M1, M2, C1, C2

My latest photos of the Grandon kids: Madeleine, 19; Malcolm, 18; Carter, 10; Claire, 8. Merry Christmas from the Grandons!

Malcolm the Eagle Scout

Malcolm J. Grandon, an 18-year-old senior at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School, is the newest Eagle Scout from Boy Scouts of America Troop 101, based at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Glenville, NY.

Reaching Scouting's highest rank of Eagle represents years of work and dedication. Since age 11 Malcolm has worked to progress through a series of ranks, hold leadership positions, perform service, complete 21 merit badges, camp 20 nights, and plan and manage volunteers in a significant community service project. For his Eagle service project Malcolm led 35 volunteers at St. Anthony’s Cemetery in Glenville to photograph and GPS-tag 2,100 headstones and transcribe 2,300 names, making them available on the Internet for family members and genealogists around the world.

Recent research has shown the commitment and effort required to become an Eagle Scout builds positive attributes that provide advantages in life over non-Scouts and other Scouts who never reach Eagle. Last year just 6% of all Scouts reached the rank of Eagle.

I can’t tell you how proud I am of my son. Congratulations, Malcolm!

Stop-Motion

Carter's first stop-motion movie, all his idea. I set up the camera, lighting and remote trigger, and left the room, he did the rest.

Presenting 17 seconds of cinematic genius ... not bad for age 10!

We'll use a tighter f-stop to get more in focus next time.

M2

Here are a couple of Malcolm, code named in our family M2. He rarely agrees to appear in pictures, so for him to ask me to take his senior portraits is a big deal. He's now around 6' 3" and is the strong, silent type.

A Mighty Man, But Quiet

My stepfather, Elmer C. Selim, Jr., passed away on Sunday, September 14, 2014. He was 76. I spoke at his funeral this week, and here are some excerpts.

I've known Elmer since I was a teenager, at first through growing up around his kids. His oldest son David and I are the same age and we graduated high school the same year. His kids David, Nancy and Dan and I went trick or treating together. I took Nancy to her senior prom. Dan and I were both into music and borrowed each others' CDs. And one of the first ways I got to know Elmer was as he gave me a ride to school with his own kids after our morning church seminary classes before school every day.

I got to know Elmer better when I was 18 and was called to a volunteer position at church as his assistant stake clerk, to help watch over the financial and administrative dealings of all the various congregations across the region. This was an unusual position for somebody at age 18, but Elmer took me on and tutored me. It prepared me for assignments I would have later.

When I was 19 I left Missouri for two years to be a missionary, and it was a surprise when I got home that Elmer was engaged to my mom. It's been 25 great years since.


Elmer and my mom came to each other through similar circumstances, and I never heard him say a negative word about former spouses. Through the years he consistently encouraged me to maintain a relationship with my own father. He told me privately on many occasions how much he loved my mother, and he illustrated that commitment in his actions, and in his forbearance as part of a blended family.


Even though I wasn’t raised by him, he was kind to me as a son, and I felt he was proud of me in that same way. With so many broken homes in the world today, Elmer demonstrated how to repair and restore a family living under these circumstances: with love, and patience, and kindness. I’m grateful for his model.


Elmer’s 50-year career got its start emptying wastebaskets in an accounting practice. He steadily worked his way up, studying for and passing his CPA exam, joining as a partner in one of Springfield, Missouri’s largest accountancy firms, and becoming one the most trusted and respected opinions in his community.

I can’t tell you how proud Elmer was last year to start his own company — at age 75. He never stopped working, and he took pride in serving his clients, serving his church, and in having very productive life. We’ve been sharing photos of Elmer on Facebook over the past few days, and laughing because it’s hard to find a picture of him not in a suit.

Elmer was humble. Many didn’t know he was an Army veteran. Last year at an event they asked all the veterans to stand and be recognized. I elbowed him to get on his feet, but he wouldn’t. It’s not that he wasn’t proud of being a veteran, he just didn’t like to draw attention to himself. He valued his personal accomplishments personally, and not for recognition.

