Take My Yoke Upon You

I believe there are no coincidences. Here's a good one from my family vacation this summer.

It felt like a bit of a miracle to see this hanging in the wainwright (wagon) shop in the historic Mormon pioneer town of Nauvoo, Illinois: an oxen yoke with the name Grandon etched across it. I didn't see any other yokes with names.

Out of 300 million people in the U.S., there are only 726 with the last name Grandon. It's always been pretty rare. So seeing the yoke in the wagon shop with my name on it was a bit astounding.

I don't know of any Mormon pioneers with that name — except for me. It's just as likely my people forced the Mormons out of Nauvoo at gunpoint in 1846, and church historians picked up the yoke at a neighboring farm a century later.


The day after we left Nauvoo I was in the Boston temple, pondering what I had seen. Does the yoke mean something? Here's the answer that came to me.

For me to see that artifact hanging on the wall, it took several hundred years to get the right people in the right places —

• the farmer named Grandon with oxen;
• the tractor-driving son or grandson who decided not to throw out the yoke when oxen went out of style;
• the picker who found the yoke in an old barn;
• the historian who put it on display;
• my family who encouraged me to meet up with them in Nauvoo;
• etc., etc., etc.

Has God done the same thing by planning and organizing the people, situations and timing that would be part of the experiences of my life? It's overwhelming to consider that he pays that kind of attention to detail, but we're told it's true.

One of the sister missionaries from the Nauvoo visitor's center called me last week, and I told her about my experience finding the yoke in the wainwright's shop. She directed me to the Bible, which duh, I hadn't thought to look in. From the Bible Dictionary —

YOKE. A device put around the necks of animals or men to harness them together. The yoke of Christ is a symbol for discipleship.

Update 9/1/2013:

I'm in awe a few days later as I crack the September Ensign and there's a two-page spread on yokes. With the same title as this blog post. Is somebody trying to tell me something?

Elder Russell M. Nelson —

“You come unto Christ to be yoked with Him and with His power, so that you’re not pulling life’s load alone. You’re pulling life’s load yoked with the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and suddenly your problems, no matter how serious they are, become lighter.”

Matthew 11:29-30 —

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Smithsonian

Summer in DC can be sweltering, but many of the museums stay open later, so I can still get there after a day at the office.

I've posted a Flickr set of some of my favorite items from three museums: the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Museum of American History.

It makes me a little crazy to hear from some of my co-workers they never go to these places. Are you kidding me?

View my Smithsonian set on Flickr.

Sixes and Eights

My brother Matt and I met up in Missouri this week with our 6- and 8-year-olds, we each live 1200 miles west and east of home in Springfield.

We took this photo today after church: Carter and Pierce are in front; Madeleine Claire, Beau and Cash are in back.

Spin Zone

My best Fourth of July photos usually aren't of fireworks, but the rides at Clifton Common park. These photos are each around 4 seconds.

Bedtime Stories

When I moved to my new apartment I started reading the Book of Mormon with my little kids from the beginning, at night before bed. We have been very regular readers, 3 nights every other week when they are here. Carter got bored reading slowly with me and Claire, so while we read out loud he would read ahead silently on his own. Even after Claire and I would finish after a few verses and stop, he would keep going, cranking out a couple chapters or more each night.

Sixteen months later, Carter has read the entire Book of Mormon, at age 8. I can quiz him on stories from the book, and he knows the answers. I'm so impressed by him — I was 19 when I finally read it the whole way through.

Carter's favorite word in the Book of Mormon: blood. As in chopping off arms blood.

Somewhere Over The Shoulder

Another photo from the May 29 storm. While the brown clouds were in the west, this is what was happening in the east. They say when you photograph, you should turn around and see if there's a better picture behind you. That's how I got the great brown clouds photo.

Brown Skies

Freaky skies over the barren Pine Bush Preserve after a wild storm that blew through Albany about 5:00 p.m. May 29, 2013. The cloud cover and rain were so intense it was like nightime during the day. I deserted my desk for a different part of my office building, I didn't feel safe sitting next to the large glass windows when the rain came pounding through. No false color in this photo, you can see some blue sky peeking through towards the horizon on the right.

Mets 10, Nationals 1

Panorama stitched from 13 vertical shots at last night's New York Mets' batting practice at the Washington Nationals baseball game. I almost bought a hat last night at the game because I figure I'll go again someday and cheer the home team. They needed all the help they could get last night.

