UNINVITED VISITOR

                                      UNINVITED VISITOR

   I have been a little reluctant to put this in my blog because it is a little strange. However, hesitant or not I thought if I did maybe someone else in my neighborhood might have had the same experience and between us we might figure out what is really going on?

   I have always been the kind of person whose motto might have been, “A place for everything and everything in place.” However a few months ago things started things started to change and the only thing I have been able to attribute it to is that    someone is coming into my home at night and doing things to harass me.

   I have never found anything missing. (Even if I cannot find it immediately, it seems to eventually always show up.)

   The first time I noticed it was several months ago. I woke and did my morning things and then went into the kitchen and I noticed my garage door was up. I NEVER leave it up. In fact my kids refer to my place as “Fort Knox” because it is always locked up. Since I knew I ALWAYS shut it I thought one of my kids had been here after I went to bed and when they left, they did not close the garage door. But if that was the case why did they not wake me up? Or perhaps it was an uninvited guest, who had come and left. If it was he must have left the door up all night.

   Well I just forgot about that incident until one morning I went to get my “under clothes” to get dressed and there were only two pair in my drawer. I knew I had just washed and folded a LOT MORE than that just the day before. However since I could not find them I just assumed I did not wash that batch and they were still downstairs. I thought I would go down later and do it, so I did not think about it anymore.

   The next day I went to get a clean towel and “low & behold” all of my under clothes were in a neat pile – in the towel closet. I was sure THAT GUY had come and moved them. I tried to figure out why anyone would do that but I just went about my business and forgot about it.

   The next time something happened it really shook me up. I got up--- got dressed and went to get my wallet off the dresser to put in my pants pocket. It was GONE. I thought OH NO--- How could that be. I looked every place I could think of and could not find it. I decided to go to the bank and cancel my credit cards. When I got in the car there was my wallet, starring at me from the little shelf on the consol, between the seats. HE had been there again. But why did he never take anything?

   A few weeks ago I was going to breakfast with some friends. I got dressed and went to get my shoes. I have always kept them beside the bed at night. They were not there. I thought well a few times I have put them in the closet so I must have done that last night. I opened the closet, fully expecting to see them there—they were not. Rather than be late for breakfast I put on another pair. When I got back from breakfast I went to sit in my lounger to read my newspaper. Guess what? There they were sitting neatly as could be at the side of my lounger. I almost yelled, “No HE has been here again!

   That same afternoon I decided to make me a peanut butter and jam sandwich for a snack. I had a big breakfast so I thought I did not need a big lunch. I went to the cupboard to get the peanut butter and there was none. I THOUGHT TO MYSELF—“No not again, not twice in the same day.” And the other times had always been at night, so was he getting bolder? Since I could not find the peanut butter I decided to make a ham and cheese. I went to the “fridge” and get it and guess what? As I opened the door there was the Peanut butter starring at me. Who puts peanut butter in the “fridge?” Well for sure not me. For 60 years I have always put it in the cupboard. So I am sure HE had been there again.

   I talked to one of my daughters and to my sister about this and they just laughed and gave me “THAT LOOK”. I thought they did not think it was very serious and in fact my sister said, “Ya I think he has been here a couple of times also.” Perhaps I should forget about filing the police report that I was going to draw up?

   Well it has not happened lately but in thinking back over the last year I think HE may have been involved in some of these strange happenings--- I intend to keep watching for HIM.

1.     I have a favorite pair of everyday pants. I ALWAYS hang them in the front of my closet. I went to get them a while back and they had been moved into a different closet where I hang my suits.

2.     I got up one morning and went to take my allotment of pills. My toothbrush was lying on the pill box. I never put it on the medicine cabinet. I always hang it on the toothpaste rack. Was HE there?

3.     My last one I will mention could have many answers, but I will mention it because it was probably HIM. I have a shelf of memorabilia of my wife, in my computer room. It has a lot of things on it that are reminders of her. Anyone who knew Donnie will remember her desire for chocolate. So one of the things on the shelf (front & center) is a candy bowl that is always full of candy. One night I stayed up late doing genealogy. I actually stayed up until about 2:00 AM. I finally quit and went to bed because I was very, very tired. Imagine my surprise when I woke up the next day and the candy jar was completely empty? This was before HE had started visiting but now I wonder it perhaps it was HIM.

   Now of course another answer to all of this could be that I am getting a little forgetful but I refuse to accept that “fairy tale.”

   Also some of them could be embellished but I really wonder????

W.R. Baldwin

9 October 2014

NIGHT and DAY

Sunset at the cabin August 2002

                    NIGHT & DAY

The sun slowly slips behind the mountain

And the night birds start to sing.

