Favorite Books

I've thought for some time that I needed to publish a list of my favorite books. Here goes! I will start with my current favorites and list even my favorite picture books from my childhood and those that I became familiar with as a teacher. The list of books I want to read will have to wait until I have more time. Here it is:

Favorites:
• Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp, by Jerry Stanley
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach
• The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, by himself, of course
• The History of Joseph Smith (by his Mother), by Lucy Mack Smith
• The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Hearts & Homes, by James L. Ferrell
• Reframing Organizations, by Bolman and Deal
• My American Journey, by Colin Powell & Joseph E. Persico
• Children of Topaz, by Michael O. Tunnell & George Chilcoat
• The Man Who Listens to Horses, by Monty Roberts
• The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease
• As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen
• Peter Pan, by James M. Barrie
• Positive Discipline, by Jane Nelson



Adolescent Literature:
• Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
• Woodsong, by Gary Paulsen
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
• Matilda, by Roald Dahl
• Danny the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl
• The Giver, by Lois Lowry
• Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry
• Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• A Year Down Yonder, by Richard Peck
• My Life in Dog Years, by Gary Paulsen
• James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
• Brian's Winter, by Gary Paulsen

Picture Books:

• A Fly Went By, by Mike McClintock
• The Book of Giant Stories, by David L. Harrison (with great pictures by Philippe Fix)
• The Wretched Stone, by Chris Van Allsburg
• Cyrus, the Unsinkable Sea Serpent, by Bill Peet
• Cowardly Clyde, by Bill Peet
• Big, Bad, Bruce, by Bill Peet
• The Ant and the Elephant, by Bill Peet
• The Wump World, by Bill Peet
• The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock, by Bill Peet
• The Flying Hockey Stick, by Jolly Roger Bradfield
• The Empty Pot, by Demi
• Hop on Pop, by Dr. Seuss
• Sneetches on the Beaches, by Dr. Seuss
• Arrow to the Sun, by Gerald McDermott
• Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
• All the Places to Love, by Patricia Maclachlan

More later! Books in each section are roughly in order, with most favorable favorites at the top.

"Read. Read like a wolf eats." - Gary Paulsen, author

White Elephants

Thought I'd share some funny things from Christmas last year, courtesy of Andrew, my brother. He's a pretty good writer, as are some of my other siblings. I'll throw in a few pictures that he and I took. To explain, we had a white elephant exchange- in part because my oldest brother, Spencer, had the funny item of temporarily stealing several old, unused items with which the family was very familiar, or in some cases, unfamiliar- and wrapping them up as gifts.

The "gifts?" Well, they started with some items from Dad's "office." A little bust of Bach, a book on how to raise boys and solve the Rubik's cube. From there it went to a giant pair of over-sized shears and Dad's old broken .22 rifle. Even better we retrieved from the back porch the "bag balm" from our dairy cow days. It was still in the same "cubby" where it had sat for years. I couldn't believe it when I looked- and there it was! Apparently the grand prize was an old trout that Nathan, Kimball, or Dad had caught and put in the freezer so many years ago that I think that it was actually freeze-dried and weighed only a fraction of what it should have weighed.


Andrew's response to Kimball's e-mail below (another brother):

Family,
I'll be their both nights... I think singing from one door to another would be sufficient for all to feel a bit of the Spirit. I'm down with white elephants (something cheap or homemade) ...and no frozen rainbow trout.

Later,
Kimball Clark

Andrew's response:
It wasn't frozen Kimball, it was a patented and time-honored method of freeze-drying.

I looked it up on the internet:

"This aging and freezing process begins in the highland ponds of Farmington, Utah in North America and can only be duplicated with years of patience and experience as the free-range, fresh water trout is hooked, gutted –or not– and wrecklessly glazed with a fine layer of Reynolds aluminum or plastic by native fisherman ensuring proper 'airination'.
The delicacy then begins the age-old 'freezage' (freez-ahhhge) process which can take well up to 20 years. During this time-honored process, the trout, bovine tounge or occasional raccoon produces a flavor that cannot be replicated in any other way.
Moved randomly from shelf several times each decade, the delicacies are enveloped, airinated and imbued by quarts of turkey juices with bits of celery, bottles of bacon greases and bags of yeast infusing and enhancing the original meat flavors with our own unique recipe that can only be replicated by sucking on an old ice tray or licking the frozen juices that accumulate over the years in the bottom of your freezer.
The prized meat delicacies are then gifted and received with jubilant squeals of delight from the benefactor and the envious eyes of covetousness of all others as gifts are exchanged with loved ones gathered during frigid holiday months."

