HOLY SMOKE, and then some!

Well, we have just been through our first 'education' in California wildfires.  Joyce says the season is just beginning.  But this one was enough for me! 

We were actually at a branch member's home in Greeley Hill for an ice cream social the night we saw the first plume of smoke rise up.  But hey, it was clear on the other side of Lake McClure, so it would have to jump the lake to cause any real trouble, and that wasn't going to happen. 

Only it did.  By the next morning, it had turned into the Detwiler Fire and would eventually consume 82,000 acres before 5,000 fire fighters could bring it to its knees.  Our branch members in Greeley Hill and Coulterville were evacuated. 

The sky went from clear blue to an ashen grey, oppressive 'dome' above us.  I was glad my kids with asthma weren't here! 

Fred and I packed overnight cases with pills, a change of clothes, important papers...and waited for evacuation news.   I asked some friends up here what they grab when this happens.  They said, "Less every time". 

I'm not sure you can see how the ash covered this patio table, but our cars, clothes and hair all got a grim coating. 

I will tell you I gained enormous respect for firefighters.  There were big homemade board signs on some of the roads declaring "We Love You" and "Thank You!" from local residents. 

It's hard to describe the frightening nature of these fires.  This shot is above our house, and there's not a cloud in the sky.  it's all smoke.  Jim Burdick, our local retired firefighter, says you can never predict how these will go.  A fire can decide to change direction at any time.  He said this one was especially bad because it didn't 'lie down' at night like most do. 

Now I'll show you a picture of why these can cause so much havoc.

This is what pretty much all the surrounding hills look like this summer.  That's why the fire fighters said every ember that fell had a 100 percent chance of sparking a new flame. 

We all kept close tabs on Cal Fire, the Tuolumne Sheriff's alerts, and TheMotherLode.com. 

This was our 'brain trust' that directed the branch through this.  Jim is our Second Counselor (President Whitmer was in Alaska!!).  His wife, Joyce, is a ranger in Yosemite.  And his sister, JoAnn, handles Park information at the office in Groveland.  She and Joyce also make up 2/3 of the Relief Society Presidency!  They've all been through this 'many times'! 

And so when the first blessed day of blue sky returned, I found how grateful I should be every morning when we step out the door to go walking in this paradise.  I could easily have awakened to charred cinders of this 'mountain home so dear'.   But after all was said and done, all homes of our members were spared and everyone is thankfully 'back home'. 63 other families weren't so lucky as their houses were destroyed during the last 15 days.  Thankfully the fire is 90% contained and on it's way out. 

So in happier news from the mission, here are a couple of gems: 

Look what we passed this week on our morning walk!  You almost never get a shot of the whole family like this, with their two adorable fawns in tow! 

And here's a great new friendship we've made because of Elder Meese's baking skills!  He found that a woman through the block is a professional bread maker.  Through a branch member doing repair work for her, we got in contact with her, and she agreed to let him come talk 'bread' with her!  (Interesting side bar - her husband said 'as long as they don't talk religion!')  When we got there, she was knee deep in baking for an upcoming festival, so she let him watch.  It turned out to be the best visit! 

They are delightful people!  They invited Fred to bring them a loaf of his bread; they were entranced that he grinds his own wheat and does whole wheat 'round' bread in V8 cans.   

He took them a loaf, to their wonderful little geodesic home.  And they loved it!  They have invited us to come around any time just to visit. 









Here's a picture that's hard to believe.  Not because Cyndi made this sweet baby quilt for Will and Kirsten's baby coming in the Fall.  But because she doesn't own a sewing machine.  She did this all (piecing, border, all of it) by hand. 

 She brought it to church to give Kirsten today, so I snapped a shot of it.  Wonderful. 

Oh, and I thought I'd show you my 'alternate sister':  this is my Groveland "Jolene".  She has the same name as my only sibling, which is probably why I feel warmly toward her.  She was speaking in church today, a while after I took this picture.   So she was petrified with anxiety.  Which is humorous, because she's spent a lifetime serving in almost every calling in the church.  Her husband is one of our former branch presidents, and Jolene is a totally talented and capable pillar of the branch.  Go figure that she still gets nervous...

Last week we also said good-bye to a great Elder in our District.  He's the first one we've worked closely with that has completed his mission and is heading home.  I'm really going to miss him.  He always seemed to have a humble and inspired answer to help me with questions I had.  God's speed, Elder Bowler.

