NYC and Washington Crossing the Delaware

This picture above is where Washington crossed the Delaware. Now there is this very narrow bridge on which 2 cars are supposed to be able to pass. With our mirrors pulled in we succeeded. The river is wider than I thought it would be.

Liz said no one who knew NYC would believe that NEITHER of our cab drivers were Middle Eastern. Both were very nice and drove like they didn't want to kill us.

The Chrysler Bldg! Check out those gargoyles. Interesting architecture on the bldg in front of it, too.

Liz and I at the Manhattan Temple. The weight of those doors behind us gave some clue as to how it can be so quiet inside. It's right across the street from the Lincoln Center and Juliard. I recommend that everyone try to go. Nathan Botts works there and I think Susie Roberts used to. Many of the interior style elements seemed to be a nod to the Salt Lake temple.

Princeton

Here's some lovely shots of picturesque Princeton University taken with a camera whose lens had a nice fingerprint on it. I like to do that occasionally for a special effect! Do I look academic? No?? Liz and I were on campus for an organ concert at the university chapel, one of the largest in the country. They (cathedrals) are ridiculous Gothic monstrosities where the Spirit is noticeably absent but I can still admire them from an architectural standpoint. I just felt that as Bach was rumbling from the pipes a film crew might jump out at any moment from the sides and start making a mild horror movie.

Park Avenue!

I just got back from my week in Pennsylvania with Liz. She is doing pretty well and we managed to have a lot of fun and laughed often as the wall plaque says. I will write about going to the temple in Manhattan, seeing Grand Central Station, and other fun stuff which were all firsts for me. But you will have to wait until after Thanksgiving since I'm scrambling to get ready for that holiday. We'll be at Emily's. Hope you all have a terrific holiday, too!!!!! Sure wish this country wasn't so big so we could all be together much more often. Well, maybe in the next life.

Incredible Sadness

This morning I was awakened to learn that the husband of one of my best friends died last night in a motorcycle accident. Mark Forsyth was on his way home from a church meeting probably in conjunction with his calling as Branch President of the singles ward in their Pennsylvania Stake. He was a great father and a terrific husband. It is hard to believe that this was his time to go (their youngest, Ian, is only 16) but I have faith, as I'm sure Liz does, that it is all in the Lord's hands. Things will always work out when we live by faith. Our hearts go out to Liz and all her family at this very sad time. Thankfully they were married in the temple (not positive it was Oakland) and their family is sealed together for all eternity. Liz is very close to the Spirit and I know that she will feel the Savior's arms around her, giving her strength during the trying times ahead.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Too funny not to give more air time. Thanks to Valerie Bond on Facebook.

The Harris Mash

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Elder Harris--abducted by aliens

Kyle's latest email is proof that he has been abducted by aliens. Who is this person anyway? I gave Kyle a hard time in my email about him having lunch with Joe and me not hearing about it for 3 days! And if it weren't for Amber's blog I still might not know about it.

heheheh...
oh i guess that i didn't mention about my lunch with Joe. let's just say that i wanted to leave it so i had some more things to talk about this week, but it turns out that there is plenty to talk about anyway.
so, here's how it went down: in the morning time, elder busath answered the phone, and his one-sided conversation was
"hello, this is elder busath...no, elder elder busath... elder harris? yeah, he's over here."
then he hands the phone over to me and this is some of the dialogue:
me: hello, this is elder Harris.voice: elder Harris! this is Joe!me: Joe...?voice: your brother, Joe... you know, like, your brother.me: Joe?! how-- what-- how did you get this number?!
anyway, i sure was astonished to hear from him, but i told him to call up president and see if he was able to have lunch with us, and then to call back. sure enough, he called back and said that president said yes. he picked us up from our apartment, and we went to craigo's, a pizza buffet. it was sure great to see him, it made my day. it made me think, 'wow, i haven't seen anyone from my immediate family for 17 months.' it was a weird feeling. the actual lunch was pretty normal. we talked just like it hadn't been 17 months, and after wards it was just like, "well, we'll see you in a few." it a great boost.
so here's the other news. president asked me to conduct this next zone conference. I'm pretty nervous. talking in church is no big deal, doing trainings for the entire zone is no big deal, giving instruction topics in zone conferences impromptu is no big deal (our zone conferences have 3 zones meet at a time, so about 60+ missionaries); leading music when a general authority is there, singing for a general authority, all of these things are no big deal, but I'm stressed about conducting zone conference. i don't see why the APs can't do it like they always do, but that's OK. i guess it will be good for me. i can just see it now: "president Scott w colton presides at this conference, and he has asked that i, elder Harris, conduct." sheesh. now i know why dad said he would rather speak in church then conduct.
president colton has decided that more responsibility needs to be put on the zone leaders. i guess the "vacation" is over. i enjoy being a zone leader way more than being a district leader. true it's always interesting to be involved in emergency transfers, and when missionaries in the zone get into car accidents, it is up to us to handle everything in a professional, confidant matter. (no one got hurt, but it was a hit and run, and i don't know if the car is totalled yet.) such is the life of a zone leader. we have to be there to make sure that everyone in the zone is taken care of. it's fun though, i like it. being responsible is a pretty good thing. we also get to have private meetings with general authorities when they come to do mission tours, which is pretty cool.
anyway, the church is still very much true. we set a baptism date this week, and we have a couple of promising referrals that we are going to contact. the zone is doing pretty well, and as soon as zone conference is over (it's this Friday) I'll be able to breath a little bit easier. oh yeah, i have to sing at this one too. i do quite a bit of singing these days. in this area I've probably sung in church 5 or 6 times. i like it. anyway, I'll wrap this up, as my thoughts are getting scattered. i love all of you, and will talk to y'all later. thanks for everything that you do!!
love,elder Harris

Elder Harris sent new photos!!

