The First Digital Man (background and position from Da Vinci’s 1490 Vitruvian Man). Photographed by Joshua Waldron
Cedar City, Utah
Ted Elwell congratulating the Bromley’s on Jackson’s baptism.
Cross Hollows Stake Center, Cedar City, Utah
Christmas lights on the tree in the back yard with eclipse screen captures of “tiny earth” video for bulbs.
Cedar City, Utah and eclipse at Palisades Reservoir, Idaho
Howard Nelson in painting Mankind by Kenneth R. Turner.
Artist in New Ulm, Texas and Painting in Bulverde, Texas
Howard Roice Nelson, III as a baby and as a child.
Dallas, Texas
Benjiman Bengt Nelson playing soccer in Katy, Texas and his birth in Dallas, Texas.
Paul and Roice in front of Cape Kennedy, Florida and Paul in front of the LDS Missionary Training Center, Provo, Utah.
Melanie laying on my chest in Dallas, Texas and reaching for her Grandpa Nelson in Cedar City, Utah.
Sara Ellen Nelson at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and playing the harp in Houston, Texas.
Rob being licked by Einstein in Houston, Texas and on Dad’s shoulders, probably at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas.
Pauline Hafen and Howard Roice Nelson’s wedding, and being helped into a van to go to her Mother’s, Helen Hafen’s, funeral by her son, Roice Nelson.
Benjamin Bengt Nelson as a young engineer and as a soccer player in Houston, Texas.
Audrey Nielson as a student at SUU in Cedar City and after her wedding in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Melanie Nelson at Pink Coral Sand Dunes, Kanab, Utah, and all Nelson kinds playing there.
Matthew Charles Nielson after an accident as a child, and playing basketball in Cedar City, Utah.
Rachael Nielson as a youth in Cedar City, Utah and in St. Marks Square in Venice.
Helen Hafen at a Hafen reunion in Pine Valley, Utah and in the St. George, Utah newspaper.
Sagebrush where jack rabbits run north of Nelson Farm in Cedar Valley, Enoch, Utah and sunset at Snow’s Canyon, Utah.
Satellite images of the Howard Nelson farm in October 1997 and September 2006 in Cedar Valley, Enoch, Utah.
Photos from the web of a white rabbit, a bear, 2 fishes, a wise owl, a bashful raccoon, a squirrel, and a yawning chipmunk. Song written in Denver, Colorado by Quinton Reed.
Satellite images of Brazos Bend State Park, Texas March 2017 and January 1995.
Satellite images of El Rancho Cima scout ranch taken in February 2008 and January 1995.
Satellite images of Camp Strake near Lake Conroe, Texas January 1995 and October 2005.
To the right is a satellite image of Spring Creek Park in Tomball, Texas taken in January of 1995.
Satellite images of the Liendo Plantation February 1995 and October 2005.
Satellite images of Stephen F. Austin State Park on February 1995 and June 2016.
Two areal areas from a satellite image taken in April of 2017 of Bill Hagen’s ranch new Borden, Texas.
Satellite images of Ken and Nell Turner’s place taken in April of 2017 and January of 1996.
Satellite images of Stephen F. Austin State Park taken in February of 1995 and of 2017.
Screen capture to the left shows a close-up and broad view of Brazos Bend State Park where the scouts first camped with ice on tents.
Andrea on our honeymoon at a lodge in Springdale, and at Delicate Arch in Arches National Monument, Utah in May of 1999.
Heather Nielson when she lived with us in Houston, Texas about the summer of 2000.
Venture Crew at Chris Schmidt’s house on the way to Mount Snuffles, Colorado (extended photo).
Family photo in front of 1307 Emerald Green, Houston, Texas and extended photo at Disneyland, California.
Two portions of a photo of Ethan in front of a model of a Triceratops at the dinosaur museum near Calgary, several years older than when the song was written.
My response to 9/11 with Ken Turner’s “Out of the Ashes” and “We the People” paintings.
Mirage<sup>TM</tm> with holographic pig, first introduced to me by Dr. Anne Simpson at SAL and AGL, University of Houston, Texas.
Leaving for Big Bend from Chris Schmidt’s place, and on top of one of the mountains at Big Bend, Texas.
Photo of the book “Tribes” pulled out of it’s place on my office bookshelf. Cedar City, Utah.
Erik Keller, his wife, and our former Bishop Michael Pickerd at an Ex-Tex-Pat reunion for the Nottingham Country Ward, Katy, Texas in Provo, Utah.
Photo of Rush Lake with the Star Ship Enterprise overlain. Enoch, Utah.
Photos of a fox family living in back of Joe Klutts’ house in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The photo to the left is of a wooden shoe from Holland, and the extended photo is of a house built as a wooden cowboy boot in Huntsville, Texas.
Maxine Shirts, my mother from another brother, at her son Steve Shirts’ house, Fiddlers Canyon, Utah.
Our Granddaughter, Ella Dawn, following and during a class choir musical, Providence, Utah.
Cross-Stitch done by my Grandma Hafen of our much loved Calf Springs Ranch, which is were this song is written about, Enterprise, Utah.
An image from the web reminding me of reunions after driving across the Rocky Mountains between Salt Lake City, Utah and Ft. Collins, Colorado.
An image found on the web searching for the title to Bill Hansen’s song: Quickly Now, written in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Photo of Randall Brent Shirts, his son Michael, and his grandson Kennedy in Provo, UT. With the extended photo of family, including brother Russell, up Spring Creek Canyon, Kanarraville, UT.
Photo of Pauline Hafen Nelson and Howard Roice Nelson, Jr. Cedar City, Utah.
Marti singing on the lawn with Roice, Paul, Melanie, and Sara, with the extended photo showing a Christmas Card in those days adding Ben and showing Marti and I throwing horseshoes at her Mom’s house in Ft. Collins, CO.
Two views of Willow Glen, a reception and party place in Cedar Valley, Utah where Andrea and I had our wedding reception. The man who started Willow Glen was my Home Teaching Companion when I returned from my mission.
Marti (Martha Ellyn) Sharp Nelson and H. Roice Nelson, Jr. when a family photo was taken in Katy, Texas and at our marriage reception line, Ft. Collins, Colorado.
A “Celestial Kingdom or Bust” sticker available on-line from an LDS website, found when doing a web search in Cedar City, Utah.
Bob and Gen Gardner and Marti and my first apartment at 500 South and 1300 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.
A knight brass rubbing from my LDS mission to England, with photo taken in Cedar City, Utah.
Six paper brochures from our First Anniversary trip back to where I served my LDS mission in southeast England: East Anglia; Ipswich; Kings College Chapel; Stonehenge; Dover Castle; and Show Boat.
The Pounder Brass Rubbing, from Ipswich, England, represented in my mind the ideal family: Mom & Dad and a lot of kids. When we could afford to, we got it framed behind glass, and hung it in our house on Blue Quail Drive in Missouri City, Texas and at 1307 Emerald Green Lane in Houston. Texas. There was not room in our condo, and so we gave it to Shakespeare at SUU in Cedar City, Utah.
A purple sage bouquet, really the opposite of fake flowers, in our town home in Cedar City, Utah.
The image is a map of the Base of the Quaternary Sediments in Yellowstone Lake, finished as part of my Senior Thesis for my B.S. in Geophysics from the University of Utah. The extended photo is a 3-D version of this map, which was the basis for Landmark Graphics.
A brass/nickel container with a unicorn imprinted on it, and a bras water spray bottle bought at an antiques emporium in Spring Branch, Texas for my first twenty-first anniversary.
One of the first Ken Turner paintings commissioned, of our six children. Shows our kids in the early 1990’s in a background showing they came to us “trailing clouds of glory.” Marti owns this and it is in her house in Houston, Texas.
To the left is a photo of our house at 1307 Emerald Green Lane, Houston, Texas when we first moved in from the neighbor’s yard, whose house had not yet been built. The extended photo shows the house with a more front view.
Marti and myself at the front steps of the Duoma, the cathedral in Florence, Italy when at an EAGE (European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers) 53rd Annual Convention in 1991, 4 years before the photo to the left and after the walk to Brookshire.
The cover image for my autobiography: Stand Back Up, which is what Job did. By far my most ambition posting: there are 42 chapters of Job, and 42 personalized chapters of Roice.
Photo of 2 posters made for Marti to use to decorate her room when she went to New Hampshire to get a Master’s Degree in English. She went to New Hampshire 2 summers in a row.
Lightning photo from Dynamic Measurement collected lightning photos, labeled lightning_C2C_night_lights.png. Texas lightning storms can be extremely scary, as there can be hundreds of lightning strikes within an hour.
The photo is of Andrea and myself at Calf Springs Falls over past Escalante, Utah. Family is why I work hard, why I try, and why I do more than most folks I know.
The photos are of volcanic lightning in South America, I think Chile, and I think it was taken by National Geographic. Lightning and thunder come into each life, and we each think the most lightning and thunder has come into our life.
A selfie taken in front of the maps on my office closet door intended to capture contemplation (or day dreaming). This photo was kind of a wake-up call to me. I am definitely getting old.
Roice Nelson playing guitar with Mr. Yan Dunshi, retired Chief Geologist of The People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of Petroleum Industry in Beijing, China. Mr. Yan’s wife was the Chief Geochemist for the Ministry, and they are a definite power couple.
Memorial City Medical Center and hotel in Houston, Texas taken from the window of my office at Wapiti Energy for a couple of years, which was a long way from Wall Street.
Photo of the 4 of the original 5 Founders of Landmark Graphics on the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the company at Landmark’s office on the West Belt in Houston, Texas. I see my introverted and insecure nature in this photo.
This image shows Jeff Winston and myself immersed in the Continuum Resources virtual environment in Houston, Texas. Jeff has mostly retired now as the Urban Planner for Vail & Steamboat Springs, Colorado, St. George to Hurricane, Utah, and numerous other places around the country. June 21-23, 2000 Jeff and I met in Palm Springs, Florida and participated in a conference titled Tools for Community Design and Decision Making (note, this is one of the many projects I have never finished documenting).
The photo to the left is of geologists Gary F. Player of Cedar City, Utah, and Randall L. Moore of TriMetals Mining, at Gold Springs, Utah. The expanded photo shows Alan Peterson of Katy, Texas and Gary Player at the Webster’s Flat turnoff on Cedar Mountain, and Roice Nelson and Eldon Smoots of Cedar City, Utah on the mountain east of Richfield, Utah witching for water for Jeff Jurinak of Richfield, Utah, a reservoir engineer par extraordinaire, who wanted a photo of the founder of Landmark Graphics with a water witching stick in his hands.
This song was the first time I wrote out my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and comes from deep within my heart. The two views of Ken Turner’s painting to the left captured this same feeling for me. The bristlecone pine tree in the center is 2,000 years old, and represents Jesus – in the center. My daughter Sara Ellyn climbed that tree as a child, and her song, Song 016, starts off talking about a baby living in an apple tree. Don’t we all live in an apple tree, with sufficient for your needs, these days?
The sources for the images shown here are described at Song 088 – The Prophets. The Family Album was a fun and very successful experiment in sharing the gospel in a new way. I sent a note to President Belnap before my mission asking if I could bring my guitar. He said yes. I did. Because I was a very successful baptizer, I was not given an opportunity to participate with the Family Album. They did use my guitar, it was stolen, and I was paid back, which helped pay for my mission. I was the District Leader for the Family Album the last few months of my mission, and got them to perform at Hyde Park Corner, and to bear testimony. At a mission reunion years later, I was thanked for getting them back to why they served a mission.
The picture is of a painting by Kenneth R. Turner. He brought the painting, along with several other paintings of Christ, to Cedar City, Utah for the 75th Annual performance of the Messiah. My Nelson Cousins who live in Cedar Valley are all sheep folks. They run their sheep down Cedar City Main Street each fall when they bring them off of Cedar Mountain. The photograph I took of Ken’s painting is not very good, and I edited it to show the angels above. The original photo I took is the extended photo, which pops up when you click on the above photo. This song is very special to me, and reminds me how knowledge of my Savior helped me when I got home from my mission, and has helped me through the various trials of my life.
In 1973, within a year after returning from my LDS mission to England, I wrote three songs which capture spiritual truths important to me: (1) Song 090 – Deseret, capturing teachings about how groups of people can have one heart and one mind, and can join together in unity to do wonderful things; (2) Song 100 – Zion, teaching the New Jerusalem is a real place and prototypes of what will be built will be experimented with in many places; and (3) Song 092 – Sunrise, sharing Jesus Christ will come a second time, and the light preceding his coming is already beginning to shine across the world. As most folks with a big ego, I have felt like I will be involved in this transition, and have in my mind Dad’s farm, shown in two satellite images here, has a role to play.
The photos show my children and step-children and other family members. The bottom photo is of my children in Ft. Collins, Colorado in March 2018, and the top photo is of Andrea’s children when they all visited Grandma Shirts in Cedar City, Utah on 20 October 2017.
Sunrises and sunsets can be spectacular. The photo, and extended photo, above, and when you click on the photo above, show the sun painting the clouds red in a panorama and close-up in front of our condo in Cedar City, Utah. Reminiscences of when the Son comes again.
Alex’s Unspoken Prayer is about nature and how taking a hike can put us back in touch with nature and give us strength. The photo above is of Jurassic eolian sandstone, where one structure can be imagined as kneeling against the other in prayer. This is at Cedar Cove, Arizona just off of I-15.
The image is of a plaque listing the builders of Old Main, the first building built on the BAC (Branch Agricultural Collage), later CSU (College of Southern Utah), later SUSC (Southern Utah State College), and now SUU (Southern Utah University) in Cedar City, Utah.
The photo used to describe the frailty of life is of what the photographer, Carl Mazur, calls the “Mystic Tree” in Zion Canyon, Utah. This photo was posted on Facebook by Carl Mazur on the 10th of March 2018.
