I have pretty much documented the work we do here on a regular basis and it is pretty safe to say that it is, for the most part, pretty demanding and physical for those of us called. We do it and we love it!! The other reality is the title of this segment........
Now in all fairness.....it isn't always like this but.....this week was a killer.
It started Sunday District Meetings....which is really more or less an excuse to get together for dinner and discuss our month as well as get assignments for the coming month. At least we didn't try to feed the masses....just ten people...but we always make sure it looks like we will be feeding twenty.
Monday found us at Peter's....a small sandwich place at the top of Mulholland. It had never really opened during the Pageant season but now miraculously it is back and the proprieter has all sorts of interesting stories to tell.....more or less "Untold Stories of Nauvoo" Fact or fiction...they are interesting!!
Tuesday it was a cast social to say goodbye to the members of our cast that will be departing in the next few days....Pot Luck....bring the most fattening food and plenty of it....it will be eaten....vegetables and fruit....maybe.
Wednesday it's a birthday party at Rendezvous....Mississippi Mud by the McLoed's and Cheeseburgers from McDonalds by Elder Moench. It wasn't is birthday....he just wanted and excuse to eat a cheeseburger.....his wife is a vegetarian of the highest degree.
Thursday it was off to the Old Threshers Reunion.....we ate at the Catholic offering. Saturday we will probably eat Methodist or Mennonite food...both looked good.
Friday was the mission breakfast. It used to be to celebrate the departing missionaries...now it apparently just to get together and improve our "waste" lines. Bring your best and plenty of it. We always take 40 slices of bacon....that way there are no leftovers.
Saturday....back to the Old Threshers...... and the Iowa Fair Blue Ribbon Award winning Methodist Meatloaf. We were too tired to walk back to the ice cream station so we just stopped on the way back for another "sweet fix" I am getting tired, full, and fat just writing about it!!
One minute we were working away trading pleasantries with the majority of the teamsters about our work...and their lack of it..... and the next we were responding to the chaos on the other side of the wall. There had been some excited voices as the horses abruptly bolted from their feeding stations...man down....man down!! And then it was dead still and quiet. Not a sound. We didn't know what to make of it....soon we found out why.
Our compressor had fired up.... startling the horses...they bolted and Elder Wayment, all one hundred and sixty pounds (soaking wet) of his seventy nine year old body was knocked to the ground flat on his back as one of the startled horses laid a hoof on his chest and he quickly fled. These are not little horses...they are Belgians......big, heavy, and strong to pull the wagon loads of visitors around Nauvoo.
Within seconds the paramedics were called and the other teamsters were at his side administering to him and giving him a blessing. The dead quiet was those wonderful priesthood brethren uniting in prayer and calling on the powers of heaven to preserve his life and watch over him until proper medical care could be administered. As in every crisis it seemed like an eternity before the Nauvoo Volunteer Fire Department was on the scene. He was in crisis and pain as they worked on him. Then the mission presidency and his wife arrived as care was given. Sister Wayment, with her vast experience in medical care, insisted he be taken to Iowa City rather than the closer large hospital in Quincy. Iowa City is a Trauma 1 facility and that decision likely saved his life.
He was soon on his way to Iowa City. The University of Iowa is one of the leading hospitals in the Midwest and an inspired choice. His injuries included broken ribs, a cracked vertebrae in his neck but also a crushed artery that fed his arm. He was soon in surgery, stints inserted into the damaged artery and a neck brace was put in place. All went well. He spent the night in the ICU and the following day was moved to a room. Sunday he was released and returned home. I am sure that besides his beloved wife there were angels at his side.....summoned by the power of the Priesthood!!
Concrete Piers.....Floor....and More....
......The Barn Rises....Finally....Almost
It isn't exactly like and Amish barn raising.....in fact it is far from it. It is small....less than organized...and involves far less people.....and far more old people....but there is always progress. Elder Van Horn masterfully laid out the concrete piers as I formed the slab. And then it poured rain the next night and part of the day.
