Rivers

I went on a bike tour of Chicago the other day and the guide mentioned the fact (if you haven't already heard it - it's only been brought up a thousand or so times since I moved to Chicago) that the Chicago River used to flow into Lake Michigan, but the city decided to reverse the river's flow to the Mississippi River to keep the Lake clean. To my knowledge, this is the only river in the world that has had its course reversed through a man-made project.

As I thought about this, I related it to events in my own life. I am putting forth some effort to make some changes in my life and it feels like I am trying to turn the course of a river.

There are physicists, geologist, and civil engineers who can probably explain these thoughts better (and tell me if I make any errors in this simile), but I think that in life we tend to be like rivers. If you pour water over an uneven and/or sloped surface, it will generally flow along the path of least resistance. On a large scale, like a continent, when water drains it will flow down the easiest path and eventually form brooks, streams, creeks, and eventually rivers. In my life, I think that my natural tendency is to take the path of least resistance also.

In rivers, the channels are cut deeper over time just as my own habits form patterns of routine. This isn't necessarily bad, rivers are a source of life. It is no accident that almost every major city in the world is on a river. However, sometimes a river's path needs to be changed. It is not an easy task, it is very daunting even to attempt because of the work and resources involved, but it can make the city a better, cleaner, and healthier place to live. I hope that my own efforts, with the help of prayers, can prove to be as fruitful.

Chicago Botanical Gardens

Since I've been off the last couple of week, I got a chance to see some places in Chicago I've been wanting to go to but haven't been able to as yet. A previous post showed some pictures from the Morton Arboretum. I also had a chance to tak emy first visit to the Botanical Gardens.

Here are a few pictures I liked, as well as some thoughts. This was one of my favorite views from the Japanese Walking Garden. I got pictures from several different angles, just depending on where the path went.


The prairie was another beautiful area. We saw some goldfinches in the field, but couldn't get pictures of them there (we did see them again later at a bird feeder).

I love flowers of all kinds. They remind me of fireworks, except they are much longer lasting and you can get much more creative with them.

Sometimes the contrasting colors just brings out the best in each of the varieties.

I saw a bee or two in some of the blooms. This may not have been one of them though.

Roses are so beautiful, aren't they?

I can't remember which garden this was. It may have been one of the English Walled gardens. I really enjoyed them. Mostly, I just liked this picture.

I like waterfalls and fountains too.
Both the Botanical Gardens and the Morton Arboretum recharged and refreshed me. It was wonderful just being outside and enjoying the beauty of nature. And the best part is I can go back in the Fall and it will be a brand new show!

Oran and Lucy

This last weekend Nate and I were able to go to Cincinnati to visit Gillian, Dan, Oran, and Lucy. We went to the zoo on Saturday, but mostly we spent the time at their apartment and played with the kids. However, going to the zoo did give Gillian a chance to try out her new stroller for the kids, and it looks like they liked it too.

Of course, by the end of the zoo they were pretty worn out.

Oran is such a sweetie. I really liked singing the ABCs with him. He knows them all, but I could only get him to say three of them in the song. He also likes the beginning of Cars, but it took him a while before we could get him to let us watch the whole thing. Here is a picture of him with his dad that I really like.

Lucy is 5 weeks old (I guess 6 now) and she feels so small in my arms, although she is growing. I loved watching her sleep and just hold her and watching her studying everything around her. I was taking some pictures of her sleeping, but she's starting to wake up in this one.

I was able to get a couple of pictures with both of them, although getting them to smile with me was a different story.

Nate was able to get Lucy to smile for him though.

Oran did smile later though. He is such a handsome boy, and I love his curly hair (although not enough to let mine grow out to curl).

Sleep

I have a lot of pics from the past weekend and the botanical garden, but I'm going to wait until I can sort through them to get the best ones. But I have had some thoughts the last couple of days about sleep.