The print of the above photo was given to me Uncle Tony, my Mom’s oldest brother. I have a couple of copies of this photo, and this is by far the best. Probably taken outside of Grandpa and Grandma Hafen’s house in St. George, Utah in about 1959.
This photo was taken on a hike at Teton National Park, Wyoming when we went to Palisades Reservoir, Idaho to see a full eclipse 20 September 2017.
A friend learned I had put all of the Psalms to music, and so he gave a copy of “The Book of Psalms – translated for singing,” which is what the images are of.
This song is based on a Stake Conference talk by then President Collin Steward. The photo is from Facebook and shows Collin and Barbara Steward on their 50th wedding anniversary in Katy, Texas.
The notes in the index are mostly about the images. The images are top Apple’s new Corporate Headquarters in California under construction, the north circle on Dad’s farm, and the boundaries of the Enoch, Utah.
In 2013 Andrea and I went to Pittsburg, PN for an AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists) Convention. We took the opportunity to visit Church History Sites in Ohio, including the Kirtland Temple, in Kirtland, Ohio, as shown on the photo.
The song description describes the origin of Thoughtlets. My son, Roice, once referred to them as the first Blog, since I started posting them on-line in 1996. I did print 535 pages of Thoughtlets as a Christmas Present for our children in 1999, shortly after Andrea, Rachel, and Matt moved to 1307 Emerald Green Lane in Houston.
This is the only photo I have of The KeyNotes. The name came from the fact we were all members of The Key Club, which was sponsored by The Kiwanis Club. I (Mom) bought the shirts everyone is wearing at ZCMI, when Mom, Sara, and I were in Salt Lake City.
This photo was was taken during our first Nelson Grandkid’s Summer Science Camp at Cedar Breaks National Monument, Iron County, Utah, in July 2007. And now all three of these young men are taller than me.
Kelly’s Pond was one of the harder scout campouts. The rain was very hard and lasted all night long. We knew it was going to rain, which is why Mom’s were searching for sanity. Oh well!. The photo is from another Junior Leader Scout Training Campout in the Houston, Texas area, which was also very wet.
When we moved to 1307 Emerald Green Lane in Houston, Texas we were in the Nottingham Country Ward. I discovered Kenneth R. Turner and his art. I would spend hours watching him paint. Then we made some money, Ken had none, and we funded 3 paintings. The above painting is now in Paul’s house in Providence, Utah, and the other two are in our house in Cedar City, Utah.
The photo above is of Elder Fischer and Elder Reese before dinner at our home at 1307 Emerald Green Lane, in Houston, Texas. Over the years I have enjoyed singing this song, The Missionaries, to myself, which song Quentin Reed and I wrote in Denver, Colorado in 1970. I like to harmonize with myself on the Ahhh… Ohhh… Dooo… Neww… Youu…
In my experience, there are too few times in our lives we have close friends. Someone who truly bonds with us. Todd Staheli was my friend. While Sara Ellen and Audrey enjoyed their visit with Todd and his family in England (Dover Castle photo above), I doubt they realize the eternal connection.
Cross-bedding in sand dunes is a nice example of the sedimentary equivalent of tree-ring growth. You can visit a modern sand dune and see the same type of cross-bedding as is shown in these petrified sand dunes found up Spring Canyon near Kanarraville, Utah. Andrea’s cousin Peter Shirts provides scale.
In Southern Utah most geologic alteration is caused by intrusions and hydro-thermal fluids. This example is of the Tamera copper mine at Rocky Range just west of Milford, Utah where Riley Skeen and I did our University of Utah geology field camp in 1973.
There are a lot of these “ballads” which just seem silly years later. This song was sung once for Yan Dun Shi and David Johnson in Beijing, I have sung it about once a year since, as I sing a song or psalm each morning, and only include it in this effort for completeness and personal history.
Both images are of lightning strikes, because being where lightning can strike is reckless. The horizontal lightning is from Iran I think, and from the web via a reference from Byron Arnason. The extended photo shows a map of lightning strikes surrounding Joe Roberts on 27 Sep 2011 at the Hockley Dome, Harris County, Texas.
Life is precious. Human life is especially precious. The death of those we know is jarring and always helps us to recognize our own humanity. The death of a family member is especially hard. When this death is of a child or youth in their prime members of families can be inconsolable. This is why it is good to know Jesus. Faith gives us hope and peace.
The cement trees shown to the left are a unique Texas development. The idea I was pursuing was to use these trees to create a base for housing connected by walkways, which would keep activity above the highest level of flooding within the flood control dam and the large area controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. Oh well!
This photo is of a birthday present from Sara Ellyn. We met in Austin and spent the day before my birthday in 2002 planting trees in a new park east of town. Shortly after this, Sara Ellyn went to Benin, West Africa, with the Peace Corps. Her letters home, from 08 Aug 2003 to 16 Mar 2005, are here.
This photo was taken from the same place as Ken painted Paul’s painting of the creation looking at the back yard of 1307 Emerald Green Lane, Houston, Texas. I’m sure that is why I took the photo of Paul and his 2 oldest children playing in the spa next to the pool.
Audrey and Joshua’s reception was at the Red Butte Garden Visitor’s Center above the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. We had 8 out of 10 of our kids there. My financial doles did not help, and Andrea did her best to make up and be a good Mom.
Nephi wrote wonderful scriptures as recorded in The Book of Mormon. In many ways his words can be compared to Isaiah, whom he quoted extensively. The words to this Song are referred to as A Song of My Beloved by Nephi. What better music than Pachelbel’s Cannon in D for these words.
Families are most important. Good times, like at Christmas 2005, can echo through eternity, especially if there is a fun song or story or a photograph which can be told over and over until it becomes part of the family tradition. Certainly this photo of 3 grandsons taken at 1307 Emerald Green in Houston counts.
The image merges the media signpost image from wikimedia.org with a 2017 Grandkids Science Camp photo at Old Iron Town, Utah. It sure seems media has too much influence in our lives, and certainly in children or grandchildren’s lives. A good antidote is to first be aware of this influence.
Transitions, Passages, Graduations, Changes happen at astrophysical, geological, biological and daily life scales. The image highlights the status of our transition moving from Houston, Texas to Cedar City, Utah. Still a lot of boxes in the garage 4 years later. Oh well!
Wherever scriptures refer to a song, I now take the words and create a song. This song is about Exodus 15:1-8,101-19, where Moses sings about the Lord saving Israel from Pharaoh and his chariots, by drowning them in the Red Sea. My generation sees this event through the movie The Ten Commandments.
We went to the Kid’s Museum in St. Louis, and one of the activities they had was to put Ella and Grant in front of a green-screen and to put them on the news. To me this photo shows they are “about to change the world with energy and with love.”
Spring up O well! It is interesting how involved I have become in water problems in the Cedar Valley Aquifer (see www.walden3d.com/IronCounty/intro.html) since we moved back to Cedar City. I see similarities to when Jesus thirst and asked the woman of Smaria for water at Jacobs Well.
The notes in this index have become about the pictures I tied to each song. This photo is of books about Thoreau in our library. The books are placed on one of the many quilts Andrea has made, which is on our bed. Quilts are like Thoreau’s words, in the background, and very important.
Ella Dawn Nelson at either the Children’s Museum or the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri when we went to visit. This was the same time as this beautiful little girl looked up at her Grandpa, who had put her wrists in a locking plastic strip, and said “That’s not very smart.” The wisdom of children.
The images show Paul and Grant climbing through rebar tubes at the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. There are very deep emotions tied to the blessing of having grandchildren. Again, with the 1 take model I’m using, the emotions flowed out on the last chorus.
I love paintings, especially paintings which capture spiritual truth, truths which were recognized yesterday, are recognized today, and will be recognized in the future (the definition of truth found in D&C 93:23-24 and the answer to Pilate’s question: “What is truth?“).
The more things change the more they stay the same. Lynn’s is no longer a Mom & Pop grocery store owned and run by Lynn Orton. Lynn’s is part of Associated Foods. Their margins are low, and they have several branch stores Ray Gardner has designed. I like to early photos of Cedar they have up front.
Cedar City, Utah is in the center of the best seismic scale outcrop geology on planet Earth. This photo from the top of the Hurricane Mesa where ejection seats were perfected is a good example of the types of stratigraphy which can be explored at a distance or up close.
This image was taken in front of the tree in the courtyard inside Cove Fort, Utah with Chris and Jennifer Singfield from Melbourne, Australia. Chris and I have worked on several geotechnical projects over the years, starting with digital imaging of cuttings, and have not yet found commercial success.
“Together we’ll explore the world!” I’ve taken Andrea to China; Nigeria; England; France; Switzerland; Italy; Austria; Kirtland, Ohio; Calgary; Dallas; Austin; San Antonio; Mexico; and many other places which do not come to mind. We do enjoy exploring the world together, including close places like Taylor Creek, at Kolob Canyon, Utah.
I have gone through many stages of running. In Landmark days and in China I would run 5 miles in the morning. Then my left knee hurt, and I would walk through George Bush Park. My knee is OK these days, and so 3-to-5 times a week I run either 3.0 or 3.5 miles first thing in the morning.
The Science feed I follow had a link to an article about researchers who “heard” a twister 10 minutes before it formed. The idea of seeing sound, is like the idea of a still small voice that penetrates our heart and teaches truth. Who really knows what all our senses can pick up from our environment and beyond.
The Old Hospital is on 200 West and 100 South. Ray Gardner lived less than a block away. When I had an emergency appendicitis, I stayed in the hospital. Ray came and visited. This was the start of my longest running friendship. And 60 years later Ray and Susie are moving up by the Golf Course.
David and Karen Kessler happened to visit on my 60th birthday. All of my kids, except Heather, were there for a surprise 60th Birthday Party. Since David lived with us for several summers, he is like one of my kids. Even though the feelings only fit the title of this song, when recalling this day, it is easy to say: “What A Day!”
I was fascinated with this first hologram. I remember sticking my hand in a 3-D display at New Mexico State at JESSI in 1967, and having the scientists react strongly because they thought I was going to get electrocuted. 3-D visualization is certainly one of the characteristics about how my brain works.
I love the sunrises and the sunsets in Cedar City. I loved the sky and the clouds in Texas. But the Cedar sunrises and sunsets are special. The issues are they typically last less than 10 minutes, our condo faces north and south, and so unless we remember to go out at the right time we miss them.
Either Todd Staheli, Sara Ellyn, or Audrey took this photo of Andrea and I across the street from the chapel in Canterbury, England. We loved the sign, and we were both feeling older. Much older now, and so “Before I Go” has a different meaning as we get closer to crossing to the other side of the veil.
There are very few things as fulfilling to me as watching grandchildren create something new. I watched bored Colby find this large plastic tube, push it up the hill, climb inside, and roll down the hill. It was an absolutely fantastic afternoon. And to top it off, there were seismic shots going off every few minutes.
As I was looking for photos of my primary class, I found photos of a Nottingham Country Christmas Party a few weeks before I wrote the song. There are photos of several of the Primary Class members alone, and no photos of the entire class together. I’m sure they were all on the stage as part of the Christmas Program.
There were a lot of “changes in the air” described in this song. The first change was “our son went to war.” This was hard. It was like when Sara Ellyn was in Benin. There is nothing we can do to help those we love, except to pray for them and trust we have taught them to choose the right.
There have been a few professionals I have immediately clicked with. John Doran was unique. He understood geology, trend analysis, data mining, oil exploration, and dynamic replenishment. He walked out of a Board Meeting in Sydney to call and tell me lightning just struck one of their rigs in Cabinda.
This image is a portion of the painting Ken Turner did of the angel showing Nephi the vision of the birth of the Savior. I love how Ken depicts the angel as being full of light and that light shining all around. “Oh, that I were an angel, and could have the wish of my heart.”
When I was in Harlow New Town one of the members went on vacation. They asked us to stay at their place in Sawbridgeworth to watch it while they were gone. I wrote a tome about The New Jerusalem, adding pictures from Soleri which Ray Gardner had sent me. This was in 1971.
There are times we remember. There are times we capture. There are not so many times we remember and capture, though it is getting more common with modern phones. The creation and performance of this song is one of those good times I remember and and was captured thanks to Andrea.
Andrea is always together. Even as Melanie and her kids were evacuated from Vidor, because of Hurricane Ike. This photo captures how Andrea is in control of herself and those around her, and shows her offering suggestions to those she loves. “Together we shall meet our trials, Guided from above.”
This photo was taken of Andrea reading to Sophie in Salt Lake, with Joshua’s guitar in the background. The camera moved and caused the image to blur. The photo reminds me of images in my dreams. Sometimes they are not clear, out of focus if you will. Like remembering how “Long I have cared for you.”
These two on-line chess games are typical. I always did my best, and so when the kids win they feel good about themselves and the game. A nice example was at the Father’s & Son’s Campout with Dallin on May 25th, where he beat me the first time, and said, “I feel . . . GOOD!” I felt great, living in my dreams.
There is nothing quite like having watched your daughter’s birth, and then being with her right after she gave birth to a a grandchild. Life is a wonderful thing, which we too often take for granted. The extended photo shows how tired Melanie was after Taylor’s birthday, and it shows 2 very happy people.
This is a different song. The chord progression is unusual. I haven’t practiced it a lot. The photo is of one of the props for the Nottingham Country Ward Christmas program. Looking back the song seems to predict all of the work done to capture the Psalms with music of my Songs.
The image is a capture of Colby Cade’s baptismal program. It was a special program, which I remember because of this song. When we dedicate ourselves to following a path, it can be hard when things in our life are not on the path. Remember baptism and vicarious baptism for the dead provide a way for all.
I’ve bought into having been told I have a really big ego. Read and meditate on these words from the scriptures, and contemplate, thinking over what has happened since they were written down 176 years ago, whether they are words of ego or words of eternal truth.
The surprise 60th birthday party was really nice. Fred Hilterman told me Melanie was just as persistent as I was when I worked for him getting him to write one of the 60 notes for my 60th birthday. I love to take the book that was put together out and read it and feel like I accomplished some things after all.
Ever since I left Continuum Resources in 2000 I have been laying the foundation for Dynamic Resources Corporation. At AAPG in May 2018 I learned the visualization Continuum placed at Imperial College in London is still a key part of their program. As a farmer, I believe seeds we plant eventually bloom.
It is hard to reflect on life without major successes and failures sliding across the playing field. All of the good feed back I got from my book “New Technologies in Exploration Geophysics” was a success. Having lost all of my stock in Landmark Graphics 3 years before Halliburton bought the company was a failure.
We bought 2155 W 700 S#31 after the Cedar City Temple was announced on April 6th, 2013. By July 4th, 2014 we moved to Cedar City, partly because Cedar City is home, and mostly to be able to help Mom (Maxine Shirts) because of all she had done for both Andrea, her only daughter, and myself, her adopted son.
The lightning analysis journey has been hard and fulfilling. I grew up exploring the the farm, Calf Springs Ranch, making maps, and feeling like I was the first person to discover places. Lightning analysis and inventing a new science is an extension of this same drive to explore and to go where no man has gone before.
The large statues of Texas Founders are impressive. There were a series of giant heads made, which were along I-10 near Downtown Houston for a while. When you drive northeast on 59, it is always impressive to see the statute of Sam Houston. And now both Paul and Rob are both much bigger than me.
It is amazing to look at this photo and realize these boys are the same young men we know now. Cedar Breaks, Panquitch Lake, condensation, playing with the stream from the cabin pond: what great memories. No one has as smart or as good looking grandchildren as we have! What a wonderful legacy.
Sara and Tim’s family dinner was at a very good Bar-B-Que place outside of Austin. She had asked me to play and sing for the group. These photos show me singing, and Rob, who was behind the song I sang, holding the microphone and grinning as I sang this song about my Bug-Eyed Girl.
I like this song about about what Henry Thoreau calls “gossip.” NEWS is all around us. On my mission to England there was no NEWS every day, and life went on, even with a major postal worker strike. I feel like I watch and follow the NEWS too much now, especially since there is little I can do to influence it.
Memorial Day 2011, a day to remember 1847. The morning was humid, the camera lens fogged up. The photos look surreal. However, they help me remember our walk to help us to remember the pioneers with 11 youth early that morning.
These images show a joyous time. It was hard decorating for this wedding, and it was worth every minute. A year later there was a lovely baby. Then Becki had a serious medical problem, was in the hospital for months, and it took over a year for her to get back to herself. Pain is hard.
The image to the right is at the Houston Area LDS Peanut Butter Factory, a welfare project. The expanded image shows Andrea signing in, with Sandy and Mike Black, neighbors who came with us, talking to the George Schultz and his wife. I do not care for peanut butter, and yet I served at the Peanut Butter Factory for years.
As I get closer to today in the songs I’m posting, I find more photos which relate to the time and sometimes even record the first performance of the song I’m writing about. This photo is about the time, and shows my son Paul and adopted son David.
After we had been in Cedar City for a few years we met Paul and his family at a wedding reception for Chris and Michelle Schmidt’s daughter Laura, I think in Brigham City. They were not expecting us. As we walked in the mutual feelings of love are what I firmly believe we will experience when we step through the veil of death. Wonderfulness!
Yes, we are not suppose to take photographs in the chapel. As these young women sang, I could not help myself. After several years of teaching Primary, and then Sunday School I had taught most of these ladies, I was overwhelmed listening to them sing, and recalling our gospel discussions as they built their gospel onion. So I took the photograph.
These 6 Psalms were the first Psalms, after Psalm 8, which I put to music. None of these used the music from a Song as the musi for the Psalm. Rather, the music for each of these Psalms was unique.
Imagine getting out of the shower every morning with a white faced geisha girl girl looking right down at you. Hopefully she sees the best side, in the same way we hope everyone else sees our best side.
This is the 8th Psalm I put to music. Like the previous 7 Songs, this Song was not based on the music from one of the other Songs I have written. I hadn’t yet discovered this was possible, and so the music for this Psalm was also unique.
We often tell folks we live in a museum. The image to the left shows some of my indoor rock collection, and the expanded image shows original oil paintings and musical instruments in our living room. I guess it’s true we have collected a lot, and are enduring until we die.
These 174 Songs have already been posted as Psalms. They were created in order after Song 098 – The Eighth Psalm, Songs 169-175 – Psalms, and Song 176 – Psalm 082. This page links each of the Psalms with the Song used to provide music for the Psalm.
This song about projects talks about 1 year of 2D seismic interpretation, 2 years of building PSDM models, 3 years of North Padre Island Blocks, 4 years of attempting to sell a European project, and 5 years of working on lightning data analysis. The photo of a bird flying at Camp Liendo illustrates how projects fly past.
This image shows Halle and Sophie walking on a cement fence at the Escalante, Utah petrified forest national monument surrounding a large petrified tree. This song is mostly about attempting to raise money for Dynamic Measurement, none of which worked (yet).
This page links to two Psalms, which were posted earlier:
- Song 344 – David’s Song for Saul is from II Samuel 1 and is referenced by Song 101 – This New Song, and is based on Song 343 – Sitting on a Fence.
- Song 345 – David’s Psalm of Praise is from II Samuel 22 and is referenced by Song 101 – This New Song, and is based on Song 160 – Science Camp.
Rachel Williams funeral was a very sad day. Yet it is wonderful to see the faith and hope in the resurrection of active members of the LDS church when family members die and are buried. Good people.
This page links to 2 Psalms posted earlier:
- Song 347 – David’s Song to Thank The Lord from I Chronicles 16;8-35 is referenced by Song 101 – This New Song, and is based on Song 149 – Living Dreams, and
- Song 348 – David’s Blessing from I Chronicles 29:20-30 is referenced by Song 101 – This New Song, and is based on Song 342 – Projects.
One of the last Sundays the Wrights visited us at 1307 Emerald Green, Halle wanted to write a song with me about a swan. This song was the result, and it closes with a real life event, when Sara Ellyn attempted to pet a swan and it pecked at her.
After living at 1307 Emerald Green Lane in far west Houston, Texas for 30 years, selling the house, moving everything out of the house, either into a storage locker on Baker Road at I-10, or into a U-Haul to drive to Cedar City, Utah, was a challenge. We did it!
Our stay in the Barker Reservoir Apartments was wonderful. We helped a youth in my Sunday School Class get baptized. We had dinners with our apartment neighbors who were in the ward, Kim & Jim Higbee, John Boyce, Julie & Emily Caron, Diane Forshee, and the Campbells. It was a nice year.
The photo is of the rain drops at Cedar Breaks as they “pat, pat, pat on the windshield.” The extended photo shows Izy and Sophie on my lap at Cedar Breaks. These photos were taken the same weekend the song was written.
The photos show the construction of the new wood floors in our new living room. The move from Houston was a significant downsizing, and we not only got a new home, I got a new guitar, we got a new bed, a new kitchen, a new kitchen table, and new bookshelves, each celebrated in this song.
The image to the left shows me playing my guitar at Camp Liendo, one of dozens of Boy Scout camps I went to in Texas. The expanded image shows me playing the guitar at Camp Liendo during the day. I enjoyed the scout camps, and I think the boys liked “my cry as an angel” in the background.
Sometimes in our lives it is easy to see why little kids are afraid of the dark. Maybe, like the evening this song was written, we are alone in our house or a new place. We hear the faucet drip, we see shadows we do not know moving down the hall, and we wonder what the future holds for us. Isn’t life a wonderful test.
The first snow storm to hit our new home after we half-way moved back to Cedar City brought a lot of memories flooding through my mind. There were a lot of snow storms that came up during the years I was growing up. Don’t remember getting cold, and yet there are memories of feeding cattle in the snow, fixing fences, getting cattle off of Minersville Highway, etc.
Alma Law (and 3 kids) visited on the day this was posted. He went with me to water the garden. I needed to fill a page in the book of guitar chords. So after watering the garden we walked down to the the Lower Plant (the Byproducts Plant or the Stink Plant) and took some photos of where Steve Lovell worked as a college student.
I like this scripture quotation. Because this is a reasonably complicated post, with all of the links between Songs and Psalms, I ended up recording the Psalm of Nephi twice. So I decided to go ahead and link both versions (9:18 & 10:53 minutes) from this index page.
The TOTALLY Kick-Ass Technology is lightning analysis. Thus the screen capture showing a resistivity volume derived from lightning databases and a fault interpretation from Tom Ewing at the BEG overlaid. The expanded image shows the entire line A-A’.
It seems like a photo of the sunset is a nice photo to summarize those who are “getting older,” who are “no longer a young soldier,” who are “much more careful and movin’ slower,” and “Somewhat colder, and still bolder than most.”
I am very satisfied with our house/condo. I like to look over the lake in the summer and in the winter and in between. Still, I have learned life involves the ongoing need to cry over my house and my household and our garden and everything we have morning, midday, and night.
Friends are special. I still work with Michael Reed and Dr. Jim Siebert each week on our lightning analysis project. Whenever we get together with other friends in (or not in) these photos, it is wonderful how we pick up as though no time had passed at all. Together we are defining America.
I love to spend an hour sitting down and showing someone interested in art and spiritually in tune Doré’s wonderful steel engravings. I often tell people those who were steel engravers were the first geophysicists. The detail to create the shades of gray is amazing, just as are the words of salvation.
Jeff Jurinak retired as Chief Reservoir Engineer of ConocoPhillips. When he asked me if I knew a water witch who could witch his property on the mountain east of Richfield, I thought he was joking. Still wonder if he did it to show the founder of Landmark Graphics as a water witch. The recommended well location was dry.
Alma was named after Alma in The Book of Mormon who heard the word of The Lord. Alma, pictured, was one of my scouts, one of Paul’s best friends, his Dad worked for me at HyperMedia (see Songs 078, 168, and 177), was a roommate in Saudi Arabia and at 1307 Emerald Green after his divorce, and our family members are friends.
Ammon is one of my heroes in The Book of Mormon. I’ve worked with young men for years, and they all like the story of Ammon cutting off the arms of those attempting to steal the King’s sheep. Then many chapters later, this summary of their missionary work is wonderfully presented. What a wonderful example!
I was re-reading The New Testament when I discovered the words for Mary’s Psalm, and immediately felt like I should put it to music. We had just moved, I had written The Move, and so it seemed appropriate to use this song for the music. I like the extended image of The Annunciation.
I have been through Milan, Italy twice, and have not had a chance to see Leonardo’s wonderful painting of The Last Supper. The first time was because I was asked to go to Berlin to get a visa to go to Saudi Arabia at an EAGE Conference in Florence. The second time because we passed through on a train on our way to Florence and Rome with Rachel. Oh well!
This image summarizes the reason for the new city. We are destroying our world with sprawl. Although “the earth is full and there is enough and to spare,” it is a shame what people are doing to our lovely planet. Changing the way we build our cities is the key to real environmentalism, not silly things like banning plastic straws.
Kids absorb and do not learn. It is sad we need to make mistakes before we learn things. I remember Mom & Dad taking us to Vegas with the Dick & Fern Leigh and their family. I remember we tossed coins. I recall tossing coins at the sacrament table under this image and being corrected for it. Sometimes it takes a long time to learn.
Imagine having spent your entire life watching your people fight against and kill and be killed by your kindred. Imagine having watched your Dad die, as a result of this fighting. Imagine knowing this did not have to be, and could have been avoided by following the gospel of Christ. This walking in someone else’s moccasins makes Mormon’s prayer more poignant.
I love Zion Canyon. I’ve made the hard climb up Walter’s Wiggles to Angel’s Landing at least 4 times, and once my 6 kids and I walked all the way down from Kolob. We did not have enough water with us for that hike and it was a scary hike. “It has been a long time, It has been a hard climb.
This recording is an example of what happens when I only go through a song once a year for several years, and then do a recording in one sitting. Oh well! The loving painting by Ken Turner of Eternal Worlds makes up for my meager efforts.
The image shows the Nelson Farm, now owned by Sara Penny, from the top of the mountain cut by Fiddler’s Canyon looking west and the garden in back of Grandma’s house where Aunt Shirley and Uncle Willis live. The extended image adds a photo of the farm from a Sky West flight looking towards the east.
Selected 3 images to summarize Dallin at the Science Camp inspiring this song: (1) standing by a petrified rock, like the one which represents the Savior in my mosaic; (2) standing by a ladder with no rungs; and (3) the extended photo shows Dallin with his cousins.
Like so much of this work, there are no coincidences. When looking for a photo of Sophie at this Science Camp this photo of her in front of a small cave stood out. It was easy to see how this was the famous the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary, which I only knew about because of Rachel and Garrett’s gift.
The photo shows everyone standing around before all of the food is put out, maybe at the 2008 Hafen Reunion. Note the kids on the swing mattresses. The expanded photo shows the feast, as set up in back of the Moses cabin the year this song was written about the Hafen reunion.
Even though this song was written in September of 2015, it seems like a long time ago. I guess that is because the text captured on the right side of the extended image was written on November 20th, 1998. Here I outlined a suggestion, before Andrea and I were engaged, Ken Turner make more paintings of the Savior. These are three of the first of many.
A regret from spending 40 years in the wilderness of Texas is I lost track of family and friends. Maybe if I had lived in Utah there would have been more interactions with cousins like Jeff, and possibly influence in building family ties and testimony. But then wouldn’t have met folks in Texas and around the world. Choices.
