From Dad May 29, 2016

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Re: Letter 75 of 3

Dear Riley:

It’s hard to believe that the next time I sit down to write, Cambry Parish will be Mrs. Hernandez. Things are at a fever pitch and I’m rather glad that I have only one wedding related task to stress over. As I consider how the week will shape up, I realize I won’t have much time to work on the wedding video especially when my Indian guests arrive. This letter will be brief so I can focus on making progress on it. I miss my missionary especially during this significant event.

I really enjoyed your last letter. It sounds like you have a pretty effective companionship that magnifies the unique strengths of each of you. Very cool experiences with the Spirit.

The weather has been quite cool and wet. This has favored truly incredible lettuce which, with a little help from micronized volcanic rock, has a depth and complexity of flavor you simply won’t find in any commercially grown greens. I finally got my peppers and most of my tomatoes planted about two weeks later than the ideal. This year will just be this way. The other evening I stepped out into the garden for some night reconnaissance. I knew I had a snail issue and was determined to eradicate the problem once and for all or at least get an idea of what I was up against. What I found was astounding. Over 100 snails from small to enormous were covering an area just 10 feet across. They were chewing my rhubarb leaves to ribbons even though the leaves are supposed to be poison. Many of them were lined up along the water’s edge in the ditch which made them easy pickings. I threw so many against the cement ditch bank that my arm started to ache, so I got a bag and filled it up. I moved to the side of the house and went through the flower beds. Within thirty feet I had filled a quart bag to capacity. (This is with snail bait I had already spread around earlier.) A quick trip through my microwave left them in pieces but I’m fairly confident I didn’t put much of a dent in the local population. Did I mention we’ve had a lot of rain? They remind me of the Borg in Star Trek; slow, relentless, multiplying, overpowering, and completely effective at assimilating any living plant in their path.

It appears my bees have made it through that initial difficult phase. It’s a happy thing for me to see them hustling to and fro. The owner of Utah Valley Fruit Growers was commenting on the poor pollination of his fruit crops this year and what a poor harvest he was anticipating. It made me glad that I had the advantage of the pollinating power of several thousand bees just through the fence. It seems to have already paid big dividends as my trees are loaded with fruit. Just think, some of these apples I’m tending will be eaten by you.

The highlight of last week was Parker’s High School graduation. It was a little tense leading up to the final days, but he pulled it off. He’s been sleeping a lot since, but now he can get down to task earning money through the summer for college and a mission. The plan is that he will work with me. As I consider the crossroads just around the corner as kids grow up and move on, I want to take advantage of these final months to build the relationship.

Well, I’m going to sign off. We pray for you daily and many members follow your progress on the blog. I’m just so grateful that you chose to serve a mission and wish more of my youth were focused on preparing for a mission. You remember the V don’t you? Well they now live in Uncle JP’s ward, so I get to keep tabs on them. N just received his call and will be leaving in July I think. Can’t remember exactly where he was called, but I believe it’s stateside. Anyway, that was good to hear. Take care and keep working hard. We’ll be thinking of you especially this week.

Love,
Dad

P.S. Got to step into the garden for some night reconnaissance!