The Great Outdoors Continued....

Pineview Reservoir and Ogden Valley

Old Snowbasin Road

Pineview Reservoir and Ogden Canyon

Pineview Reservoir and Ogden Valley

The Great Outdoors

One of the places I love to go is the outdoors. It doesn't matter where it is as long as the scenery is awesome. However, I am partial to the mountains and enjoy spending time hiking or biking along the trails. The beauty and serenity makes the pain (especially on bike) well worth it. Even if I'm not on a trail I do enjoy taking a drive up the mountain and around the different loops. It's a peaceful time to enjoy the natural beauty of this planet. No piece of art, be it painting, photograph, sculpture, music, etc, can ever fully capture the beauty that the natural eye and ear can take in. These things do help us remember and show others our experiences...but nothing compares to actually being there and witnessing it first hand.
Being out in nature is a good time to ponder and reflect on one's life, past, present, and future. It's also a perfect time to give thanks to God and reflect and appreciate his works. We know the science behind how mountains and valleys are formed, but it's still amazing every time I look upon them. I feel grateful every time I'm on the trails to just be able to be there and appreciate them. I'm grateful for the health that I have that allows me to get out there and hit the trails as well. Although I wish I had more time, I am grateful for the little time that I do have to go out and enjoy.
This week I've had off of school and so I've returned to Ogden to be with family and friends. I took some time to go on one of my favorite scenic drives and also hit the trails with some friends. Whenever I go out in nature I always take a camera. Below are just some of the images that I captured while biking or driving.

Wheeler Creek Trail (Snow Basin in backrground)

Wheeler Canyon
The trip is about 2.71 miles from the start to end point. It took less than two hours and we climbed from 4800 ft to around 5700 ft.

Political Basketball 2

Looking back on the 2007-2008 season we saw some amazing basketball teams surge into contendership. Boston has had an amazing season going 66/16 and dominating the east, this in contrast to their 0/16 start last season. It helps when you have a great starting line up of Kevin Garnet, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce with a great supporting cast (mainly Rajon Rondo, James Posey, the rookie Glen "Big Baby" Davis, and then throwing Sam Cassell in the mix later on). Since the beginning of the season they were picked to claim the Eastern Conference championship but have not shown that same caliber in the playoffs. They were the only team to go seven games in the first round (chalk one up for the Hawks giving a great performance), and it looks like they will be going seven games this series against Cleveland as well. Now there are other teams in the East that have done well but when you compare the East to the West there are no comparisons. At the beginning of the playoffs there was a 29 game disparity between first place and eighth place (a seven game difference between first and second). In the West however spots 1-6 weren't claimed until the final games of the regular season, a seven point disparity between first and eighth, and no more than a three game difference between first through sixth. The West is the toughest it's ever been and we all expected amazing playoff bouts.
As we look at the playoffs we see teams four through eight going out in the first round. Lakers swept the Nuggets, Spurs took Phoenix in five, New Orleans killed Dallas in five, and the Jazz took Houston in six. Coming into the second round we see New Orleans blowing out San Antonio at all three games in NO only to see San Antonio claiming every one of their homecourt games. The Lakers-Jazz series has show home court victories in all five games so far with an expect Jazz win in SLC tonight. So we expect to see both NO/SA and LA/Utah series going the full seven games, and the Western Conference Finals is expected to take all seven as well.
So is all this due to amazing basketball? Yes and no. The West is tough and every team still in has a legitimate claim to the title but in my mind the games haven't been what I expected them to be. I expected a 6-7 game series with most games coming down to the wire but we've seen more blowouts in these playoffs than ever, and these are high quality teams that shouldn't be getting blown out. This all goes along with my theory of political basketball.
For many years the sport has been catering to the fans and the $$$$$ they pay. Look at the switch from a best of five first round series to a best of seven, guaranteeing more income. Every series longer than four games only guarantees added revenue for the NBA and it's affiliates (TV and radio stations that broadcast the games). Are the teams responsible for this or is it the organization? Logic would easily point to the organization rather than a combined team effort. Think about it...which franchise would give up the opportunity to claim the Championship Title? Having a Title helps maintain fan base and also increase revenue for that team. No one is going to give that up so the teams are not going to prolong the series when they know they can easily take it. However, NBA officials aren't under the ownership of the individual franchises.
Look at the Spurs-Hornets game from last night. Even just going to NBA.com and looking at the highlights will give any objectively based viewer an glimpse of what I mean (http://youtube.com/watch?v=rkjTzZDOon0) . The many offensive calls charged against NO are questionable and a great theatrical show from SA, Bowen being the lead actor. SA is great for flopping and playing dirty and getting the officials to go for it. Just watch the highlights (of interesting note is to compare and contrast the game highlights from NBA's top 5 plays of that night, all in hornets favor http://youtube.com/watch?v=36hsD0Og5Y4). For my comments on the Lakers-Jazz game 5 just go to my earlier post. Can we get a non-biased ref to come in and fairly call the game? What if we hired independent officials (maybe from the European league) to come in and officiate our playoff games? Unfortunately there's not much we can do about this as fans. Why? Because we want to see our teams win and if it takes seven games then we'll pay for it.

Political Basketball

Now I'm not one to usually blame the refs for a bad game. If a team can't win it's not because of the refs making, or not making, calls...it's because the team couldn't pull it together when it counted. Similar to the Jazz-Lakers game 5 tonight where the Jazz lost. The game started out horribly! Turnover after turnover for the Jazz giving the Lakers 20 points alone off of turnovers in the half. However the Jazz didn't go down. In fact, they hung in and made an amazing comeback in the third quarter to tie the game going into the fourth. The first half of the fourth the Jazz remained within one or two points of the Lakers. However, every opportunity we got to take the lead we just simply couldn't do it. The Jazz had a great second half and could've won this game. So what's my deal? It was the horrible officiating done by the refs! I am convinced that the NBA wants to see a Lakers-Boston match up for the playoffs. When two players go down right in front of an official while chasing a loose ball and he doesn't call it but the official in the backcourt does, there is a problem. When Harpring clearly plants his feat and stands for a good one second before Gasol gets to the hoop and is met with a knee to the chest by Gasol and no charge is called, there is a problem. When Bryant can wrap up a defender and push him out of the way with no foul called, there is a problem. When Boozer grabs a board and tries to go back up but is plastered between Odom and Gasol and no foul called, there is a problem. When Odom drives into an open lane with no one around but still, for some unknown reason, draws a Utah foul for the "and one", there is a problem. http://youtube.com/watch?v=xSzkzTn6cpw for highlights, pay particular attention to the 4th quarter ones. (Times 1:11 and 1:32 give excellent example.)
Now I'm not saying the Lakers won because of the refs. They stepped up when they needed to and Utah didn't. However, the Lakers don't need any extra help by the officiating crew just so the two most popular teams in the NBA can meet in the playoffs. Either let them play good hard ball or call the game even on both ends of the court.
Prediction: Jazz played the best game in LA that they've played in a long time. Utah has the best home record and will continue to dominate at the Delta Center (ESA) in game 6. If Utah can play with the same intensity that they played in game 5 then they have a shot at stealing game 7 in LA. Just remember the Utah-Houston match up last year in the playoffs.

5/15/08
And if there were any of you thinking that I'm only complaining because I'm a Jazz fan and the Jazz lost, well there is some truth to that. However, here is a little snippet from J.A. Adande, an ESPN.com writter, "When the Jazz got close to the basket, there was more contact than in a rush-hour crowd shoving into the subway, but rarely a blown whistle. Meanwhile, at the other end, Lamar Odom breezed past Carlos Boozer for a layup and got a gift and-one...The question now is if the Lakers can expect to win Game 6 in Utah, where the calls didn't always go their way in Games 3 and 4..."

Mother's Day 2008

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there! What better way can we spend this beautiful sunny Mother’s Day then by visiting those women who raised us and taught us those values that we have come to cherish and hopefully we have taught to others (that and watching the Jazz beat the Lakers in overtime to tie the series at two a piece). We each show appreciation to our mothers in various different ways; some by gifts, others by cards and flowers, and others by a simple “I Love You,” to each his own. Sometimes though, like many other internationally-recognized commercial holidays, I feel we lose track of what this day really means. Let’s take a quick trip back in time.

Contrary to popular belief Mother's Day was not created by Hallmark. Mother’s Day is internationally recognized as a day to honor those very special women who not only gave us life but also raised us despite the huge inconvenience it created in their lives. Among the many different nations Mother’s Day is celebrated on different days of the May (and sometimes different months) but the majority of them focus on the value of honoring mothers. Mother’s Day has different origins in different countries. It is believe to have originally started in Greece where the goddess Cybele, the Greek great mother of gods, was honor each Vernal Equinox. That celebration later was celebrated through out Asia Minor and Rome. The Romans also held a Mother’s Day of their own known as “Matronalia” that was dedicated to the goddess Juno.

Going back farther into time we learn that mothers were celebrated in ancient Israel. The fifth commandment given to Moses is that of “honor thy father and thy mother.” The Lord didn’t specify to Moses on which particular day they should be honored. Jacob (later known as Israel) named his last born son Benjamin (‘son of the right hand”) to honor his then dying wife Rachel. The Old Testament is filled with countless stories of righteous mothers and the influences they had in their children’s lives; Hannah, mother of Samuel, being one example. The final verses of the Proverbs are dedicated to the qualities of a righteous mother. In the New Testament we find the teaching of the Savior concerning his own mortal mother and the care and love that He showed unto her. If we go back to the beginning we learn that Eve's name is derived from the fact the she is "the mother of all living."

In the British Isles there is a Sunday known as “Mothering Sunday” which falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent. The saints celebrate this Sunday by visiting their “mother church” (home ward) thus reuniting the families. It is believed that this started during the 16^th century. Due to its Catholic origin the day is also used to celebrate Mary and the Mother Church.

The U.S. tradition was very loosely inspired by the British tradition but came around during the time of the American Civil War. It was not an attempt to recognize mothers but an attempt to improve sanitation. It was started by Ann Jarvis in 1859 and she wanted to improve the sanitation for soldiers and workers for both sides. She called the day “Mother’s Work Day.” Her work inspired another woman, Julia Ward Howe, in 1870 to write what is called the “Mother’s Day Proclamation” (referenced later) as a call for mothers to rise up and promote peace. Although her attempts for “Mothers Day of Peace” failed, Howe’s work would influence many others. After the death of Ann Jarvis, her daughter, Anna Jarvis, would continue mom’s crusade in gaining recognition for women. It started in 1907 when she passed out 500 carnations to the women of her local community in Grafton, West Virginia. One year later of May 10, 1908 the first Mother’s Day was celebrated at that same church where Jarvis had passed out the flowers. The day of Sunday was chosen to represent this special occasion because of its sacredness among Christians. The tradition spread quickly among 46 states and President Wilson declared it an national holiday in 1914.

Unfortunately, nine years later, corporate America got hold of the idea that this sacred day could be exploited for a profit. Jarvis then became an opponent to what Mother’s Day had become. Here are a few stats on the amount of money spent on Mother’s Day: it is the most popular day to dine out ($3.51 billion), $2.6 billion dollars are spent on flowers alone with another $1.53 billion spent on pampering gifts with $68 million spent on cards. 7.8% of the jewelries annual income is generated from this day. Ironically enough, the first Mother’s Day held back in West Virginia was originally financed by a clothing company.

Now I’m not saying Mother’s Day is a bad thing, in fact its origins are that of noble character. However, to the world, it has become another day of record breaking profits. Let us not only take back Mother’s Day and celebrate it for its true purpose, but also remember that these women deserved to be honored every day of the year. They gave (give) us of their very best and ask nothing in return. It is our mothers that have the greatest influence on our lives and only should the Lord come before them in our lives. If there are any among you that have unjust reservations against your mothers I urge you to reconcile those differences. Also, Mothers, the same for you...reconcile your differences with your children even if you are not to blame. I close with Howe’s “Mother’s Day Proclamation.”

“Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.”

Julia Ward Howe, 1870

Happy Mother’s Day!

Choices

Why is it that we do the things we do? What is the mechanism behind our actions? What drives that mechanism? That is a question that I have been working over lately. Why do we keep/follow the commandments of God? What drives us to do so? There are many different reasons I’ve come across and some of them call for a little personal introspection. Do I fear the consequences? Am I looking for blessings? Do I do it solely because I’ve been taught to all my life? Are these the reasons that drive me?

The prophet Jarom, while recounting the history of the Nephites, told of how there was a great need for prophets and teachers to diligently teach and exhort the people to constantly perform good works and learn the principle of enduring to the end. They taught the people the law of Moses and the “intent to which it was given.” Jarom goes on to say that these teachings “pricked” the hearts of the people and it did continually stir them to repentance. Taking this example we can see that these people did good works, but were constantly being prodded to do so. Had they been left to their own volition they most likely would have not made those right choices. Earlier, Enos said that “there was nothing save it was exceeding harshness, preaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually reminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things – stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction.” Again, these people did righteous and good works…but what was the mechanism behind these works? For some it was the fear of death, for others it was the judgments of God, but the commonality among them was that, for whatever reason, it was for the convenience of the individual.

For the convenience of that individual? Do we do things solely to benefit ourselves? Is that why we obey the commandments? Would we still obey them if there were no blessings or punishments? Sadly I think we wouldn’t. We’re not at that state of being. We’re mortal and carnal and selfishness is primary nature. Read the words of the Lord in Isaiah 443:23-24:

“Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.”

Israel had been given a law and was commanded to follow it. But, as the Lord says, they wouldn’t even do those things that would be pleasing unto the Lord. However, when it came time to reconcile their sins and iniquities they were willing to let the Lord take care of them (made me to serve with thy sins = atonement). Only when it’s convenient would Israel turn to the Lord and obey His commandments. Many times, that’s how we are as well. But does it have to remain that way?

We have been given an amazing gift that no other creation on this world has been given. That is the gift of agency. This is much more than just choosing right and wrong. It is the ability to better ourselves and those around us through the choices and actions that we make. At first we need to be guided to doing the right thing. This is done through a system of rewards and punishments based on our actions. While this at first serves to help us understand what it is that the Lord wants from us we must eventually come to the realization that we are capable of so much more. We are capable of making decisions because we know them to be the right ones, not just the ones that will get us blessings or spare us punishments. We can learn to make choices because they please the Lord and know that that is what he wants of us.

The perfect example to follow is that of our Savior. When studying his life in the scriptures I challenge you to find anything he did that was for his benefit or personal comfort. When asked why he did what he did his response was always that it was “the will of the Father.”

What kind of society would we live in if the choices we made were based on how they would affect the lives of others? What if we were to be constantly checking our actions against the pros and cons? Consider the words of the Buddha:

“He who for the sake of happiness does not hurt others who also want happiness, shall hereafter find happiness.” (Dhammapada 10:132, pg 54)

Now there might be individual benefit in doing good to others, as in finding happiness, but what if everyone were to do good. Would we not all find happiness?

In summary, there is always a right and wrong choice to make. For many of us the problem isn’t distinguishing between the two, it is understanding the reason why the right is right and the wrong is wrong then choosing based on that knowledge and not based on a balance between rewards and consequences.

May Update

I guess it’s time for an update. It’s been almost a month since my last timeline entry and a few things have happened since then.

Since the beginning of the semester I have had the opportunity to work at an internship with the Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) in their mental health program. For the past four months I have been going in two or three times a week for a couple of hours each day and working with the psychiatrist and PA that manage the medications of many patients. For the first couple of weeks I just shadowed and watched but have been thrown into the mix and now see my own patients and write my own notes. Granted at the end of each session I present my case to my preceptors and they see the patient for a couple of minutes. There is not much I can do in regards to treatment for these patients because of my extreme lack of knowledge in psychiatry (we actually just started studying it today) but getting a history and making an assessment as to how the patient is is what I’m getting out of this internship. I really do not have a desire to continue in psychiatry but I believe that the interviewing and listening skills I learn with psych patients will greatly improve those skills in the medical realm. Plus, even in the medical setting there will be many times that I will see patients where knowledge of psychiatry will be beneficial. One such instance happened just last week.

I went and volunteered at the Pocatello Free Clinic, a community center for those who cannot afford healthcare. The first patient that I saw came in with a complaint of an adverse reaction to her lithium medication. Lithium is used to treat many disorders like bi-polar disorder and major depression. In some patients lithium can cause feelings of anxiety, nervousness, shakiness, and other similar symptoms. These reactions are very common with a dosage schedule of one in the morning and one at night. This patient was presenting with these symptoms and also dosing schedule. Ironically enough, just last week I saw a similar case while doing my internship at DHW, same symptoms same dosing schedule. Because of this experience I was able to quickly recognize the problem and also have a treatment plan.

Today I was able to use my Spanish skills to interpret for someone. I went with one of our instructors and some other students to the free clinic to perform a mole removal on a Hispanic, non English-speaking, patient. Not only did I get to interpret but we were also given a lesson on biopsies and skin lesion removals. We didn’t get to perform the procedure of the removal but we all got turns cauterizing the wound afterwards. I’ve been on the other end of the cauterizer before and would much rather prefer cauterizing than being cauterized.

Also this past week we have been covering orthopaedics. Out of the different modules we have been studying I think I have liked this one the most. It seems more hands on. Ok, it is more hands on. We got to practice splinting and casting techniques and also the different examination skills to evaluate an orthopaedic complaint. This is one of the fields that I have been considering going into. This upcoming weekend I will be assisting the medical team at a lacrosse tournament. All though we hope there will be no injuries I will be looking forward to putting into practice these new skills.

The weather has started to warm up. Idaho however just doesn’t seem to want to let go of winter. Yesterday and Monday got up to around 70 and were pretty nice days. Today however, it was stormy and only got up to 45 or so. With the weather warming up I’m looking forward to the upcoming water-ski season. Now it won’t be the same as other years I’m still looking forward to getting in what I can. The major deterrent will be school. Yes, I will have classes five days a week eight hours a day during the summer. Gas, at $3.50/gal now, will be the next factor limiting the amount of skiing. Whatever I get I will be happy with though. I’ve already started preparing myself by watching biff videos that we have made in the past.

Only three months left of classroom work. I’ll get a month break in Aug and then start my clinical rotations. I like the times I get to go to clinic and I’m looking forward to these rotations. I feel I learn and remember more when out practicing and experiencing it for myself, not just from a textbook.

The NBA playoffs are in full force right now with many teams already in the second round. Unfortunately the Spurs and Lakers are found amongst that group. The Jazz should’ve been there as well but haven’t quite realized that they have to learn how to put a team away and win! It seems that Williams is the only one that realizes the importance of these games and it shows but his intensity of play. It’s time the other big players (Boozer and Memo) wake up and step up their games. Go Jazz! (Also go New Orleans! They’re playing the Spurs in the 2^nd round).