UPDATE:
The hoop in the backyard will not be used soon. It finally has quite snowing at 1 PM Saturday. It started about 3 PM Thursday. I hope it doesn't rain soon.
Friday, January 11, 2013
It Snowed
UPDATE:
The hoop in the backyard will not be used soon. It finally has quite snowing at 1 PM Saturday. It started about 3 PM Thursday. I hope it doesn't rain soon.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
237
The past few days my wife and I have seen three movies. Les Miserables, Jack Reacher and last night The Hobbit. We enjoyed the Hobbit the least but that is a personal preference thing I suppose. I noticed during the previews that all the new movies seem to have some kind of apocalyptic theme. Invaders come to earth, kill everybody off, practically except a small group who try to fight back. I got to wondering last night if I could write a screenplay or a book or something. The title 237 came to mind. We are 237 years from the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The story would begin with the ending of a World War II, a struggle against totalitarianism, national socialism and just pure evil. Suddenly a generation of babies would be born to mostly privilege and an easy and pampered life. We would shoot ahead to this group reaching the late teens and early twenties, accepting without thought many of the same philosophies that the World War was fought over, namely controlling other people's lives because we, the intellectual and well meaning caste, know what is best for everyone else. This, of course, has percolated through societies for centuries, but began a newer and stronger fermentation in the late 1800's.
The virtue of the country would be destroyed and there would be no good or bad, no right or wrong, everything would be relative. A degradation of society and repudiation of the American Idea of Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness, E Pluribus Unum and In God We Trust would be thrown over to form The Bureaucracy. This type of government is a parasite on the liberty of the people. Those that are employed in the Bureaucracy become rich and unfeeling. They use their power to manipulate business and the markets of goods and services. The lawyers forget about truth and justice and every decision is made to strengthen the Bureaucracy and increase the capacity for the lawyers and politicians to gain more wealth.
There would be pockets of people remaining that still held true to the Founding Ideals. They could be found everywhere in small groups. Over a short period of time some terrible things happen. People are shot and killed, even little children. The Bureaucracy kicks into gear and confiscates guns, ammunition and knives. Some withhold and rebel, fighting against the police and the military, though some Patriots that belong to those organizations leave and join the rebels in defending the Constitution.
The Bureaucracy needs more money. We arrive to the point that all wealth is confiscated; money, property and businesses are taken and then reallocated to those who are loyal and supportive of the Bureaucracy. People who have operations that provide work to people are forced abandon everything and turn it over to people who know nothing about the business. To make it even more fictionalized, borrowing a line from Thomas Sowell, the country elects a President, who is not culturally an American, having grown up outside the country during his childhood, being taught continually of the faults and inherent evil of America by those who raised him, arriving as a youth being further influenced and inculcated in these philosophies. An unknowing and uncaring electorate places him in power and the country finally tips over the point of return and all capacity for freedom and liberty will now be permanently lost.
During the battles with the rebels there will be plenty of explosions and special effects. Mt. Rushmore is blown up by the forces of The Bureaucracy as a small group of hardy heros fights back. A small group carrying the flag is mown down at Lexington and Concord. A small group stealthily tries to get into Washington DC, but meet their end fighting in Arlington Cemetery.
Nature cries out and the whole scene is only stopped by something catastrophic. The Yellowstone caldera erupts violently and millions are killed, the climate is changed around the whole world, agriculture is diminished and billions die. The American Experiment still remains in the hearts and minds of a small few. They try again but there are no Jeffersons or Washingtons or Adams or Franklins among them. It could be spectacular; a combination of Les Miserables, Mad Max, Braveheart and Last of the Mohicans. Maybe Spielberg would direct it.
The story would begin with the ending of a World War II, a struggle against totalitarianism, national socialism and just pure evil. Suddenly a generation of babies would be born to mostly privilege and an easy and pampered life. We would shoot ahead to this group reaching the late teens and early twenties, accepting without thought many of the same philosophies that the World War was fought over, namely controlling other people's lives because we, the intellectual and well meaning caste, know what is best for everyone else. This, of course, has percolated through societies for centuries, but began a newer and stronger fermentation in the late 1800's.
