This thought was written to the class I taught before I retired from teaching. Good advice to all for 2019. And I still encourage young people like Elder Carr at the temple visitor trailer.

                                                                                                   We keep plugging along. That is the best advice to stay young!

written in 2013

“Look for the Good”, an encouraging thought from your professor.

     With a new class of students on the horizon and a new hospital to take them to; I have my nasty-people worries welling up within me.  Will the mean old doctor be there?  The one who gets mad if you sit in his chair? Really, I never saw his name on it.  Or will the physical therapist be there who is so tall he can’t help but look down his nose at everyone?  He somehow scares away any intelligent answer a young nursing student may have. 

     And then there is the eerie green reflection of the monitors in the Definitive Observation Unit onto the thick glasses of the woman who acts like she can see into your soul.  Rumor has it, that she has had her big rear in the same seat for twenty years and treats everyone as if she was the Queen of England.  She even talks about herself in the third person.  “Beverly wants you to know, if you can’t get the cardiac monitor leads on correctly, THEN DON’T TRY!”  The first time she reprimanded my nursing students, (who I know have more education in their toes than she has in all lobes of her cranium) I thought, “Who is this Beverly? Some doctor…cardiologist, administrator, who? Guess what? That Beverly was HER!  Imagine, I expected her to begin the royal wave!”                                                                                 

     As a nursing student you need to have a very thick skin.  Or at least it’s something I try to have and teach my students to do the same.  Somehow most of the workers at hospitals treat students and their professors, like door mats and expect them to bow and scrape. I did that in nursing school over forty years ago but things have changed, or at least they should have. I then tell my poor abused young men and women to remember how it feels, and then in ten years or so, when they are in charge, to remember and “Be kind to the students.”  It has been said that nurses eat their young, but these days after everyone else in the hospital take’s their bite there is very little left for the nurses to munch upon. 

     I try to prepare my kids. I call them that because most of them are really young, some younger than my grandkids.  I become a protective tiger mom while I have them in my clinical nursing class. One particularly difficult day as we sat behind closed doors discussing our patients before we left the hospital several of the students were concerned about the cool reception and mean comments made by the staff.  I said, “Don’t think if someone acts nasty or mean that it’s you or anything you have done.  It could be something else has gone wrong in their life.  Like the doctor who has a wife who just left him, or the nurse who has a sick child or sick cat, or maybe even, gosh, I don’t know, something like her dog died the night before.  And remember, “If it’s you or something you did, I’ll let you know.  I’m here to make the road easier.  I’m here to help you get to the finish line, I’m not a scary mountain to climb over…so talk to me, ask me questions, and don’t worry about the crusty looks you get from others. I’m the one who gives you the grade.” 

     About a week later one of the more shy girls who tried to do everything right and had great critical thinking skills, pulled me aside and said, “I know what’s wrong with that one really mean nurse.”  “Oh, you do?” I said, thinking she had some special insight.  “Yes,” she said with smile, more wise than her young age.  “I figure she owns a kennel, and has lots of dogs, and every night one dies.” She turned away with a special spring in her step.  And I thought, “Ya know, maybe she’s right.”

     Mean people suck!  I know that’s not a nice word, but the truth hurts…for those who deserve it.  I guess, Pollyanna is my middle name, and if something goes wrong, I figure the odds are that something soon will turn out right…like the saying, “There is so much horse plop out there, if you dig deep enough you’ll find a pony.”  And, I know some folks see everything through cracked glasses, or have the chemical thing going wrong that puts them on a downer.  And I know I’ve been lucky in that for the most part, even after my youngest son’s severe head injury, I was able to find something decent about the bad situation. 