I've never seen so many hats and shirts for the opposing team at a home game. Is there a hidden enclave of New Yorkers in DC?

Click the photo for the larger version.

Lilacs

One of my favorite things — to smell the lilacs blossom.

Four Minutes of Lightning

I have a covered upstairs balcony, perfect for taking photos when it's rainy out. During the storms Tuesday night we had some spectacular lightning, and I spent a few minutes collecting lightning shots with several 30 second exposures. Here are 8 of those photos stacked in Photoshop using the Lighter Color layer blending mode.


There was one gigantic blast at the end that I didn't include in the stack — it's so bright it blows out the dramatic skies from the rest of the frames. But it was impressive on its own, and it echoed for several seconds. Look at how it lit up the parked cars.

Two-Hour Delay

The scene this morning — heavy, wet, sticky snow that squishes when you walk on it. The 5:00 a.m. text from the school saying there's a two-hour delay tricks you into feeling you get to sleep in before the real alarm goes off. Any day that's made for pictures even after sleeping in can't be that bad.

Carousel

This week the kids are on winter recess from school, and we spent one of our afternoons at the New York State Museum. I like that we've been going regularly enough for them to remember the Cohoes mastodon and other exhibits.

Once the museum wears them out and they start laying on the floor, they regain their strength for their favorite part, several rides on the 100-year-old carousel.

Photo Op

Me demonstrating proper wedding photography technique yesterday afternoon at the Photography merit badge.

In the morning I taught the Computers merit badge — count 'em 17 Boy Scouts showed up (it's winter recess and school's out all week). With a giant grilled cheese lunch in the middle it was a totally great day off. Thanks for helping, Michelle Brimhall, Cindy Bringhurst, Andrea Smith!

Here are the two photos I'm showing them on the projector when I lay down on the floor, you decide which you like better.

How to Get Kids to Stand Still

Friday night I did a photography class with the West Glenville 4-H club, which ended up with light painting. Starting with a dark room, all light came from a $1 pack of glow sticks and two $1 flashlights from the Target bargain bin. Everybody had to hold still and make no noise for 20 seconds — I'm going to remember this trick.

Weirdest Valentine's Boomerang

This is the second Valentine's Day I've made sour cream cookies with fluffy pink frosting for the two little old ladies who live downstairs from me, along with a few lucky others (who may be identified by the fluffy pink frosting on the corners of their mouths).

Sometimes when you get your treat plates back, there's a treat on there for you. That was the case tonight ... I got a plate back with frozen sea bass. And really, what better way to say: "Your love reminds me of a cold, dead fish"?

Actually, I grew up 2,000 feet from the ocean, and I'm a big fan of seafood, so this is the perfect gift for me. Bonus points for creativity. And for giving me this story about my weirdest Valentine's Day gift ever.

Goodbye, Glasses

Tomorrow I am having laser eye surgery to correct my severe nearsightedness. It's a huge day for me. I'm excited thinking about waking up Saturday morning being able to see. This has been a dream.

Though I'm a little nervous about a surgeon searing away my eyeball flesh — don't they say never point laser beams at your eyes?

I got glasses at age 5, I was the first kid in first grade to have them. That was a traumatic year. It was a big deal when I returned to school after several weeks in a body cast after breaking my leg. And, even as the youngest in my class I was the tallest. I dislike attention in large groups, and glasses was probably the start of it all.

When I was in fifth grade, I got hard contact lenses like my dad. Once near the end of the school day I lost a lens, and I had 30 kids on the floor searching for it. My dad eventually showed up at my classroom, lifted up my eyelid, and it had slid onto the white of my eye. High-fives from all the kids that got out of schoolwork early that day.

Dashing Through the Snow

Twelve inches of snow, check. Snow pants gathered, check. Buy new saucer sleds, check. Stock up on hot cocoa mix, check. Tomorrow we sled!

Trepidation Under the Tree

Thinking about sending this one in to awkwardfamilyphotos.com. Do Santa photos ever turn out?

Precarious

Nothing says "Christmas" like balancing precariously on your desk in your socks to hang festive lights in the drop ceiling rails. Merry Christmas!

Rainy Day

The weather outside is frightful. Raindrops on my office window framed by dollops of light shining through bare limbs at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve.