Hell's Revenge

“We’re going on a Dino hunt!” – Landon Johnson

Hell’s Revenge

There are some places that are magical just on their own. One wouldn’t think it would be possible to make such places even more enchanted.  Just ask Mike Ballard, United States Marine Veteran and owner of Big Iron Tours in Moab, Utah.

Mike, who was born and raised in Moab, says, “I always had a strong desire to serve in the military.”  So, shortly after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Marines and served two deployments. After separating from the Marines, he studied aviation and worked for a number of years as a helicopter pilot. But, he had a wife and three kids at home. Mike soon came to realize that his helicopter life wasn’t healthy for his family.  So, after months of discussion, Mike and Regan, his wife, decided it was time to take their family home to Moab.  Because as much as Mike loved working as a helicopter pilot, he wanted to give his kids the same magical childhood he enjoyed, roaming some of the most imaginative landscapes our world has to offer.  And, perhaps his childhood hasn’t really ended.

When four-year-old Landon Johnson climbed into Mike’s sandstone cliff crawling Jeep with his mother Kilee, his voice boomed, “We’re going on a Dino hunt!”  To which Mike called back enthusiastically, “We sure are!”  Then they drove off toward Hell’s Revenge slick-rock trail on their amazing adventure.

When they came upon the initial climb up the thrilling spine of the trail’s entrance, Landon looked out through the windows of the Jeep and called out, “We’re driving on the spine of a huge dragon!” It was a fitting conclusion for a boy, who lives his live imaginatively; as the view from atop the thin rail of sandstone was long and narrow, with a sheer cliff drop on each side.  It is enough to cause many, rational thinking humans, to grip the Jeep’s hand-holds in a different sheer.  Sheer terror!

But, Landon is a boy who saw much more than life changing, magnificent scenery, while traversing Hell’s Revenge. When he saw real Dinosaur footprints memorialized in the rock, his face lit up brighter than the late afternoon sun, that was seemingly baking his expanding imagination, like a cake rising in a pastry chef’s oven.  He began to encyclopedically recite the names of many dinosaurs and asked Mike to find their exact footprints in the stone.

“My work is like living on vacation.”  Mike said to Landon toward the end of their time together.

Yet, this adventure revealed much more. Yes, there are some places that are magical just on their own. And one wouldn’t think it would be possible to make such places even more enchanted.  Yet, on this day, a two hour tour with Landon, a four-year-old who lives his life imaginatively allowed Mike Ballard to see that even the magnificent is somehow transformed into something even more special through the magic of imagination.

Daily Miracles

“Daily Miracles are there for each one of us to savor and enjoy if we will simply notice, stop and become a witness.  They transform plain-old-life into a kaleidoscope of wonder and splendor.” - Kilee Johnson

Daily Miracles

“I was trying to finish tying up the last two tomato plants in my garden.  The late evening was already getting dark enough that Garrison was holding a flashlight so I could see.”

Of course, Kilee Johnson, a self-described ‘workaholic” had worked well over a full day in her management position at the Sam’s Club corporate headquarters. This late spring evening was her time to be with her family and pour new energy into her soul by tending to her amazing vegetable garden.  As with all things she focuses on, her attention was singular; finish this one more task.  She was racing to get to the end of the same imaginary daily finish line it seems as if so many of us are driven toward.  Garrison, her husband, was seeing something completely different, during the same time and in the same place.

While holding the flashlight to illuminate the twine and vines, he took a moment to look east, over their backyard fence, toward an expansive view of taller green grass being sporadically illuminated.  It was their evening-twinkling-season.

The evening-twinkling-season in Arkansas is the time of year when the fireflies come out to brighten our planet with their bioluminescence.  As darkness begins its daily creep, overrunning the sunlight, these amazing insects begin to shine; one here and one there, often by the hundreds.  It is a delightful spectacle!

“Stop and come look at this!”  Garrison said as he abandoned his flashlight duties to gaze over their backyard fence to take in the evening sparkle.

“Do I need to come right now?  Can’t I finish stringing these two plants first?  They’re the only two I have left to complete!” Kilee begged.

“Come now!”  He replied, somehow knowing that what he was experiencing would change everything about the day to each of the witnesses.

She came!  Both of them stood, wide-eyed watching bright dashes of illumination dancing above and through silhouettes of bladed grass.  It was a moment to cherish that Kilee would have missed without Garrison’s insightful insistence.