     I believe I began to recognize small moments of tender mercy on one crazy vacation.  We were delighted to be staying at a friend’s cabin in Tahoe but things soon went very wrong. Our car had so many problems I lost weight running down the road to the service station looking for parts to repair our worn out station wagon.  So, I realized later when I got on the scale at home, that when I usually gain weight on a vacation, this was one of the few where I lost weight.  And then at the end of the trip our old car finally rolled to a stop in the middle of the 110 degree Mojave Desert.  We had visions of our entire savings being sucked up by some greedy repair man.  However, after my husband and son walked several miles to the nearest gas station we were helped by a kind grandpa who refused payment.  Oh, we ended up being towed backwards while all of us were still sitting in the car.  We looked like a re-run of the worst moments of the Chevy Chase “Vacation” movie since our station wagon was an exact copy of the one used in the film.  Our two teenagers wanted to put paper bags on their heads they were so embarrassed.  But now, in retrospect, they all admit we saw the most amazing sunset, which we would never have seen if we were driving towards home and all facing in the other direction.  And besides that our faith in repair men was restored. 

     Part of being a teacher is to encourage and guide so I tell my novice students, with the wisdom I have gained through the years that, “Before this life is over trials will come to you all.  Oh I wish they did not, and none of us had to deal with such things but this is our test and is not for us to decide.  All we can decide is what to do about a situation within the time we’ve been given.  I have found good or bad, bitter or sweet, depends upon your point of view.  Where or how you see a situation determines if you find it positive or negative. I know that there are many forces at work beyond our control and I also know that most of those forces are good and are much more powerful than bad or evil.” So I say to my young charges, “If all seems lost and you are full of despair, get up! Change how you look at things or give it a bit of time, your perspective will change, and you will discover it’s not so bad after all. And that’s an encouraging thought.”

Happy New Year...and happy to be here in my 75th year!

United Air Lines (Dog Nightmare)...hot Hot HOT!

           Things have been heating up for the Hanrion clan, literally!

hot #1, While husband Patrick was on a fishing trip, I went to Hollywood beach with my youngest daughter Megan. On the way back home to Gilbert Arizona from California my auto air conditioning stopped working. (It was 120 degrees in the shade) I could barely see the road through the sweat running down my face and I kept thinking get me home to my cool house. Oh Not So!  

A furnace blast hit as I came through the garage and opened the door to the back of the house. I went immediately to the thermostat and discovered that no matter what I did it would not turn on, and the temp. read 118. Patrick was still in cool Bella Coola Canada so I was on my own. Then I remembered the neighbor who had fixed our air conditioner earlier in the summer and gave him a call. He was over to the house within the hour but it took until the next evening for him to pick up the broken part and install it. Meanwhile, compassionate other neighbors brought over a room cooler and placed it into the bedroom. Wow, what a blessing to have generous friends, and also for the guy who invented refrigerated cooling.

Hot#2. A week later we were in Philadelphia for our grandson's wedding. The grooms family were all staying in a hotel down the street from the Philadelphia Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple. We had a fun day sight-seeing  and finally went to bed around 10:00 pm. At 11:00 a fire alarm began. and continued for over an hour giving directions in a screeching voice, "do not leave your rooms, do not use the elevators or stairs." Of course the halls were full, many people ran down the stairs, our daughter included. She sent up an on going video of fire trucks and hoses and people in front to the hotel. We stayed in our room and finally settled down around 3:00 am. By 6:00 am we were up and discovered the fire had tripped the power on about half the rooms. We had no power, no air. (you couldn't open the windows) We texted each other and walked down the 15 flights for breakfast. (some were on the 24th floor...eek) We discovered that half the guests had power and cool rooms, so went to those rooms to finish getting ready and re-charge our phones.  The rest of that day went like clockwork with no loss of power, even though the grandpa's put up hundreds of lights on the ceiling and had wires running to every available plug.

HOT#3. The topper of the past few weeks was the flight home from Maryland...Thanks to United Airlines! I felt we were in trouble when I saw the dark clouds in the distance as we drove to Dulles airport.  After we arrived at the designated gate D3, we were shuffled down the boarding area to another gate a 15 minute walk away. And thus began the adventure. We boarded the plane about one hour late. Our seats were up front and in our row was a woman in the window seat. "You don't mind do you...I have a dog in a crate under the seat." I immediately responded, "I'm very allergic to any animal hair." I don't care was her attitude, and she said, "He's a Airedale terrier. No one is allergic to a terrier." I thought, "just watch me."

