Pinus Edulis

Growing up in Nuevo Mexico, one of life's simple pleasures was snacking on piñons. Piñons (pronounced pin-yawns) are a particular variety of pine nut, with a very distinctive flavor, and in my opinion, the New Mexico variety are the very best in the world.

Pine nuts are kind of like sunflower seeds in that they are very addictive. Once you start eating them it's hard to stop. But they take about 10 times longer to shell than a sunflower seed, and you have to work really hard to ensure no shell remains with the meat, so many people don't have the patience to endure a healthy piñon habit.

When I was in Utah a couple of weeks ago, I was very excited when I saw a street vendor selling baggies of pine nuts. I shelled out eight bucks for a 1/2 pound. When I got them home, I realized they weren't roasted. So I popped them in the oven for about 1/2 hour. But when I tried them, they were...well...ok, but not great. You see, they were just pine nuts, they weren't New Mexico piñons. Rats!

So you can imagine my excitement when a birthday package arrived from my sis Rebecca, containing a baggy of roasted NM piñons. Yipee! I'm snackin' out on these. They are so good!

What Color is RhinoVirus?

When I went to the urgent care clinic last week, the nurse had a series of questions for me. You know, the usual embarassing stuff.
Nurse: How much do you weigh?
Answer: Sigh.
Nurse: How tall are you?
Answer: Same as when I was here last time.
Nurse: Why are you here?
Answer: Because I'm sick.
Nurse: What are your symptoms?
Answer: (cough, sneeze, hack) I have a cold.
Nurse: Is your nose running?
Answer: Uh, yeah (sniff)
Nurse: What color is it?
Answer: My nose?
Nurse: No, the stuff running out of your nose.
Answer? Can't you see it?
Nurse? No, you keep blowing it before I can get a good look.

At this point I'm wondering what school this nurse went to, if she has to ask what color my nasal discharge is. Same color as everyone else's, I suppose. I don't know! Am I supposed to look inside my used tissues?

Answer: I don't know, I'm partially color-blind.
Nurse: The doctor's going to have trouble helping you if you don't cooperate.
Answer: Tell you what, just give me a cherry-flavored placebo and I'll be on my way.
Nurse: Now we're getting somewhere. $30 co-pay, please. And just get some over-the-counter cough drops, they're actually better-tasting than anything we have around here.

In the interest of helping this nurse, who I am sure was just doing her job, I include above an actual photo of a typical rhinovirus particle. I hope it will help her diagnose others in the future.

Happiness Is...

I think nothing in life has given me more insight into the nature and character of our Heavenly Father as being a father myself.

Many people have taught this in various ways over the years, but this may be the first time I have put it into my own words: my greatest happiness in life comes from seeing my family happy. It's not about my money, cars, houses, prestige, degrees, callings, honors, retirement, or even health or legacies; it's about a righteous posterity, seeing the Lord pour out blessings on them as they strive to keep the commandments. Can you see the boy-ish happiness in Chris' face in this photo as he and his beautiful bride exited the Holy Temple? You should have seen it in mine.

Don't Fly With a Cold

My flight home was a most painful event. I thought I would be ok, but the moment we took off my ears started bothering me. I knew the descent would be tough. Was it ever! The last twenty minutes of the flight seemed to take hours. I was in such pain, I couldn't control the tears streaming down my face. When we landed, I couldn't hear anything in my left ear, and barely anything in my right. I was praying my eardrums wouldn't rupture (as has happened once before). I went to the urgent care clinic this morning and was diagnosed with a bilateral ear infection. I can't find the bilateral on this ear diagram, but that's where it hurts. Hurry Z-pack, kick in!

Rich was Robbed on Thanksgiving Day

So I made turkey and sausage/cornbread dressing, and a cheesecake for Thanksgiving. We also had creamed corn, orange rolls, jello salad, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and gravy, egg nog, just about everything you can imagine. UNFORTUNATELY, I have no idea how any of it tasted. I developed a raging cold and had absolutely no sense of taste. Is this what they mean when they say life isn't fair?

BYU Out-Flies the Air Force

It was sweet! BYU just ran over-no, flew over-the Air Force in a game that was fun to watch if you're a BYU fan, and I know you are.

BYU took to the air both in passing and in running plays, as evidenced by this photo. Who knew BYU receivers could fly? Or that AF would be so intimidated by flying wide receivers that they would just lie down to keep from being mowed down?

I knew the game was in the bag when the AF mascot just curled up in the fetal position.

Stealthy?

It's not every day that a B2 Stealth Bomber flies over your house. At least, not MY house. While waiting for the All-Star game to start, I was watching the pre-game show on TV and heard a very loud noise outside. It sounded sort of like a helicopter or low-flying plane. I went outside to check it out and saw TWO B2's circling the area, obviously just hanging out before making their fly-over appearance at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

I hate to say this, but I think we may have wasted some money on these, because they're simply not very 'stealthy'. Oh sure, they don't show up on radars. But who needs a radar when they're this noisy? And that shape? It's cool and all, but even Sheryl Crow could pick it out in a crowd (and remember, she hangs out with communists working out of RV's). I'm telling you guys, a billion here and a billion there, it all starts to add up...