Because I Have Nothing Better To Do...

Photo taken near Panguitch Lake

Since deleting my last blog I have had several complaints from friends and family, so I gave in and made a new blog. Why did I give in? Well, Walgreens granted me 10 days of paid vacation and of course I had to get sick right in the middle and I got bored. So here is my new blog. Same stuff, new location. 

Sophie's fish was "this big". 

Even though I have been sicker than a dog for the past 3 days I still got a few things done. In fact, I just finished re-reading one of my favorite books, "The Great Gatsby". I remember raising a judgmental eyebrow at Mrs. Hasenwinkel when she shed tears of pity for Gatsby while reading the book to my 11th grade English class back in high school. She tried to explain the meaning behind the text, but I had no interest. Nobody made it to Gatsby's funeral? So what. But now that I have read the book a few times I, too, find myself wiping away tears of sorrow in behalf of Jay Gatsby. 


The real tragedy is that Gatsby focused all of his efforts in becoming the kind of person someone else wanted him to be. Toward the end of the text Gatsby's friend and neighbor, Nick, realizes, "It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment."  Sadly, we create illusions which often surpass reality and eventually lead to disappointment. Gatsby's life slipped by while he was waiting for the life he thought he wanted. 

River near Haycock Mountain

Elder Richard L. Evans said, "It sometimes seems that we live as if we wonder when life is going to begin. It isn't alway clear just what we are waiting for, but some of us sometimes persist in waiting so long that life slips by -- finding us still waiting for something that has been going on all the time... This is it, whether we are thrilled or disappointed, busy or bored! This is life, and it is passing!" So, yes, this is life, and it is much better to be lived in reality.

The Subway