Elmer had such common sense. For many years he drove a 1985 Toyota Camry, he didn’t want to get rid of it after he passed 250,000 miles and was still running perfectly, except everyone at the office thought he needed a nicer car to look more successful. He finally gave in and got a beautiful new Avalon, but far into its purchase he still questioned whether he should have bought the new car.

His last car was a Toyota Prius hybrid, which he was so proud of — every time he saw me he bragged about its fantastic MPG and how cheap it was to drive. Behind its wheel he was in accountant’s heaven.


On vacation in July we stayed up until midnight every night talking, and Elmer shared his stories of finding our church, courting and marrying my mother, his testimony of Jesus Christ. Little did I know the great gift these talks would be to me as he got sick, quickly declined, and passed away six weeks later.

Elmer was unassuming, humble, consummately professional and ethical, full of common sense, highly respected, a loving husband and father and grandfather, a pillar of strength in his family and community.

At Elmer’s visitation a friend summed up his life to me so effectively in five words: “A mighty man, but quiet.”

To know Elmer and the way he lived, one of the noble and great ones has flown.

The Star-Spangled Banner

Today is the 200th anniversary of the poem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," with fragments of the actual flag which inspired the poem, in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

On September 13, 1814, British Forces attacked Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. After twenty-five hours of bombardment, they failed to take the Fort. Watching the battle while detained on a British ship, American lawyer Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that was set to music and eventually became the United States national anthem.

Here's a gorgeous, glimmering sculpture of the flag at the entry of the Star-Spangled Banner exhibit at the Smithsonian.

Claire Turns Eight

Today is Claire’s eighth birthday! This blog was started the day before she was born; here are some of her first pictures.


We did some pre-birthday celebrating this weekend and she got to do whatever she wanted: we went to the playground, played Mario video games, I made her cheese and potato soup for dinner, and she requested vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting. She also destroyed us at Monopoly with three hotels on the oranges.

For months Claire has been asking for the Lego Rancor Pit set so she could get her hands on that gnarly (though incredibly cute when Legofied) monster inside. When we went to Missouri this summer Grandma took the cousins to Toys R Us to pick any Lego set they wanted. She was the first one done shopping — she went straight for the Rancor, clutching the box under her armpit, ready to check out. I had to suggest she choose something else, which all but gave away her coming birthday gift.


A couple weeks back we were running errands and I asked Claire what she thought I got her for her birthday, to try to throw her off the trail. Her actual guesses:

1. Lego Rancor set?
2. A kitten?
3. You getting a girlfriend?

Carter and I laughed and I asked, how is me getting a girlfriend a present for you? She didn’t know how to answer, it was just something she thought would make a good present for her. What a sweetie.


Happy birthday, Baby! Love, Dada.

Great Sacandaga

Camping at Great Sacandaga Lake last night.

Northampton Beach Camping

Claire's first campout happened last night. We went up into the Adirondack Park to the shores of Sacandaga Lake. This was our view of the fog rolling across the lake as we woke up just before 6:00 this morning.


We camped at Northampton Beach, a New York state campground with fireplaces, bathrooms, showers, lifeguards at the beach ... and you can pull your car right into the campsite. Totally different from the Boy Scout camping I'm used to.


The staff told us we got one of the most beautiful campsites they have, and they were right. We had a fantastic view of the shore right out the front of our tent. Some guys pulled their boat up and parked right in the middle of our beach, but I asked them to tie up over in the trees so they didn't block our gorgeous view. I was glad I did.


Claire loved the swimming, sandcastles, s'mores, hunting shells and rocks, the stars, and the ducks. It's a good sign when the kids ask if we can do this every year — success!

Milky

The Milky Way was out last night at Sacandaga Lake. No moon, no clouds, few city lights, you could see forever.

This was Carter and Claire's first time seeing so many stars ... they were wowed. They asked how come we can't see this all the time. I explained between our city lights and our own bright star this view usually gets drowned out.

After they went to bed I think I stood there an hour just gazing.

What Dreams May Come

I'm having really funny dreams this week, and I figured crowdsourcing their interpretation would be just as entertaining. It worked for Joseph and Pharaoh's baker, right?

