Avalon Envy

I may have posted this before. But, I can't find it and I want to make sure it is documented.

My parents have owned a 2003 Toyota Avalon for quite some time. (We bought our own maybe 8-9 years ago because it was such a nice car.) One of the things I like is it is quite peppy. It only about 240 horsepower (only, back in the day we would kill for that.) But, it's probably pretty light and has a lot of torque. It has variable valve timing and if you romp on the accelerator it responds very nicely.

Before we bought ours and my mom was living with us, the Bishopric went out one evening to visit people.

In the meantime Jensen borrowed grandma's Avalon to run some errand. She took Laney with her. Laney was probably around 6 or 7 years old.

We were at the Brahman condos when we heard an engine racing and a car tearing down the street. Laney was in the back on the drivers side with the window down. It seemed to me she was hanging out the window quite a bit for a little kid. She might not have had her seat belt on.

Without missing a beat, she waved enthusiastically at us and said, "Hi daddy!"

Sheesh.

One Way Revelation Works

Almost two weeks ago, on an evening bike ride, I noticed my brakes not working very well and starting the squeal a little. Mainly, I could tell the rear brake was not doing very well. It felt like the cable had slipped so the shoes weren't putting much pressure on the rim.

I first noticed this a 123rd south, and then at 114th and then other stops or slow downs. Finally at 7800 south it was bad so I stepped off the road to try to adjust the brake. I tightened things up and then noticed it didn't improve the brake performance. Then I realized part of the brake was missing.

I think the following is a good example of how revelation can work. My first reaction was, "Huh, that's weird." A couple of seconds later I remembered that at one point it has sounded and felt like I ran over something in the road when I hadn't seen anything. I figured that must have been the part falling off. My next thought was, "Well, I have no idea what point in the ride that was."

The brake, as well as a lot of the parts on this bike are unique, one off designs. You couldn't just replace the part with any old brake shoe holder. I'm pretty sure you could find a replacement, and it might not even be terribly expensive. But, it would take some time and bother.

I rode home slowly so as not to put myself in a bad spot where I needed to stop real quickly. As I did I prayed and thought about the situation. I started to remember more and more. I first thought it was probably 123rd south where I lost the part. Then I thought maybe it was 114th south. By the time I got home I was thinking of another possible spot at about 125000 south on 200 east.

I cleaned up and logged my ride and ate dinner. Then Lenore and I got in the car to see if we could find the part. (I did this once before when my saddle broke near the Lone Peak skate park, and found those parts.)

I said another quick prayer and we drove to the last place I thought of. Within 30 seconds I had found the part lying in the street. It took about 30 seconds to find the bolt as well. I was still missing a conical washer and maybe one other flat washer. But, I was just happy to have found the main part.

We said a quick prayer of thanks and I had the bike back together and operational with carefully tightend brake parts by the end of the night.

Whew! I think that was all help from Heaven.

Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong?

My dad is 10396 days older than me, or 28 years 5.5. months. he has almost always been concerned enough about his health that I don't know of a time he didn't exercise consistently, until maybe the last 10 years or so. At one time he was nearly fanatic about weightlifting and also occasionally cycled to work.

We moved back to California in 1989 and the next July the Orange Stake had a fun run event on the 4th of July. I had done one or two of these in the past and had fun. But, I was not in any shape to run. So, I suggested to my dad that we do it on our bikes and do the 3 mile course twice just to make it a minor challenge.

The start/stop was at the school that is now called the Prentice School at the corner of Esplanade and Fairhaven in Santa Ana. We went counter clockwise up Esplanade turned left on La Veta then Yorba back to Fairhaven and to the school. There is a little rise going up Esplanade.

I wasn't having any trouble leading my dad and fully expected to beat him. The second time going up that little rise on Esplanade I attacked a little and spent some energy. No problem.

My problem arose as I approached the four way stop at La Veta and Prospect. I was going fast and then saw a car. They might have had ?police? or other people trying to keep the intersection clear for the "event." But, the car didn't give me any defference and I had to slow way down, almost to a stop.

Meanwhile, the timing was much better for my dad who was coming up fast from behind, and he was able to just blow through the intersection at full speed. Now, I had little in reserve from the previous "climb" and had to accelerate again to get up to speed. I wasn't doing well. I had about 2 miles to catch him. But, I never did. Maybe I can say that with the circumstances he was encouraged to ride even faster and keep me behind. I fully expect that without the car interference I would have won. But, I didn't. So, once upon a time my 60 year old dad beat his 32 year old son in a bike race.

(And I'm no piker. I once came in fifth in a race of 715 people.)

Fall On Your Knees

Singing runs in both the Smith and Lillywhite families. Joan is the most accomplished. Besides her singing, she taught voice for years. She helped me some and probably understands the male voice better than the three other voice teachers I had.

Early on, since Shazia grew up at Gram's, she received some attention and lessons from Gram. She has a lovely voice and lots more power than her 87 lbs would indicate.

When she was about 16 or 17 she came to sing at our ward during Christmas time. She sang "O Holy Night", which is a big song. Rather than stand near the piano, up front on the pulpit (or at the microphone) she stood at the back of the choir seats. It seemed the congregation was thinking "What on earth? What is she thinking?" Well she filled the Chapel with her voice and blew them away. I remember specifically seeing more than one congregant weeping in tears.

Il Coro

In the late seventies I served as a missionary in Italy for the Mormon Church. I, along with many other members who have a strong connection to the land of Italy rejoiced when the announcement finally came in 2008 that a Temple would be built in Rome. When I thought about the eventual completion, celebration, and dedication of this Temple, it seemed to me a momentous enough occasion that I felt it likely the Mormon Tabernacle Choir might perform at the time in Italy as part of a world tour. (This is just an assumption; no official announcement has been made as far as I know.)

I checked the construction timelines of a couple of Temples recently completed in Western Europe. It appeared we should expect at least eight years to pass before the Temple in Rome would be built and dedicated. I also knew from personal experience that the likelihood of “red tape” and snafus might stretch that timeline even further. Well, it ended up to be a wait of 11 years from announcement to dedication for the Rome Temple.

Seven years ago, shortly after I was released as Bishop in my LDS ward, I seriously considered auditioning for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir partly because I wanted to be part of that Rome dedication if the Choir were to perform there.

After long, serious deliberation, I decided not to pursue membership in the Choir.

The age policy of the Tab Choir means that I would have had to join by age 55, and I would have “aged out” by now, a year short of the Rome Temple Dedication. So, that wouldn’t have happened for me anyway.

Backstory finished, here is my point: I had served as a temple worker at the Jordan River Temple until it closed for renovation two years ago. As part of its reopening it will be re-dedicated. There will be three different dedication sessions and a unique, small, twenty voice choir for each session. I have been asked to sing with one of the choirs for this reopening and re-dedication.

Partial life goal accomplishment (98% out of 100%) granted for this great event. I wouldn’t have ended up in the Tab Choir for Rome anyway even if they are involved, and I get to sing for “my” Temple, which is pretty much more appropriate. I feel strongly that the Lord has guided me and allowed this great blessing in His own way.

As a side note, when watching the Choir sing this weekend, I can pick out at least a handful of men who appear to be older than sixty years old.

Christmas 2017

Christmas 2017

Ailsa here, commissioned to bring Christmas tidings to loved ones of the Lillywhite family! If I were dad, I’d probably start off by reflecting on the 30 plus years that we’ve been a family and answer a few questions: Is this where I thought we’d be in thirty years? Have the last thirty Christmases met or broken my expectations? Sort of like a performance review which we all agree are horrible.

But, I’m not dad, and I was only sentient for a portion of those 30 plus Christmases, so I’m going to have to guess that the decided lack of grandchildren and, the concomitant sons in law, is a bit of a surprise. We’re a family that’s still in its young stages, in that sense: Two parents, three daughters, some animals (including two platonic life-mate fish.) It might seem like the fact that our family make-up has essentially remained unaltered since the great Lanifer was born would make each Christmas letter pretty similar, and yes, we have fallen into some recognizable routines.

I’m a writer, so I think a lot about patterns and tropes, especially in our pop culture. One of the most common tropes is the Five Man Band. Because of troublesome and typical conventions, one of these five men is typically “The Chick” meaning a one female to four male ratio is what audiences are comfortable seeing in an action film. Our family is the reverse of this convention. We don’t have “The Chick” but instead have “The Dude” as the one male among four females. With this inversion taken into account, we still fit the profile of the Five Man Band to a somewhat eyebrow raising degree.

