01 Feb 2009 #0905.html

Sleeping to the East

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Dear Family and Friends,

Welcome to this week's "Thoughtlet."

These words are my personal diary and a weekly review of ideas, beliefs, thoughts, or words that will hopefully be of some benefit to you: my children, my family, and my friends.

"For quite a while now I have been reading a book called "A Pattern Language." This is an architectural book about best practices in building. I have found the book absolutely fascinating, and this week read the 5 page chapter 138 "Sleeping to the East." To quote from the introduction "This pattern settles the position of the bedrooms by placing them to face the east, and thereby complements the effect of indoor sunlight, which places the more public rooms towards the south." It goes on to state "This is one of the patterns people most often disagree with. However, we believe they are mistaken." Doesn't start of sounding like a best practice, does it?

Continuing, the text reads "Our human organism contains a number of very sensitive biological clocks. We are creatures of rhythms and cycles. Whenever we behave in a way which is not in tune with our natural rhythms and cycles, we run a very good chance of disturbing our natural physiological and emotional functioning. Specifically, these cycles have a great deal to do with sleep. And the cycle of the sun governs our physiology to such an extent we cannot afford to sleep out of touch with this cycle. Consider the fact that the body reaches its lowest metabolic activity in the middle of the sun's night, at about 2 A.M. It seems very likely, then, that the most nourishing kind of sleep is a sleep whose curve more or less coincides with the curve of metabolic activity - which is in turn dependent on the sun."

"It has recently been shown by Dr. London at the San Francisco Medical School, that our whole day depends critically on the conditions under which we waken. If we wake up immediately after a period of dreaming (REM sleep), we will fell ebullient, energetic, and refreshed for the whole day, because certain critical hormones are injected into the bloodstream immediately after REM sleep. If, however, we wake up during delta sleep (another type of sleep, which happens in between periods of dreaming), we will feel irritable, drowsy, flat, and lethargic all day long: the relevant hormones are not in the bloodstream at the critical moment of awakening."

"Now obviously, anyone who is woken by an alarm clock, will sometimes be woken in the middle of delta sleep and will, on those days, have a lethargic day; and will sometimes wake up just after REM sleep and will, on those days, have an energetic day. . . . Now the only way to make sure that you wake up at the right time, with the closure of REM sleep, is to wake up naturally. But you can only wake up naturally and in accordance with the other, larger cycle of metabolic activity, if you wake up with the sun. The sun warms you, increases the light, gently nudges you to wake up - but in a way that is so gentle, that you will still actually wake up at the moment which serves you best, that is, just after a dream."

This pattern goes on to say: "We believe, in short, that this pattern is fundamental to the process of having a healthy, active, energetic day - and that anyone who rejects this pattern on the grounds that he does not want to be woken by the sun, is making a serious mistake about the functioning of his or her own body. . . . And finally, the matter of the view from the bed is worth mentioning. People look out in the morning to see what kind of day its going to be. Some views give this information very well; others not at all. A good morning window looks out on some kind of constant object or growing thing, which reflects the changes of the season and the weather, and allows a person to establish the mood of the day as soon as he wakes up." In conclusion, the authors give the following as a summary: "Give those parts of the house where people sleep, an eastern orientation, so that they wake up with the sun and light. This means, typically, that the sleeping area needs to be on the eastern side of the house; but it can also be on the western side provided there is a courtyard or a terrace to the east of it."

It is absolutely fascinating the amount of discussion this "best practice" resulted in during the week. Since our bedroom is on the eastern side of the house, I tested the idea by simply opening the southern of the three blinds in our room half way before going to bed the night after reading this best practice. Andrea's response was it was like we were sleeping outside. It was absolutely fascinating the difference this simple act made in our lives. I'm curious to know if this concept has any relevance to any of your lives. One thing I learned this week is that sleeping to the east might not be as important as chess. Colby made 11 moves, Roice made 18 moves, and Rob made 2 moves this week.

On Monday I worked at Layton's office from 10:00-4:00. I stopped to see Dick Coons on the way home regarding his East Cameron prospect. This is a time low and depth high because of shallow gas velocity push down makes it a time low. Dick thought there was a side track which would show it was actually a depth high. Turns out the side track was below the area of interest, and did not provide the proof Dick hoped for. When I got home there was the following note from Melanie:

"Hey dad, I'm giving a talk at our Stake Education Weekend this Friday on getting the most out of lds.org & mormon.org. I want to put just one picture about the new family search system (I don't have time to go into it). I was looking for your presentation in emails & on your website but I couldn't find it... I think you showed my your presentation at your house & that is why I can't find it. Anyway, if you have just a picture or a slide that you could send me, I would appreciate it. I think I want one that shows the Nelson line with the green circles & such that show what work is ready to go, needs more info, ect. Thanks! Mel"

I responded with:

"Melanie,

Go to http://nelson.walden3d.com. or http://hafen.walden3d.com, find the words PedigreeResourceFile and it has the presentation I put together for the Hafens and the Nelson. Interview next Monday?