The following day we were concerned that the tubes that formed them would be too wet but we hand delivered the concrete to them after filling the holes with concrete from the chute. It worked well and we were off and running. The moisture in the supporting tubes and the high humidity in the air kept them from drying and they were a little soft so we held off a day on pouring the slab. There are no pictures of us pouring as it took all our labors and efforts to get the job done and the teamsters were busy watching and jawing.
We certainly didn't meet any Amish standards....but with the zeal of youth and bodies of the aged Elder Van Horn and myself started raising and securing the poles using ladders. The following day we raised the beam using our trusty fork lift and makeshift wooden platform. We first made the beam in pieces that we could lift for assembly from the platform on then lift and then onto poles. Speaking of our platform....It is really creaky and wobbly...but then so are we, so it is sometimes and adventure. The Elders in the welding shop have made several efforts to build one out of metal that would be more secure but have been told by Kendall not to make it since it could not be OSHA approved.....like the one we are using is?? Really? Life with bureaucracies is certainly mystifying and challenging sometimes.
We then realized that we were short the materials for the second beam. Seems as though they hadn't gotten ordered as they had been overlooked from the nature of the on again...off again...design...re-design changes. They, like Elder Van Horn, will be here Monday...and ready to go........both to work and then to begin his journey home.
Old Threshers....or the Grapes of Nauvoo?
......Mt. Pleasant Wins Out.....Twice!!
From the day I arrived in the cabinet shop of FM and was introduced to Lon Simpson I have awaited eagerly for the Old Threshers Reunion. He painted such a picture that it was one of those things you didn't want to miss. It was held in Mt. Pleasant, IA on for five days beginning with the Wednesday before Labor Day. The scale and size of this permanent venue was massive. The vast acreage includes a full size narrow gauge steam engine (I think the one that was used on the TV series Dr. Quinn...Medicine Woman), and electric trolley that encompasses the south end of the venue as well as tractor driven carriages that contain 100 people each as they circle the sites. Of course all of this comes at a cost (.50-$5.00 depending on mode) after you have paid the $ 15.00/person entrance fee.
Nauvoo on the other hand competes with it's annual Grape Festival to honor the fine wines produced from the grapes in the area. I am sure all the wine aficionados are familiar with them...at least any where inside the Nauvoo City limits. To celebrate they stage a carnival(nope), car show(nope), wine tasting(nope), grape stomping(sounds fun) and a massive parade on Sunday down Mulholland Drive(nope). Nauvoo on the Road(definitely) will be there....but as they say in baseball.....Three strikes(nope's) and your out....so it's off to Mt. Pleasant.
We did find out Sunday that it was a much bigger deal than we expected as the roads were blocked by the parade and car show and vendors and crowds swelled the park and surrounding open spaces.
We were glad to invite the Beecher's with us as they had missed out on so much while preparing and putting on pageant. Elder Van Horn heard me talking about and expressed that Sister Van Horn really wanted to go. They were leaving the first of the week and he had been pressured to get things around the house cleaned up....so he decided to see if she wanted to go...she did...and we took of Thursday after work.
It was everything we expected and more. Of course our first stop was to see Lon in Mr. Dodd's Workshop. His expertise and mastery of 1800 hand tools is phenomenal...and one tool or demonstration leads to another. He is continually looking for new "old" tools but says his kids pretty well take care of that buying whatever they see for him. The old drill press in the rear of the picture was given to him.
We marveled at his skill at producing a "new and improved" water carrying yoke demonstrated in Pioneer Pastimes in Nauvoo. I am sure it will last a long time with the amount of material and effort he put into it....I am not sure, however, if there are many who can or would want to carry it up and down Temple Hill with two full pails of water. Sister Gibson demonstrated it for the camera....and then it was off the chiropractor (LOL).
Our second trip to the Old Threshers found us spending most of the day with the Beechers seeing the old time steam equipment and horses in action. It was quite interesting to see the size of some of these machines and horses. The "not so" highlight was the Cavalcade of Power that paraded itself in front of the grandstands as we watched.....and watched....and watched.....went to lunch....saw that it was still going on...and on.....an on. Turns out that there were over 1000 entries. The old time exhibits were fascinating....even some old cars. Then there were classic cars...then there were kids on riding mowers and mini tractors....and they were only at 700. I imagine there were toddlers in the end pulling toy tractors and horses with parents sitting in the grandstands bored to death until their child comes by and they cheer wildly.