“I was trying to finish tying up the last two tomato plants in my garden.  The late evening was already getting so dark that Garrison was holding a flashlight so I could see. I don’t know why I don’t take the time to see the daily miracles around me!”   Kilee said as she narrated her experience, while looking out across the magnificence of the sun setting over the Great Salt Lake during a visit to Utah. “Daily Miracles are there for each one of us to savor and enjoy if we will simply notice, stop and become a witness.  They transform plain-old-life into a kaleidoscope of wonder and splendor.”

Getting Back on That Horse!

“His eyes opened and said, ‘Get me back on that horse!’. – Donetta Anderson

Getting Back on That Horse!

“My uncle is eighty-years old and he is still the toughest guy I know!”  Donetta Anderson vivaciously said.

Then, she went on to paint a vivid picture of this classic cowboy relative, still living and working on his ranch in Idaho.

“One day he was rounding up a big bull while partnering with his trusted horse.  When, all of a sudden, the bit broke, causing an abrupt change of pressure in the horse’s mouth!  This caused the horse to rear, throwing my uncle to the ground, where he lost his hat and hit his head.”

His twelve-year-old grandson, who was working with his beloved grandfather, walked apprehensively toward his grandpa’s seemingly-lifeless body.  Being of a young age and with limited experience he was unsure of what to do.

“Grandpa?”  He whispered hoarsely, with fear and expectation.

Seconds later, Grandpa’s eyes popped open and the old cowboy said, “Get me back on that horse!”

Donetta’s eyes brightened before she said, “They don’t make men like that anymore!”

And, Oh!  Grandpa told his grandson to simply take him home so he could rest after they got the pull put safely in the corral.

Upon returning to his own home, the boy told his dad what had happened and how he was worried whether he had done the right thing by leaving the old cowboy alone.  That’s when the boy’s father went to Grandpa’s house, the home where he grew up, to check on him.

“I’m just going to hole-up here until I heal!”  Grandpa said.

His son, of course, took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with broken ribs and a concussion.  And, in caring fashion, the son took his aged father home so he and his family could care for him until he was well and strong again.

“Sometimes we forget how strong our familial stock was and is!”  Donetta said with a smile.

We all come from such good and tough ancestry! Yet, it’s easy for us to forget about the well-earned magnificence of the tough people that birthed us, as we struggle to navigate the challenges that naturally occur while going about our lives.  At times, it may feel as if we’re going through things that no others have ever struggled through.  So, the real-life tale of an iconic old cowboy, a tough old bird, is just what we need to be reminded that such a person is more than a representation of the old west.  He is a living symbol of whence we came and the strength we have deep within our souls.

“My uncle is eighty-years old and he is still the toughest guy I know!”  Donetta vivaciously said.

And, by the way, sometimes all of us, no matter how tough, can enjoy the loving, caring and compassionate grace of those dear to us, so we can “get back on that horse” after we’ve been knocked down to the ground!

Welcome Shelter

"Man feels his utter helplessness when any of the primal forces gets out of control and there is no parallel to the thoughts that come on such occasions ... But even bad east winds pass away and after them comes the calm." – Charles Mabey

Welcome Shelter

“Did you hear that wind blowing all night and morning?”  Annie, my daughter, said as she walked into our kitchen for breakfast.

Her words seemed to blow the dust from my memory and I recalled what former Utah Governor Charles Mabey (governor of Utah from 1921 to 1925) said about such big blows.

Speaking of wind, he wrote, "Every resident . . . can tell his own personal story of the wind and its pranks. When he sits in his room and listens to the creaking timbers, the straining roof and the rattling windows and watches the panes of glass bend inwardly from the pressure, wondering whether the house can stand the added burden if the window should go out.

"As he sees his neighbor's haystack, or his barn door, or his roof go sailing he knows there is nothing he can do about it. He must sit there and take it.”

"Man feels his utter helplessness when any of the primal forces gets out of control and there is no parallel to the thoughts that come on such occasions ... But even bad east winds pass away and after them comes the calm."

Later, on the same, still windy day, Governor Maybe’s words were still breezing through my mind as I drove west on Utah Highway 201, thinking, it seems as if innumerable “bad east winds” are causing you and me to feel the same “utter helplessness” Governor Maybe described.  And, while we’ve had our share of high velocity southerly winds lately, perhaps the most taxing winds we face are current economic and social gales.  Such were the thoughts that caused me to slow my car a little and then pull over at the historical marker for “Toronto’s Cave.”

In Utah’s early days, this roadside cave provided travelers with a natural and welcome shelter for both man and beast. In 1860 it served as a Pony Express Station and later it morphed into a stopping place for the Overland Mail. It’s named after Joseph Toronto who was one of the early pioneer owners.

