Egypt Preston

Friday morning, May 7th, 2010, as the snow was melting off a plowed field east of Preston, Idaho, I observed an unusual weather phenomenon. As I was taking pictures, I noticed that the steam that was rising from the field was rotating upward like a dust devil. Dust devils are very common, but this was something that I had never seen before or heard about. So I e-mailed a photo to ABC4 News in Salt Lake City. Neil Opperman, Weather Producer, Meterorologist, KTVX/KUCW replied and informed me that this was a steam devil and gave me a link to research it. They also included it on the 10 o'clock weather news Friday night. So a steam devil is a rotating column of rising air, formed as bitterly cold air is heated by unfrozen water. In this instance it was the dark plowed field that was warming up in the sun and melting the snow. Moisture evaporating from the water surface then condenses in the colder air and slightly lowered pressure in the vortex. I enjoyed the dancing columns of steam as they disipated into the morning sky as a graceful dancer with arms stretched upward slowly spinning.

Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at the Preston High School Gymnasium, there were clowns, a ringmaster, circus peanuts, and BLOODSUCKERS! Maybe not the kind in the Twilight movies, but people were willingly paying to have their blood taken. The Health and Wellness Expo 2010 sponsored by the Franklin County Medical Center was in full swing with the theme “Under the Big Top of Health”. It was a fun time for all. Activities for the young and old alike, prizes to be won, and many booths to educate us in many ways to help with better health and safety. One of the exhibitors was the Franklin County Farm Bureau Women's Committee. They had a safety exhibit, provided items to help with safety, and you could register to win two ATV helmets donated by Northstar's Ultimate Outdoors. If you missed it this year, be sure to make it a priority to attend next year.

Wednesday evening around 10:00 pm on March 24 east of Preston, Idaho straight up into the night sky, was the moon. Not that unusual, but the fact that there was a very large ring of light surrounding the moon made it a very interesting site. So I Googled 'ring around the moon' and found some interesting information. Ice crystals in the upper atmosphere reflecting light make this phenomenon appear. Folklore regarding the ring around the moon signifies bad weather is coming. It is believed that the number of stars within a moon halo predict the number of days before bad weather will arrive. In my photo I found two stars within the halo. Today is Friday and we are having snow as I type this. Interesting...!? Technically, the ice crystals that cover the halo signify high altitude, thin cirrus clouds that typically precede a warm front by one or two days. Upon looking straight up into the night sky, I could not help to admire how large this moon and ring was. The photo does not do it justice as far as the magnitude and beauty.

Last week while driving from Egypt (east of Preston) to Preston and back, I went from fog/smog to sunshine and back to fog/smog. Depending upon where you were in the valley last week, the visibility greatly varied. The weather lately in Cache Valley doesn't just affect us humans. The air quality and fog also have an impact on the animals and birds of the valley. I came across these two hawks that appeared to be grounded, perched on a wheel move. I could just imagine that hunting for food in the reduced visibility was frustrating for them. I wondered if they could fly with the low visibility or if they were capable of overcoming that obstacle. My stopping and taking pictures of them didn't seem to bother them at all. They were not going to leave their perch. Even my country western music playing on the radio did not seem to encourage them to take flight.

