cc: file, Andrea, Tony Hafen, Sara and Des Penny, & Maxine Shirts
"Last night, at the marriage and reception of Kristin Marie Henderson and David Andrew Leavell, I was contemplating what I would write about this week. At the dinner the folks we were sitting next to, now two married couples who from 1981 to 1991 lived next to the vacant lot on Partridge Run, mentioned that Ronald Reagan died yesterday. When I realized this, I realized that this is a topic I could write more than you want to read about. However, I won't, partly because I am so far behind on writing my weekly Grandkidlets (http://www.walden3d.com/grandkidlets), and want to get caught up on that.
Like everyone in the U.S. I became aware of the importance
Like everyone in the U.S. I became aware of the importance
of the President of the United States as I grew up. I remember
being shocked with the assassination of John F. Kennedy (as is
shown by previous words in ../9814.html, ../9930.html, and
../0138.html). However, I was first directly introduced to
presidential politics in 1984 when Mom drove Ray Gardner and
me to Page, Arizona, 15 miles south of Kanab, to listen to
Barry Goldwater's last speech as a republican presidential
candidate against Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. I recall the
speech being dynamic. However, what I mostly recall was the
superstitious circumstances: Goldwater gave the talk because
he never lost an election if he talked at Page, Arizona the
night before a vote. It didn't seem right to be voting for
someone to run the United States who was this superstitious.
That is not what my Mom wanted to hear from me, and I'm not
sure I even said it.
I have never studied recent Presidential politics, and so you kids are probably much more aware of things about Ronald Reagan than I am. For instance, as I read the paper this morning, it was the first time I realized that Ronald Reagan was the only significant benefactor from the Goldwater run at the Presidency. He had put together an ad for Goldwater at the very end of the campaign. Having grown up as a left leaning Democrat, it was Barry Goldwater that led Reagan to become what the Chronicle described as `the idol of the conservative movement.' Based on that advertisement, some business executives in California got him to run as Governor of California, and the rest is history.
The great communicator had a big impact on my life, and from this perspective on each of our lives. Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States from 1981-1988, during the time I was at the Seismic Acoustics Laboratory and the first years of Landmark Graphics. His comments about the Evil Empire are directly related to the reasons I never went to Russia for Landmark Graphics. His visit to Beijing and interactions with the communist Chinese was one of the reasons I have spent so much time in the Far East. I was in the Far East when the U.S. invaded Granada, and I recall the anti-American fervor portrayed on television and in newspapers like the China People's Daily, over this `act of aggression.'
I found it interesting to read, and to recall, and to relate
to what is happening in Iraq today
(see Soldiers_A.gif to right)
that `Reagan's decision to send U.S. Marines as peacekeeping forces
in Lebanon resulted in the death of at least 241 military
personnel in 1983 when a suicide bomber drove a truckload
of explosives into a U.S. barracks.' Ronald Reagan had faced
death and was `far more gravely wounded than friends or aides
would admit when John Hinckley shot him on March 30th, 1981.'
However, his good health helped him recover, just as the
soldiers resting in Iraq recover (see Soldiers_B.gif below).
It is contradictory that Ronald Reagan's words about keeping government spending under control were not reflected in the growth of the federal deficit `from the $1 trillion that had accumulated from George Washington through Carter to $3 trillion at the end of his eight years in office.' My personal opinion is that he believed in his approach, and that it simply was not sound economically.
In welfare meeting this morning, the thought that was given included Ronald Reagan's statement on the death of the prophet Spencer W. Kimball on 06 November 1985: `Spencer W. Kimball spent a long and full life devoted to his church and the service of his fellow man. As a young man, he combined dedication to work with an active role in charitable and community work, exemplifying the Mormon ethic of rugged free enterprise and mutual aid. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, a contemporary of Joseph Smith, Spencer Kimball went on to 30 years of service in his church's governing Council of Twelve Apostles, before becoming president in 1973. Nancy an I note with sorrow the passing of one of the important figures of our generation. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his wife and family.'
Although Ronald Reagan talked a lot about family values, his
family seems to me to be much more dysfunctional than we are.
Maybe his optimism was rooted in his lack of a short term
memory, which is a normal consequence of his Alzheimer's
disease he announced to the world in November of 1994. I
know that Ronald Reagan's memory loss was one of the things
that focused my attention on more discoveries that the
aluminum in deodorant's is a probably major cause of
Alzheimer's, and my subsequent switching from using
deodorant to simply using rubbing alcohol (../0340.html
and 0419.html). There is no question in my mind as to his
reaction to those who do remember (see Soldiers_C.gif). And
as I write these words about remembering, my mind goes to the
Beaches of Normandy and the fact Uncle Des and Aunt Sara are
there this weekend for commemoration of that great day. Maybe
one or both of you could send a letter with your feelings
about being at this commemoration for me to include in a future
Thoughtlet?
