Things I Take For Granted

Over the past two weeks I've come to realize that there are certain things that we take for granted, like heat, hot water and running water. It's the end of January and the temperature is hovering around 10 degrees outside. Inside it's just under 60 degrees. Why? Because the furnace has broken down. There are a lot of things I can fix but there are some things that are just beyond my capabilities. So I called my friendly heating repairman. I couldn't get a hold of the guy I would normally use because he has apparently gone out of business. So I do the next best thing and call another one. I asked them to please hurry. Lo and behold the guy arrives within the hour. I'm saved! I'm hoping for a quick fix and a low bill. He's not thinking the same way. So, a new motor and over $500 later I have heat. One problem solved.

Now for the hot water. The water has a huge leak in it and it's one that can't be fixed. I have to replace the entire thing. Luckily it's under warranty. The bad part is, the company I bought it from is out of business I have to get it from the manufacturer, in Tennessee. They can send a free replacement out right away, but it will be 7 - 10 days before it arrives. I'm stuck. I can't fix it, there's no running hot water, and there are two people in this house who like to take showers every day.

Pulling on my Boy Scout experience I do the next best thing: heat water on the stove, fill the buckets, and use the old two bucket method of sponge baths. Not much fun for me, and especially my wife. Every morning at 6 a.m. I'm in the kitchen heating up water on the stove for the both of us. It's not the best solution but it works for now.

Finally, 7 days after it's ordered, the water heater arrives. That night, after I finish all my work, I begin work on replacing the water heater. I'm not a professional plumber but I've done some copper pipe and soldering work in the past. After getting it all hooked up I turn on the water. All is well until the water heater fills up and pressurizes and I find out that a couple of my solder joints are leaking. Off goes the water and I try to fix it. It wasn't until 12:30 at night before I finally gave up and decide to finish it in the morning. It's still leaking but at least we'll have some hot water for showers tomorrow.

Once the new day arrives I'm finally able to take a look at it with a clearer mind and I'm able to finish it in short order. Now we can have a dry basement and hot water again. I always find it amazing how we can take things for granted, until we no longer have it.

The same thing goes for relationships. We don't realize what we've had until we've lost it. I hope it's not too late for me.

The Monument

God
Before He sent His children to earth
Gave each of them
A very carefully selected package
Of problems

These
He promised, smiling,
Are yours alone. No one
Else may have the blessings
These problems will bring to you.

And only you
Have the special talents and abilities
That will be needed
To make the problems
Your servants.

No go down to your birth
And to your forgetfullness. Know that
I love you beyond measure.
These problems that I give you
Are a symbol of that love.

The monument you make of your life
With the help of your problems
Will be a symbol of you
Love for me,
Your Father.

By Blaine Yorgeson
From the book, "Charlies Monument"

Family Reunions at Bear Lake

Can you look back on your life and see one event that you really looked forward to year after year? Most people hear the words "FAMILY REUNION" and cringe. They look for excuses not to go to the family reunion. You're going to see people you only see once a year, maybe, and hear about all of their old stories. And if you're a kid your bound to hear these words, "My how you've grown!"

Maybe that's how it was in your family, but in mine we actually looked forward to the annual Lane Family Reunion at Bear Lake, Utah (or Idaho). Starting in the early 60's, my father and his brothers and sisters, and their children, and their children's children, would gather at a little rocky outcrop on the southeast side of Bear Lake, just south of the Boy Scout Camp. We were at the base of a high mountain that was relatively easy to climb and right on the shores of the lake. I think we camped there because it didn't cost us anything. Nobody else wanted to camp there and we could have it for a whole week. It started out as very rustic camping with just about everyone setting up a tent, but over time people brought trailers, campers, RV's and motor homes.

What made this reunion so special was not the location. The shore was rocky, there were no trees to speak of, no grass, no facilities, and no store close by. It was the company. You see, our extended family was very close. It started with my father and his brothers and sisters and their families. As time went on and their kids got married and had familes the group had grown by leaps and bounds. By the time I was in my teens we must have had well over a hundred and fifty people camping there during the week. And it wasn't just family. Some of them brought friends because they heard about what a great time we had there and had to check it out for themselves.

One of the favorite things we did was to build our own diving tower that we towed out into the water and anchored with stones to hold it down. We would all go out to the tower several times a day for some fun. Nobody else on the lake had something like this and we enjoyed it to the max. The tradition continues even today.

We had our own Teen Club with its own activities. I looked forward to the day when I could be in "the club". I had to wait until I was 13 and was the youngest one there. It wasn't until I was 18 that I was able to take the lead in some of the activities. There's lots of stories there. There was a pre-teen club, a kids club, and of course the adults were always getting together and talking about whatever came to mind.

There were no showers or latrines, so we built our own latrine. We dug a couple of holes, put in some toilet seats and put a tent around it. It wasn't pretty. It didn't smell good, but it got the job done. Later on when more people got trailers motor homes we used those instead.

Now they go to another part of the lake, one with an actual campground. Some people wonder why we used to love going to Bear Lake so much. It wasn't the camping spot, it was the people. We may be a little wierd, but we're family. Someday I'll go back, but I don't know very many people there anymore. Maybe I'll just have to start my own tradition. Wait until the next blog when I talk about "Fairhaven".

Family Pictures

We all have them. Some of them we love. Some we hate. But each one tells a story.

What is it? It's the family portrait of course. As I have been compiling a photographic family history I've come across a lot of our old family pictures. It's always amazing to me how cool we all thought we were at the time but when we look back at our family pictures we can't help but think how awful we looked and get that "What was I thinking" thought in our heads. Of course, when we're just young kids we have an excuse because we didn't dress ourselves. But I must admit I made a few mistakes that would have brought the fashion police calling, especially during my teenage years in the 70's.

Now I'm only going to show the family pictures at this point. No sense embarrassing myself all at once. But no matter how funny I think I looked in some of the pictures, I think that, "Hey, at least we were together as a family". I came from a pretty good family. Yes, we all had our moments when we tried our parent's patience and I think we all have some quirks, but in the end, we all came out OK.

So enjoy the pictures in the slideshow. See how we progressed through time. Admit it . . . We look pretty good.