1. Last night I dreamt I was cleaning up a potty training chair with Clorox wipes because one of my kids was learning to go without diapers. After I finished cleaning up the chair, I woke up (sort of), went straight into the bathroom and washed my hands! Partway through I realized what I was doing, laughed and got back in bed.

2. Sunday morning I woke up very early in the morning with a song stuck in my head. It wouldn’t go away. So I got up, plugged in my midi keys and played it into GarageBand so I wouldn’t forget it. I hit Save and went back to bed. I played it back Sunday afternoon and it makes little sense. I'm no composer, and this doesn’t sound like something I’d do, though it plays perfectly over the opening piano to Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.

Usually this weird dream stuff doesn’t happen to me … what is going on? Does it mean something?

OK, Freudians and Jungians: ready, set, go.

Bull Durham

Nauvoo, Illinois has a small downtown, the main drag is about 4 blocks worth of shops around the corner from the temple. Half of it is gift shops with Nauvoo memorabilia aimed at Mormons visiting the historic sites. That's why it's odd to find a giant, colorful Bull Durham mural on the side of the Hotel Nauvoo.

Let's face it — Nauvoo's out in the sticks and there's not much reason to live or visit there these days unless you're Mormon ... not exactly your key tobacco advertising audience. So what's going on?

The Nauvoo Historical Society reports this sign was originally painted in the early 1900s prior to Nauvoo's restoration/tourism era and was recently restored. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Ultraviolet: This Isn't The End

I love coming up with clever titles for my posts, like Ultraviolet, but after a quick search often find I've already used that one. Drat. At least my brain is consistent. I've had the fantastic new Owl City EP Ultraviolet on constant rotation, which may have contributed.

I found this lone, brave violet Sunday, adding its little square inch of beauty to my front lawn by the sidewalk's edge. I don't use my macro lens nearly enough so I went whole hog and got out the tripod and everything.

When I saw the little flower in my path, it was Sunday at 5:01 p.m., one of the worst times of each fortnight — the end of a long weekend when my young kids go back to mom's. I had just waved goodbye as they drove away, and was walking back up to my now-quiet apartment. And there was this little flower, holding its own, all alone in this giant patch of grass. Something about it spoke to me. Was it a lawn and garden metaphor for my life?

Spending 45 minutes setting up gear, switching lenses, snapping 18 versions (yes I did), taking everything down, Photoshop, etc. seems like a lot of work for the portrait of such an insignificant little flower. Now I realize it was a show of solidarity.

Track 3 on Ultraviolet is called This Isn't The End, a song about fathers leaving their daughters behind, with verses about divorce, depression, and sadly, suicide. It's a powerful song with an ultimately hopeful message. If I listen at all to the words I get teary. Every time. There are some things about being a single dad that I absolutely hate, and hate that I can't fix completely for my kids. I've got some ideas on what to do next for myself; for the kids my plan is to endure, do my best to keep being there, and to take the long view and see how it all turns out. This isn't the end.

Purple Loosestrife

Purple loosestrife and lily pads along the Mississippi River, in Nauvoo, Illinois. This scene is back behind the Red Brick Store, the 1842 founding place of the Relief Society, one of the oldest and largest women's organizations in the world.

Nauvoo Temple

My niece was married last month in the gorgeous Nauvoo Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons believe a man and woman can be married beyond our lives on earth, beyond "till death do you part." This happens in the temples, and no other place on earth.

Nauvoo, Illinois is a town built along a bend in the Mississippi River by Mormon settlers in the early 1840s. At the time Nauvoo's population rivaled that of Chicago. Despite the want of many of the settlers, one of the town's first priorities was to construct a temple. Men and women donated labor, tools, materials and machinery to turn the swampland into a thriving city with a beautiful temple on the hill above.

Religious persecution caused Nauvoo to be abandoned in the mid-1840s. The original temple the settlers sacrificed everything to build was gutted by arson in 1848, then toppled by a tornado in 1850.


Three of the carved sunstones from the original temple are known to exist, including this one in the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.