Love,

Dad"

Melanie then responded with:

"Thanks for the thoughtlet dad! I am enjoying receiving them again. There is one correction to your thoughtlet however... I have told you that since I have established that I would like to talk to you on Sundays, you can call me sometimes too - but you told me you wouldn't because you aren't going to call one and not all. I think that means the same thing as I miss your Sunday calls. :) Love, Mel"

I can not resist a specific request like this. So I will call anyone who requests I call. However, it will not be every week, and I will not compete with non-Sabbath activities, specifically for those who do not request I call.

Tuesday included a couple of e-mails with Kjell Finstad. Basically his terms were not of interest to Dan Layton, and so we passed on his Edwards County opportunity. I was at the office from 10:30 until 4:00. Doug Harless called and we caught up. He has someone who might be interested in Robonat, or what I am now calling AquaRobonautSM (see 0906.html). On Wednesday Doug confirmed a demonstration with Steve Trollopp and himself on the 10th of February at NASA. I was at Layton's offices from 9:30-1:30. Wulf sent some information on making bread in Andrea's new "dutch oven." The same type of things continued on Thursday. I was at Layton's office from 10:00-4:00. There was some effort to confirm the meeting with Doug, after getting NASA approval. I started to build a Robonaut website. I also received an e-mail giving me a connection to http://www.growutahventures.com/, a group supporting Angel Investors in Utah. Probably most important was that Heather sent out a link to a paper describing what she is working on, which I think sounds really neat:

"2:30 Progress toward a Commercial Chemical Hydride Hydrogen Storage Solution for Portable Power Allison M. Fisher, PhD, Senior Fuel System Scientist, Jadoo Power Systems, Inc.* Direct hydrogen fuel cell (DHFC) technology has a number of advantages over direct methanol fuel cell technology, such as faster oxidation kinetics, higher energy conversion efficiency, lower catalyst loadings, clean emissions, and lower cost as a result of reduced balance of plant. The challenge which has so far prevented DHFC from becoming commercially competitive is the on-device storage of hydrogen. A low-cost, high energy density hydrogen-generating fuel system will unleash the potential of DHFC in the portable power arena. Jadoo Power is focused on developing an ammonia borane based hydrogen generation system exceeding 1000 Whr/kg suitable for a wide range of portable power applications. In this presentation we will describe our recent work toward these goals. *In collaboration with: M. Knobbe, H. Nielson, and A. Petersen"

On Friday Dave Agarwal sent an invoice for the time Les helped me solve problems to Randy. I did not have permission for this, and so I contacted Dave and Les and got it subtracted from money they owe me for work done by Emerald Resources. I was at Layton's offices from 10:00 until 3:00. Since I was home early, Andrea and I went to see a movie: "Last Chance Harvey." Reminded me of me. The divorce and the kids stuff was pretty poignant. Cute movie. More for someone my age than for you kids.

Saturday I did not do my exercises because I knew we would be working outside all day. Andrea and I went for our Saturday morning walk around the block. We have been very good at doing this for several months. I did write an e-mail to Ed Rogers about good news and less favorable news, basically asking him for time to pay a pretty large outstanding legal bill. Then I moved all of my rocks out of the Rock Garden, and started to pull the red volcanic rocks out and wash them off. It turned into a very long process which took over a week to finish up. I also trimmed the Mimosa trees by the garage. I was tired when we quit.

Sunday morning was getting ready for my Sunday School class, and then going to choir practice. Jim Jensen was walking up the aisle, and I invited him to sit with us. He told me he had intended to call me and tell me how much he enjoyed the lesson I taught a few months ago. He could not remember what it was about. I reminded him it was about forgiveness, and he told me this wonderful story about a female boss he had in Denver who treated him well, and treated all of his co-workers very harshly. He really got to dislike her and it became hard to go to work. His dad, the elder Jim Jensen, told him he needed to pray for her. He did, and finally he prayed for forgiveness for his feelings towards the lady. Over time he saw his attitude change, and realized the power of prayer and forgiveness. Then he said, "I sure miss my Dad. You know I was a great-grandfather, and I would still call my Dad up and ask him for advice." This conversation did a nice job of setting the spirit for Fast & Testimony Meeting. Morgan Bancroft bore a wonderful testimony. And I can think back to how hard of a time she had doing this the first time. Then President Steward bore his testimony, and I captured a possible stanza for Prime Words:

"Sealing: Yesterday I witnessed in the temple A husband kneeling at the front of the alter A mother kneeling at the back of the alter Sealed with their year old baby as an eternal family (a) (a) Collins Steward, NCW Fast & Testimony Meeting, 01 Feb 2009"

I invited Collins and Barbara Stewart to attend the first part of my Sunday School class. I started the class out with the song I wrote based on one of President Steward's Stake Conference Talks (see Scriptures). They liked the song, and stayed for the entire Sunday School class. President Steward asked what I meant by the line about "Words hinting at the mysteries of God, The circle and the square and when to applaud." He then answered his own question by asking if it had to do with the temple.

