The death of a dear friend.

Gordon Irvin Smart
Gordon Irvin Smart 1951 ~ 2008 Gordon Irvin Smart, 57, passed away suddenly October 24, 2008 of a heart attack. He was wonderful, talented, gentle, generous and well loved by many.Gordon was born August 30, 1951 in Murray, Utah to Irvin Henry and Carol Elaine Jackson Smart. He grew up on a farm in Sandy, Utah with his many siblings and cousins. Gordon was a very talented artist, an avid fly fisherman and had a great sense of humor. His actions showed he dearly loved and served his family and everyone who knew him felt he was one of their closest friends. He loved Jesus Christ and had a strong testimony of the gospel. He held many positions in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints such as serving twice as bishop, primary teacher, several positions in the Young Men's Organization, high councilor and loved serving wherever he was asked. He graduated from BYU with a Bachelor of Arts degree and then taught at BYU for 17 years. He owned DesignStream, a graphic design company which just celebrated their 10-year anniversary. Gordon married Rosemary Price in April 1975 in the Mesa, Arizona temple. They have five wonderful children together. Gordon was preceded in death by his mother Elaine and his brother Stan. He is survived by his wife Rosemary, his children Laura (Ben) Reschke, Aaron, Brooke (Phil) Sadler, Adrienne, and Colton, one grandson Stockton Reed Reschke, his father Irvin Smart, his brothers and sisters, Blaine (Sally) Smart, Carol Paulis, Steve (Julie) Smart, Gary (Kim) Smart, Leann (Bill) Nebeker, his sister-in-law Sheryl and many aunts, uncles and cousins. A viewing will be held Tues., October 28th, 2008 at Larkin Sunset Gardens Mortuary, 1950 E. 10600 S from 6-8 pm. Funeral services will be held Wed., October 29, 2008 at 12 noon at the Sandy Lone Peak Stake Center, 11570 S. Wasatch Blvd. (viewing from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.)

Crater Lake

Crater Lake.  First, because of comments to follow, it might be of interest to define the word crater.  A circular depression around the vent of a volcano. Craters form the summit of most volcanoes. They occur where lava overflows and hardens or where the walls collapse as the magma sinks down the vent after an eruption.  Fairly easy to understand.  You have a mountain, a volcano, and then a crater.  So off we go on our adventure to Crater Lake.  Me, Heather, Steph, Jaxon, and Sager.  Here, Sager is saying, "I'll have another drink of your coke, Aunt Heather."  Our first stop, after driving some 3 hours South of Portland, was at the Subway in the lovely town of 

Chemult, Or.  I know, you have heard of it.  It is beautiful country on the Eastern flank of the Cascades.  From Chemult it is another 40 minutes to Crater Lake.  Here is our first view of the Lake. You might ask, is it really that blue?  All I can say is my camera did not do it justice.  On the drive down one of the girls asked a very interesting question about how the lake was formed.  I love it when my children show interest in scientific information.  The question was, "Dad, so how did the lake get formed in the first place?  Did a crater fall from the sky and make it?"  My joy at my children showing interest in earth science suddenly turned to despair.  Please note the above definition of crater to understand why.  So, after more than four hours of driving, did I mention we had Sage and Jaxon along for the ride, we finally arrived.  We were excited to dip our feet in the cool waters and let the kids work out some frustration splashing about in the pristine blue of Crater Lake.  Oops!  You say Crater Lake is several hundred to more than a thousand feet below the rim and that the only access to the Lake itself is a rather steep trail of some length.  HELLO!  There should be a sign when you leave Portland, "If you are thinking about driving South to Crater Lake, don't even think about camping by the lake, or even getting to it, as far as that goes."  There were only a few people there to begin with and we could have weeded most of them out had they known this bit of information.

So, there is the Lake, and this is as close as we ever get to it.  Not to be discouraged, we set off for our camp site a few miles from the Lake.  Yes, it was the closest camp site to the Lake.  Don't think I can't hear you laughing.  The first order of business was the setting up of the tents.  I got mine up by myself rather quickly and then settled in for the fun.

Here the girls are working on their tenth configuration of poles to put their tent up.  It was all very amusing since they are both supposed to be super campers and I am a few days away from my 65th birthday.

Here they are shoving in their king size air mattress.  It is wider than the tent and about two foot thick.  Once again, think amusing.  But in the end it all worked our just perfect.

"All's well, that ends well"  I believe that was one of William's.  We decided not to waste the afternoon and set off at once on our first hike.  It was a two mile loop down, alone Annie's creek, and then back up again.  Super, super, beautiful.

