Kayak swamp tour

I posted a boat trip that Ron Mangels and I took into swamp country not far from where we live back on May 23 of this year. While it would have taken hours to paddle my kayak to the furthest point that we reached, going the same route, I was aware of an access water route from the highway that goes along Bayou Black between Houma and Gibson that would take me to the same location.

Today, I decided to figure out exactly where the access route was, and take it. This was probably the most enjoyable trip I have had thus far in my kayak...moderate effort with a big scenic reward. The most exciting thing I saw from a wildlife standpoint, was the biggest owl I think I have ever seen in my life. It swooped down very close to where I was paddling...what a thrill!

Wendell B. Johnson's inspirational story

I am amazed that I was completely unaware of Wendell B. Johnson's life story upon learning about it this morning. What got my attention upon bumping into the website dedicated to his life, was firstly, that we are connected in several ways, and secondly, that his story is so inspirational. Wendell was a quadriplegic most of his life as a result of diving in a canal as a teenager without realizing that there was a ledge only a foot or so under the surface of the water. First, the connections. Wendell and I were born only two months apart, and started our lives in the same town, Mapleton, Utah. While not closely related, we do share a common great-great-grandfather, Edwin Whiting, making us 3rd cousins. Wendell's accident occurred in 1964 when he was only 16 years old. I had a severe diving accident that could have profoundly changed my life shortly after returning from my mission. I did a backwards dive off a diving board in Roosevelt, Utah and my neck caught the end of the board, rendering me unconscious in the water. The force of the dive busted off the wings of two vertebrae in my neck. I was told I was very lucky not to have been paralyzed. My neck was immobilized for several weeks afterward until the old wings dissolved, and new ones grew in. My mother told me of a diving accident in Mapleton that left someone paralyzed. Wendell has to be the very person she was thinking of.

Wendell Johnson took his tragedy and turned it into a positive. He was not only an artist (see gallery) but a great example and an active member of the community. He served as Justice of the Peace for six years, and later as Mapleton's mayor from 1982 - 1986, he also co-authored two books, married, fathered a child against great odds, raised his daughter, and designed the blueprints for his own home, all despite his difficult circumstances. His great lesson in life was one of patience and endurance despite challenges. He believed wholeheartedly in setting and meeting goals, and in the power we all have to achieve wonderful, positive things in our lives. He died in 1986, living considerably longer than the medical experts had predicted.

I have carried a book about Mapleton for many years that my parents gave me, and only now realize that one of its co-authors was this man. I dug the book out, re-read it, and by so doing, learned a little bit more about my roots. Both my father and grandfather were town presidents of Mapleton, and my father was the town's first mayor, according to the book. I recommend reading Wendell's biography, one of which is written by his daughter. The painting above is of Buckeley Mountain in south Provo. We lived directly under this mountain for several years after returning from Hawaii, and before coming to Louisiana.

New Moon is making box office history

New Moon has grossed $258M worldwide over the 5 days it has been open to the public. To be sure, I have not seen this movie, and know very little about it. But I am intrigued by the fact that the book that the movie is based on (part of the Twilight series) was written by a latter-day saint (Mormon) homemaker, a BYU-graduate, who has stated that she is "straight laced" about her beliefs. Stephanie Meyer, described by some as the heir apparent to J.K. Rowling's long-held crown, has a personal story that is incredible in its own right. Talk about going from rags to riches almost overnight! The more popular LDS blogsites are abuzz with commentary, some of it having to do with the contradiction between the restrained lifestyle espoused by the Church and the powerful sensuality portrayed in this movie. I wish Stephanie well in her transition into a whole new life as a celebrity. Here is a video of Stephanie telling her story in 2007. I'm sure there must be more current videos.

Food insecurity in the U.S.A.

The news that I watched this evening carried a news story from Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (my big boss) on food security in the U.S. A recently released USDA report estimates that nearly 50 million Americans had difficulty getting enough to eat in 2008. This represents one in seven households, a sharp increase from one in ten food-insecure households estimated just one year earlier, in 2007. Secretary Tom Vilsack described this report as an alarming wake-up call, and a direct result of the effects of the recession we are going through, with widespread unemployment and rising poverty levels. In 2008, nearly 17 million children, or 22.5 percent, lived in households in which food at times was scarce -- 4 million children more than the year before. And the number of youngsters that are outright hungry multiple times during the year, rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million. This was last year. Who knows what the statistics will be for this year. While we are preparing for that big Thanksgiving dinner, perhaps we need to be reminded that a staggering percentage of the world's population goes chronically hungry, and that even here in the U.S., many households are barely getting by. As much as we may feel that we struggle to get by, we really are better off than the vast majority of the world's population, and Thanksgiving is a good time to be grateful for what we do have.

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans is going through a $300 million dollar upgrade to be completed by 2015, and was just recently designated by Congress as the country's official World War II Museum. Tomorrow, Tom Hanks, Tom Brokaw, and scores of WWII veterans will be on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony associated with the Grand Opening weekend, following the completion of "three remarkable new venues." Upcoming events at the Museum leading up to Veterans Day next Wednesday and beyond are shown at the Official Website of the National WWII Museum. We have never been there. This is definitely a place we would like to visit and experience while Lori & James are in town. One of the venues features a so-called 4-D film (wind & shaking seats) called "Beyond All Boundaries" that is narrated by Tom Hanks.

Erianthus bengalense - a species with ornamental potential

A few years back, we were experimenting with a relative of sugarcane (Saccharum) where I work, called Erianthus bengalense, the genus of which I believe in Greek, means red (eri) flower (anthus). We are no longer experimenting with Erianthus bengalense, but still have an interest in Erianthus arundinaceus, which is more robust, but, in my opinion is considerably less attractive. Unfortunately, in the USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) system, all the species within the Erianthus genus got lumped under Saccharum, which is technically not accurate.

I was enamored with the beauty of the plant, so I planted a stool of it in my back yard for its ornamental effect before the field it was in got plowed. The last two years, it was beaten up pretty badly because of severe storms, but this year, it achieved its full glory. [I added a second picture taken about two weeks later; note that the white speck at the top is the moon in the background]

Garden update

Our fall garden is underway with the planting of cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, onions, and a new entry...bok choy. The bok choy grew so fast that Judy picked some stems tonight and so we will be trying it out for the first time. Judy was looking at some recipes today. I can't wait to see how the bok choy tastes, since I have never tried it before.

Just for an update on our summer garden, we planted a few slips of a very colorful variety of sweet potato, bred at LSU, called Evangeline. It has a mix of purple and green leaves. I put it in the garden in early summer after we had harvested most of the spring-planted crops, and it pretty much took over the garden with very little care. It was pretty much growing wild. To our surprise, we got a bumper crop of sweet potatoes, which is amazing considering that we only planted a few slips to begin with. Judy made some pies with the sweet potatoes; the people at work swore they had to be pumpkin pies when I let them get a taste. When it came time to establish a fall garden, we knew we were going to see unwanted sweet potato plants sprouting up like weeds, but it turns out that it wasn't too much of a problem. I guess the sweet potato is related to the morning glory which helps to explain its aggressiveness.

We had some cantaloupe and watermelon plants that hung in there longer than we expected ... another pleasant surprise. Our satsuma orchard consisting of three small trees also had an amazing number of satsumas (a type of Mandarin orange originating from China but brought here from Japan). We have been enjoying them over the past month. Today, Judy harvested two small pail fulls, which will be turned into "orange" juice. I must say that our garden and back yard have surprised us by how productive they have been over the past year.