibbers.”
   Like most people in small towns almost everyone planted a small home garden. It was not like today where they are mostly planted as yard decorations. In the depression days they were planted for food. And of course they demanded constant care, which usually yas the kids job. At least it seemed that way to us!
   It may be where we lived and maybe the weather really has changed, but when I was growing up we did not talk about snow storms in the inches, We usually did not worry about then autil we were talking about them in feet!
   I often hear the comment,” I would not change growing up in a small town like I did for anything.” I often wonder if that is a “truism” or just a topic of conversation?   
   Well thank GOD for ancestors and I hope that our kids have some great ones??

WRBaldwin 11 Mat 2017