The virtue of the country would be destroyed and there would be no good or bad, no right or wrong, everything would be relative. A degradation of society and repudiation of the American Idea of Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness, E Pluribus Unum and In God We Trust would be thrown over to form The Bureaucracy. This type of government is a parasite on the liberty of the people. Those that are employed in the Bureaucracy become rich and unfeeling. They use their power to manipulate business and the markets of goods and services. The lawyers forget about truth and justice and every decision is made to strengthen the Bureaucracy and increase the capacity for the lawyers and politicians to gain more wealth.
There would be pockets of people remaining that still held true to the Founding Ideals. They could be found everywhere in small groups. Over a short period of time some terrible things happen. People are shot and killed, even little children. The Bureaucracy kicks into gear and confiscates guns, ammunition and knives. Some withhold and rebel, fighting against the police and the military, though some Patriots that belong to those organizations leave and join the rebels in defending the Constitution.
The Bureaucracy needs more money. We arrive to the point that all wealth is confiscated; money, property and businesses are taken and then reallocated to those who are loyal and supportive of the Bureaucracy. People who have operations that provide work to people are forced abandon everything and turn it over to people who know nothing about the business. To make it even more fictionalized, borrowing a line from Thomas Sowell, the country elects a President, who is not culturally an American, having grown up outside the country during his childhood, being taught continually of the faults and inherent evil of America by those who raised him, arriving as a youth being further influenced and inculcated in these philosophies. An unknowing and uncaring electorate places him in power and the country finally tips over the point of return and all capacity for freedom and liberty will now be permanently lost.
During the battles with the rebels there will be plenty of explosions and special effects. Mt. Rushmore is blown up by the forces of The Bureaucracy as a small group of hardy heros fights back. A small group carrying the flag is mown down at Lexington and Concord. A small group stealthily tries to get into Washington DC, but meet their end fighting in Arlington Cemetery.
Nature cries out and the whole scene is only stopped by something catastrophic. The Yellowstone caldera erupts violently and millions are killed, the climate is changed around the whole world, agriculture is diminished and billions die. The American Experiment still remains in the hearts and minds of a small few. They try again but there are no Jeffersons or Washingtons or Adams or Franklins among them. It could be spectacular; a combination of Les Miserables, Mad Max, Braveheart and Last of the Mohicans. Maybe Spielberg would direct it.
Deer, But Not Reindeer
I was able to get this shot from my patio. This doe you see here and her fauns with her have been active all year. They destroyed my tomatoes and strawberries last summer. In the Spring we are going to put up an 8 foot fence to keep them from passing through the yard. We have a few dozen of these guys roaming the immediate area all year long now. Like anything, in some ways they are a problem but they are impressive when you find yourself standing 10 feet away from them.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Oman Family Christmas Newsletter 2012
THE NEW AND IMPROVED OMAN FAMILY CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER 201
Where Did The Year Go?
2012 started with uncertainty but lots of hope. Ben and Melissa both graduated in May from Utah State University in Logan. He in Electrical Engineering and she in Psychology. Yea! They are done with school at least for a while. Kyle, our son in law, finished his residency in Family Practice Medicine at the University of Utah. He is now working up there. Becky is being a Mom mostly which is great, but she does some instruction in some exercise classes and works with a Care Center doing Speech Pathology work.
Ben has a business he is working on called Citygro. Check it out on the web. He is always doing stuff on the computer. Melissa is a great Mom, and works part time.
THANKSGIVING 2012
Here you have a fairly good two dimensional illustration of our family. The newest addition in Melissa’s arms is Miles Benjamin Oman, born Nov 6 at 2:23 in the afternoon. He wasn’t really sure he wanted to come but he made it. So Ben and Melissa are really experiencing life. Becky and Kyle have three youngsters represented here; they are Weston in the red, Elijah and Addie on Joyce’s lap. This photo was taken Thanksgiving Day in Ben and Melissa’s new home.