Demolition

July 8, 2003 was the big day. The silo was to come down. Cars slowed or stopped to watch when they realized what we were doing. The city said that both it and the corner building would have to be demolished and removed because they did not meet the city code. Shucks. We had a lot of ideas for the silo: Put a round roof on top and remodel it into a giant clubhouse or lighthouse, put in a staircase to access several levels inside, paint it to look like a giant peppermint stick during the Christmas season, or convert it into a giant dive tank for scuba practice. It was a local landmark and ever since tearing it down I've felt like I need to replace it with something significant, like a giant flagpole, or some other recognizable landmark. Next summer it will sport some type of flower bed, grass, and some new trees.

We started by tying a chain around a central support ring, then connecting that to a giant rope that was supposed to handle about 900 lbs. I had to tug it with the Subaru first, which I thought might be able to pull it over, but of course had to opt for Dad's old backhoe he had just purchased, which resembles a giant, yellow, steel, sand crab. After a few big tugs that only cracked the cement, Dad got brave, drove up next to it and started knocking out pieces of concrete from the west side of the base using the hoe extended from the north side. He was smart and stretched out to its full extent, knocking out few pieces at a time, and at an angle such that the silo would fall to the west- thus preserving his life. I prayed a lot that day and in the days previous. Ken Hardy, a local contractor and demolitions expert had told me a horror story of a guy who dropped a silo right on top of his front-end loader. He had lived because it had a steel reinforced cab.

We tried pulling the silo over about two times before we actually were able to make it drop. You'll not that we had to take out more than a third of the bottom before it would fall. What appeared to be an old, brittle, crumbling silo was actually very well built and supported. It fell in spiraling fashion and almost straight down on itself, not like a tree. My brother had the video camera almost ready, but we had pulled so many times before that we forgot to make sure that he had the camera ready.

We filled about two 30-cubic yard dumpsters with the debris over the next few weeks. Since then we have loaded out a total of 7 dumpsters full of concrete or debris and about 13 dump-truck loads as well. The trucks averaged about 12-13 tons each, and the largest dumpster load was 16 tons (10 tons is what it is supposed to hold). It is true that one man's garbage is another man's treasure because I spent a fortune in getting all of this junk hauled off. Thankfully, the 6-7 flatbed loads of recyclable steel and aluminum that I hauled to Bloom's Recycling in Ogden paid me between $20-$60 each time. I estimate that we hauled out over 200 tons in debris. I have about 2-3 more smaller loads that I will haul out with the flatbed dumper. Then it's on to bringing in topsoil, putting in a sprinkling system, more trees, flowers, and grass! Hurray!

On the corner... site of Rigby's Edge-End Farm

In the spring of 2003 I purchased what was left of an old dairy farm at the corner of Haight Creek Drive and Main Street in Kaysville, UT. The dairy was shut down in the early 70's and apparently was in operation for about 30-40 years. It was called the Rigby Edge-End Farm because it was on the edge or end of Farmington, but was zoned in later by Kaysville. What remained on the almost half-acre property when I bought it was the old concrete silo, the remains of the milk barn (the concrete floor, rock wall, stalls, and piles of wood), and the actual little house connected to the milking area that sat on the corner. This is where the milk was pumped, stored, and sold.

I purchased the land from Helen Rigby through her son, Clyde Rigby. Clyde and his wife are the salt of the earth- true neighbors and friends. Clyde knows the history of the area very well and can tell you great stories about his childhood, family, farm, railroad, and general history of the area. It was cool to uncover all of the many treasures found in earth and below that tell of the farm and its past. Some of the old signs, receipts, and farm implements/parts I have saved. I'd like to get old photographs and compile a short photo-history of the farm's history.

Future Posts: Demolition, building, and initial improvements