I lived in the Holy Land for 4 months of my life. It was an experience that will be imprinted on my heart forever. From the first day there to the last, I enjoyed taking pictures of the many beautiful and diverse people that surrounded me. I learned a lot from looking at their faces. I often caught myself wondering what their story was...what was going on in their lives right at that moment in time. These are my pictures of the people I lived among. These are many of the reasons why I miss it. Every day.
I viewed an EXCELLENT documentary last night that I believe every one of us ought to watch. "Sicko" by Michael Moore not only solidified many of the views and values that I uphold as an individual, but made me really think about a lot of things -- number one being, how messed up the U.S. is when it comes to their health care system.
Here's a few things to get you thinking:
Nearly 50 million Americans are without health insurance...
Roughly 18,000 Americans will die this year because they don't have health insurance...
The U.S. is ranked 37 out of 191 countries for it's health care system...
A baby born in El Salvador has a better chance of surviving than a baby born in Detroit...
Like Canadians and Brits, the French live longer than we do...
Just some food for thought. I also watched the Presidential Debates last night...one more thing that helped solidify my vote for someone who will do everything in their power to make it so every American -- poor or rich -- will have access to quality health care no matter what.
Good news - I passed my national Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist exam yesterday! My four years as an undergrad in Recreational Therapy at BYU done me good :) After a couple of crazy cat weeks of cramming and studying and reviewing, the focus turns back to my masters classes....which are DEFINITELY keeping me on my toes!
All are present and accounted for Chief White Eagle...
Let’s get these troops out of the hot sun...hut two, three, four...hut two, three, four....hut two, three, four...”
The hike begins and troops hike off into the sunset.
All members of the Black Rock Patrol are
ready and excited
for yet another hike with Chief White Eagle, also known as Grandpa Brown.
Hiking through the hot Lake Powell desert, the gorgeous Princess Tiger Lily anticipates another exhilarating adventure with the brave Chief.
Little did I realize when I was born in Pocatello, Idaho, at Bannock Regional Medical Center, on July 9, 1983, that I would one day be a beautiful, tan, Indian Princess of the illustrious Black Rock Patrol.Or maybe I did..
Weeks prior to my birth,
Weeks after school had gotten out,
My mom spent every free moment
Lying out in the Hot July Sun
Next to the cool pool at the University Racquet Club,
Becoming a deep golden brown.
I’m sure she did it all for me...In fact, I’m almost positive that her underlying goal was to subtly prepare me for my many hot treks across the Lake Powell wilderness with a brave Indian Chief.
The Black Rock Patrol has seen over 34 members.Not all at one time of course, but 10 to 15 here and there.
Many had gone before me...and many
many
many
many
more would follow after me.
But as a young child, I was convinced, by Chief White Eagle,
that I was the
most important
Princess in the universe.
Ever since the very first hike,
where we received our unique Indian names, I felt that I was the most important.
....In the beginning there was a little five year old
whose given name was not Princess Tiger Lily,
but rather some name chosen by the Chief
that a little five year old obviously didn’t like
(and which she now regretfully no longer remembers.)
This caused the patient Chief White Eagle
to allow the little Princess to pick her own name
...one which happened to be Tiger Lily
from the five year old’s favorite Disney film Peter Pan....
I learned the first of many lessons from this first experience with the Black Rock Patrol and
Chief White Eagle.
I know I didn’t think about these lessons at the time...
Why then, it was only child’s play;
“trekking” across what seemed like miles upon miles of uncharted territories,taming the wild lizards found on each adventure,
fighting imaginative enemies,
finding buried jelly bean treasures,
collecting beautiful black rocks for which we were named, and
presenting prized feathers to Chief White Eagle to place in his hat.
As a little child, it never crossed my mind that the lessons the
Great Chief White Eagle
taught me would have more to do with life than a simple hike.
BE READY
Before every hike, Chief White Eagle encouraged me to always be ready.
Ready for any eventuality that might happen on the hike of life.
In first grade, I learned this lesson the hard way.
I was late to school day
after day
after day.
Getting their business started was a crazy time in my parents’ lives.
Late nights and long hours
working down at the store,
remodeling,
pricing,
completing odds and ends,
eventually caused me to be continuously late to
Mrs. Higer’s first grade class at Washington Elementary.
One especially memorable time was when I was dropped off at school...
only to find that I was the
ONLY
student there that day.