I have often wondered if something was wrong with me because I don't really enjoy sleep or going to sleep. It's one of those necessary things that you have to do in life. A lot of times I am fighting to stay awake, for no real reason at all - like I'm a 4-year-old who wants to stay up past his bedtime. I love the quote by Lemony Snicket, "It is one of life's bitterest truths that bedtime so often arrives just when things are really getting interesting."

On my mission I had a companion who loved to sleep and stay in bed all morning on P-day. I was ready to get out of bed and get laundry started so we could get out of the house by nine so we could get our errands done by ten. I could never understand why he wanted to lay in bed all morning and not just get everything done for the day. This past Sunday afternoon, Nate and I were at Gillian and Dan's. About 2 pm, I realized I was the only one left awake, and I was tired from the day before, so I lay down for a nap along with everyone else. I shut my eyes and lay there for about 15 minutes, never falling asleep, but I was refreshed and recharged and everyone else was pretty much still out cold.

I love waking up in the morning at or before daybreak to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of a new day. You have a whole new day of possibilities and never know what might happen, even if your plan isn't really different from the day before.

At night, even if I'm tired, I still feel like there is more to learn out of the day and even if I don't get home until after 2, I still need to read a few pages or do a Sudoku or Crossword puzzle. If you notice, even though it has been a busy day, I'm still up at 1 getting some thoughts our while watching Olympic volleyball.

So, like most of my posts, this doesn't really have a point or a good conclusion (I'm working on those). But if someone can explain the joy of sleep to me, maybe I can begin to understand some of you.

Nature

Today I had an opportunity to go to the Morton Arboretum. It was nice to get away from downtown and experience a little nature.


They have several miles of paths around various wildflowers, shrubs, and trees. We didn't have nearly enough time to see it all, but Chris, Nate and I took about a 5 mile hike around one of the paths. It was a nice relaxing walk through the woods. It recharged my spirit, and reminded me I need to get out of the city more.

I'm sure this place is beautiful in the Spring when most of the flowers and trees are blooming, and also in the fall when the trees are turning different colors when losing their leaves. However, the beauty of summer is often underappreciated when compared to those seasons. (Winter too, although that's another post.)

Getting away from the trappings of the city provided an opportunity to appreciate the wonder of life and get a litle bit of quiet - we still had the highway nearby and some planes overhead that broke some of the peace.

Each time I go into a wooded area, I can't help but think of the First Vision of Joseph Smith. His testimony of the events that transpired there strengthens my own testimony of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We didn't see many animals on the hike, except for a few insects. On the whole, the butterflies were much more welcome and pleasant than the mosquitos.

Anyway, it was a fun trip. If anyone wants to go visit, I'm more than willing to go back!

Climbing Wall

I love hearing the stories my sisters' tell about their kids. Miranda always mentions how her kids are always climbing and getting into things. So we were able to get some photographic evidence this weekend 0f just how skilled Brennen is.

I don't know why a dairy farm had a climbing wall, but it was pretty popular - especially with Brennen. Once he learned to look up instead of down, he was really able to scale up.

There were 4 faces, and he made it to the top of 3 of them (he didn't try the 4th, which was the most difficult). Here he is at the top ringing the bell.

Audrey and Will also tried. Will tried the hard face and almost made it. I'm sure next time he will make it.

Brennen

I love being an uncle. People watching is a fun pastime in general, but its really fun to watch my nieces and nephews play and just enjoy being alive - and Brennen is one of the most active kids I have ever seen. This weekend we went to a dairy farm and he was a lot of fun to watch.

First we got to see some newborn calves. This calf was less than an hour old.

Brennen liked seeing the calf for about a minute, then he was ready to go (we couldn't go and pet them, just watch). You could actually watch the calves being born (several were born each day), but mom was the only one who wanted to see it.

Brennen was most interested in some of the other activities on the farm - mostly the play area. They had tractors and trains to ride.

And I'm not the only one who enjoys watching Brennen play.