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Show Pleasant Grove ReviewLindon New Utah! - Wednesday, August 9, 2000 - Page 2 o PINION A well-deserved 'thank you7 Lmdon uays ana sulli uays die nere Although the fires are still burning, now is a good time to thank the firefighters and the U.S. Forest Service for their Prompt response on both the Box Elder Canyon and the Oak Hills fire which ravaged Alpine's East Mountain in the past few weeks. In both instances, Forest Service Ser-vice response to the fires was both quick and effective, as the fire fighting crews threw all their resources at first making certain the fires didn't damage any homes, and second extinguishing the blaze. It's hard to comprehend the fury of these fires as we see them from the valley floor, but a photo in last week's Lone Peak and American Fork editions of New Utah! demonstrated the size of the fire. In the photo, a group of firefighters fire-fighters huddle in the lower right hand corner, probably plotting strategy. Up the hill, a gigantic flame rises from the tops of the trees. The flame dwarfs the group of men considerably. When the Box Elder Canyon fire broke out, one Alpine resident was overheard saying he could have stopped the blaze with a shovel when he saw the smoke rising early in the morning. The man complained that he was kept out of the area while the Forest Service response was anticipated. The fact is, only a fool or a trained firefighter would enter these tinder-dry canyons when a fire is beginning. Although the firefighters are trained to be safe, every venture onto the burning mountain is made at great personal per-sonal risk of injury or death. Alpine residents witnessed that with the Oak Hills fire, as the blaze roared up the mountain with frightening speed, and then returned to threaten homes the next morning as winds drove the fire back towards its place of origin ori-gin in the foothills near several Alpine residences. While local firefighters prepared pre-pared to battle the blaze on the home front, members of various fire crews dug trenches, lit back fires and worked to keep the flames from the town. The rapid response and skill of the firefighters is responsible in a large part for keeping the community com-munity safe from both of these man-caused blazes. The north Utah County community com-munity as a whole is grateful for the tireless efforts of the Forest Service, the members of the forest fire crews, and local firefighters. The Oak Hills fire has burned a considerable portion of the Canyon some 900 acres, mostly in almost inaccessible parts of the canyon. But the hard work of these brave men and women has made certain that no home has burned and no life has been lost. For that, we owe them a hearty "thank you." Water fights are a cure for the heat These warm summer days remind me of our youth when a series of hot days was really a call to water to get as wet as we could. Of course, the swimming pool was the logical answer. But wading in the gutter or in a river or pond could not be frowned upon, except of course by mothers who worried. - i ... When I was very young there was also the specter of polio. Mothers were not eager for us to go places where we were in crowds and might run into germs and in those days, many people thought that getting wet was apt to cause colds and other diseases. dis-eases. But everyone knows that the best way of cooling off on a hot summer day is a spontaneous neighborhood water fight. It was the same for us. Anything was legal. Any container that would hold water was drafted into use. Sometimes it started out with just water balloons but those were not always handy and other water containers con-tainers were as close as your mother's cupboard. It might start out boys against girls, or it might be the east side of the street against the west side. If parents were not looking, hoses would sometimes some-times be put into use and everyone squirted everyone else. The problem with hoses is that they only reach so far and a bucket of water goes as far as your legs will carry it. When I was a child, running through the sprinkler on the lawn was fun and after the first shock of the cold water hitting your face and body, it was not so bad. Kids still love to do that and there are some pretty cute sprinkler heads out there for children to run through these days. Our grandkids had a water fight the other day. It started out with some water balloons and a water pump I had bought for them. The balloons were used up and gone too soon, but the water fight did not stop there. There were paper cups from the picnic. pic-nic. There was a hose. There were water pitchers and there were a lot of fast runners, some running with water to throw on someone and some running to get away from someone else who was ready to throw water on them. Pretty soon everyone was soaked and they enjoyed every minute of it. But there were other ways to cool off. When I was older, there were a couple of ponds that the teens knew about where they were tempted to go swirnming on a hot summer day. I ;1 lived in Ogden and Pineview Dam was just up the canyon and we practically practi-cally lived up there in the summer time. A campfire on the beach at night with good friends, hot dogs and marshmallows was a lot of fun. The water felt good even at night. I had three of my children in August. The other two were born in January, so when I was expecting it was always during the summertime. One of my favorite things to do was to travel up American Fork Canyon and find a nice spot near the river, take off my shoes and socks, sit on a rock and dangle my hot and swollen feet in the cold river. I will never forget how good it felt. The other day we took our oldest granddaughter up to Heber to get a hamburger and milk shake at Granny's. I am sure you have been there as they have the most wonderful milk shakes in the world. It was a very hot day and as we came down past Deer Creek State Park, we decided decid-ed to stop and let her put her feet in the water. It was so