I think I'd better close.  And thank you to the friend who pointed out I was way overdue for this post.  Time can get away from me.   And so, to end, I'll give you one of our friends we 'caught in the act' after the Fourth of July celebrations!  Tsk Tsk!!
And here's to a happy beginning to August to you all.  We love you. 

An unexpected blessing!

Okay, here it is, our miracle blessing! 

And this is how it began.  Fred called my attention to a notice on the Pine Mountain neighborhood website: "Piano, free to someone who plays.  Must pick it up yourself." 

So these are the people behind the ad.  This is Phil and his Polish bride of three months.  The lady with white hair is Barbara; we know her from many places we've volunteered. 

Phil's previous wife died a few years ago and he wanted the piano placed with someone who could enjoy it.  His neighbor Barbara placed the ad for them.  We saw Barbara a couple of hours later at our Little House herb class.   We couldn't jump fast enough.

I played for them, we talked.  They were lovely, generous people.  But they were leaving for their main home in Nevada the next day!  Could Elder Meese put together a moving crew in four hours? 

How about borrowing Jim's truck, dolly, and straps?  If our neighbor Jeff and our new branch member Bob were available, it might work! 

By that evening, voila!  We had a home that would be filled with music!

The only funny part of this is that Phil's wife, in broken English, said she didn't want to give up the piano bench (that was serving as their TV stand), even when Elder Meese offered to buy them a replacement.  But hey, who can complain??!! 




Now, what blessings have come from this? 
1.  Phil and his wife asked if they could come over for a concert later on.
2.  Jeff, next door, has now become a fast friend and invited us to spend the
     Fourth with them!
3.  Our Seventh Day Adventist friend who plays guitar said we should have a
     holiday gathering with playing and singing.
4.  Barbara asked if I would consider being a rehearsal accompanist for their singing group, The Pine Cone Singers!  They're really professional!

And I have a feeling that's only the beginning.....

I also have an idea for it after our mission.  I'm wondering if Kirsten (who has a beautiful singing voice) would like it in their new home.  Let me show you the blessing they've seen in the past two months!  See the tiny tent trailer in this shot?

It's where they used to sleep...every night.  Now it's on the lot of the home they are now renting!  If I told you how hard it is to find homes up here you'd understand why it was a miracle that a couple in their 80's had to move 'downhill' and asked if her hair dresser (Kirsten!) and husband might be interested in moving in.    This is where she lives now.

It's perfect for the two (soon to be three) of them, and just 'woodsy' enough to keep this outdoor, hiking-and-camping couple happy.

A gift from an ever-watching Father in Heaven.

By the way, they've chosen not to know the sex of this upcoming hiker. 

Okay, I just have time to show you a visual of the best story of forgiveness and redemption we have heard in church.  It was a testimony given by the owner of this rig:

You may remember us telling about the shortest route up to Groveland called "Old Priest Grade".  It's a 14% grade, but it's 1.7 miles versus the 5 mile winding and gentler path on "New Priest Grade".  Well, it goes without saying that motorhomes, etc. are NOT allowed on old priest. 

You would think this last sign was warning enough to head tourists to the correct road.  But... believe it or not, this sign is placed AFTER you have made the turn and committed your vehicle! 

So this poor man's GPS was telling  him to turn right, and he found himself heading up an impossible climb.  Half way up, with a string of irritated drivers behind him, he found a blessed turn out.  He said he had never been so scared in his life, and now (in this jack knifed position) he couldn't even get the jeep to unhook! 

When the highway patrol arrived, "I was so grateful to see him, I didn't even care if I had to pay the $1,000 fine.  I just hoped he could help me get out of this alive.  When asked if I had seen the four previous warning signs, I had to answer in the negative.  I asked if I should turn around.  He said absolutely not; they would then have to close the whole grade for hours.  The only choice I had was to keep going to the top." 

According to this greatly humbled brother, because he had listened to the direction 'of the world' and was oblivious to the warnings before him, he had put them all in great danger. 

After listening to the lessons learned by this repentant driver, I don't think the members of the congregation will ever feel the same about those huge motorhomes mistakenly heading into peril! 

So, on that note, have a great week.  And best wishes for a happy July from...

The Cooking Crew for the annual
Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast

Lucy, Paula and Denise - our directors and herb gardners at the Little House

our July treats for the Youth Center!

And the ever beautiful, still flowing waters of Upper Yosemite Falls. 