“Welcome shelter!”  I said noticeably, while reading that historical marker’s text before climbing back into my car and increasing my speed once again toward home. 

Over the past few months, our homes have, perhaps for the first time, become our homes rather than just a house.  When a house becomes a home, it becomes a welcome shelter. 

Imaginably, the very best example of this magical transformation was described to me just yesterday by my friend Ren Knudsen when he said, “We’ve lived here for more than forty years now.  We raised our children and they bring our grandchildren here.  They all still love it.  They know it’s more than just a house.  It’s where our memories of love and safety are.  It’s where our hearts are.  It’s hard to visualize ever leaving this, our place.”

Listening to Ren’s description of what a welcome shelter is made is easy for me to see the importance of reducing the speed of life, as well as the number of invited intrusions.  When I visit him, he’s completely focused on our conversations as well as on building our relationship of trust.  Time in his home is never spent competing with a television, radio or other electronic device.  We talk.  I learn about his children and their spouses.  I see photos of his grandchildren and their accomplishments.  I feel warm, safe, and welcome when I’m there.  Life’s troubles seem to be held at bay, even though we know that the wind is still fiercely blowing “out there.”  And as a result, somehow, when I’m in Ren and Linda Knudsen’s home I no longer feel neither helpless nor hopeless!

People only feel utter helplessness when primal forces get out of control and they have no welcome shelter to turn to.  The welcome shelter we can offer our families, friends and neighbors right now is more than a match for the continuous, ferocious winds blowing around us.  Because our welcome shelters confirm, to our hearts, that all bad winds will pass away and that the expected calm that will come then, will simply be a welcomed companion to the calm we created during the raging storm.

“Did you hear that wind blowing all night and morning?”  Annie, my daughter, said as she walked into our kitchen for breakfast.

“Yes.”  I replied.  “Wasn’t it wonderful to be here, together, in peace, comfort, love and safety!”

Miracle of Compounding

“It is amazing how much a person can remember in just seconds!” – Matt Warnock

Miracle of Compounding

“I was in a motorcycle accident.”  My friend Matt Warnock said, when I called to confirm our meeting.

A couple of days before our telephone conversation, Matt and one of his brothers were touring in Utah’s Mountains on motorcycles. The weather and the conditions were perfect.  The day was perfect.  That is until a sharp turn on a windy canyon road also caused a sharp turn in Matt’s physical condition.

Two days later Matt and I were talking as we drove between appointments. 

“I must have caught the foot peg on the road!  It brought me down to the asphalt in a sudden slide.”  He said.

“It is amazing how much a person can remember in just seconds!”

He was filling me in on his accident as well as recounting some of his seemingly disparate life experiences.  I say seemingly dissimilar because his stories occurred in vastly different phases and times in his life.  Our conversation was far from following a linear path.  Yet, I was beginning to see how these varied experiences had somehow coalesced into the wonderful man he is.

I guess Matt could have revealed the story of his life in a straight, time-line, fashion.  How easy it would be to assemble his tales into an easy to understand, linear format.  Yet, to do so it would detract from the miracle sitting next to me.

His manner of telling his personal story, through the principle of compounding gives insight into how life really works.  There are lots of pieces to puzzle together.  Lots of experiences and surprises.  Perhaps, to make our lives less complex, it’s sometimes easier for one to think in a simplified, time-line manner.  But, to do so is akin to creating a black and white film and then, decades later giving it over to others, who were not part of its original creation, to colorize it without knowing any of the important details of place, time and participation. Such a process yields a cheap reproduction at best.

Compounding is the process in which an asset’s earnings are reinvested to generate additional earnings over time.  This growth occurs because the investment will generate earnings from both its initial principal and the accumulated earnings from preceding periods.  Only those who truly understand the principle of compounding can grasp its power.  That’s true in the investment world, as well as in all areas of life. It is a revelation providing insight into how life and growth work together to make each person who they have the potential to become.  Life-Compounding’s effect of “interest on interest” greatly magnifies growth over time. And, just as in the financial world, such growth may be referred to as the “miracle of compounding.”

“It’s a miracle you weren’t killed.”  I said during the beginning part of Matt’s tale of road rash, nerve damage and healing. 

Then I paused and focused on listening, because I recognized how he was using the principle of compounding to reveal his life’s true scope. 

The telling of one’s story can really only be understood through puzzling together seemingly disparate experiences.  I say seemingly dissimilar, because our lives occur in vastly different phases and times.  Living is a process of growth.  And, life experiences can be combined to reveal increased depth and a greater whole.

Living is far more than simply following a linear path. Life-compounding reveals its miracles, one unrelated experience at a time.