Pappa Hardy’s Musings on Life.

And God created man in the image of God.

Today a new granddaughter is coming to this earth. I am reminded of the specialness of life and of the grace of God.

Well, serving in Public Office is an interesting experience. It takes a mind shift away from what you personally want to see done, to making sure that you are working for the public good of everyone that you represent. This makes the choices difficult because sometimes there are lots of gray areas and no clear cut directions that should be taken. For instance, if you approve a certain type of development for an area, how is that going to impact the city and it’s citizens in 10-15 years, not just tomorrow.

Everyone of course has ideas about the right way to do things as well, and you quickly learn that you can’t always vote the way someone else suggests that you vote. It takes separating your desire to be liked from the public good. Everyone at some time or the other should have this opportunity.

This last week was exciting. On Monday, while sitting at work making calls, I heard a ringtone on my phone that indicated a new message was there. I quickly looked, and to my surprise, an announcement from my church that they are building a brand new temple in Payson, only 1.8 miles from my house. Hallelujah. Things like that are always exciting. It will make a big difference for Payson. Well, the rest of the week has been taken up by work, meetings with City Officials and the council, and visiting family. A very busy week.

What a glorious Christmas Day we have. We have a white Christmas, family all around, and the sun is shining outside. It is also different. It is 1pm and we haven’t even opened presents. I love to have it as a relaxed day, but the compulsion to work and keep on top of things is also with me. I have so much to do. This is a family day, not a work day. I must remember what is the most important.

I get so tired of winter. Some comes up late, goes down early. It is so cold and I am always all bundled up. I long for the warmth of spring and fall, the shinning of the sun. I hope I can make it.

On my recent trip to Alaska I noticed one thing that has become more and more evident over the past 10-20 years. In the wild, in National Parks or just plain out in the wilds, there is a lot less wildlife that there used to be. While Alaska is noted for its wildlife, on our recent trip it was very difficult to see whales, mountain goats, bears, or anything that was wild. It was disheartening in a way, but I believe it is from the encroachment of man on their natural habitats, and probably because their populations are dying out. It is a matter of concern, and I am concerned that my grandchildren will come into a world where wildlife has mostly disappeared. What a sad commentary on this world. We need animals in places outside of zoos.

It’s that time of the year. I do love Christmas, I really do, but I could sure do without 12-18 inches of snow and 15 hours of darkness. We had 12 inches of snow here in Payson yesterday, and another 4 inches this morning with more due to come. I would love to see more sunlight and less cold. My age is showing. I can remember when it didn’t bother me nearly as much. I am ready to move to a warmer climate. I also need more sun. Just two more weeks to the shortest day of the year and then we start to climb back out of this mess.

This morning we had a blackout. I was getting ready for work when we lost all of our power. The thing about all of this that was unusual for me was how my mind then handled the situation. The long and short of it is that I have seen way too many disaster flicks. I started wondering, maybe there has been a terrorist sabotage of a major electrical power generating facility or of the transmission lines. Then my mind jumped to emp pulses caused by a nuclear blast somewhere high in the atmosphere. Since I had no way to verify any of this, my mind wandered even further. It wasn’t until I drove to work that I discovered that it was of course just a problem in a small part of the city. I have seen too many disaster movies.

Today I was released as the 2nd Counselor in the Page Ward Bishopric. I had served in that position for almost 4 years. When you serve in a position like that for as long as I have, you come to feel a huge loss when the situation is changed. I enjoyed serving with some fine men and women in the Page Ward. I now find myself without a calling. I am sure that will change soon, but it is an unusual feeling for me. I praise the Lord for the opportunity that has been mine to serve with such wonderful men.

I have never really been a fan of black Friday. For some reason I just don’t get a thrill of getting in the hunt for a bargain at 3am in the morning. I know that some people love that, but I am not one of them. I would much rather sleep in until my normal 5am get up time.

Unfortunately, I am the type of Christmas shopper that ends up not getting Christmas done until Christmas Eve. Somewhere, there must be a happy medium. I am unfortunately not it.