The photo is from a fund raiser for the Orchestra of Southern Utah shortly after we moved back to Cedar City. The extended photo is of Desmond and Sara relaxing in their home after a day of to much activity. Too much activity is one of the consequences of being driven.
January can be cold. There can be a lot of snow. January 2018 was quite mild. We did not get near as much snow as the first winter here. Snow, parents, ourselves, kids, grandkids, work, the faster moving world around us, and the church seem to be the center of my meditation about the new year in January of 2016.
This song is recorded twice. Once as Psalm 156, and here as Song 382. It is a historical song describing the wars and tribulations of ancient Israel, and specifically how Deborah brought peace for 40 years by smiting Sisera with a nail in his head. The description is graphic and similar to Nephi decapitating Laben.
I liked my time as a Primary Teacher. Kids like things simple. I like things simple. Singing time teaches kids to sing. The Primary Conductors often raise and lower their horizontally placed hand to teach the kids the notes of a new song. This same process is what was followed with this I-15, Utah song experiment.
Before moving home we went to one of Andrea’s niece’s clarinet recitals (Aubrey later got a Ph.D. in clarinet). I congratulated the pianist’s playing. Karen Bradshaw left when we did to go to one of Sara’s Suzuki concerts. As she realized Andrea was Steve Shirts’ sister, the Cedar High Band teacher for 40 years, she looked at us and said, “Isn’t that like intermarriage.”
In the description, I talk about the vineyard being like a business. As an entrepreneur, this is where my mind is most of the time. I recognize this song is about the business of the Lord, which is the only business which makes any difference in the long term. The song Isaiah first sang is complex with many levels of meaning. Where and the context of Isaiah’s song’s placement in the Book of Mormon is not accidental.
Erosion is one of the most basic principles of geology, particularly stratigraphic geology. Stratigraphic layers are made of sediments which eroded from other previous geology. At the mouths of canyons are boulders. Stream channels and beaches are made up of finely sorted sand (typically quartz) crystals. The farther you go offshore, the finer the sediments. Oil resource plays are organic rich shale layers which cover thousands of square miles. All from erosion.
We bought a pool table back in about 1990 because we hoped it would bring our family closer together. Didn’t. I was still a workaholic. When I was home, I was thinking about my work, and about changing the world. We did play some pool, and the collision of these small worlds provided me with images to think about the collision of larger worlds. Sometime in this time-frame was when I was introduced to the idea of worlds in collision.
About a year ago Andrea and I drove past Cedar Breaks, down towards Panquich, through Brian Head, then down Parowan Canyon to see the damage from the Brian Head fire. It was bad. And it was largely because environmentalists stopped the Forest Service from cutting down the first pine trees attacked by the bark beetle. Oh the hubris of the left. The road to Yankee Meadows was blocked, and the word is all of the trees around the lake were burned down.
It seems the nature of God has been misunderstood forever. One of the many projects I have started and have yet to finish is a book called An Open Mind, and one of the tables I put together in that book summarizes The Gods of Mankind. The preponderance of these Gods can be seen face-to-face. Yet most Christian, Jewish, and Moslem spiritual leaders consider it blasphemous to compare God to mankind, which God made in his own image.
The Nelson Cabin has become an important part of our family tradition, at least in regards to Science Camp. It is neat the kids like it. It is neat their parents like it. It is neat how much everyone looks forward to going to the cabin. The older boys have staked out a place for hammocks in aspen trees due west and down hill from the cabin. Andrea and I have a room we always stay in. The girls stay upstairs. The younger boys and Dads sleep downstairs or on the porch. Nice!
Dad did not talk about the war. He stayed home to run the farm and Nelson Meat Packing Plant. He did mention he had the only Meat Packing Plant between Las Vegas and Salt Lake, and how when he and truck showed up there were many people waiting to get meat. He was the oldest son, and had responsibilities at home. He had a plane, and obviously a pilot’s license. It was destroyed in the blizzard the year before my birth. He was a different kind of Soldier than Morris Shirts.
I wanted to have a photo of Bob Crane here. Too shy to go to his house and ask to take a photo, so I used a couple of photos of The Master Singers concerts, each of whom are a “son.” Some, like Dee Rich, the conductor, who have already, and unexpectedly due to cancer, had “their name called,” and have gone home “to see once more the ones who called (them) son.”
The photo of Bengt Nelson, Sr. holding a granddaughter in about 1905, seems the obvious photo to go with this song about Emma Jane, a 15-year-old daughter of Craig Barrick’s 5th Great-Grandfather’s daughter-in-law. There is nothing quite as sad as the death of a baby human being. As stated earlier, when I have not sung some of these songs for a year, and I re-sing it, the emotions can be overwhelming. Might be better to do a second recording. And maybe not.
This photo looks like a choir, and it is actually a graduation photo. I need to find out the context. High School or BAC graduation? The note I have says Roice Bengt Nelson is in the front row (on the left?). Note this photo is the same year as the photo of his Grandfather, Bengt Nelson, Sr. holding a granddaughter, the photo for Song 393 – Emma Jane. Now I am almost finished posting Songs and Psalms, this is one of many other projects to pursue.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a long history of providing music and the spoken word of God. This is seen through the work of The Morman Tabernacle Choir and their weekly broadcast. I believe this tradition is based in scriptures, like where Jesus Christ taught the Nephites of ancient America when he visited them after his death and ressurrection, as recorded in III Nephi 20: 34-46, which words are used for this song and to sing together.
Dr. Kurt Strack told me I needed to get rid of the geek look of the Walden 3-D website about 5 years ago. Have not had any sales from the website, and so I have not worried about it. Busy with other things, which is shown by the number of different activities shown on Walden’s website. Hard to believe we put the first commercial website in Houston back in 1988, at Landmark Graphics. I’ve had the walden3d.com website running out of my house since about 1992.
Faults provide a structural framework for both stratigraphic and mineral geology and exploration. The image shows a probable flower structure above a probable strike-slip fault in South Utah interpreted from an apparent resistivity volume calculated from 20 years of lightning strike data. This is an example of how Dynamic Measurement‘s lightning analysis can create a geological framework anywhere, creating a new branch in the geophysical services industry.
It seems I have had the opportunity to attend more birthday parties for “Mom” (Maxine Shirts) than for anyone else in the family. Her kids are very good at honoring their Mom, and always have a party. Grandkids come from St. George and often from other places. If I knew how to do Face Time better, maybe we would be involved with more birthdays. After all, this song does talk about a lot of family birthdays.
Volcanism is exciting. It is one of the many area I would like to spend serious time and travel studying. An acquaintance at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York was studying volcanoes in Iceland, and trusted too much in his GPS as he drove through the fog at the top of a volcano. His jeep went off the edge, went down over a 1,000 feet, slowed a bit as the bottom curved, and flew to the middle of the caldera. He survived to tell the story.