We had been sitting on the tarmac for about 40 minutes when she began to complain. "Oh, I'm so hot, my dog is hot, he's going to suffocate and die." As a steward walked by she yelled blowing fetid breath across my face, "Do you want this dog's death on your conscious?"  Before long, the captain came on the overhead speaker, "We are in the line to take off, we are trying to circulate the air to keep everyone as cool as possible. We don't want to get out of the Que and lose our place, so please be patient everyone."

The moaning and whining about the heat and a dying dog began again in earnest. "Isn't it against the law to make us be on the tarmac this long, we should be going back to the gate until the storm passes. We could die from the heat and lack of air." she repeated over and over to any crew person who passed by. Then the captain came on and said, "We are going back to the gate as we need to re-fuel and some of the crew need to be replaced." I thought to myself, "Baloney, they are going back because of this complaining woman." 

Back at the gate the dog lady exited after she got other passengers who were exiting to carry her dog. She said, "I need my cane." I never saw a crew member leave, nor did I see any additional fuel going on-board. Aha! I knew it, I hope she stays off and keeps her little dog with her!

Oh not so! I barely had time to use the postage stamp space that doubles as a bathroom when all the passengers who had exited the plane returned. And then I saw the devil lady and her dog. She had such a smug look on her face. Her hissy-fit had just cost the 120 people on the plane a few extra hours of waiting for the storm to pass and then the line of planes ahead of us to take off.

By the time we were in the air, dog-lady had her animal in her lap and my allergies kicked in. My eyes began to itch. I took out my contacts, applied ice to my rapidly swelling eyelids and could not see to read or do much of anything for the next five hours. By the time we landed I was having difficulty taking a breath.

We arrived in Phoenix after midnight and it took a while to find a ride because we were too late to catch the Uber we had reserved. We noticed dog lady running to catch a cab. She was dancing along with her dog crate on wheels. She must have lost that cane as there was not one in sight!

Questions for United Air and all Air lines:
     Do air-crew persons have a right to change annoying passengers and their dogs from one seat to another at the expense of other passengers?
     Are there more people allergic to peanuts (1%) than animal hair (10%)? or is it just that more people have sued about peanuts on planes?
     Do dogs and their owners have more rights to a seat on the plane than other passengers?
     Do plane companies have the responsibility to ask passengers if they are allergic to animals before they seat them next to the pet parade.
     Should dog or cat owners sit in the back row all together with their animals...and bother each other?

                         CERTAINLY STUFF TO THINK ABOUT!

My Mother’s Hands

My Mother’s hands laced with blue

Have done most things that women do

Infants tended, clothing mended

Cooked the food, stayed level headed

During strife, days full and rich

Pulled life off without a hitch

Grumpy, mean and not so nice

I can’t think of one sacrifice

When my hands mirror hers

With memories blank or blurred

Will children see the things I’ve done?

Remember laughter and the fun

Smile through tears, don’t have a frown

I will not let my guard come down

When opposite I try to be

Not like her but being me

Children's Sight

My children have heard of mountains high with running babbling brooks

But the only ones they have seen were in borrowed library books

My children have heard of animals wild in lands both near and far

But the only ones they have heard growled behind a zoos' strong bars

My children have heard of flowers sweet, growing thick in shades of red

But the only ones they could find grew in the rows of plant nursery beds

Prisoners of the city, as sure as they can be 

Though their cells are never barred or have a lock and key

How can I teach of God's wisdom or his deep abiding love?

When all they see of his kingdom is a hawk fighting with a dove

But children's sight is special, just journey through their eyes

The things we think are gloomy don't ever touch their lives

Try to catch a sunbeam, laughter at the bug trapped in a tree

"Mommy I can't see you, that means you can't see me."

Grass up through the sidewalk, flowers from a crack

Squinting at the clouds while lying on their backs

Rich or Poor, no matter, as long as there is love

They feel the light and blessings that come down from above

Joy in life and living and thanking Him each day

My children teach a lesson, and in a special way...

If we could overlook the bad and see as children do 

 Our days would be like heaven and sad times be but few

A Few More, & PC saga

Just reporting back on a few more temple construction items. I read my last post and realized I didn't mention that I took upwards of 300 pictures a day. Then downloaded them and inserted them into reports and the books that I wrote. 

Kevin, the owner of 3 Knolls Publishing did a lot of my editing...(I have issues contractions.)  I'm grateful to him for his help and cherish our friendship.  I discovered that many of my pictures couldn't go into either of the books. The books did not focus on individuals but many of my favorite pictures were of the men working. I was impressed with their dedication and skill. While working in the basement at first there were no lights so they were often in shadow. Those became my favorites. Each day it seems I remember something special that makes me appreciate my blessings more and more.

So many people who are younger than us seem to be so old. I think it's because they retire and sit. 
We fill every second with activity so we can fall into bed each night exhausted. Yesterday we planned our Sunday school lesson. We are teaching a class of kids year about the Bible.  We try to help them understand the truth and guidance they can receive from understanding the teachings in the scriptures.  In the afternoon re drove to Tucson to a Mariachi contest and concert. Young people in bands competed and we were able to see the winners in vocal, dance and music. Then the audience was treated to the LA Angel Mariachi group. Everyone in the amphitheater was whooping and whistling. This morning we got up early to take grand kids to a local park that has a large pond for a fishing.  Of course the only ones catching fish were the kids. Eleven year old Becca was the winner catching two...Yea for her pink fishing pole!  

A PC for Bubba 

Mike and Mom wanted to build Bubba a PC

We thought with our know-how it'd be very easy

After 7 trips on the freeway to computer part Frye's

Where they handed us both a bucket of lies

We toasted some Ram and a few Gigs too

So back on the freeway we flew

We stayed up real late, what we thought would be cake

Turned sour at midnight with a mother-board bake

The NO-English-Speak guy from Taiwan

Kept telling us "Talk Louder, GO ON"

"What does the Bios say?" was his constant cry

"Buddy, the screen is black!" was our repeated reply

He gave us no help from his long distance spot

and the system kept running too hot!

We folded, yes folded; We a-Team two

and decided no dud would be coming to you

So we went to the pros, gave them specs for a beauty

And they bargained with us for the duty

So late though it be, just you wait and see

It's with love from the Mike y and Meeeee

I've been gone for a while.

I've been gone for a while living in Tucson. Patrick, my husband, and I have been serving as missionaries at the Construction of the Tucson Latter-day Saint Temple. As missionaries one of the things we did was take care of the men on the site...which meant we participated in all the worker orientations and made sure the rules such as "no-foul-language, no music, no spitting, no marking on any of the building materials," etc.  My other main responsibility was to write the history of the LDS church in Tucson, and keep the records of the various stages of construction.

I had never worked on a construction site so needles to say the task was daunting, especially since I was the only woman allowed access to the site. We even had a chance to be a part of the Mormon Battalion re-enactment at "Old Tucson Studios. I had fun but Patrick did not like wearing a wool suit when the temperature was over 110 degrees. I can hardly blame him!

We met the most interesting and wonderful people it was difficult to leave when our job was completed.  Hopefully we can have the opportunity to work at another temple construction site. Right now we are getting knees fixed and replaced so we are in tip-top condition to give it our very best.  I hope to keep writing. After having my own 610 page book printed and adding about 250 pages to another book on the temple which mostly no one will read. I now am compiling my poetry which I started writing in 1968 to the present. I have my completed novel, "Treasure of the Chiasmus Cipher", and two of my student nurse murder mysteries completed. Working with publishers can get grueling at best! It may be that I will be under the sod when anyone gets a chance to read them.

Airport Blues

Flight travel is a tricky game at best

With Airports like armed camps and everyone distressed

The line to start your journey begins at the curb
You gather up your bags and start to feel absurd
For no matter how carefully you pack they are overstuffed and full

As you drag them to the counter looking quite pitiful
“That one weighs too much,” a uniformed man says with glee

So you re-arrange your underwear, out there for all to see                     

The worst insult comes as you stand in a winding line
And worry you’ll miss your flight even though you arrived on time
With cavalier sluggish movements from the man in charge up front
Who treats each person as if he’s on an insurgent weapons hunt

Frail old ladies are patted and searched while the wide-eyed children cry

Your head is screaming on the inside, but outside you only sigh

For they study passengers as if doing biological research

Your placed in front of an x-ray for the stripped full body search

You think one day you’ll die of radon and the Twinkies you adore

And then you’ll emit a blinding glow from L.A. to Baltimore

Is it worth the hassle that continues during the flight?

“Buckle-up don’t move, no bathrooms,” the gestapo isn’t polite!

You sit between the large man who’s flesh oozes into your lap

And the stinky guy on the other side uses your shoulder for his nap

So drive to your destination and avoid such worry and distress?

Even if it takes longer than taking the Airport nightmare express?

Consider this next time your on-line and plan to reserve a seat

Even with high gas prices, driving yourself can’t be beat

Stale Piece of Pie 

Sometimes life is a stale piece of pie

Sometimes people only think of “I”

Sometimes all I get are the crumbs

Sometimes I just sit and twiddle my thumbs

All I get are leftovers, dried out tired remnants

I want to make you a coat of cement

I should be happy with what I got

But I’m not! 

“Broken hearts and dogs that die”

Broken hearts and dogs that die

Lonely days and men that cry

Seems to be the theme of most

All Cowboys who play a tune, or sing, or boast

But it was never sadness or tragedy endured

That called those men to the west or cajoled them or lured

So why sing of the horse with the rock stuck in his shoe?

Is it so hard to croon of meadows damp and sparkling with silver dew?

Why do Cowboys think each tale should be loaded with distress?

 Writing or singing of happy days does not make a story less

To capture listening ears who said the story must be sad?

Or demand you tell of loneliness or conditions that are bad

Let people hear of the joy you feel with wind upon your face

Or when you wed your sweetheart in her gown of ivory lace

Don’t spread the lie and say your life is only pain and woe

And set aside deceitful words that echo over radio

For just this once please tell the truth; you live the life you love!

With prairie as your pillow as you gaze at stars above

I know you have a secret, it’s the one you won’t betray

The mysteries of the universe are in the Cowboy Way

“Naked Came the Bruce”

I guess as we get older lots of things about us change

Like how we look and how we think and we get mighty strange

I’ve noticed as my days and years quickly pass me by

Some things the elder generation does, leaves me to shrug and sigh

The eyes are most the first to go and with that a fashion sense

And if you make a small comment, you're met with impudence

"That stuff don’t match!" you mention, just to help a longtime friend

"The red and orange with that pink, it kind’a doesn't blend."

"You mind your manners" you are told, "I am the one who knows."

"I've been on this here earth much longer than Old Joe Blow."

The smell and taste are next to go and follows really fast

So enjoy your food while you are young, for it ain't gonna last

But, the ones who lose their modesty have really gone too far

Cuz naked folks ain't pretty when their teeth are in a jar!

"It shore is hot," Bruce said to me as he greeted at the door

He reminded me of the story of the foolish Emperor

"Come on in," he beckoned, just like nothing was amiss

He seemed to take no notice of his bare butt nakedness

So I went in and sat right down yet kept my eyes averted

We talked about the recent news, and other things we'd read

He wiped his brow and settled in on the couch of Naugahyde

And I wondered how to make a running break for the safety of outside

Then later as I pondered life and all that it can bring

I know that for a certainty, I beg you do this thing.

“GET OUT THAT GUN, AND SHOOT ME QUICK!” if I wander in my skin

Cuz it ain't pretty...not one bit, not even if it's kin.

