Low Thrill Threshold and Other Secrets to Happiness

Claire, Jane, Harmony and Max wait for the goods and a chance to get wet

Everything from barefoot beauties driving tractors and otter pops tossed to the crowd (which was only one-person deep and not shoulder to shoulder) to the firetruck's blast high in the air for those willing to get wet, the Panguitch Pioneer-day parade is second only to Kanab's fireworks on the 4th for best summertime small-town celebrations.

Saundra shared an essay with me once about the secret to happiness being having a low thrill-threshhold. I believe it wholeheartedly. More from our low-thrill cabin reunion in Southern Utah:

Making, hiding and finding our own geo-caches

Night hike discovery: tiny glow worms in the low brush beside the dirt road--too bad Ju didn't realize Owen's sippy cup was the ventilated resting place for the one we captured.  Glow little Owie, glimmer, glimmer.....

Spectacular thunder and lightning (nothing makes dirt smell better than rain, especially rain combined with sage and ponderosa)

A perfectly toasted s'more presented by a generous and marshmallowy gifted 14 year old

Sleeping cousins curled up like kittens on the deck as the sun warms them awake.

Bouncing in the pickup on a steep rocky dirt road realizing we've taken a wrong turn somewhere and not caring a bit where we end up

Unplugging and playing hours of card games: Phase 10, Uno, and --in memory of Grandma Bagley--Fourteen on a Corner. (I had to Google it to remember the rules. Irony?)

We've tried all kinds of paint to personalize rocks along the trail, but markers and various kinds of paints were all a "fail" after a year or two of weather. For Christmas, each grandchild received a river rock engraved with their first name, and all but a few are now strategically placed on the trail. Finding a rock with your own name is a thrill time after time.

That fire-engine red claw-foot tub with a good book, handmade soap and time to relax --with water miraculously coming up from the ground clean and abundant!

Einstein said there are two ways to live your life: as if everything is a miracle, or as if nothing is a miracle.  I say the former.

Six Tries and I Have an ID Card!!

Yes, folks, six trips to Hill and I finally have the new military ID card.  On tries 1, 2, 3, and 4, I was snarling.  On trip 5 Jay was snarling and I was having to hold him down.  I did, however mutter as we were leaving without the blasted card, "This has been my experience with the military for forty years, nothing unexpected." I am beginning to rethink my support of ObamaCare. I REALLY detest dealing with ineffiency and red tape.

On a happier note, although what could be happier than accomplishing what seemed to be impossible just a day ago?, the pre-mission physical is d.o.n.e, and I seem not to have colon, uterine, blood, nor guts issues. In other words, I'm healthy.  In fact, my pulse was as slow as an athletes, my blood pressure was low as always and my temperature a perfect 98.6. I won't tell you about the broken parts that the Missionary Department isn't inquiring into.

Living Simply Isn't So Simple

In theory, I believe in living simply.  In practice, it's not so simple.

What I planned on:  living my whole life in Cedar City where I was born and mostly raised.
What I got: living on three continents and in six states. I've had so many addresses I can't remember half of them.

What I intended: a small one bedroom rustic cabin in the woods.
What we ended up with: a three floor home on a mountain.

My stage in life: Way past the acquisition phase.
Reality: Amazon Prime.

What I consider necessities in the refrigerator: fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs, butter, milk, cheese.
What consumes 75% of the space in our fridge: bottles! Hot peppers, pickles, adobo sauce, peanut sauce, chili-garlic sauce, mayonnaise, three kinds of mustard, fish sauce, must I go on?

Necessities in the medicine cabinet: Advil, vaseline, antibiotic ointment, band-aids, razor, tweezers.
My medicine cabinet: 6 shelves spilling over with tubes, bottles, packets, sprays, foams, gels....

I realize these are first-world problems and feel like an ingrate, but the Sargent motto, "Too much of anything is just the right amount," was never applied to stuff. Staying up late talking, homemade salsa, number of children (in my case) and butt-kicking adventures can't be overdone, but I should have better followed Mom's model of frugality and non-consumption. Instead I married a man who, thankfully, enjoys running errands; but who can never buy just one of anything.  "I wasn't sure which sunscreen to get," and plops down waterproof, not waterproof, SPF 30, 50, 75 and spray-on. Having multiples of everything is only compounded with two homes.

So how to live more consistently with my ideal of simplicity? Going through the closets and shelves, keeping only those things that I use or that I treasure is a starting place. Buying quality and taking care of it forever.  Spending resources on things that bring joy. Consuming--in every sense of the word--less but enjoying it more.

I want to live the rest of my life consistent with my values, not those of the world. Serving a mission will be a good antidote to over consuming. Living for a year and a half with what we can bring with us in two suitcases will focus us on what matters: serving, loving, learning and savoring small pleasures.

Road Trip!

Lessons learned:

A 5,000 mile trip is not insignificant, but 11 and 14 are the perfect age travelers--happy with fast-food (in fact, local food is wasted on them) and tolerant of grand-parent jokes if you can overlook plenty of eye-rolling.

Despite sophisticated lyrics that they know by heart to their boy-band CDs, they still get homesick after a week. Ten days was a good limit.

Vocabulary word a day worked well.  Inuendo was apropos for Day 3 (see previous item).

Buskers was also a good choice for vocabulary.  The day after we used it, we were entertained by a father and son juggling on unicycles--everything from balls, to knives, to fire torches.  Fantastic!

Bed bugs CAN be found, even in luxury hotels.

Laundromats maintain scalding hot water, even after 7 loads.  There IS a spray specifically for bedbugs and we're crossing our fingers that it worked.  We shall never speak of this again.

Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt was a perfect, bonding read-aloud.

Getting the "meal deal" may provide grandparent points, but it is possible to have too many french fries and soda and one tires of paying for uneaten food.  At least this one does.

Orioles baseball is as good as Cardinal baseball; five home-runs, fireworks, free hats and ballpark crowds. Ah, yes, real America!

Nauvoo in July is the biggest testament to the Church being true. Not the pageant: surviving the heat and humidity.

Hotel pools are a necessity.

Sacagajawea, the GPS, knows the west and couldn't recognize Smithsonian, Inner Harbor, or even Gettysburg until we realized we needed to load the east-coast maps.  Things improved greatly once she had her bearings.  I think she likes Utah best, as I do.

Retired Five Days

"Start a Blog"
Bucket list, check. Now comes the hard part.

Retirement thus far has consisted of chasing around and running errands. No thanks; I've changed my mind.

After being considered someone somewhat important sitting in the principal's corner office, it's quite a come-down waiting for two hours at the Social Security Office with the unwashed and tattooed masses to make a change in my Medicare selection--only to have to return twice to actually get it done, trekking to the Base for a change in my military ID card three times and still not having it.....all the frustrations of being a "dependent wife" come rushing back and I wonder what on earth I was thinking to retire.

I loved my job and was good at it. What WAS I thinking?