The Relief Society had a Visiting Teaching Conference, and so several of us were drafted to help with Primary. I had the responsibility for Primary Sharing Time. I took our family photo from the front entrance and let the kids choose a person in the photo and then I sang a song from my book. The young Sister Hutchings started off by selecting Andrea. I sang "A Song In My Heart." Then Jonathan Schmidt chose Matt, and I sang "Sir Matthew Charles." This was followed by Morgan Bancroft selecting me, and I sang "Alone." Then Ben was selected and I sang "Benjamin's Song." Next was Rob and I sang "The Tank." The final selection was Sara Ellyn, and I sang the song named "Sara Ellyn." I wrote about this experience in my monthly letter later in the evening. I guess I'm repeating myself a bit with the Thoughtlet. The monthly letter said:

"Dear Family, I enjoyed the feedback on last month's e-mail. Also thanks to those of you who sent photos to our Ceiva (RN.66859A74@ceivamobile.com). We learned if you send the photo via gmail, do not have any text in the body, or the e-mail bounces back. Once you have the e-mail address programmed into your cell phone camera it is very easy to have someone snap an interesting photo of something you are doing, and send it to the Ceiva. These photos help us feel loved, as well as keep up with some of your activities, and they go into a family history file. Thanks again. Most of you should receive an invitation to the Nelson Reunion in the next couple of days (Brian, I sent yours to your Mom and Dad, and Uncle Tony and Mom Shirts, you are welcome to attend even though I did not send you copies of the program, which you can check out at http://nelson.walden3d.com). Of course, the immediate planning is for Rachel's shower and wedding. Andrea and I will be in Salt Lake Friday evening the 20th and Saturday the 21st of February to take Garret's parents out to dinner and for Andrea to go to the shower. We have mileage and would love to share this with any of you who can attend Rachel and Garret's receptions on Thursday the 12th of March in Salt Lake and/or on Saturday the 14th of March at our house in Houston. If we are going to get the tickets using mileage we need to do this in the next couple of weeks. Ask Andrea and you shall receive. We've already purchased our tickets and Heather's return ticket to Salt Lake. Last month I wrote a little bit about honesty. This month I'd like to quote from pages 31-33 of Volume 1 of J. Golden Kimball Stories to point out the practical side of honesty: "In the fall of 1891, Golden received a telegram saying the Klan was going to tar and feather all the elders in that county if they did not leave immediately. Golden instructed his elders to meet outside Rome, Georgia. He met the elders as planned and they went into the hills to hold their meeting. It was in the Georgia pines in a clearing next to a large stream. The night was crisp and the moon was out. They built a large fire, had a word of prayer, and began a testimony meeting. Golden was the last to speak. He had only said a few words when they heard horses coming up on the far side of the stream. By the light of the moon they could see the Klan's white sheets. The klansmen had a wagon with a big cauldron on it. They built up a large fire, unloaded the wagon, and put the cauldron on the fire. Golden kept talking as the Klan yelled and war-whoooped. Soon the pungent aroma of tar filled the trees. Golden saw fear on the missionaries' faces but said, "Elders, don't you worry about a thing. I was raised around scum like that, I know how to talk their language. I want you to leave and go back to your quarters. Don't you worry about me. If anything happens, just ship my body home." He gave them all a hug and a pat on the back and off the elders trudged into the darkness. Alone, Golden went to the stream and yelled, "We're finished over here. Do you know who we are?" Fifty Klansmen yelled back, "You're those blankety-blank Mormons! We warned you to get out of our county and we're here to teach you a lesson!" Golden said, "Yes, we're Mormons. And let me tell you something: Mormons have horns – big damed ones! You cross that stream, we'll gore the hell right out of you!" Golden heard noises behind him. He turned and saw . . . the elders had come back! They were standing in a line just behind him. By the light of the moon the Klan couldn't tell whether the elders had horns or not. One by one, they got on their horses and rode off. The tar was dumped on the ground, the cauldron put back on the wagon, and the rest left without ruffling a single hair on a Mormon head. One of the elders later wrote to Golden how one grand wizard told another, "By the light of a full moon, the Mormons grow horns and become vicious. They should be left alone." I don't know what I would have done in the same circumstance. Hopefully I will never find out. I wonder what each of you would do in the same circumstance? Of those receiving this note, Uncle Tony and I are the closest to having been raised around folks like these clansmen. However, with the financial challenges facing our nation right now, there is a pretty good chance each of you will come across more and more of this type of attitude in your work and daily life. Not necessarily with the religious overtones, rather with financial, greed, self-preservation, and over-reaction overtones. Some time ago I wrote in a thoughtlet concerns about the potential bankruptcy of Pemex and Mexico (see http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets/2006/0644.html and http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets/2007/0709.html). I've recently heard this could happen in the next few months. The implications for those of us in Texas are staggering. The implications of a mass migration from the south to the U.S. on our fragile economy are even more staggering. There is change in the air, and I doubt if it is planned change. I hope I have done my part in preparing each of you to stand your ground and to be able to take care of yourselves and yours in these times of change. January was reasonable quite for us. I worked a lot at Layton Energy. In fact, I need to cut back to just a few days during February, or I will be so far ahead they will never want to catch up with what they will owe me. I plan to use the extra time to work on some of my projects and to seek some additional consulting work. I'm optimistic Layton is going to start drilling some of the other well locations we have given them during February, although I do not expect it to really reach a maximum until April or May, depending on the next few wells. I have started to post Thoughtlets again (see http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets/2009/0901.html, 0902.html, 0903.html, and 0904.html). Hopefully I catch up my notes and post the 2007-2008 thoughtlets this year. Roice keeps beating me in chess. Ben had a birthday. Paul and family have moved into their new house in Providence (outside of Logan) this week, Melanie and Jared have an interview with the Houston dental school tomorrow, Sara and Rob are busy with school, Heather is published and enjoying her work, Audrey and Joshua are very busy, Rachel and Garret are getting ready for a wedding, and I had a wonderful conversation with Matt last week, who is enjoying school. Matt is really growing into an articulate person who is fun to talk to. The Relief Society has a Visiting Teaching Conference today, and so some of us were asked to substitute in Primary. I was assigned to do Sharing Time. The Primary Presidency said they did not care what I did, as long as it was about families. So I took the photo of our family outside the St. George Temple and my guitar, let kids select one of us from the photo, and sang a song I have written about you to the Senior Primary kids and those who were substituting for their teachers. The selections, and the songs I sang were: 1. Andrea: "A Song In My Heart;" 2. Matt: "Sir Matthew Charles;" 3. me: "Alone;" 4. Ben: "Benjamin's Song;" 5. Rob: "The Tank;" and 6. Sara: "Sara Ellyn." It was fun. The primary kids were enthralled. And I wish you all could have been there to watch their faces and hear their comments. We have a neat family, and there are a lot of good memories. I hope you remember the good times, and help us to create more of them. Love, Dad / Roice / Uncle Roice"