 Pockets

My mom was a terrible cook; I think that’s why I was so thin

On Fridays she made us fish cakes much to my young chagrin

She covered the lumps with stale-crumbs, till they resembled turds from a beast

The smells made my young stomach do flip flops and detest attending the feast

Each meal started off with a blessing. Good thing! It would keep down the gag

I would secret each mouthful of foodstuff to stash in my made ready rag

When I saw the can of fish waiting to make into swill upon the counter top

I tried to encourage my friends to invite me over for a meal-time stop

And when no one was around for rescue from my Mom’s culinary disaster

I learned to change to my favorite dress, and do it faster and faster

This dress pink and red was adorned with eight pockets all over the frilly front

It was perfect to hide the nasty fish slop in its unappetizing chunks

Then into the waiting compartment, to save me from eating such mush

And off to the bathroom I’d run, and include all the cakes in the flush

I guess to this day I should thank her for keeping me healthy and trim

Because she was no good in the kitchen, during schooldays I was quite slim

“True love”

It’s always been my question though it’s never crossed my lips

Why all the stories of the hard won West

Never mentions the ladies or their difficult test

Now we all know men are made of puppy tails and snails

But the women who chose to love those men were loyal courageous females

They bore the daughters and sons of the men who homestead and tamed the land

And gave up their youth their beauty their souls and all the rough life demands

I know the tale of one of those gals taken from family comfort and all she knew

She married a cowboy, who until that time, lived alone with his dog named blue

In her ruffles and lace she beguiled this gent and they married in a whirl

He had no idea of her sacrifice made when he wed the city girl

But she loved him so she never looked back or longed for her childhood home

Most days she spent in the rough wooden shack on their homestead all alone

At first her cooking efforts were much like slop or swill

But he never complained or said negative words for he loved and cherished her still

How He longed for the bread like his mamma once made covered with berry jam

Then one day the aroma of baking came out when the swinging screen door gave a slam

“Now dear I knew you could do it” he cried as he hunted high and low

“I know I’m smelling fresh bread, did you hide it where did it go?”

“I have no idea of what you speak, just sit down and eat this meat”

“My skill with four does not exist so don’t plan on baked goods make of yeast.

His puzzlement grew when he saw on top of the stove a small pot of vegetable stew

No biscuits or rolls and his bride covered in flour with her apron all eschew

Then later that eve he gave grain to the cows and saw there hidden and flat

The sorriest loaf he ever had seen, brick heavy and much like a mat

A smile crossed his face as he thought of his dear

Trying to please him with home baked fare

And he loved her the more, never mentioned his find

for you and I know that true love is blind

Heaven or Hell

Days drift by in numbered succession

We work to buy another possession.

Routines of life burns the candle low

There is another world beyond this I know

Break through the fog and into the light

Open wide the cracks, escape from the blight

How to emerge from the darkness and gloom

And not remain trapped in an earthly tomb

Do what's right, set aside your fears

Keep your chin up and smile through your tears

Patience will bless us, with affliction we'll grow

Set aside temptation, for we reap what we sow

Yet for sure Heaven or Hell waits for us all

And there is one who gleefully wants us to fall

Or you can turn to Him who loves without condition

Looking over all, pulling us back from perdition

So turn back from temptation and go to the light

In your heart you feel and know what is right

Prevent the loss of your soul to utter destruction

There’s no joy in ruin or eternal damnation

For He knew long ago the mistakes we would make

And gave us the grand plan for us all to partake

He waits at the gate, arms wide to embrace

His countenance is in you, it shines in your face

One Hour in Church

Can I dance the wool from my brain as this hour begins?

Concentration is nonexistent so watch the big-cheek baby grin

I drift to wonder; do I have more sunsets behind me than in front?

Can I make this time count, so my rent on earth is paid?

Will I find the flakes of gold, from the small make something great?

Why does the man who spoke for just a minute make more sense?

Than the one with words abundant, voice thumping like a fan

I drift back to the babies’ cry, a hard chair, and wonder who I am?

Decision

but father we are afraid

our mansion, more grand than others

must be bought with coin of pain, sorrow, and sacrifice

will we be strong, will be worthy?

MY CHILDREN YOU, MORE BLESSED THAN OTHERS

WILL BE MORE TRIED THAN OTHERS

WILL HAVE MORE STRENGTH THAN OTHERS

MUST HAVE MORE FAITH THAN OTHERS

FEEL MY LIGHT, TRUST IN ME, MY LOVE IS WITH YOU

WHEN

            YOU

                        GO

                                    DOWN

we

                                    will

                                                go

                                                            down

   

I am putting my poetry from 1966 to 2018 into a book. Here a a few for you to read. let me know if you like them. Pat