A child is being brainwashed when one parent does or says something in an attempt to undermine the child’s relationship with the other parent. Brainwashing children can be subtle (one parent minimizing the existence of the other by erasing any reference to him/her in conversation or photos) or overt (“Your father doesn’t love you he doesn’t send me enough money to take care of you!”). Brainwashing is sending the child a message that says, in effect: “You and I are allies against the world. We are best buddies. I wish you didn’t have to be with that other parent, but there’s nothing I can do about it—you and I are victims of a system that wrenches you away from me and that forces me to share you with the other parent. Someday you’ll be old enough to choose where you want to live,and I just know you’ll choose my house. Brainwashing or programming children is usually done to convince the child that one parent is better and more loving than the other. Parents who excessively demonize the exspouse want their view point to be validated by others especially by the children. If they can sway the children to “vote” for them, it validates them as the good person and the ex-spouse as the bad person. Bitter mothers represent the majority of likely programmers. Women have a sense of ownership of their children and a conditioned view of their role. Also, women are overwhelmingly “awarded” custody of their children and thus spend more time with their children. Remember that once upon a time you, too, could see the good in the child’s other parent. Your child now stands at that point. What is best for the child, or children is a healthy relationship with both parents, and they need permission from each parent to enjoy a relationship with the other. Brainwashing can result in severe, long-term emotional damage to children. It distorts their perception of reality. For instance, they may perceive Dad as a good parent, but that doesn’t coincide with what they hear Mom saying about him. This can result in children doubting their own sense of reality, having low self-esteem, withdrawing from relationships, becoming mistrustful or misinterpreting the world around them in extreme form, all symptoms of paranoia. Brainwashing children may backfire against the parent who does it. When children grow up and learn the truth about both parents,that they have been lied to and used as a tool for one parent’s vindictiveness, they sometimes limit or sever contact with that parent. In extreme form, the programming of children is known as “parental alienation” (PA) and “parental alienation syndrome” (PAS). Parental alienation syndrome symptoms describe the child’s behaviors and attitudes toward the targeted parent after the child has been effectively programmed and severely alienated from the targeted parent. Excessive brainwashing or parental alienation may result in a court cutting back or terminating child custody for the offending parent. Many parents say something like the following to their children as they drop them off at the other residence: “When you come ‘home’ from your ‘visit’ at Dad's house, we’ll do something fun.” This implies that one residence and parent is primary while the other residence and parent are secondary. In certain circumstances, it can even imply that time spent at the primary residence is “fun” while time at the other residence is not. On days when the child is in your care and goes off to school or to a friend’s house, it’s okay to use the term “home”: “When you come home from school, we’ll go to the park for a while.” But if it is a transition day to the other parent’s house, use neutral phrases: “When you come back to my house on Saturday, we’ll . . .” It’s best for the child if parents treat the two residences as equally important, not portraying one as primary and the other as secondary. I hope the term “visit” will someday disappear from divorce vocabulary altogether. Sabotaging joint custody is doing things that make the child’s transi-tion to the other parent more difficult. It can be tearfully saying goodbye when the child leaves your care, thereby making the child reluctant to leave. It can be keeping the child up late watching television or having sleepovers (where not much sleeping is accomplished) on the night before a transition to the other home. This usually results in the child being cranky, tired, and out of sorts at the other parent’s home. If this happens often enough, the child may begin to associate the other parent’s home with being cranky and tired and may grow reluctant to go there. The best script to follow is, “You must go to bed on time tonight. You’re going to Mom’s/Dad’s house tomorrow, and you need to be well-rested because you’re going to be doing lots of fun stuff over there.” It’s important that children know you will be fine without them, and it’s vital that they spend quality time with both parents. Each parent must honor the child’s custody time with the other parent by behaving in ways that make transitions as easy as possible for all concerned. Making negative remarks in an attempt to turn a child against the other parent is an act of emotional violence against both the child and the other parent. A parent is part of a child’s soul. When destructive, negative, critical remarks are made about a parent, it damages a part of the child’s soul, you are sending the message that you despise part of the child. The same is true when the source of those remarks is a relative or family friend. Think back to when you were still in love with your ex; try to recall how much it hurt or angered you when others said unkind or insulting things about your spouse. Or think about how it feels when someone makes derogatory remarks about your family, your race, your religion,your ancestral culture, your political views, your city, your former school or college, your favorite sports team. When a child hears ugly things said by one parent about the other,it hurts deeply. As adults, we have the choice of responding to an insult by making a retort or by walking away. But children aren’t yet prepared to do this. They have no choice but to listen to the hurtful remarks,sometimes year after year. Withholding positive remarks about the other parent is also destruc-tive, in a passive-aggressive way. It is a subtle way of encouraging the child to favor one parent over the other. The best thing we can do for our children is to find ways to say positive things about the other parent. Sometimes this may be extremely difficult, but doing it is an act of love for the child. It makes the child’s feelings our primary concern. These positive statements about the other parent may be small ones(“Your mom/dad was a good tennis player in high school”), but they must be truthful. When children have regular access to both parents, they learn the truth about both parents. Insecure parents may want to limit a child’s access to the other parent, fearing that they will not compare well in the child’s eyes. When parents manipulate a child to validate their own feelings about themselves, they harm the child, who has no real choice and becomes an emotional hostage. Refusing to communicate or cooperate with the other parent or minimizing the existence of the other parent places the adult’s selfish wishes ahead of the child’s need for cooperative joint-parenting. It can also be a way of sabotaging joint custody. Another tactic some parents use is to withhold information about school activities, music or dance recitals, sports activities, doctor and dental appointments, medication instructions, and so on. Some of this may be contrived to make the other parent look and feel foolish or to convince the court that the other parent isn’t involved in the child’s life. (“He shouldn’t be awarded joint custody he doesn’t even know about our child’s medication needs!”) But it may also be done to plant seeds of doubt in the child’s mind, with the hope that he/she may think something like, “Gee, if Dad doesn’t know about my school stuff, he must not care as much as Mom." Yet another level of abuse occurs when the child is asked, perhaps in unspoken ways, to keep secrets from the other parent. The child is manipulated into being a co-conspirator in the withholding of information. Children must not be burdened with the responsibility for keeping secrets about one home from the other parent.You may justify noncommunication with the other parent by thinking, “I’ve never told the children they can’t talk about events or people at my house. If they don’t feel comfortable enough or close enough to the other parent to discuss things freely, it’s another indication that I’m the parent they like the best.” This isn’t true. Children need permission from each parent to speak freely about their life at the other household. You give this permission by communicating openly with the other parent about important events and people in your household and making sure the children know you’ve done this, so they feel safe to express themselves freely in both homes. Whether overtly or by an unspoken understanding, whenever you give your children the message, “Don’t tell Mom/Dad about this,” you are damaging them by putting them in the middle of your conflict with your exspouse. There is brainwashing like this going on in the Cache Valley. A mother is brainwashing her four children against their father. The father is a good man and loves his Children very much. Court visitation is every other weekend, other than that if he calls to talk to them she refuses, if he sees them at sporting events or the grocery store they are forbidden to speak to him or his family, and there have been several times he has went to pick them up on his weekends and her have sent the kids somewhere, them not be home, or the refuse to come to the door. She has completely turned the oldest, a boy, 16, against his father and the next to oldest, a boy, 12, has also stopped going on his weekends. He is still able to get the two youngest, a girl, 10, and a boy, 8, when they are home. Several times they inform their father that their mother "talked one out of coming" or "told him that he'd get a prize if he didn't go". This is wrong and hurtful to the father and the children. This mother is wrong by doing this but the father has no way to make it right or stop her. He loves his kids and spends every minute he can with them. What's a dad to do?

Let us BELIEVE! The United States has a very diverse cultural makeup. Let us just believe in what we choose to and celebrate accordingly. We should have Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech. But if we say Merry Christmas some people are offended. In the work place we are told not to say Merry Christmas, but instead use Happy Holidays. I say let the spirit of giving and loving be our December holiday no matter what name individuals call it. Be tolerant and understanding that we live in a very diversified country. If you expect others to be tolerant of your beliefs, then be just as tolerant of their beliefs as you want them to be of yours.

December holds many holidays celebrated by many different culturals around the world. People have taken the celebration of the birth of Jesus and made a Christmas that fits their own country.

Christians celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. To Christians the Advent meant the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Advent means arrival.

There was a generous bishop by the name of St. Nicholas in the forth-century Turkey, now considered to be the patron saint, or proector of children. The Dutch and German communities celebrate on December 6 in honor of St. Nicholas. The Dutch say that Sint Nikolass or Sinterklass and his helper Zwarte Piet or Black Pete would travel by horse to homes. A pair of polished shoes filled with hay and carrots would be left out by the children. If the children were good it was replaced with candy and gifts. If the children were not good, Black Pete would leave a piece of coal.

St. Lucia Day is celebrated by people from Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Norway and Denmark. A festival of light marks the beginning to celebrate. Lucia meas light. The female playing the role of St. Lucia wears a white dress with a red sash and a crown of candles. She wakes the family at dawn and serves them breakfast. This is celebrated on December 13.

The Hispanic community prepares for the arrival of Christmas with processions called Posadas. This represents the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph on the nine nights before Jesus' birthday. This is celebrated on Decmeber 16-24.