I sit on my deck and wonder

What will the next morning bring?

In the distance I hear a coyote start to wail,

And a deer runs past the cabin woodpile.

And I think to myself what a wonderful tale

I could tell, with a great big smile.

Soon all the light was gone and the sky was black as ink,

With hundreds of stars peeking out above.

And I smiled to myself as I started to think

Our Father created this for us, with his love.

What is out there in the dark, I thought to myself?

The aspens that shimmered are now still.

Is that noise in the dark a bear or a deer?

Is it something to love or something to fear?

I thought to myself what a difference there is

Between the day and the inky black night.

What is out in the dark that we can hear

That causes us to tremble with fright?

So I shut all the doors and turn out the lights

And pull up the covers for another night.

I dream of the beauty that the morning will bring,

And in just a short time the birds start to sing.

And the cycle from evening to morning is over.

I look out the window at bees on the clover,

And see a beautiful hawk sitting there in a tree

Perhaps just to give joy to you and to me.

And the day starts anew and I yawn and I sneeze,

And the wind ruffles the leaves on the aspen trees.

A deer runs on past the cabin woodpile

And I start a new day with a great big old smile.

W.R. Baldwin

While at the cabin in August 2002

WHAT AM I?

This item is laying on top of a small square table. The table is not part of the item. It was used almost every day by people in the late 1800's and early 1900's. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT IT IS?

THE CEMETERY

THE CEMETERY

It seems the last month or so I have spent an inordinate amount of time at one cemetery or another. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is because my wife's Birthday is in August and the other is because my youngest grand daughter, Bailey Grace, was born in October and was only with us for two days. She would be six years old this year.

When I go out to visit Donnie I have found a meditation bench with the name SHAW on it. I am sure they do not mind me using it. It is only a few steps from Donnie's grave and it is under a big tree which provides shade in the summer, so I have taken to using it when I visit.

Sometimes I just sit and think, sometimes I take the newspaper and read it and there have been a couple of occasions when I take my lunch and eat while I talk to her and reminisce. Of course the conversation is a one way one and I sure wish it was not.

A couple of times when I have been sitting there I just started watching the people that come and go. It was interesting and it started me to thinking---- Why do people come to visit cemeteries? I am sure that there are many reasons and they are not all the same for all people. The more I sit and meditated the more I wondered.

First almost everyone brings flowers. Some are cut flowers, some are potted flowers and some are silk flowers. I wondered if they do it as a remembrance of the person? Of course there are other decorations left at other times of the year. There are small child toys on children's graves. There are flags (especially on the 4th of July), There are small Christmas Trees, Fall decorations and of course Birthday Flowers with a date on them.

One day as I sit and watched for a hour or so I observed---- An older man and woman drove up and stopped. They struggled to get out of the car. He took her hand and she put her arm around his waist and they walked a few steps to a grave where they just stopped and stood quietly looking for some time. After they left I went and looked at the headstone and it was the grave of a young man 21 years old who had been dead for 38 years. I presume it was their son and they still had a desire to visit him.---A group of four teens (I think) pulled up in a bright blue convertible. They were laughing, smiling and enjoying each others company. They stopped and jumped out, each grabbed a bunch of cut flowers from the back seat and walked to the grave and lay them on the grave. They did not use a vase, they did not try to stand them up, they just lay them side by side in the grave and still smiling and laughing went back to their car and left. I thought to myself, "I'll bet that was their Grandpa and Grandma and very likely they were standing right by their side and enjoying the smiles, vigor and happiness of youth while they were there visiting."--- Not to long after I arrived, a group of four cars arrived at a site nearby and about 20 Polynesian people got out. They brought numerous beautiful flower arrangements  and flowers in planters. They also brought two coolers and water. There were people all over and of all ages. It was obvious they were enjoying a family get to gather. A couple of toddlers ended up sitting on the graves and I could imagine them sitting on their Grandma and Grandpa's lap. I am sure the Grandparents were enjoying it. I wondered if the family picnic thing was a tradition with this family or was it a culture thing for the Polynesian People?

Another interesting thing that happened another day when I was at the cemetery was two cars pulled up and six people got out. It was obvious they had not been there for a long time or they just had a vague idea where the grave was. As soon as they got out they all fanned out and started going up and down the graves trying to find a certain one. After a short time one yelled and waved her arms and the rest swarmed to her like  bees to a hive. They stood by the grave and talked about five minutes and got back in their cars and left. I could not help but wonder if they had come because they felt an obligation. was it a yearly tradition or was there some other reason for getting together at the cemetery?