Mom, Lenore (The Leader): This character is usually the identifiable protagonist, even in an ensemble cast. Mom has the herculean task of making sure we all cohesively work together and accomplish things, rather than just messing around on our devices. It’s not easy being the leader. Mom is tired, but cheerful. And this year, she discovered chalk painting, to great and beautiful success, and turned her kitchen into an apothecary, which looks pretty dope. If you see mom sometime soon, give her a high five.

Jensen (The Big Guy): sometimes “the muscle,” although size and physical strength aren’t actually as important for this character as their role of being the person who actually "gets stuff done.” Usually, there’s not a lot of ego here, maybe a little fleeting pride. But, then it’s quickly time to move on and do something else--probably something the leader or the lancer can’t accomplish alone. Jensen is currently enjoying her work as a video-game genius, and has overcome early bouts of VR sickness in order to live in Skyrim world part-time, which is a thing you can do now. What a time to be alive. If you see her, ask her about the Netflix series Stranger Things and she will never stop talking.

Laney-uccio (The Smart Guy): solves all the really intellectually challenging problems, makes the rest of the team look pretty dumb in comparison. Maybe they’re all really pretty smart, but compared to the actual “smart” member of the team, not so much. This year Lanicus Rex has adopted all of the family hobbies and is slowly getting better at them than everyone else also, just in case it wasn’t enough to just make us feel intellectually inadequate. If you see her, DON’T bring up Stranger Things, she’s tired of hearing about it from Jensen.

Me, Ailsa (The Lancer): This character is defined as being “not the leader” in a lot of ways. They typically act as a kind of foil to the leader, offering an alternative viewpoint, even to the point of antagonism. Think Han Solo to Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately, the Lancer is usually pretty crucial to the success of the mission, so she can’t just take a nap all weekend, no matter how much she wants to. I moved to Las Vegas for a Judicial Clerkship, and love my job. We do a split civil and criminal court, so if you see me… I hope it’s civil.

Dad, Todd (The Dude): mainly because of poor writing, this character usually doesn’t have too many other discernible traits beyond simply being defined as a different gender from the others. Luckily, there are also some examples of writers turning this player into an actual character, and in our case “The Dude” occupies the role of the peacemaker. In a sense the same task that the leader has, to somehow make the group act cohesively, also falls upon dad’s shoulders. He makes sure we can work together without conflict, and quickly resolves said conflict so that we can accomplish our individual and collective missions. If you see him, slip him some chocolate. In secret though. If any one of us sees it, we’ll try to take it.

To echo a Facebook post from dad, this last election year was a great demonstration of how much our family is evolving in that out of the five of us--four were of the legal age to vote-- and all voted for a different presidential candidate. The final, underage member of the family (Lane-faced-killah, as she’s known on the mean streets of the Independent Republic of Murray) far from being a tie-breaker on this issue, admitted that she actually preferred a fifth candidate. This is a YUGE contrast to the previous election, in which all five of us liked the same doomed man for the job:(

What I’m saying is that we are definitely five different people. In spite of how exceedingly different we’ve all turned out to be, and how our lives are taking us in different directions, rapidly. We enjoy nothing more than spending time together, treading over the common ground that we do have. To illustrate, a list: Heaven is a beach, probably in the Caribbean. But, maybe also in Sicily or Croatia; Cats are the greatest ever. Dogs are alright. Cats are also wicked; Until Dawn isn’t just a survival horror video game, it’s also a wholesome activity that the whole family can enjoy, together!; Carbonara doesn’t need peas. Why would you ruin good Carbonara with peas? And despite what the purists say, you CAN add cream; We all picked the same “song of the summer” which is the groovy “Waves That Pull You Under” by Young Summer; and We all agree on the following television: Call the Midwife; Anne with an E; Broadchurch: The Walking Dumb Bunnies—I mean Dead. It’s called The Walking Dead.

Most importantly, there is one thing that I’m glad we all agree on, because it makes the future clear, and gives a reason for the hope that is in us: The Gospel/Church of Jesus Christ is true. Or, more importantly, our Heavenly Father has a plan for us, as a family, and also, as five different individuals and their respective loved ones. We can be together forever, and that makes being apart (whether physically or philosophically) now, a lot more bearable.

But don’t misunderstand, we’re totally getting together for Christmas! Christmas time is a great time for getting together, and reflecting on the years and the Christmases past, and we hope that each of you are doing the same, and that you are smiling. We’ve had a wonderful 30 plus years as a family, and we’re so blessed to have all of you in our lives. May your Christmas be merry and bright, and your new year something to write about.

