The Burninators

In response to http://www.seegmillers.org/?p=647 I went to the dentist this morning. It was nice to get a cleaning. I feel all nice and fresh. The hygienist asked me how long it had been since I’d had a cleaning, and she sneered when I told her it had been 8 years. Of course since it’s her job, she probably thinks people need to have cleanings every week, so I can understand it, however, I think my position was justified by what the dentist told me when he came in:

“You have beautiful teeth. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”

If going to the dentist makes me have zero cavities, that’s fine by me.

In seriousness, I’d like to thank my parents for giving me superior genes. I couldn’t have done this without you.

Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia is named after George Washington (for donating the largest sum ever given to a college) and Robert E. Lee, who served as the University’s President from 1865 (the end of the Civil War) until his death in 1870.

Robert E. Lee’s office is in a chapel he built on the campus, and he is also buried underneath it. The building now serves as a museum, so we thought we’d visit it to learn a bit about it’s history. Just outside the Chapel lies the grave of Traveller, Robert E. Lee’s horse. They were very close, and Lee was almost never seen without Traveller by his side. I was sitting on the ground not 5 feet from this gravesite when I heard the following conversation:

As I am sitting on the ground feeding Alisa a bottle of milk, an elementary school class walks out the door; clearly on a field trip. The teacher, evidently a long time local, explains:

“This is the grave of Robert E. Lee’s horse Traveller. He was a good horse and was always by his side. You’ll notice that there are pennies on the stone which visitors have placed for good luck. You will also notice that the pennies are all tails-up. Can anyone tell me why the pennies would be tails-up?”

Various 8 year old answers are heard, few intelligible, and none accurate.

“No. Who’s on the head of a penny?”

More unintelligible 8 year old answers, and one proud “Lincoln!”

“That’s right. And who was Lincoln?”

“The President!”

“Yes. He was the President . . . of the NORTH. And Traveller was a good Southern horse, so you can see why you wouldn’t want Lincoln’s face showing on it.”

Whiny know-it-all voice: “Some of the pennies are heads-up.”

And her contempt-filled response: “Must have been some Northerner who didn’t know better. Let’s move along children.”

I always wondered how the Civil War was taught in Southern schools.

So there I was, sitting on a padded folding chair on the lawn in front of Main Hall, Southern Virginia University. The skies threatened rain. My sister Christina was sitting in the front rows of chairs wearing her ceremonial cap and gown beaming with pride that she was moving on in her life (we hope). Kimberly was sitting next to me, keeping Alisa occupied. I stared at the ground.

As one is wont when sitting through graduation ceremonies, my mind wandered. “My, what beautiful grass,” I sarcastically tell myself. “Hmm. looks like more than just grass. I seem to be sitting in a patch of clover as well. Let’s see . . . three leaves . . . three leaves. Yup they all have three leaves. I think it would be cool to find a four-leaf clover sometime. Wouldn’t that be cool? In fact, I’m going to dedicate myself right now to finding a four-leaf clover before I die. And not “finding” another one someone else has already found, and pressed between the leaves of their book. That doesn’t count. I want to find one. Growing. On my own. Yup, I’ll do that before I die. In fact, I’ve got nothing better to do now.” Another tedious speaker gets up. “Can we just skip to Elder Jensen and then go home? Whatever. Maybe I can find one in this patch between my feet.” I nonchalantly move my hand down and flip between the clustered plants. “Isn’t there like, statistically, one four-leaf clover every 5 feet of clover patch or something? I don’t remember. But the laws of genetics have to have built one here somewhere! Man, there’s nothing here. Nothing on the other side of my foot. How bout under? This is ridiculous. What a dumb thing to look for. Like I really have nothing better to do than look for a four-leaf clover. Scratch that goal. It’s stupid. Oh good, finally Elder Jensen’s turn.”

“It’s your turn,” says Kimberly next to me as Alisa starts running off to the right.

“Sure. Just when it gets not boring.” I then got up to chase Alisa around and realize that the speakers aren’t directed to the sides (where no one is sitting) and I can’t hear him speak very well. And, Alisa’s eating dandelion flowers. Great. Just what she needs to get nourishment.”

“Alisa, you’re not a deer. Please eat the Cheerios instead. These flowers are gross.” I bent down to take it out of her mouth.

BAH! BA-BAH, BA BA BA-BAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!! (Trumpets blaring from heaven, with streams of light shining down on the one single clover within two feet of where I am standing)

“That’s it. My life is complete!”

Sunday, April 26th, 2009 3:54PM MDT

Just woke up from a nap, and discovered that it’s snowing.

Lame.

Book 4 of the Fablehaven series (Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary) came out last week on Tuesday. I decided to buy it for Kimberly as an early birthday present, since we devoured the first three books a couple of months ago. I ordered it on bn.com, so we didn’t get it until Wednesday morning, and Kimberly was done by Thursday night. Then I was able to look at it, and finished on Saturday afternoon.

We both loved it. The story was very exciting (clearly one we couldn’t put down), had enough intrigue to be cool, but revealed enough secrets to be satisfying. Without ruinion it for anyone else, I can’t really say much more, but I finished with a healthy balance of satisfaction countered by a need to read the next, and last, book in the series. We’ll be ready next year.

For those of you that haven’t picked it up yet, I highly recommend it. Go get book 1, and you’ll be sucked in just like we were. To give a brief idea of what it is, Fablehaven is about secret preserves for magical creatures like fairies, etc. Go get it, and enjoy it.

So, I just found a cool thing on youtube. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has their own youtube channel and they post a ‘Mormon Messages’ video every week. I just watched all 17 videos that they’ve postedm, and really enjoyed it. I like that the church is utilizing the technology of the world to reach more people, and perhaps people that they aren’t reaching otherwise.

Last weeks video, “Why Mormons build temples” has been quite popular and was the 10th most watched video on Saturday. Give it a view:

http://www.youtube.com/mormonmessages