Lastly, I wish I had some small part of Ronald Reagan's ability to use humor to disengage an adversary. When we got back from our neighbor's daughter's wedding last night, Kristin Henderson, I turned on the television for the first time, and Aaron Brown had a segment on Reagan's humor. For example in a debate in October of 1984 with Walter Mondale he said: `I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience.' Possibly if I knew how to use humor better, I would not have people thinking or telling me how `you broke your pick' (0414.html). Maybe it is still possible for me to learn how to pick up and reassemble the pieces with humor?
As far my week, it was a week of catch-up. Monday was Memorial Day, and I ended up watching 4 or 5 war movies since Melanie was not ready for us to go to Vidor and help paint. I did spend all of that time working on a project I have been interested in doing for years, which is an outgrowth of Bill Bavinger's patterns of patterns of patterns of patterns. In this case I am looking for the fingerprint of God in the text of The Book of Mormon. I probably have several months of data organization and filtering before I will be able to report any success or failure with this project.
I have been working on the rock properties studies of the Gulf of Mexico at work using SpotFire. The results are quite interesting, and when I get some pictures that at least Des and Paul might me interested in, I will send them with a Thoughtlet. Tuesday night we had a lively discussion with Matt. Somewhere along the line he said `I was only 12 and I was reckless.' I told him this would be a great line in a song, and he gave me permission to use it. Later in the conversation he came out with another gem: `I've never lost, I choose not to win.' What an interesting philosophy, or at least an interesting way to face things not going well.
Andrea spent Wednesday and Friday helping Melanie and Jared and Marti paint. Melanie, thanks for your kind words about her contribution. Both Andrea and I were very appreciative of your kind words. Andrea does know what she is doing, and she does those things she knows very well. Rachel and I watched two Enterprise segments which I had seen before on Wednesday night. On Thursday night I brought home the computer and worked on my Book of Mormon project while watching two Tarzan movies. I was thoroughly entertained with these old movies, which have some similarities with Ronald Reagan's B-movies. Andrea drove some youth to Youth Conference Thursday evening, and so Rachel and I went out to dinner at Hartz Chicken. She had a date later in the evening with an impressive young man from Hurricane, Utah.
Friday was very busy getting my new computer working with some Linux software for Mike Dunn to take to Europe for the EAGE Convention in Paris (European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers). In the afternoon I used HyperEdge to put together a montage of all of the SpotFire examples I have put together for the Gulf of Mexico. Matt was at Youth Conference at Camp Bovay, Rachel was at work, and Andrea was in Vidor. I stopped at a computer store on the way home and bought Sara Ellyn's early birthday present. Then I went to Wendy's for dinner and to Randall's for roses and a treat. The bottom line is I ate a big bag of cheetoes while I put together a bunch of digital photographs to send to Sara.
Yesterday I finally had my eyes examined. It has been over four years since I've had my glasses replaced, and they have been held together with tie-wraps the last couple of years. Distance hasn't changed much, and close-up focusing has changed a lot. Everything is pretty normal, except I am suppose to start using artificial tears three times per day. Oh well! Guess there are worse issues to face when one gets older. I spent most of the day cleaning out my e-mail box. I got it from over 600 down to 210 messages. A couple seem worth passing on, including this one from Steve Joseph about billboards in Goldwater country:
Or these two from Hayden Hudson:
Or this one, also from Steve Joseph:
I still have several letters from Sara Ellyn I have not posted,
and I'm behind about 13 Grandkidlets. Oh well! On Saturday
evening Andrea and I picked up Rita Hathorn and we went to
the Methodist Church on Memorial where I went to Lifeway counseling
sessions (../0029.html and ../0031.html) for Kristin Henderson's
wedding. A lot of pomp and circumstance, with a male and a female
pastor. Every time I go to something like this I appreciate that
much more the simplistic beauty of and authority behind a temple
marriage for time and eternity. The reception was very nice. It
was at the Lakeside Country Club on Wilcrest Drive, where Andrea
and I went to the GSH Awards Banquet (../0018.html). Good food,
good entertainment, and I'd assume the wine was good, but Rita
turned her drink back in because she didn't like it. The tables were
assigned, and Andrea explained to me that this was necessary to
keep people from sitting by those they have been offended by. I
noted we were not assigned to the same table as other couples
from Green Trails Estates, so I guess that means I'm black listed.
Oh well! Anyway, the young people we sat by did pass on the news
about the passing of Ronald Reagan."