“We have each had good teachers and bad. We have each built on a sandy or a rocky foundation. Sometimes we forget, or maybe we do not know how to question the assumptions behind the teacher’s lessons.” Why did the genocide happen in Cambodia? Why is Venezuela having hyperinflation? Why are farmers being evicted from their farms in South Africa with no compensation? Why are so many viable human beings lives terminated with abortion? Why not turn to Jesus?
The extended image, reached by clicking on the image, shows a panorama of the cabin the morning I wrote Quiet Times in the Mountains at Science Camp in 2017. Taylor just came in fourth on a big Track & Field race at her High School. I like to think the fun runs we started at Science Camp are one of the reasons she has found this love of running. Who knows the things that come from letting Grandkids spend quite times in the mountains with you?
The eclipse photo was taken by Ray Gardner’s friend Hilton Long. He took several excellent photos. The extended photo shows two panorama’s: one of the valley where we watched the eclipse; and one of the same valley at the height of the eclipse. The two movies Roice took with his 360 degree camera caught the experience wonderfully. What a neat once in a lifetime experience. Almost like fireworks over the Monte Alban Ruins on Oaxaca, Mexico in 1991.
“Here, row by row, ancestors rest in peace, reminding us, we too shall fade away, but if we stop to listen and to learn, their legacy will ever show the way.” Visiting one of these pioneer cemeteries, we are often alone. The sounds of the wind , or maybe an insect or a bird, the smells of sagebrush, he taste of the grit of sand, the hot and dry touch in Southern Utah, and the views are a stark reminder of real men and women, who are now keepers of the Pioneer Cemetery.
The first Boy Scout Troop in the United States was in Farmington, Utah, brought back by missionaries yesterday. I spent a lot of time working with Boy Scouts during my today. The Boy Scouts left the principles of Scouts, and the principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, with gay scout leaders, females joining scout troops, and other liberal choices, and so the LDS church is revamping the youth program for the entire world-wide church tomorrow.
Thrust faults are one of the basic types of faults. These faults occur when there is compression. The photo shows how the Shnabkaib through Moenkopi Formation rocks have been compressed as seen along the Taylor Creek Trail at the Kolob Overlook exit off of I-15. Looking down at Cedar Canyon from the “C” the expanded image shows the repeat section where these same formations have been back-thrust, which is a type of thrust fault.
After our first Nelson Grandkids Summer Science Camp I started planning for when we take the Grandkids to London, and then to Tokyo, where Andrea and I served our missions. This year was a big step on that path. We went to Bueno Vista, Colorado thanks to Dr. Scott and Maria Bowman. Scott and I shared an office for several years after I left Landmark and HyperMedia went under. It was good to catch up, and I think everyone enjoyed the mountains looking down on us.
Andrea has posted on FaceBook “I love my garden.” Xochi Engst has told me several times how much she enjoys going out to the garden early in the morning and watering the garden: “It is a feeling of real joy.” I enjoy weeding, reworking the furrows, picking vegetable, picking up rock and glass to clean out the garden, listening to the children playing at The Gateway Academy, watching a TED talk, and just being out at the farm early in the morning and watering he garden.
The day after our JaWS (Juice a Winning Startup) presentation, my friend, Dr. Peter Duncan, told me, Roice I gave you extra points because you were having fun. However, you would never want to go into a real investment forum and present your company that way. I did approach the SEG Shark Tank like it was a “real investment forum.” It wasn’t. It was an attempt to teach principles of entrepreneurship. There were very few attendees. Oh well! I had fun.
I did my first Grandkidlet in January of 2004 for Ethan, which is implied to come from a Thoughtlet written on the 9th of September 2001 for my kids and step-children. There was another one about a Hot Air Balloon Trip on the 9th of November 2003. There wasn’t any feedback, and so this initial effort did not go anyplace. Then in January of this year I started doing weekly Grandkidlets. There has been some feedback, and I have kept doing it. It makes sense to link this work to my Songs & Psalms.
This image was posted on FaceBook by my son (H. Roice Nelson, III), and is a view into a three-dimensional hyperbolic space by cubes, with five cubes meeting at each edge. This was joint work with Henry Segerman and Michael Woodard, and an interactive version is at http://www.michaelwoodard.net/hypVR-Ray/. It seems like a good image to help segway minds into Eternal Life.
New songs are always a wonder to me. I write a new Grandkidlet, get a like, it triggers my mind to write out thoughts, I put these thoughts to music, and wholala: there is a new song on my i-Pad. And yet they seem like they have always been there, and I am just remembering something I heard before. Hopefully they bring some small amount of joy to someone besides just me. This hope is why I share the Songs and Psalms.
This song was written by Chris Ring, and when I discovered it, I really liked it. In those days, I was going on 10 mile walks through George Bush Park regularly, and I would sing this song to myself as I walked through the woods alone. I used this song as the music for Psalm 149.
This song was written after I got a commitment to pick up the claims in Humboldt County, Nevada and to puchase control of Dynamic Measurement. The closing was postponed for a week or until the end of the month every time we talked for some 15 months now. Still believe in the potential investor, and not at all in his optimism and time-frame. I am also optimistic, and so it is easy for me to forgive someone with good intentions who does not deliver.
Don’t remember much about what brought about this song. Obviously was not feeling good about others, then realized I wasn’t feeling good about myself, and needed to focus on what I can do to change. Learn to follow Jesus.
When I discovered Red Cove, I discovered a large landslide. I later found out that it happened when Celeste Nichols was driving down the canyon, and she saw all of the dust come up. The backthrust has tilted the soft Jurrassic Aeolean sands so much, they just slid down one of the bedding planes, forming a kind of unique landslide. The photos show what it looks like now.
This song was written at our 10th Annual Nelson Grandkid’s Summer Science Camp, which was held in Texas and hosted at Avalyn’s house in Bulverde. It is really neat each of the Grandkids want to have their own song, and that they seem to like them.
This was written in Bulverde, Texas at the Tenth Annual Nelson Grandkid’s Summer Science Camp. It was Kendall’s first year as an official attendee at Science Camp. She is so flexible, and so much fun to be around. She had an operation on her eyes the last day we were there, and did very well.
Another of the songs written to describe basic geologic processes. Refers to Silver Reef, as well as to more traditional coral reefs. It will be interesting to see if there is ever a review of these songs by professional geoscientists.
This is the last of the outlined songs to summarize basic geologic processes. I am pleased with how this effort turned out. It will be interesting to see if these are shared with geologists, and what the reaction to these songs by professional geoscientists is.
Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life is one of the iconic revelations recorded in The Book of Mormon. This song paraphrases what Lehi wrote about his vision. This vision, like all prophetic visions, has tremendous applicability today.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint’s new Gospel Doctrine “Come Follow Me” study guide and companion study process has not been an easy transition for us.
Andrea’s Christmas present for Christmas 2019. Hopefully future Christmas presents will meet her needs and wants better.
There are many heart felt words which have been written by many before me. These words were on the first page of the first Volume of the first issue of Pioneer, the Sons of Utah Pioneers (SUP) quarterly magazine. This is one of the best historical magazines available, and I thoroughly enjoy reading and studying each issue.