May took Joyce and Greg to DC for meetings and visits with the Utah Delegation in both houses of Congress. That has been an interesting and enjoyable experience the past two or three years. The highlight of the year for Greg at least is the fact that Joyce took up the game of golf. We got her some lessons and she was off. We have really had a fun time in the evenings after work going down and playing together. She got her first legitimate, sure enough 100% par on the 9th hole of the Bear Lake Golf Course, a par 5 no less. Greg was cheering, yelling and all around hurrahing.
In July we took another few days at Bear Lake and had our two friends from Honduras, Valeria Buitrago Wells and Marcela Buitrago Oliveira, with their husbands Steven and Davidson came up and rode the wave runners, did some swimming and all around had some great fun. Later their father Aristides came up to Salt Lake with their younger brother from Honduras and we were able to spend some time with them. Friends are great.
We didn’t do any traveling out of the country this year. I blame it on TSA. I hope this doesn’t offend anybody but TSA sucks. So changing the subject there are a lot of things going on around us. As I write this we found out one of our neighbors down the street passed away unexpectedly and suddenly early this morning. The fragility of our existence is part of life. Joycie said to me, “That’s why one should never go to bed mad.” That’s an easy rule, isn’t it?
So it is now Christmas Time all over the world, except parts of the world don’t think of it the way we do here. It isn’t important nor does it have any sentimental meaning. We love Christmas. As the years pass it gets harder in some ways because our kids are all gone. The excitement of Christmas morning is different from what it was. In some ways though, it is better. Because of the memories of great friends. When we think the places we have lived and the people who live in those places that have blessed our lives it is easy to realize our blessings.
In our married life we have lived in Centerville, UT; Berwyn, IL; Sandy, UT and now Farmington, UT. In all of those places we have lived among some of you who are the Salt of the Earth. We wish you a Merry, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Here they are, Weston holding Miles, and Elijah hugging Addie. There is never a dull moment with these guys.
Love Joyce and Greg
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thanksgiving With Family
Our day today, this Thanksgiving, was really enjoyable. We had our children, their spouses and their children all together at the Elements Restaurant in Logan, UT. The food was wonderful and they accommodated us in a private little room all to ourselves. The grandkids had a great time and in the confined space their behavior was exceptional. Our newest grandson was there, all 2 weeks and 2 days of him.
We had our Thanksgiving prayer together and really enjoyed the familiar atmosphere. Later we visited my younger brother and his family. Our parents were there with them. They have a new daughter in law and the couple seems happy and extremely dedicated to one another. We had a wonderful day and all of us hope yours was too.
We had our Thanksgiving prayer together and really enjoyed the familiar atmosphere. Later we visited my younger brother and his family. Our parents were there with them. They have a new daughter in law and the couple seems happy and extremely dedicated to one another. We had a wonderful day and all of us hope yours was too.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Urban Coccoon
I came across this link via Instapundit. (Where would we be without Glenn Reynolds?) It is from Forbes Magazine. Why Urban vs Rural? This may give a piece to the puzzle.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Miles Made It
We received a text from our son Ben early this morning indicating that his wife Melissa was going to bring a new child in the world. We made it up to the hospital an hour away just in time to hear the little cries of our newest grandchild. It was a poignant and wonderful time for us all. Miles Benjamin Oman is the name that have picked out. He was 7 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches in length with some fairly impressive hands.
I looked at my son look at his son and saw the tears slowly making their way down his cheeks. I grabbed him shortly after and told him that he now knows how I felt when he was born. He just couldn't stop smiling. The mother is doing fine and we have high hopes for good health and much happiness for them all.
Although we may not reach the same number of grandchildren as many of you our friends, what we cannot reach in quantity we make up and surpass all the rest in quality. Cheers to you all.
Although we may not reach the same number of grandchildren as many of you our friends, what we cannot reach in quantity we make up and surpass all the rest in quality. Cheers to you all.
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