Of course the main reason I visit the cemetery is because I feel a special relationship with my wife, my eternal companion. I also know that is not her in the grave, but who knows, maybe she is sitting on my meditation bench with me. It also helps that my Mother and Father's graves are just a few steps away.

The other place I visit frequently is my youngest grand daughter, Bailey Grace. She was only with us for two days but I think everyone in the family is drawn to her for one reason or another.

Whenever I visit I leave a child's toy or a flower or some remembrance that I have. Often when I return to the grave they have been stolen. I am certain that people who steal from a child's grave (or any other grave for that matter) will for sure get their REWARD in HEAVEN!

Well enough of this "musing." I just thought it was fun "people watching" at the cemetery. As my family probably knows by now I am a certified "People Watcher."

WALLY

          

Cantankerous Carl's Pain

I already told you where it HURTS---I have a big pain right under my left hand!

THOUGHTS

                           THOUGHTS                          

As I lay on the bed, I thought I might rot.

They say I am sick, but sick I am not.

From this bed I can’t move. Not from this spot.

For down in my leg is a great big blood clot.

I write on some paper and read in my books,

Mostly of Pioneers and the chances they took.

I think what would I do in the days of old

If I was a pioneer, would I be bold?

They suffered pain and distress of body and spirit.

They did not want death, but never did fear it.

For what they believed—They were beaten and whipped.

Now where is your God, their tormentors they quipped?

My ancestors were there with the pioneers.

There was Caleb and Wheeler and Hyrum I hear.

Caleb with the Prophet at Liberty did stay.

Liberty was a dungeon, not a jail as today.

For four months they lingered in the filth and the cold.

Could I take the stress, would I be so bold?

While Caleb was with the Prophet, the Prophet did see

Many visions that are found in the D & C.

They traveled the plains by wagon and cart.

From Kirtland and Nauvoo they were made to depart.

They left Winter Quarter’s on their own that’s true,

To leave all you own would be a hard thing to do.

Some days in the mud clear up to their waist

They pushed wagons, and oxen because of their haste

To get to the land of their promise, you see.

And practice their religion like men who are free.

Their trials were horrid, their suffering was long.

What would I have done? Would I have been strong?

They took cursing from tormentors, as like asses they bray

And they buried wives and children all along the way.

I lay on my bed and I read and I ponder.

What would I have done, if I was called to wander

Across the Iowa plains, and in the Wyoming cold?

Would I have quit and give up, or would I be bold?

The Pioneers stayed faithful, as the plains they trod.

For they knew, on their side was the Living God.

They crossed the great rivers, the Miss. and the Missouri.

Their troubles and grief are a well known story.

They arrived in the valley by the Great Salt Lake.

The legacy they left, sometimes for granted we take.

If we had been there, would we, like them, trudge along,

Would were slither and hide, or would we be strong?

As I lay on this bed with my dreams and my thoughts,

As I’m stuck to this spot with my little old clot,

Is my testimony strong, and would I be bold,

Would I take all they took, for what’s on the plates of Gold?

THOUGHTS

Written by W.R. Baldwin

While recovering from a blood clot 23 Mar 1993

I just recently went through a bout of Acute Diverticulitis and as I was feeling sorry for myself and looking through some old papers I found this one I wrote several years ago. Actually
l I was not near as sick this time, so I guess I was fortunate?
Wally    1 Aug 2016

THOUGHTS IN SACRAMENT MEETING

Thoughts I had in Sacrament Meeting

      26 Oct 1997   W.R. Baldwin 

Why am I here on this beautiful earth?

Was I valiant when in the Heavens above?

Did I do the things I had been taught by Father?

Did I learn love for others from my Heavenly Mother?

When I arrived here as a babe, innocent and bright,

Would the family I came to teach me things that are right?

Would I grow as a child to be loved, and to love?

As I had done while in the heavens above?

Would the friends I would choose have standards like me?

Would I always be found where I knew I should be?

Could I influence my friends with my gospel of love

So we could return together to the heavens above?

When I grew up and I started to dance and to date

Would I do it with someone I would like as a mate?

Would I be married in the Temple of the Lord above?

So as a family we could return to our Kingdom above?

As parents would we teach of the gospel plan

That the Lord above has sent down to man?

Would our children listen and act as we taught,

Or would all of our teaching end up for naught?

The Temple would call us, would we answer, Oh yes?

I will be there with my family as onward we press

To the Celestial Kingdom, the home of the Lord,

Where we can return to him, if we live his word.

As if little children, OUR hearts must be turned

Toward the Heaven, and the things we have learned.

Please Heavenly Father let us the pearly gates gain

Let our teachings on earth not all be in vain.