April 25, 2012

It has been rather blustery up this way this past week, causing thoughts of Winnie the Pooh almost daily.  Kite flying weather may have been on the wish list, but it didn’t arrive.  We have had more rain which quickly found downhill pathways caused by a previous storm and washed out more planted cropland.

Christopher Wilde, son of David and Judy Wilde has been called to serve in the Arizona, Tempe Mission.  He will be leaving the Provo MTC, going to Tempe on May 1^st.  Family and friends gathered so celebrate this occasion.  Paternal relatives attending were Dottie Casperson , Janet Shenk and Jolene Egbert of Preston and Dixie Bennett from the Blackfoot area.  Judy’s twin sister, Trudy, came up from Logan.  Another sister, Jean Alleman and her son drove from Bennington, ID, along with Judy’s brother, John and Nancy Tippets, and Bruce Brown and his family.  John’s married children came up from Logan and Smithfield.

The Mink Creek Ward has a new presidency in the Elders Quorum.  They are: Kerry Christensen, president, Chad Greene, first counselor, Tim Checketts, second counselor, and Shane Corbett, secretary.   Forrest Christensen was sustained as the new ward clerk, the calling formerly held by Kerry Christensen.

Three of our youth have recently had birthdays that changed their status somewhat.  Morgan McKay, daughter of Paul and Terrie, and Nicole Beardall, daughter of Kent and Tammy, turned sixteen and are now members of the Laurel group in Young Women.  Justin Coleman, son of Nelson and Tammy Coleman, was ordained to the office of a priest.

            The Winward twins  were here visiting with grandparents Wally and Kim Christensen.  Angelie and Thane Winward welcomed a new tiny girl into their family last week and the “big” kids got to stay in Mink Creek for a few days.

Mink Creek has had a number of people involved in the community theater production of “Guys and Dolls,” particularly the director, Cecelie Costlie.  The last performance was this past Monday night.  Besides Cecelie now the pit orchestra members , including three of our residents, Laural and Jody Janke on trumpets and Sam Seamons on bass, and a young dancer, Haylee Hatch,  can take a well earned rest.

The last rains and a few days of sunshine have turned our valley into a green kingdom.  All shades of the color are bursting forth.  Stark black branches now have bits of green uncurling up and down their lengths.  Dry, straw textured lawns are now in need of mowing.  Daffodils add some bright yellow blooms.  Cherry trees are full of pink blossoms and a variety of wild trees bring bits of white blooms.  I hope this makes some of you have a pang of home sickness.

April 18, 2012

Using a twist on words the Mink Creek Relief Society enjoyed an Eggstravaganza.  All attending brought something connected with eggs.  Most offerings were food of some type:  casseroles, salads, breads, pie, cookies, cake.  It made for a yummy potluck sort of fare for their evening meal just sampling all the different dishes.  One unusual presentation was that of an egg carton filled with tiny tomato plants which had been planted in  dirt-filled egg shells.  Goldie Bosen was a guest speaker ,encouraging all attending to be eggceptional and eggstraordinary in their lives.  She charged them to reflect on their potential and dreams.  Tammy Coleman conducted the evening.

Elder Josh Newby recently returned from his mission, serving the past two years in the Missouri, St. Louis Mission.  He is the son of Sharla and Lin McKay.  Friends and family gathered here to welcome him.  His brother, Payton, and Judith Newby drove down from Rexburg.  Grandparents, Hal and Marva Mason came over from Plymouth, UT.  Josh was glad to see enough snow within easy driving distance to give him some snowmobiling moments and is ready to go 4-wheeling at the first opportunity.

Mike Jepsen, Reed Swann, Joe Jepsen and Alex Swainston have been off on a fishing adventure, staying at the May Family Ranch, near Clayton, ID.  They were on the Salmon River, hoping for steelhead, and were successful.

Preston High School’s seasons for track, baseball and softball are underway.  We have several youth in track:  Cody McKay, Joseph Seamons, Alexis Iverson, Johnny Iverson, Nicole Straight, Morgan McKay, and Nicole Beardall. Tyson Hall plays varsity baseball with Tawni Hall on the softball team. 

Bryce and Terry Stromberg are at home in their place on Birch Creek.  They have been in California for our cooler months, planning to avoid the snow we didn’t have this past season.  It is fun to have them back with us.

There is no question about whether or not the sandhill cranes have returned for the summer.   They can be a very noisy bird and their volume matches their size.  Their calls and squawks can be heard up and down the length of Mink Creek.   I have noticed our local buzzards and eagles enjoying spots of updraft, soaring high, wings outstretched, around and around.  This looks completely effortless.  No wonder people feel the urge to go into aeronautics.

Recently an overnight rainstorm turned into a deluge.  This downpour could mean a disaster for newly planted hillside crops.  Topsoil and seeds washed down the slopes and across the adjacent road in some large fields.  In other places the water came down with enough force to create deep gouges along the roadside, half a foot or so in depth, cutting through the softer soil.  Farm acres in this community are angled, very few flat fields.   The lower end of our community was the hardest hit.  Farming can be a risky business.