The horse driven drilling machine was of particular interest to me as it reminded me of my days working for Intermountain Drilling with the machine powered rotary drill. The horses mane was a work of art and interest.
A House Raising in Nauvoo....
.....New Heights for an Old House
Last spring we spent a week gutting the Engle House basement in preparation of remodeling the entire lower floor into another missionary apartment. Turns out that was the tip of the iceberg (now I have never seen that before on a Nauvoo project....except for most). The foundation had been poorly constructed and so it was decided to raise the house, tear out everything below, and put in a new foundation and floor....and then finish the lower level. Sounds like fun to me.....I'll just love to see the house levitating into the winter.
Odds........at the End!
This is pretty much the final hurrah for the Van Horn's as they will return to Washington State next week. He and I have worked together for over two months and his youth, skill, brains, and brawn have really been appreciated. Sister Gibson has worked with Sister Van Horn since the departure of Sister Lee Master. Together they have been the complete team working together to make sure that their duties and assignments are completed. She has been the Missionary Director of Housing and is responsible for all that goes on in missionary housing. They have also become very good friends here and we will miss them...Oh yes...so very much. Our intrepid Assistant FM Director, Marcus Allyn, presented them their NRI flags on Thursday. Carpentry and Housing will never be the same without them.
Things sometimes get delayed until it is almost too late. Now I can certainly see that my shoes are falling apart but it was when my toe popped through I decided it was time to get some new ones.
Fortunately I have a friend in the shoe business. David Grill at Ossine shoes is my guy and he took care of my urgent request and sent me two pair of Brooks shoes. David and his family were one of my home teaching families that I learned to love. The kids would always give us big hugs when they saw us. That's just one of the things I miss....That is a sacrifice.
Wednesday Nights Rendezvous performance was the last for the Moench's. They did a great job as George and Agatha and she was always a great coordinator(director) to work with. I had been teasing her for weeks that I was going to put a pop-up surprise in her newspaper so scare her as she opened it for her scene. Prudence prevailed as I knew she wanted to give a great performance and not be distracted.
It is a tough week for Sister Hipwell, our new director. She is trying so hard to get her feet on the ground, keep Rendezvous organized with all the departures, and deal with the every day challenges of dealing with us, our quirks, illness', and adventures.
It has always been stressed to be completely professional in our presentation and the show is about others and not ourselves. When it comes time to leave many feel it is time to "let it go" and get creative with their lines....Great laughs for the perpetrators.... A disappointment for the one who is trying to "herd the cats".
Sunday found us serving in the Brigham Young Home again as we swapped weeks with the Jones so we could have next Sunday free when Christi visits. It was one of the busiest site days we have experienced. Not only were there a lot of tours but also the size of many pushed the limits of our space capacity. We received a tender mercy when it calmed down for a few moments and as we sat down the kids called from Eden telling us of all the fun they are having and how much they enjoy Eden. It was so fun to talk to everyone and see they happiness on their faces. It did cost me twenty bucks as Mikala finally got up on water skis. Seems as though my offer made when she was ten was still in effect.
We didn't have time to take a picture of us so I snapped one from the Council Room.....my favorite in Nauvoo!! I don't think anyone will forget what we look like....LOL.
Our first visitors were a young couple from Indiana...he looked like a dear in the headlights as he started to glance around the room taking all of it in....seemingly with out blinking or breathing. It wasn't until his wife explained he was a direct descendent of Brigham and he had so looked forward to this moment. We tried to explain that a lot of the furnishings were not Brigham's but I don't think that mattered to him....He was caught up in the moment and took it in. As we told of his conversion and love for the prophet he sat enthralled. As I took him through the story of the Council Room on the house you could see it was a special moment for him....and us. It's great to have these experiences....they are truly special to us.
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