Elder Harris said it was even tough to pull a handcart empty and on level ground. This was a primary activity. He says he can't resist all the great grass and has to do flips at odd moments.

After much crying Elder Harris posed with Pres. and Sis. Somers, his outgoing mission president and wife.

I think this is a service project, hence the paint. It's kind of a shock to see Elder Harris's bare knee. What's the world coming to?

This picture scanned weird. Sorry. In response to all our comments about his shirts being too small, Elder Harris is posing in someone else's shirt who had a neck size of 20. I think it was the large elder from Tonga.

No Apologies Necessary

JFK's Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible. Rusk responded "does this include those who are buried here?" DeGaule did not respond.

Mushroom Circle Explanation

See my comment on the last post for the science behind the mushroom circles. Still creepy.

Nature's Little Oddities

You've heard of crop circles, well this is an amazing "mushroom circle" that appeared in our neighbors lawn due to all the rain we've had. It was absolutely a perfectly round circle! Other lawns have had long lines of about 2 dozen mushrooms in a row. I've never seen anything like it.

Kind of creepy, really.

I told you I washed my ears.

Cousins at the Bridal Tea

Joe, Emily, and Scott, I enjoyed attending your cousin, Erin's Bridal Tea today. I gave the bride-to-be some cookie sheets, cooling racks, some strange mat thing that goes on top of the baking sheet, and 24 glasses. Erin's big day is November 14th in Birmingham!

Bird and Butterflies

Our butterfly bush is doing it's job. I had a bunch of other photos of butterflies but they were all blurry. I need Emily's camera or at least lessons.

I had never seen a bird like this one before. It was only about 4 inches from beak to tail.

Quote-Unfortunately True

"There is something that comes with the mother mentality. I call it compulsive counsel disorder-the inability to not give advice all day long."
--YouTube comedienne Anita Renfroe

More Swine Flu Vaccine Concerns

Below is an excerpt from a very long article on my MSN homepage from a few days ago. This was near the very bottom.


"The H1N1 outbreak has resulted in mostly mild, if widespread, illness, said Fisher, who is critical of the intensive push to immunize half the nation against swine flu.
“In this country, I do think it’s an over-reaction to operate under a public health emergency when there’s no evidence that this is more virulent than seasonal flu,” she said.
Drugmakers have been granted immunity from liability for the H1N1 vaccine, Fisher noted. That means consumers harmed by the vaccines may have little recourse for injuries or death in the future.
In the long run, natural immunity conveyed by actually getting the virus may provide stronger, longer-lasting benefits, she added. It’s likely the reason that people older than 60 largely have been spared by H1N1, because they were exposed to similar strains years ago.
Allowing infection could create immunity — or it could spawn severe illness and death, health officials contend."

If you don't want to get the vaccine but don't want to get the flu either consider taking some of the following on a daily basis:

Probiotics
Couple teaspoons of colloidal silver
Grapefruit seed extract
Cayenne pepper in capsule
Eat lots of hot peppers and garlic
Olive Leaf powder
Vitamin D3 is essential
Multi Vitamin
Extra Vit C
All of the above will strengthen the immune system and create an environment within the body hostile to viruses. For more information see www.mercola.com Children can do many of the above in drop or powder form.

Recent photos of Elder Harris!!!

I love the look on Elder Fourtina's face. He's from Quebec and one of Kyle's favorite companions (and the source of Kyle's occasional French phrases.)

Spirit fingers or jazz hands?

The deal with the Segway's is that they ran after some couples riding them and asked them if they could try them out. They thought they'd be great for tracting.


Kyle said he's not this tan. It was the printers fault. Who's fault is the small shirt?

Carmel

In June I went to Carmel, CA with my good friends Heidi and Linda. We had a blast, though we missed our friend Liz! This is the little cottage where we have stayed several times in the past. That's fog in the beach shot. And yes, in Northern California one wears a jacket to the beach more often than a bathing suit. Still beautiful in its own rugged way, though.

Nutritional Nuggets

Low energy? Can't lose weight? Poor sleep? Poor concentration? Poor memory? Maybe you just need iodine. Low iodine levels can also increase your risk for certain kinds of cancer, too. The blurb below is from www.womentowomen.com website. One of my absolute favorites for women's health issues.

Iodine. If you are at all concerned about your thyroid function, I would strongly recommend talking to your healthcare practitioner about iodine. For decades now, women have limited or avoided salt, which is our primary source of iodine — and a limited one, at that. This avoidance, along with a generally low intake of seafood and sea vegetables, is just one reason for the current trend toward iodine deficiency in this country. According to a 2002 CDC nutrition evaluation, approximately 36% of women of childbearing age in the US may receive insufficient dietary iodine.
Your thyroid simply can’t function without this crucial trace element, and if you are iodine deficient, more iodine could make all the difference for your thyroid. The essential thyroid hormones that circulate in our bodies, known as T4 (also known as thyroxine) and the more active T3, are partially made of iodine and are the only iodine-containing hormones in humans. If we are deficient in iodine, the thyroid doesn’t have the most basic building blocks to make these key hormones, and all the tissues in the body are negatively impacted as a result.

Ooops, One More

These last 4 posts are all of houses where my dad lived in San Mateo when he was growing up. But chronologically you should start at the 4th one down. My parents got married at 935 Culebra St. in a house that was torn down to build this giant estate. I think these owners must have bought at least 2 lots to build this. It's gorgeous but nothing like the little ranch house where my folks tied the knot back in 1950.