April 11, 2012

There is a lot of pruning activity going on around here. Our orchards are getting shaped up. One might even say that it is pruning season.   Along the side of one of our roads there is an interesting series of pruning results: piles of nicely  stacked branches, followed by a pile of thin twiggy stuff,  another pile of cut and measured branches, then the twiggy stuff, repeated again and again in an ongoing pattern.  In other locations up and down the valley are stacks of pruned pieces, all waiting to be disposed of, by one means or another.

David and Judy Wilde  attended a session of the LDS General Conference in Salt Lake City.  Their son, Elder Aaron Wilde, currently serving  a mission in Salt Lake, was able to meet them and attend with them.   This was a treat for their family.

Mink Creek is happy to have Dixie Bybee back living in our community.  She has been in Preston for several years and we have missed her.  Dixie and her late husband, Dale, raised their family here. Her daughter, Darlene and Jason Travis and their family, and her son, Lloyd Bybee, have all moved to the Boise area

Kristin and Jay Collins and their children, Davis and Claire, spent a couple of days with her parents, Bob and Claudia Erickson.  The Collins family lives in Lakeview, OR, and spring break in their school district matched up with those of Preston.    They spent most of the week in Rexburg with their daughter, Bailey, assisting in an apartment move.

From all reports there were many Franklin County people in Salt Lake City sometime during spring break. One of the main attractions was evidently the new City Creek Mall.  Shopping was not the main objective; it was just seeing this wonderful piece of architecture that has everyone talking.

We seem to be having our share of the late-arriving flu and allergies are right on schedule.  Sneezing, coughing, headaches, and all that goes with these maladies.  Just doing what we can to keep the tissue businesses going in this economy.

It is time for burning off the dry stuff left over from last fall and winter.  Roadside slopes, full of dry grasses and weeds, in a short time become blackened and grey.  But instead of feeling that it is destructive there is the knowing that things are cleaned up and ready for the new growing to take place.   Dried brambles and thorn filled thistles disappear.  There is moisture arriving regularly to keep the areas dampened down enough for good control. 

The weather seems to be delivering snow or rain every few days, not in any great quantity.  One resident put[it this way, “winter’s not  really over, shouldn’t get too excited about spring yet.”  But it is nice to see green appearing and flowers we associate with spring getting ready to bloom.

April 4, 2012

This spring is certainly capricious. In a week’s time there has been a near blizzard, torrents of rain, sunshine sufficient to work outdoors in shirtsleeves, and mixes of those three.   Today was gorgeous, with a morning mist hanging low and as it lifted there was the hint of green growth below.  As the mist thinned a bit, the sun showed bright on the snowy mountain tops above the fleecy clouds.  We do live in a beautiful place!

Marco Crosland, son of Robert and Phee Crosland,  has received his mission call to serve in  the  LDS Singapore Mission.  He will be learning to speak the Malay language.  Robert took a quick trip to Florida during spring break to visit their daughter, Arianna and Ben Hostetter.  They are living in Jacksonville where Ben is going to law school.

River McKay had her 14^th birthday and has moved on to Mia Maid class in Young Women.  River has already earned her first Young Woman’s Medallion but is still setting goals for interesting projects. 

The young men orchestrated the annual drive of Scouting for Food.  Cubs dropped off donation bags mid-week at households throughout the community.  Once filled the sacks were placed on the doorsteps for an early morning retrieval by the older scouts.  The results of the collection contribute to the local food pantry.

The Shawn Jepsen family or Pocatello came down for some time with their Jepsen cousins, Kerry and Melinda Jepsen.  Spring break is a great opportunity for family connections

Recently we have heard the wail of emergency sirens heading up our valley.  That sound is always one that reaches out and causes concern for whomever is in need of those wonderful people who volunteer their help and skills.  This response had a happy ending. 

Spring break is a welcome week in most homes.  I have heard of shopping trips, yard work, catching a few extra hours of sleep.  No matter the activity chosen it seems this time is generally just shucking off some of life’s pressure, as much as possible, to get ready for the busy days ahead.

Jim and Debbie Harrison came up for a few days. They claim “home” is just as comfortable in Mink Creek as it has been in St. George this past season.

A few weeks ago I received a brief report on particulars of the flooding in Thailand where Leon and Katherine Noorda are serving a mission.  In order to grasp the size of the area they compared it to the Salt Lake valley.   Quoting from their letter, “If you were to take an area north from Layton, go south to Provo, east to Foothill Blvd. and west to Magna, that would pretty much be as large as the flooded area would be.  Now imagine 4 to 6 feet of water that settles in for 4-6 weeks.  The massive amount of water now starts to recede  and fluctuates with the rising and lowering of the ocean tide.“  The first months of their mission included dealing with the flooding, followed by mopping-up, cleaning, etc. that resulted from the flooding.  One never thinks of this sort of thing as part of serving a mission.  The need to drive a car in a foreign country is one thing, traveling by small boat is quite another.

May your Easter season be one of gratitude.