The night before must have been an extremely tiring
one, working late,
for my own mother to drop me off at school on a holiday.
ROLL CALL
Every hike began with roll call.
Everyone had to be present and accounted for in order for the hike to begin.
Everything was a troop effort and so it was vital that everyone be there.
In the same way, everyone on the roll call of my life must be present for my life to be complete.
With
1 me
1 mom
1 dad
3 brothers
2 sisters
2 grandmas
2 grandpas
9 aunts
9 unclesand....
46 cousins
many good times have been and still are being experienced.
During these family-filled-non-stop-roll-call moments,
I found myself on my first plane ride
to Disney World Orlando, Florida...riding the Space Mountain Ride with my cousins
at Disney World, the home of Mickey Mouse, over and over and over again...
seeing Mickey Mouse and
wanting to dress up like him...
playing dress-up and having tea parties with
Grandma Hofman to the sounds of Broadway music...
helping Grandma learn her lines for the Broadway play, Hello Dolly
and then enjoying the show... experiencing, with my mother,
the thrilling show of Les Miserables on Broadway...walking the colorful streets
of LApretending to be on Broadway with
Grandpa Brown...pulling
Grandpa Brown out of a cement hole at
the Army Training Course above Bartz field...going with my brothers and sisters to
Bartz and it’s snow laden hills to sled and learn the arts of skiing...
skiing for $5 at a $60 hill with my dadand momduring Christmas vacation...experiencing a bit of our Hofman
heritage eating Dutch pancakes on Dutch Christmas with Sinterklaas and Swarte Pete...
eating kidney beans and applesauce with Grandpa Hofman...
making homemade applesauce with my mom into the wee hours of the night...
toilet papering for the first time with my Grandma Hofman the night
of my twelfth birthday...
spending countless birthdays with relatives at
Lake Powell...banging heads and getting dead legs from falls into the water, off the wiener tube at
Lake Powell...and hiking into Bloomington Lake to jump into the ice water...
My family is the most important of all things in my life.So it is a must that everyone on the roll call is checked off and accounted for.
ENJOY YOUR SURROUNDINGS
On hikes, I learned about nature, about God, and about life;
Spending time at our cabin in Victor, Idaho,
Camping at Willow Flats,
Hiking to Navajo, Havasu, and Mooney Falls in Arizona,
Climbing up our “Masada” at Lake Powell,
Floating the Snake River near Jackson.
I look at the physical world differently now after having been with Chief White Eagle and having learned of his love for nature.I learned from him that God is the reason for everything. He is the CREATOR of all things.And I have a responsibility for taking care of his creations.
FOLLOWING THE LEADER
Chief
White
Eagle
Taught
Me
How
To
Follow
The
Leader
No
Matter
What
Or
Where
We
Were.
Leaders are given to us for a purpose.
On hikes, they lead us to our destination.
In life, they guide us and influence us, hopefully for the better.
What a perfect example of a leader was the Chief.
Action figures and super heroes come and go with time, but Chief White
Eagles stay
ever true and “super”
in the eyes of little children.
Ever since my first Black Rock Patrol hike,
being inducted into the Patrol, and receiving my Indian name,
my Grandpa has been one of my many heroes.
Through Chief White Eagle’s example, I have learned that it is important to follow the leaders and influences in my life, and to also remember that I am also a leader to others
Following Grandpa Brown on hikes,
Being followed by five younger siblings,
Following Grandma Hofman in singing,
Being a leader to fellow students,
Following mom and Grandma Brown in art,
Following friends, teachers and role models....
“Follow me boys,
follow me.
Pick ‘em up and put ‘em down
and follow me!”
REACHING THE JOURNEY’S END
Throughout my Life’s Hike,
Chief White Eagle’s subtle lessons have stayed clear and vivid in my mind.
It’s not possible for all little kids to experience a Chief White Eagle in their lives.
Hikes are not always
easy little walks through groomed paths
where everything is beautiful, lush and gorgeous.
Sometimes, it takes a littlehard work,
perseverance,
and often times starting over,
to get to the final outcome such as a
pristine waterfall or mountain lake.
And so is the hike of life.
Throughout the adventure,
I’ll experience rugged paths and hardships,
ugly realities,
and many different types of people.
No doubt about it.
But through it all I will survive and eventually get to my ultimate goal, if I can remember the most important advice from the Great Chief White Eagle, that