Today Nauvoo is a historic village where you can learn about pioneer life, take wagon rides, see a working blacksmith shop, see a huge outdoor pageant in the evening, and learn about the church from missionaries.


I visited Nauvoo when I was in high school when all that was left of the original temple was a foundation overgrown with grass. The temple rebuilding was announced to gasps in 1999, and dedicated in 2002.


The exterior approximates the original, and it is simply stunning inside and out. My favorite features are inside: a spiral staircase in the southwest corner that extends five or six stories, and a saber owned by Joseph Smith displayed on the wall on the main floor.

Capitol Boneyard

Last month in Washington, DC I made an expedition to Rock Creek Park to search out a little-known architectural graveyard — a stockpile of masonry taken from the U.S. Capitol.

With a custom map from a friend I made my way along a trail through the woods, spotting black squirrels and bounding deer along the way. Looking up a slight incline to one side of the trail you see a few blocks piled up.


As you walk closer to inspect, you come into a maze of slabs, some with intricate carvings, some stacked, some strewn.


When I entered the stoneyard I couldn't help but say out loud to myself: "amaaaazing." I had definitely entered someplace significant.





The stones came from the actual U.S. Capitol, and have been in this forest since 1959.

"According to Eva Malecki, spokesperson for the Architect of the Capitol, they were part of what was torn down during a renovation that started in 1958 and ended in 1962. The pieces, mostly sandstone and some marble from the east front façade, likely originate from the rebuilding that occurred after the Capitol was nearly burned down in the War of 1812. Instead of reusing the pieces, they were placed in this part of Rock Creek Park per an agreement with then-Architect of the Capitol J. George Stewart and the National Park Service...."

It's an amazing and moving scene of beauty amidst decay: intricately and painstakingly handcarved and handshaped stones, stacked randomly in a forest and left to be overgrown with weeds and fallen tree limbs. I found a couple stones that had been leaning against trees for 50 years, and the trees had grown around them. It's like exploring archaeolgical ruins of a forgotten civilization.





What's amazing is these pieces of stonework are so accessible — actual chunks from one of the most important buildings in the world — out in the open, unguarded, for anybody to see. They can be touched and admired, even climbed on. (Just try that at the Lincoln Memorial.) The stones are stacked haphazardly; even if you climb carefully they shift dangerously under you. You get an instant understanding that the building that represents the foundational law of the entire nation is crafted of a likewise solid craftsmanship.


What a great visit — I stayed until dark and the fireflies came out. Having the forest to myself surrounded by these slabs of history was a little surreal and definitely reverential.

Location, Location, Location

My office at VA headquarters in Washington is a block north of the White House. This is just how close we are across Lafayette Park.

As you can imagine, the most desirable real estate in our building is a window office with this view on the upper floors. These offices go to the most important dignitaries, usually those approved by Congress.

Above is a 5-frame panorama from one of these VIP offices. Last month we put on a live webcast and wanted a live shot of the Washington Monument over the shoulder of one of our speakers, and we got to use an office in-between owners on the 9th floor.

When the video crew was packing up afterwards I sat cross-legged in the window ledge, suitcoat over my head with my camera underneath trying to prevent window glare. (I was also watching out for snipers on the White House roof, watching me through their scopes wondering what I was up to.)

How many monuments can you spot above? (View large)

• Washington Monument
• Jefferson Memorial
• White House
• Eisenhower Office Building
• Treasury Building

Kessel Run < 12 Parsecs

Best. Lego set. Ever.

Santa brought the Millennium Falcon for Christmas 2012 ... and a year and a half later it's finally built. It's a giant set we finally began building this year, and it took several weekends.

That's not to say we haven't been playing with the minifigures the whole time; the Princess Leia earmuff-do minifigure is one of the rarest.

Look at how huge this thing is! It's 1,200 pieces and pretty complex with all the round shapes involved. That Lego ever figured out how to make this into a mass-produced set is genius. This never could have been released with Star Wars in 1977 (during my Lego playing days) when draftsmen illustrated building instructions by hand — it's just too complex.