Pagans celebrate Yule also called Mid-Winter or Winter Solstice. This holiday varies from December 20th to December 22nd. No other night of the year stays dark for as long as Yule eve. This is known as the longest night of the year, also the first day of Winter. Winter Solstice if often celebrated with parties and winter customs on December 21 or 22. Solstice means the sun stands still. The winter solstice is the day when the midday sun is at its lowest point above the horizon.

On December 22, the Hopi Indians celebrate Soyaluna.

The Jewish festival of Hunnuka falls around the time of winter solstice and is sometimes called the Festival of Lights.

Kwanzaa is traditionally beginning December 26, families exchange gifts and have African cultural feasts and festivities. It is celebrated for seven days ending on January 1.

On December 26, Canada and Britian celebrate Boxing Day. It is an English custom of giving Christmas boxes containing food or money to family servants and suppliers.

In Lebanon, families plant seeds of grain in smal pots a month before Christmas. When Christmas arrifes they have little pots of green to place around the Christmas Cave and their Cristmas Tree. The Christmas Cave holds the nativit scene of Jesus's birth.

There are many more traditions of celebrations that I have missed. I invite you to research this as I have to have a better understanding of the December holidays.

I wish all of you a very Everything December and the Best New Year!

Do you have a cell phone addiction...or is it just an unhealthy and dangerous obsession?

There is a new religion out there. It's the worshipping of the almighty cell phone. People put it before their jobs, before their family, before safety and before common sense.

No matter where you look nowadays, it seems that most people have a cell phone. As you walk through stores and public places it seems that people are talking to themselves. Oh yeah...they are using a bluetooth headset and are actually talking to someone on the phone! Sometimes I actually believe that they are talking to me. It is hard to tell.

When I see my rural mail carrier talking on the cell phone while delivering the mail, police officers talking on their cell phones while on duty, truck drivers trying to steer their large trucks around a corner with one hand because the other has a cell phone in it, I can't but think that they are not doing the job that they are paid to do. How can they when they are devoting their attention to talking on the phone instead of doing their job or worse yet texting.

Is the employer of these people getting a honest days work from these individuals? I think not! If you are a honest person, you should do your job which you are being paid to do. The time spent on the cell phone could be put to good use for the betterment of your employer and perhaps get you a raise instead of fired!

Because most cell phones have a built in camera, your privacy is also being invaded. Videos and pictures taken from cell phones end up on the Internet and on You Tube. You may never even know that the picture or video with you in it has been posted.

Phillip Sherman, who left his cell phone at a Fayetteville, Ark. McDonald's, is suing McDonald's because the inappropriate photos of his wife on the cell phone ended up on the Internet. Where will it end.

Not all cell phone owners are irresponsible. There are many responsible cell phone owners. They pull over and stop while driving to talk, use telephone manners when taking a call in the presence of others, don't let it interfere with their job, and turn them off when attending church or funerals.

Please use caution with your cell phones. Think about the actions that you take while using your cell phone so that it doesn't endanger others or hurt them in any other way.

As the sun comes up over the mountains, we have beautiful Cache Valley sunrises. Our backyard inhabitants especially enjoy the early morning. For you see the early bird gets the worm. And when our ‘birds’ get the worm, we reap the benefits. Our backyard pets are a breed of silkie chickens.

Originating from China and Japan, silkies are one of the oldest, most beautiful and unique breed of bantam chickens. Silkies do not have the usual feathers. They cannot fly at all like some other chickens, because their feathers do not have the usual form of webs. This makes their feathers look like down or silky hair. They are very affectionate and friendly.

Our pet silkies are not just cute and cuddly, they are so much more. Originally, we just thought we would add some pets. But then came a bonus. Eggs!!! The next plus was the removal of unwanted insects and bugs. Our little ‘chick patrol’ keeps our garden and yard free from a lot of unwanted creepy crawlies. We even get a little benefit of some free fertilizer!

Silkies each have their own personality, and are very fun to watch. They look like little puff balls and come running to great you. They love their sunflower seed treat and prefer to eat it from our hands. There is nothing better than fresh, organic eggs that I do not have to pay for at the grocery store.

Until I attended the Franklin County Farm Bureau Annual Banquet which was held on November 6th, 7:00 pm at the Robinson Building in Preston, Idaho, I just thought that Farm Bureau was just another insurance company. But I must say that I was enlightened that evening. I am not a member of the Farm Bureau. My daughter and I were invited to attend so that we could be awarded our prize money and a certificate for the “Seasons of Agriculture in Idaho” Photo Contest. This was sponsored by the Women’s Leadership Committee of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation.