Here we are as we arrive at the creek after a steep hike down from our camp site.  The kids played in the water here.  At the top of the hill was a sign stating the trail was closed at the creek because of a wash out.  When we came to the fence just East of here, we realized we would have to miss almost all of the hike.  Be some miracle, the nylon fencing moved out of the way just long enough for us to pass and then put itself back together again.  We took it as a sign that we were meant to pass through and on to the rest of the trail.  Truly a miracle.  We were glad we did.

In the middle picture you can see the girls with their loads on their backs, going up the trail.  It was simply beautiful, and these pictures don't even begin to capture the beauty.  We were alone during the entire walk along the bottom next to the creek.  We got back to camp just in time to start a fire and settle into the camping ritual of camp fires, dinner, and s'mores. 

Everybody pulled a chair up around the fire and it was time for the roasting of the marshmallows.  How good was it?  Just take a look.

Simply perfect!

After a good night's sleep, it was up early, clear the camp, and off to our next hike and more spectacular views of the lake.  Here the girls are putting away their tent.  Heather is becoming angry because Steph won't hold the tent bag open wide enough for her to put the tent in.

If Jaxon looks a little perplexed here, he is.  He is thinking, "How did I get mixed up with these loonies?"  The girls got very tired packing the kids on their backs yesterday so a new method of transport was devised.  It may look a little cruel, but if it works, it works.

The trail to the highest point in the park is five miles round trip and gains 1100 feet in elevation.  The plan was to have Jaxon pack Sage up the mountain.  I figured that would make it about even with me.  Look how happy he is, who could deny him?  First we stopped at the phantom ship overlook.  Notice the beauty of the reflection in the water.

The phantom ship can been seen in the upper center of the photo.  What struck me as beautiful about this was how you could see reflections within reflections.  The phantom ship is actually the rim of a cone of a volcano that precedes the volcano which formed Crater Lake.  When the magma collapsed in on itself to form the lake, it exposed this earlier rim.  Amazing.

On to Mt. Scott.  When I looked up and saw the fire lookout that was our destination, I knew I would not be making it.  WOW! are you kidding me?

That's it, right in the middle at the top.  The girls strapped the kids to their backs and off they went.  I followed at a much more sane rate.  I loved the hike.  Many people passed by, both up and down.  I just kept trudging along.  I made it almost two miles up.  The girls made the top.  I saw many beautiful sites during the hike.

I will never cease to be amazed by the beauty of the tiny in nature.  I will, till the day I die, "Always Wonder".

We were blessed with a profusion of Monarch butterflies.  They migrate here from Mexico, and there were thousands of them everywhere.  This one had been sitting still waiting for me to snap a picture and then, at the last moment, began to fly off.  Cool picture.

By the time I got back down I still felt pretty good.  Little did I know, I wouldn't be able to walk for the next few days.  Here are the girls, triumphantly descending from the peak.

We had one last stop to make before beginning our drive home.  A lunch stop at another lake overlook.  Is the lake that blue?  Yes, and much more so.

This was a great trip and, as with most trips I undertake, there was definitely a best part about it.  There were many really good parts, and I loved it all, but only one best.  I made a new friend.

Thanks Sage, and thank you Heather, Steph, and Jaxon.  It was great.

That Didn't Last Long!

I find I have to be in just the right mood to blog, and for whatever reason, that mood has not descended on me for some time now. I promise a Crater Lake blog in the next few days.

Are You Kidding Me?

Sometimes my blogs will make no sense to anyone but me, but that is OK. I just need to get a few things out of my system. Last night I watched a TV program on elephants in Zambia. Here they are crossing the Zambezi River. So this guy is making this study. He is wondering if human contact is causing some of the elephants to become rogue. In a few places in Zambia, natives are losing members of their families to rogue elephant attacks. So here is how he conducts the study. He goes around finding elephants and then gets close enough to pi#@ them off. Says things like, "See how it's ears are flaring? That's a sign that he is thinking about attacking me." He goes through a long list of things the poor elephant does to demonstrate how ticked off the elephant is at him conducting his stupid study. Now, here is what I am wondering. HOW STUPID CAN A PERSON BE? You can't go around intentionally making elephants mad and then wonder if human contact is turning them into rogue human killers. He probably turned a few of those he ticked off into rogues during his study. Once more, proof that we did not evolve from monkeys. You will never find a monkey stupid enough to do something like this. Never.