Where did June go??

A mission is a funny thing - weekdays can tend to blend together.  And before you know it, you're writing a '7' in your calendar log instead of '6'!  But let me try to catch you up on some photos of times we've enjoyed:

Every week I join with this group of about thirteen fun people in a 'Core and Balance' class at The Little House.  It has helped me form some great new friendships. 

 Tom, the man in the floral shirt, likes music.  So does his pretty wife next to him.  As we were walking around our chairs one class period, someone asked who knew an old song.  He began to sing the most wonderful old ballad, something about 'Give me those old sweet songs...' 

When he finished, I said the only old one I knew was 'mares eat oats and does eat oats' (marzidotes and dozidotes).  I had sung just one stanza when everyone in the room joined in.  We sang the whole song, chorus and verse.  It was the most delightful, connected time I've experienced in there.  It was a moment.  We all laughed at the fun of it.

And speaking of fun, the Little House often brings in 'therapy dogs' for the patrons to enjoy.  A week ago, a lady also brought her miniature therapy horse!  She evidently goes around to many places, just letting people enjoy him.  Believe it or not, he travels in her SUV!  She opens the back door, he hops in.  He's stabilized with some padding and off they go. 


Oh, and you may notice that Jo is temporarily in a wheel chair after a fall at her house.  She has MS and is a little wobbly, but she is as spunky as they come.  She didn't miss a week in Core and Balance. 

When I asked if I could take her picture, she said 'sure!  And be sure to put a good tag on it.'  How about -

"NOTHING STOPS US"

'Perfect', she said. 








Speaking of 'nothing stops us', here is another wonderfully involved community member who happens to be a member of our branch!  Bev is president of the Pine Needlers Guild in Groveland.

 They recently held their annual 'Quilt Stroll' down Main Street.

Every business had these beautiful creations hanging in front.  There were over 120 exquisite quilts.  This one of Bev's was so different I had to take a photo:

She said it was just such a challenge to do a textured piece like this that she had to try it.

I love when good church members are also active in the community.  It is a win-win! 



Did we tell you we got a second senior couple 'in the field' in our mission?  These are the Spaffords from St George, and they are in another 'mountain' area about an hour and a half from us. 

President Palmer says the church could use four to five times times the number of senior couples they have.  It's nice to have the Spaffords.  We've already enjoyed dinner together. 

Well, tonight we will experience a Fourth at the Marina.  Groveland is celebrating July 4th on the weekend.  Here's what Main Street looked like yesterday with all the Pine Mountain home owners and renters coming up for the big day. 

It's sort of fun to have actual people in every house!  As I mentioned, about 1/3 of these homes have permanent residents.  The rest are vacation homes for their owners.  Anyway, tonight we will brave the crowds to watch fireworks down at the 'standing room only' marina as they shoot them off out over the lake.  Our next door neighbors, Jeff and Leslie, invited us to go with them...which in itself is a blessing.  Most of our church friends say they wouldn't go into those crowds on a bet.  We'll see...

A couple of odds and ends before I close:

Apriums?  We are getting into the good produce months for California, but I have yet to see any wonderful prices.  Anyway, we get some creative types of fruit!

My buddy Joann took her lunch hour from being a Yosemite information ranger to come to the June birthday lunch because I was one of them. 
She is now back in tip top shape from her knee replacement, looking toward the other one in the Fall. 

And she's a totally devoted, generous hearted member of the branch.  What would we do without her? 









Have I mentioned that we are in the almond capital of the world?  I think we sampled enough of these, that day, to call it dinner.  Sooooo delicious.

Fred saw one of these flags for the first time on a walk the other day.  We found out it's in support of police officers, because they are the 'thin blue line' that protects the public. 

Here is the 'poetry anthology' that contains poems written by the local elementary and jr. high students.  Such a great idea; they also chose some of the best and had students come up and read them.  We decided to go, thinking we'd be in a sea of parents.  We were the only adults there, outside of the teachers.  But we were glad we went.  We wrote notes of appreciation to those authors we recognized from our days at the Youth Center. 

Okay, I'm going to close.  But soon, very soon, I'm going to tell you a tale of what service can do with the help of the Lord.  It's a pretty amazing happening...on many fronts.  Until then, know that we are feeling very blessed in this work and are grateful for the happy thoughts we have of all of you.  So farewell from us and our most recent investigator.  We're hoping to help him transform his life...