The Lillywhites

“Soft and easy is thy cradle, Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay, When His birthplace was a stable, And His softest bed was hay – Isaac Watts

Ensenada Cruise

I've always told people that I have never been to Catalina. Our senior "ditch" day in High School was an outing to Catalina. We ditched the ditch day and went surfing instead. A decision I have NEVER regretted because it was one of the best days ever. I can write about that some other time.

Well, when we were on Catalina during this cruise we took a walk north out of town toward the old theater/casino. I got the strongest feelings of deja vu to the point where I wondered if I had gone when a little kid or as a young adult and forgotten. I still think I have never been before. But, it was uncanny.

Same thing at the Buffadora in Ensenada. Very strong feelings of deja vu. Weird.

San Clemente North 2017

We had a great time this last summer in Huntington Beach. There was one episode which I feel should be documented and is not included in the photos: Jensen wasn't able to come with us due to work obligations. She did have a little spare time. So, she went to visit Ailsa in Las Vegas for a few days. While there she received a citation because her license plate had been stolen or fell off. She was very concerned about driving back to SLC without a license plate. We went around and around with her and our attorney daughter explaining that they needed to report the loss to the Las Vegas police, get a case number and then if she was pulled over, just give them that info. They were convinced that wouldn't be good enough and that Jensen would be thrown in jail. As I recall they finally had Ameer call one of his police friends who told them to do exactly that. All issues were averted.

Laney Nightmare Talk

A couple of weeks ago we arrived at Church in our usual hurried bustling manner. We sent the kids to claim our pew and Lenore and I took up posts at the doors welcoming people and scanning for those we don't know or who are newly returning to our midst (we are Ward Missionaries.)

As the meeting started and the first hymn began we settled into our places and Lenore glanced at the written program. Laney was listed as the first speaker.

Nate Cox had asked me a while back. Originally, the week they wanted was the Sunday we were on our Ensenada cruise. After a week or so and some confusion he eventually did call just a day or two before we were supposed to leave and asked Lane for the week after our vacation.

So, of course we all forgot until looking at the program that ill-fated morning. This is the stuff of nightmares. I was afraid Lane might melt down.

After a quick second or two of thought, I pulled out my electronic device (which was supposed to be powered off) and started looking. For several years now I have digitized as much as possible of talks and lessons we have all given/done. It's not 100% complete but almost.

I quickly located a talk that Laney gave about 5 years ago. It was a little simple but, we weren't about to be choosy.

As the Sacrament was ending Brother Brown and the Bishop looked our way and I gave a very slight nod that, yes, she was ready and would be presenting a talk. They had noticed that she wasn't seated on the stand.

She took my phone up to the pulpit and gave a great speech, reading some from the old talk and also ad libbing where possible and needed. I knew if she could just get the first couple of sentences out, she would be fine.

I'm sure this is not the first time this has happened. But, this may be the best outcome ever for the situation. Some people in the congregation knew of the near fiasco. But, that was because we were scrambling trying to figure out what to do.

We try to always be prepared.

Cremona, Romano Gobbi, and Fried Sage Sauce

While on my mission in the city of Cremona, one of our members (and a dear friend) Romano Gobbi (RIP) invited us over for dinner. One of the dishes he served was ravioli with a butter and sage sauce. This was the first time I had this sauce and I was very impressed. It’s especially good with Romano cheese instead of Parmesan. He basically told me how to make it. He told me to put the sage in and cook on low heat until “appena si arrossice il burro.” Until the butter barely browns. You don’t want to burn the butter.

Several times over the years I have tried to make this sauce again. It has never been as good as the time he made it for me. I put it down to inferior ingredients.

Then a couple of years back, when Curtis was retiring from ARB, we took him to dinner at Tuscany restaurant. One of the appetizers they served was butter fried sage leaves. They were surprisingly wonderful and tasted a lot like the sauce I remembered.

Fast forward to earlier this summer. I was clearing some brush and weeds on the hill and noticed our sage plant was doing well. I thought I should try to fry some of the leaves and see if they are as good as the restaurant. Well, they were wonderful and I realized that the sauce is the butter left behind after frying the leaves. I was always using ground or rubbed sage and just leaving it in the butter.

It’s amazing to me that it took this long to figure it out and also that long since having the fried sage leaves too.

Now we have another staple sauce that we have added to our repertoire.