Dan Garner, President, welcomed a crowd of almost 200 in attendance. We enjoyed a delicious meal catered by Western Dutch Oven Cooking by Brent Sharp of Cub River. Then there were some awards and recognitions of individuals. It seems that Farm Bureau does more than sell insurance. They sponsor scholarships and have projects to better the community.

Sharon Bergquist honored Brinn Cook their Fanklin County Junior Miss Scholarship winner and the State Jr. Miss First Runner up.

Larin Crossley, a teacher at Preston High School was presented the Friends in Agriculture Service Award by Richard Free, County Vice-President.

Sue Priestley honored Lorraine Povey who was chosen as Franklin County Farm Bureau Woman of the Year 2008-2009 for Franklin County and will now go on to compete in the State competition.

At the Franklin County Fair in August, the Farm Bureau Women sponsored a “Seasons of Agriculture Contest in Franklin County”. For each winner in each age division and the overall Grand Prize winner, cash awards were given. These were not small cash prizes either. The Women’s Leadership Committee of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation in Pocatello, Idaho also sponsored a photo contest for the “Seasons of Agriculture in Idaho”. Grand Prize was $100. First Place in each age division was $50. Money was also awarded for second and third places.

There were four Franklin County residents that were awarded prize money and certificates for the state photo contest. The winners photos will be published in a calendar also. Ann Moedl presented the awards to Connie Adair, First place in the 21 & over, Shera Adair, First and Third place in the 13 to 20, Bailey Ransom, Second in the under 12, and Oakley Ransom, Third in the under 12.

Members were asked to bring a canned food item(s) to help the local food bank. This was just another example of the good that this organization does for the community. I understand that the banquet was a smooth success mostly due to the efforts of Sharon Bergquist, Women’s Chairman, Sue Priestly, member of the County Board of Directors, and Maxine Waddoups, Secretary.

Even though my daughter and I were not members, we felt very welcome and the warmth and friendliness of the Farm Bureau Family was astounding. Thank you for sharing and caring.

This weekend while taking an autumn drive in the forest, I came upon an unusual sight. A quaking aspen tree displayed a very unusual form. It was so unique that I thought it was worthy of a picture for my collection. After viewing the picture of this tree, I thought to myself that this little tree really wanted to survive in this world. Growing straight and tall for a period of time, life must have dealt it a blow, and it began to bow down under the pressure. But then something happened, and the little quaking aspen turned its life around and once again began reaching for the sky.

The lesson that this tree has for all of us is that even if life seems to get you down, turn it around and make the best of it. Of all the trees in the forest that day, only one caught my eye long enough to stop and capture its life.

Are you lovers up for the challenge? See if you can top this one. East of Preston and just south of “P” hill is a message from a husband still in love after 40+ years to his wife. And, yes, this is his one and only wife. Who says romance is dead. You younger generation better take note. Something like this could save you from divorce court.

The message has been disced into grain stubble for the whole world to see (Or at least Cache Valley). So this is quite a large display of love. This Peg is one lucky lady!

It’s been two weeks since I lost my tail. One day this yellow and white cat called Peaches caught me. He roughed me up and when I woke up I had no tail feathers.

Then this long-haired grey manx cat called Smokie gently picks me up in her mouth and takes me to the house. She makes this strange noise to signal the humans in the house. They come out and take me into the house. After being looked over, I am given some nectar and placed in this bird cage. Without my tail feathers, I cannot fly. So I just use my wings to get around in the cage. My new friend, Smokie, who I owe my life to, checks in occasionally to see how I am doing. I must say that staring into cat eyes does still frighten me, but then I remember her gentleness of being carried in her mouth without harming me further.

I have adjusted to my cage and can get around from feeder to feeder now. I have heard the humans talking that if I would hurry and grow some tail feathers, that they will see if I can fly and be returned to the outdoors.

But for now, I just enjoy my life without a tail. The small human called Shera takes care of me. She even gives me my baths. My feathers become sticky so that I require a q-tip bath.

Well, who says it’s not a bird’s life. I will just enjoy my vacation until the feathers appear and I will be able to fly away.

—Humming Bird as told to Connie Adair