rocky along the shore there that I did not get my feet wet but she did and my husband waded in with his shoes on since they were his old ones. I had on my good summer sandals and didn't do it, but it certainly certain-ly looked inviting. The place was very popular. In fact, when we drove into the parking lot there was a sign posted saying "lot fun," but there were still some parking places. Everyone seemed to be taking advantage of the big lake and the refreshing water to cool themselves off. I remember how refreshing a summer sum-mer rain shower was when we were children. We would often stand right out in it if there was not any thunder or lightning. In fact, it still feels pretty nice. Unless it is a torrential downpour, down-pour, I still enjoy standing out in it now and then. Fortunately, I did not get wet during dur-ing the grandchildren's water fight the other day, but I wouldn't have minded if I had. I have been there and done that before! In case you missed the activities last week, there are still more events planned for this week of Lindon Days. Come on out and support this city celebration, cel-ebration, which truly has a hometown feel- I got to visit with the Grand Marshals Mar-shals of the Lindon Days parade last week. Beth and Darrell Frampton are longtime Lindon residents who have been involved with community quite a bit. Beth was born in Lindon and attended Lindon Elementary. She and Darrell were high school sweethearts at Pleasant Grove High School. Their children even all live on the same street as they do. The theme for Lindon Days is Celebrating Cele-brating Families and the Framptons are a great example of a good family who loves the city of Lindon. Saturday morning there was a balloon bal-loon launch at Oak Canyon Jr. High School. I took my son Dallin and we went and watched the pilots inflate their balloons and lift off into the sky. It's amazing to see how big those hot air balloons really are. It was a beautiful beau-tiful morning, perfect for a balloon ride. There are many horse arena events going on this week. Even if you don't have a horse, bring the kids and come to the Lindon Arena because it's really real-ly fun to watch. I brought my daughter, daugh-ter, Katelyn, to the arena on Saturday and all she wanted to do was pet a horse. I finally found some nice person per-son who let us pet their horse. soccer, we pWij samwe would assist , dui tnen the PO R0 ; 11 1 and says they arp i We didn't go to it, but Saturday night there was a spaghetti dinner and family dance. Monday night there was a free Family Movie Night and Tuesday was the Lindon Fair Playday at the arena. Look for a schedule of events in our news section today. My favorite event of Lindon Days would have to be the parade which will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. We went last year and it was so much fun. What we like best was that there weren't the huge crowds that you see everywhere else at city parades. The streets are also nice and wide and everyone throws candy or gives away something. And since my kids didn't have to fight everyone for candy, they came home with quite a haul. Unfortunately, this year we won't be able to attend the parade and we're pretty bummed. Dallin has a soccer game at exactly the same time. We are playing in the Pleasant Grove soccer league and Pat and I are the coaches of a team of little four and five year olds. I don't know why exactly we agreed to be the coaches. I've never even played soccer before. Of course neither have half the kids on our team. When we signed Dallin up for of coaches anH u uesPer- COach. I was eW' , "caK- and c,;j si nusDana would loVe tn t; coaches and I am make up the treat schlN" people. "uies;. more like "herdball" Jtl all the kids from'bS crowded around the ball of animals. We were acHE; Dallin- last week. Las, ? ! ? one of the voimm, yeat i: be iS w T.Qr;r tsml the hn w r.H. the endnTTPcn t.irerl and W ?,et? anv more. Th;0 re played the whole game a J nr. rV,0 kail 1 , &t tried to shoot a few g0als .Anyway, back to Lindon Dar miss the parade and brbt empty bags to put all yt There will also be a breakfa raising ceremony Saturday' as well as the parade and a the nark through,!- j . 1.4. 4.1. we aav. night there is a concert pl mcwuil scneauiedtom dark. It should be a lot of k great chance to do something family and support the city there! 3' The bad news we can't face without hop Although we manage to maintain an almost constant state of denial, perhaps the most obvious condition of life on this planet is the simple fact that there is something wrong with all of us and whatever it is, it will eventually get so bad it kills us. For most of us it is the inexorable process of aging, but sometimes it seems to be random tragedy. We are especially good about acknowledging this blinding flash of the obvious in other people not so easy when we think about ourselves. When we are young and in relatively good health, deterioration and death" seem, well, a lifetime away. Perhaps the invincibility of youth and the propensity propensi-ty to ignore our own mortality are necessary nec-essary conditions of life. Otherwise despair would reign. In LDS theology, the conditions of mortality came by choice. However, even then, we are loathe to speak of the effects of what we call the Fall. Nevertheless Never-theless the scriptures paint a pretty accurate picture. By nature we are lost and fallen, spiritually dead, living contrary con-trary to the nature of happiness and enemies to God. In his book, Following Christ, Stephen E. Robinson points out that we can't help but become familiar with certain cer-tain aspects of the Fall. "First the teeth get cavities, the waistline thickens, the knees go bad, the hair falls out. First we need glasses, then stronger prescriptions, then bifocals, bifo-cals, then trifocals. We don't often think of the dentist, the optometrist, or the toupe-maker as helping us cope with the effects of the Fall, but that is what they do. Moreover, physicians, physical therapists, lab