Little we see in nature that is ours......but these are mine

When Uncle Eldon water-witched our property in Southern Utah soon after we bought it, he scanned the hillside and named all the trees and shrubs: ponderosa, fir, oak, manzanita, squawbush (aromatic sumac), serviceberry, rabbit brush, sagebrush, piñon pine, juniper. I knew them already; I taught my fourth-graders the plants of Utah, and these were a small representation--those typical for the elevation. It's good to be able to claim some parts of nature that are our own.

The rounded tops and butterscotch-scented bark of the ponderosa pine. Mine.

The 6,000 foot elevation difference between the rim and the river: Mine.

The upright hardiness and squishable yellow centers of colorful hollyhocks. Mine.

Manzanita, with its scratchy round leaves and smooth red bark. Mine.

Squawbush and its mouth-puckering flavored berries to put in hiking water bottles: Mine.

Rubbery rabbitbrush that take over with a bit of liquid encouragement from water. Mine.

Piñon pine's sticky sap and reluctance to bear fruit but once every decade or so. Mine.

Growing up, it was this color--not the volume--of water that signified 'flood.' Mine.

Utah's incomparable cumulous topped with cirrus clouds in August. Mine.

The 'pinks' of Southern Utah: view from the rock-gathering hike. Mine.

Maidenhair fern in Zion. Mine.

I love recognizing sacred datura; and I know not to eat it. Mine.

Weeping rock at its best. Mine.

Zion. Mine.

The knowledge that I can get prickly pear slivers out of my skin, even the littlest ones, with duct tape. Mine.

That dry rustling sound of cottonwoods in the fall. Mine.

Arm extended--two finger widths above the horizon, twenty minutes to sunset. Mine.

Mountains to the east. Lake to the west. Mine.

Little we see in nature that is ours, but I'm claiming these eighteen.

Getting and Spending

We've been home from our mission for almost three weeks: 19 days in which we have spent a lot of money. On our mission we bought food. We spent our time doing things other than getting and spending. We've pretty much made up in three weeks for the eighteen months of abstinence. I think Wordsworth was right, "Getting and spending we lay waste our powers; (Little we see in nature that is ours....)

Yes, the 23 year old carpeting had to go, and the tile countertops, too. Wallpaper has gone out of vogue and it's now back in, but I'm not trying to catch up with the latest. I'm over it. The Bagley house was due for an update, and is getting one in the next few weeks; but the time and energy involved in making these changes has been significant and I'll be glad to return to life without consumerism.

I realize since being home how materialistic our society is. We are bombarded by temptations to spend money almost at every turn, and we haven't turned on the TV but once in the time we've been home. We haven't subscribed to a newspaper. We throw away the junk mail without reading it. I think it's just the the presence of so many stores, and so many things in those stores that is overwhelming. Do I need this, might I need that? Objects that I didn't know existed before seem to clamor for my attention.

And then there's the internet. I've been up for an hour an a half this morning. I like to read my email and check in with FaceBook before hitting the scriptures and my journal. An hour and a half! With five minutes of real email and two minutes of catching up with friends and family online. That leaves eighty-three minutes of being a consumer. Eighty-three wasted minutes. I might as well have been watching TV. Despite 'unsubscribing' from every commercial email I receive, I still sift through many messages urging me to take advantage of this fabulous offer or that incredible bargain every day. If I click on a website hoping to select a good color for bedroom walls, suddenly I'm subscribed to every home decorating and furnishing store ready to meet my needs. And the angst of customers fearful of making the wrong color choice is there for me to read about. I now have several more to unsubscribe from just by that one click.

I should have been a pioneer. Nothing to buy.

BUT: two weeks later, here's what our house is starting to look like~~