Look Out Ridge

“Look Out Ridge”
Dear family and dear friends, 9 November 2008

Our niece Katie turned four yesterday and celebrated with trampoline traipsing and pony gathering with cousins at a children’s gym in Draper, Utah. After agreeing to drive, we serendipitously collected two extra cousins to transport south. Too confident, when my mom suggested that I print a map quest, I sat, typed the starting and destination addresses, zapped out printed instructions and scooted along with an errand or three on the way to fill.

Doing errands with five women in four different stores (even within five blocks) will ever be like herding cats, so I felt fairly accomplished to collect teens after finding two pairs of jeans and five shirts, their grandma from returning anniversary jewelry, and their auntie narrowing in on a birthday card uniquely suited for a twenty-two year old returned missionary. After personally, not patiently, persuading Costco’s photo machine to take a 22 megabyte wedding picture in less than an hour and a half, the challenge remaining was to zip 30 miles south in 30 minutes—not impossible with a high occupancy vehicle until my brother called. He wondered which exit we were planning to turn on. Try exit 288.

My “google” map said exit 289. I exited on 289 and made a raft of winding turns twelve miles through the suburbs and hillsides of Riverton—after five miles of state highway and main thoroughfare, we turned right at Ambermont, left on Rolling Brook, right on Orchard Spring, Right at Lookout Ridge which became Pulley Lane. We then turned left at Blue Ridge and right to come into Lookout Ridge, Pulley Lane, and then Mesa Circle, which was supposed to lead to the address in the pink horsie invitation, but the Mesa Circle was just that—a round dead end, propped in the middle of nowhere—no houses, no buildings—but miles to look, as far as you wanted to see! Arriving at Katie’s shindig 75 minutes late, in time to wrap up ice cream and un-wrap packages, I have since decided to triple check sources and pay attention to quiet voices encouraging me to come the simple way, even if I do have instructions (and sure ones!) with greater detail. Life can be simpler than it is made out to be!

A few joyous, simple things: emptying the freezer of a turkey today to make room for a new one—happy to rotate a less costly meat, connecting with family members bearing whole wheat honey-and-ginger snaps and snatches of Sunday and talk tidbits. Then, sitting in stake conference, we heard the stake youth sing echoes of their summer’s Zarahemla camp.

“Amelia signed me up, Mom.”

Glad to be signed up. During a two-day Halloween break, our motivated twelfth grader applied for admission into the college she has always wanted to attend, and the day following she began searching for avenues to help finance her ventures. During hour-long conversations on walks near and around the neighborhood, she shared a recent epiphany of appreciating and living in the “now” in spite of interest and energy in preparing for paths ahead.

It is always a blessing to have a family now and here who loves me (and does not mind a few extra bottles of paraphernalia on a bathroom sink top or overflow of clean clothes from basket piles on bedroom floor.) Home made bread on the counter in the kitchen offers welcoming odor and apples from a valley farm add crisp tartness and color to an autumn lunch.

A freshman facing her first debate against a high school team captain unexpectedly triumphed. And a sister senior wading through hopeless Chemistry and Calculus tests and assignments coupled with paltry expectations experienced an incredible discovery of palatable grades, lauding glazed doughnuts to garnish the gaiety.

Three more terms to go! Mom and Dad Gee’s “moving pictures” have touched their progeny. After taking their nearest daughters to watch Errand of Angels, they decided to perform their own, positioning and pounding wrought iron frame holders to my family history room walls. Now leaves fluttering on the wall paper envelope every child…and counting!

Thomas Alva Starkey and April celebrated the coming of a brand new Thomas Alva junior--eight pounds four ounces, twenty inches long, on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 at 8:17 p.m. at Bellevue, Washington. Val is beaming, and to celebrate, he purchased a full case of flood lights! Little Thomas is truly a light, and his sister Eleanor cradles, coos, and apparently does not want to let him out of her view.

The green and purple kale planted in the aftermath of a completed window well last spring blossomed beyond measure. If there is ever a famine, we may have plenty of roughage! Meantime, my mother, coveting the unbridled blooms bought more for her home and mine--see if we match Alaskan cabbage heads next year! The flaming red bush that frames our house and the pathway to our Main Street chapel boasts brilliant colors, as do some of the Wasatch hills, still.

Even though our morning or evening paths may be dark, narrow and coupled with more than one dead end, having the morning clouds break to unveil beauteous pigments of autumn glory, we are constrained to continue to Look Out over Ridges of disappointments and count our blessings. Thank you for signing up to be a good part of what we are thankful for! Love, the Starkey family