technicians, dietitians, if I If $ 4 i f i j UM : and manufacturers of vitamins, health foods, exercise bikes, and stair steppers step-pers all, these and many more occupa-rtions-exist-only to help us briefly hold at bay the effects of the Fall." - - I might add that the hair that becomes gray or begins to disappear from your head somehow starts growing grow-ing in your ears and nostrils. Your children chil-dren wonder why you can't keep up with them anymore. They look at you as if you were never young and that growing grow-ing old is somehow your own fault. Sometimes it's downright disgusting. Other aspects of the Fall, however, are not so easily recognized. Spiritual effects seem to be related to the LDS doctrine of a pre-earth life. They are manifest by feelings of existential loneliness, lone-liness, alienation, inadequacy, anxiety, depression and guilt. Where once we lived in divine reality, the veil of mortality mor-tality causes us to forget what home is really like. Robinson goes on to say, "The resulting result-ing condition might be called severe spiritual trauma, like being hit on the head, kidnaped, and waking up as a slave with amnesia in Timbuktu." We also tend to overlook the fact that we are mentally, emotionally and morally fallen. No matter how much we Rest" ,jtn? :iin is e the f siting- attem anV k vated 'ntlV ?da'p want to trust our own intellect, by nature, it is fatalli We arrive in the middle of a ol; out knowing the end from the rung. Sometimes we are fond of: mg others as, for example,' sharpest knife in the drawer," t truth is none of us is sharp ei make it out of this life alive. one or more bricks shy of a full T '1 iiKewise our emotions are We seem to have little choice at temperament. In addition affected by physical or chemica m the brain, our emotions may spiritually and morally astraj son says, "If we have too muti wrong kind of contact, our emot create new attachments or diss ones when we didn't intend for i happen." And finally, we are morally This means, in spite of our am. the Light of Christ, our sense : and wrong is still defective. The: lv is no substitute for the Git Holy Ghost. Even Einstein's krl could not save his marnage. "In the worst case." Robinson "the carnal (or fallen) self can k blv. leerinelv wicked. In the te" the carnal self can also be (nice :. beings just doing the best tit; how without God - andf all wrong as a result." In the final analysis, none,: nf nc will nass the Dortal oft conquering heroes to crowds ofti tans. Rather we win iau w onj ov,Q Mia fppt with ourfc praise His name, His mercy, M His power to redeem iorevo- TVT 4.1. VnnW theft 1st 1NOW Ul U1C11, way. The sizzling summer of 2000 This summer sure has been a scorcher. This afternoon I heard a bubbling bub-bling noise outside my window. It was the mercury in the thermometer boiling boil-ing over. It's so hot I don't need to cook anything; any-thing; it just does it on its own. I was able to get spaghetti sauce, cooked, from my garden. The onions had steamed in the sunlight and swollen right out of their skins. The tomatoes had burst in the sunshine. Their juices dripped onto the oregano and onions so all that I had to do was scoop it into a bowl and carry it into the house to pour over our pasta. The hens are laying soft boiled eggs. That's in the morning. One hen was a little bit late in her laying and hers was hard boiled. It's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, but it would probably be rather gritty. Car roof tops work better takes about 30 seconds per side for an "over easy." Use a plastic turner so you don't mar the paint. You've heard of gourmet recipes for our "wilted spinach salad." Well spinach is wilted on the vine. I sent the kids out to get a dozen ears of corn for dinner. I heard a bunch of whooping and hollering from the back of the garden. Some sort of popping noise, too. I thought the kids had found a few unexploded fireworks left over from the Fourth. Looking out my kitchen window, I could see them tossing some white stuff up into the air. Now there's no way that it would ever snow here in the summer, this is a desert after all, so I went a little closer to investigate. When I heard the munching, I knew what it was. Yep the kids were eating popcorn. It had just exploded right off the ears out there in my heat-drenched garden. So we decid- Qri tnfcavp Hpssert first, abitof? Bessie the cow was jogP ground was so hot on couldn't stand still. I catoejt jogging had turned her ;crjl ter. Squirted a dh w " -corn what a yummy treat TvToL-inn-TirPservesiseay justltBeUjarmoneJ branch with the other. 1WP, through its skin andlanas- . and cooked inside my ,;: kids has come up with an ;: She holds two jars side . .. peach hits right m ber .. Ld splits in half. One hf the other half m the otha skin fall right to the I don't even have in boiling water. I .just ;put on the dashboard Buick that quit ;o back. Throw in a coup v & a woi ,-,r, the window jars at a time that way J that's the total truw Pleasant Grove Review KewUtah! (ISSN No. 1521-6861) (TJ.S.P.S. No. 435-780) A member of NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION Published weekly by Tie 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 Telephone Numbers Advertising & Circulation 756-7669 News 756-5273 Publisher Brett Bezzant Managing Editor Marc Haddock City Editor Karli Poyfair Subscription price S24:0 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah POSTMASTER: send address change to 59 West Main, American Fork, Utah 84003 Deadlines Classified Advertising . . .Tuesday, noon Display Advertising . . . .Monday, 5 p.m. News Monday, 2 p.m. Missionaries Monday, 2 p.m. Weddings .Monday, 2 p.m. Letters to the Editor . . .Monday, 10 a.m. Sports Monday, 10 a.m. Community Calendar . .Monday, 10 a.m. Obituaries .Tuesday, 11 a.m. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters punctuator taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic H-QW TO REACH US By Mail by Fax P.O. 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