PALEONTOLOGY & ANTHROPOLOGY
July 22, 2008
Tuesday night I had the opportunity of going with Stephanie on an anthropological expedition and with Jaxon on a paleontological expedition. Here's the weird thing about this whole night. A couple of weeks ago I bought tickets to the Emmylou Harris concert at the Portland Zoo. Little did I realize at the time how the night would evolve (catch that word, Mark) into something quiet different. When I bought my ticket Stephanie said she would like to go to the concert with me. I was grateful for the company. I faithfully arrived at the zoo at four in the afternoon with the other faithful. At five they allowed us into the zoo where we stood in line again until five before entering the concert area. Here begins the anthropological part of the evening. Stephanie simply could not get over the makeup of the group waiting to go into the concert. Her first comment to me was, "Wow!, this is really your group, dad." Not meaning we were all pretty cool for wanting to see the Diva of Nashville, but that we were all freaking old. While we were standing there Steph noticed we were right across from the entrance of the dinosaur exhibit. "Why don't you take Jaxon through the dinosaur exhibit dad?" Enter paleontology. Now I am pretty excited about this opportunity. I am not much of a grandkid's grandpa so I needed to spend some special one-on-one time with one of my grand kids. Steph did mention that Jackson was a little afraid of the final part of the exhibit. I figured I could easily handle any concerns Jaxon might have so off we went. It cost $4 to get in. I will never get how people can charge you a price to get into something and then charge you again to see what you paid for in the first place to get in to see. We meandered down the trail to the first dinosaur. This little critter looks harmless enough, doesn't he? Notice the look of fear in Jaxon's eyes. Notice the long extension above the dinosaurs head. This extension was used to make trumpeting sounds to alert others of danger.

They have faithfully reproduced the sound here at the Portland zoo and it sounds something like the locking and loading of a space age bazooka. Hence, the fear in Jaxon's eyes. It took a long time and a lot of persuasion to talk him into standing this close to the creature. Shortly after this picture and before stepping another foot on the trail, Jaxon had a sudden urge to go the the bathroom I asked a girl further up the trail where the rest rooms were and when Jaxon found out they were in the direction of the monster at the end of the path, our adventure was over. He was out of there. I took him back to Steph and she talked me into going through the exhibit. I had paid, so why not. The girl who said she would remember me at the entrance was, of course, no longer there, so after a rather long discussion I was allowed back in. What was at the end of the trail that Jaxon did not want to see. Yep, it was a bit scary. It is hard to get the perspective from the picture but when you walk up to this T-Rex, it is about 20 feet tall.

Upon exiting the exhibit I was greeted with this scene.

From this distance, Emmylou was as beautiful as I ever could have imagined. Later evaluation from twenty feet out would not bear this first impression out, however.
I went back to the line and sent Steph down to see Emmylou warm up. She wandered back about five when we were let into the concert area awaiting the seven pm starting time. The kids were great and Jake called saying he would be by to pick the kids up from the zoo. I doubted they would appreciate Emmylou as much as me.
Here is Sage draining the last droplets of water from her cup.
Steph kept making comments about how she had never seen so many old people at one time, or , wow, dad, you really fit in with these people. I started to look around the grounds to see if there was a corner I could send her to, but there were to many rounded edges.
The concert began and I was able to walk right down within a few feet of Emmylou. I shouldn't have done that. If she looked the right way, she was as beautiful as ever. Any other way she looked like Joan Rivers. Why do women think that stretching old skin over old bones could ever make them look better? It is very sad.
All in all it was a great night. I got much more than I bargained for. I am very grateful to Steph for her willingness to go and see someone she had never even heard of before. I am very blessed to have such a kind, caring, and loving daughter, and the best of friends. Thank you Stephanie. Make no mistake about it, I feel that way about all of my daughters. They are all so very special, each in their own unique way.

What this is all about

I'm not really sure what I am going to do with this blog. It all seems a bit silly, and yet, very significant, to me. I cannot go further without paying tribute to the person who means more to me than any other who has ever lived. Ardie has been gone for over fifteen years now and I have lived two lives since her passing. It is impossible to express how much she meant to me when she was alive and how much I still miss her. If I ever find the faith to keep turning till all things turn out right it will be because of my love for her and the love my children show to me. I suppose I could recommend to any wife out there, if you want to be remembered as perfect, you need only die. Whatever problems Ardie and I had, other than the ones I caused, are long forgotten. I remember her only as the most incredible wife a man could ever hope to have. She seemed to care so very much for me and was so patient and loving with me. I am grateful for the passing of time. Last year I took a rather incredible hike up the upper Lewis River here in Washington. It was a beautiful, clear, fall day and during the six miles I hiked that day I saw one other person. I was passing above the river and looking down I could see how deep and clear and still the water was. I thought to myself how wonderful it would be if Ardie could be with me, and instead of feeling pain at her absence, I smiled. I have had only a few incidents where I felt her near since her death, but I see her hand in the lives of her children often. I am so grateful for her and wish to express my love in this, my first statement, to whomever may read it.