So normally I would end the first thoughtlet of the month here. However, the rest of the story regarding sleeping to the east is not so pleasant, and I still think it is appropriate to share it. It turns out that the extra light in the room from leaving th blind half way up kept Andrea awake. Since she gets up at 4:30 AM every morning to do her exercises before getting getting ready and leaving to teach Seminary, she does not do so well if she has not slept very well. So Andrea insisted the blinds be closed before we went to sleep. I disagreed, stating it would only take a few days to get used to the blinds being up, and we had one of the more heated discussions we have had recently. Since it was so important to her, I left the blinds down the next night. So when she was ready to leave for seminary, she decided to lift the blinds up for me. She did it with one quick movement, and if you can imagine the impact of that unexpected sound on someone fast asleep. My response was neither soft nor kind. So the snide comments in conversation about how good or how poorly we were sleeping continued for several days, simply because of an architectural best practice named sleeping to the east."

Since the 38th week of 1996 I have written a weekly "Thoughtlet" (little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me). Until the 43rd week of 2004 I sent these out as an e-mail. They were intended to be big thoughts which mean a lot to me. Over time the process evolved into a personal diary. These notes were shared with my family because I know how important the written word can be. Concerned about how easy it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of daily life, I thought this was a good way to reach those I love. It no longer feels right to send out an e-mail and "force" my kids and my family to be aware of my life and struggles.

Everyone has their own life to lead, and their own struggles to work through. I will continue this effort, and will continue to make my notes publicly accessible (unless I learn of misuse by someone who finds out about them, and then will aggressively pursue a legal remedy to copyright infringement and I will put the Thoughtlets behind a password).

The index to download any of these Thoughtlets is at http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets, or you can e-mail me with questions or requests at rnelson@walden3d.com (note if you are not on my e-mail "whitelist" you must send 2 e-mails within 24 hours of each other in order for your e-mail to not be trashed).

With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)

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Copyright © 2009 H. Roice Nelson, Jr.