"O'er all the tomb a sudden spring" Happy Easter!

Mary Magdalene at the Empty Tomb

While more romantic than religious, this poem still evidences belief in a literal, physical resurrection that the rest of the writings of the Poet clearly convey. I present this year's Easter Poem from my Silurist Cousin, Henry Vaughan:

Old Scouts Never Die, They Just Lose Their Comic Books

This is another photo that needs its own blog post. I wrote last night to my tent buddy from my first Philmont Trek in 1971. We were pen pals for a while in the 70's but we lost contact as adulthood came and other interests took us. My friend stayed true to his gift becoming a writer and publisher of underground comix! I'm still searching for my gift. But my life is good and I love my family.

My friend third from right, back row. And me - kid on the back far right.

So Happy to See a Black President!

PBS Newshour posted a great, "feel-good" video. A 106 year-old African-American woman meets the President and first lady in the White House.

See for complete video: https://www.facebook.com/newshour/videos/10153962374843675/

106-year-old Virginia McLaurin met and danced with President Obama and First Lady Michelle at the White House earlier this week. In 2013, McLaurin was honored for her volunteer work in Washington DC and said it was her dream to meet the president. The White House released this video on Sunday. Posted by PBS NewsHour on Sunday, February 21, 2016

Nearly Dying by Lightning, Falling, or Exposure - A Typical Scout Adventure

Lightning would have been the quickest. Falling most painful. And exposure takes a while but you usually fall asleep first which I didn't that night as I kept arranging my heat-reflective space blanket to alternate sweating and freezing. And we somehow survived.

My Facebook Scout Challenge led me to seek out the Scouts from when I was an Assistant Scoutmaster in Bountiful, Utah, Stone Creek District, Great Salt Lake Council in the late 1980s. We worked with our boys on hiking and camping and did a pretty good preparation for a 50-mile hike across the Uintah Mountains, North to South, Wyoming to Utah.

Day 3 of the 50-miler. Two passes and a day of high altitude adventure. "Nephite Altar" circled in red upper right.

A feeling of dread woke with me on Day 3. We were camped above 11,000 feet on the slopes of Mt. Lovenia. I had discovered "the Nephite Altar" as we called it the bright and sunny evening before. You need to see it yourself to understand. That block of rock will not be going anywhere as it hasn't for a few thousand years. But that next morning, the pass above us was fogged in.

The "Nephite Altar" from Camp No. 2 facing East, of course.

Bardd Rydw I - In Which I Become a Welsh Bard

The first scribbles of an idea came at the beginning of my most recent audit of a Welsh reading class at Brigham Young University. OK, so we're reading "Thomas the Train" in Welsh and I have a ways to go. If only I could spend more time in actual application with the language, I know I could pick it up.

My job still takes most of my brain space and there are so many other things that impose on my thinking time. Still, little by little it comes and my Celtic bones take strength from the ancient language of my fore-bearers. This Saxon-English imposed on me is like poison in the blood. Yet I swear the undying language will not cease from the earth as we children of the Black Mountains and Green Valleys strive to keep it alive.

Nobody Should Leave the LDS Church. But if Conservatives Need an Excuse . . . .

My Bishop is a really great guy. In one recent visit, I was expressing my exasperation over so many who leave the church because their liberal-leaning souls are hurt. I exclaimed, "Why don't more conservatives who don't follow church teachings leave!"

His response that we didn't want anyone to leave calmed me somewhat. And then he went on so tactfully to encourage my responsibility to offer service and Christian love because that's what the Gospel of Christ is really all about. I was sufficiently humbled and chastened. And in spite of my weaknesses, I will carry on.

Sometimes, though, I just can't help poking the hornets nest. (I should stick to the beehive.)

The recent turmoil I felt over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and the serious criminal charges including some relating back to the armed confrontation with public officials at the Bundy Ranch got me thinking. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a strong condemnation of the armed take-over at the refuge expressing concern about the attempt to justify the illegal and dangerous action by an unfounded appeal to LDS Scripture. It didn't help much. The perpetrators were arrested and one tragically shot while resisting arrest (he ran not one but two police stops, and it didn't look to me that he was attempting to surrender peacefully.)

I do find it odd that extreme, right-wing Conservatives can find a more comfortable home staying in the Church than leaving. In my opinion, a lot on the left leave because they feel so uncomfortable around so much conservatism. Frequently, those on the conservative right use LDS scripture and teachings to justify their extremely conservative views. So I just thought I would remind one and all of some fairly progressive and official positions taken by the LDS Church that seem at odds with this extreme conservatism.

My sources generally come from Mormon Newsroom at LDS.org where it states,"The official resource for news media, opinion makers, and the public." I guess as a blogger, I could be considered an "opinion maker" even if I don't have that much influence as a voice crying in the wilderness.

On Immigration and Refugees, the LDS Church takes a compassionate and welcoming approach in support of  the principles of the Utah Compact in support of families and with charity toward refugees. This is a far cry from the current scramble in one major US political party's primary to see who is the meanest and crudest towards immigrants and refugees. But the Utah Compact is not so different from the Immigration Reform proposed by President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain back before their base balked.

Then there's the Environment:

You may recognize Mt. Moran and Jackson Lake of Teton National Park. And the statement is by President Nelson,
current President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles

Cynefin "A Sense of Place" Wales

We have already shared some work from crowd-sourcing or indexing the Tithing maps of Wales (1840s) for the National Library of Wales (here, here, and here). I just discovered that there are some parishes with the parcels now "clickable" to find who owned and occupied the place including Tract No. 44 in Llanfoist Village:

Clicking on box 44, this is what popped up on the right.

The Cynefin system is very different from FamilySearch.org indexing. One nice thing is that they list the names of the volunteers: