When Am I Ever Going to Use That?

A few days ago, a friend of mine solicited some help via Facebook with finding the central angle of an arc, given the radius and the arc length.  Since math is one area where I can actually be helpful at times, I tried my best to answer her question about how to solve the problem.  Soon after I entered the conversation, another person commented as follows:

"Is this what I have to look foreword too [sic]? This makes me sick! I will be no help to my kids and where in the world will they ever use that? So dumb!"

I've heard my own kids and others voice similar complaints.  "How is this going to help me?"  "When am I ever going to use that?"  I've even gotten a kick out of a clip from the Simpsons where Marge laments, "Since [losing interest in math after starting to date Homer], I haven't been able to do any of the Calculus I've encountered in my daily life."

But for some reason, this comment by this parent really bothered me and got me thinking about the "I'm never going to use this" argument.  A few thoughts:

• This type of attitude perhaps is at least a partial explanation for the United States continuing to fall behind other industrialized nations in math and science.  If this is the attitude of parents, I can't imagine what the attitude of the children is.  How can the US hope to increase involvement in math and science if this is the prevailing attitude?
• You won't be able to use any knowledge that you don't acquire.  By striving to learn all you can, you keep your options open.  You have the ability to enter fields that perhaps you'd never considered.  Perhaps rather than sitting back and using technology created by others, you could be on the leading edge, creating technology that will be used by others.
• Not all knowledge is necessarily an end in itself.  There are specific concepts in math and science that you might have a hard time finding a specific application for, but in many cases you have to learn basic principles in order to build more advanced concepts on top of it.
• Excellence for the sake of excellence.  I love to learn.  I consider this life a God-given opportunity to acquire all the knowledge that I possibly can (D&C 130:18).  I don't read history books and biographies because it will help me in my career, but because I believe being knowledgeable and informed makes me a better person.  I spend a lot of time exercising as well, not because I feel I have a chance to be an Olympian or a professional athlete, but because I want to be the best version of myself.  Making the effort to understand and master a concept is never going to be wasted effort.
• I think of all the brilliant discoveries and inventions that have been made and cringe to think of an Einstein or an Edison or a Newton thinking "I don't need to learn that...when am I ever going to use it?"  Did Einstein need to make the discoveries he did in order to have a career and get through life?  No.  Did he live a better and more meaningful life because he strove to understand things about the world that no one at the time understood?  I believe he did.
• Just because something is hard doesn't mean it shouldn't be pursued.
• Set your sights high.  We can always set our sights low enough that we don't need any special knowledge or skills.

I'm reminded of this Calvin and Hobbes comic strip (couldn't find the actual image publicly available):

Dad:  Let's start at the beginning. When you ADD something, you INCREASE what you have. You COMBINE.

Calvin:  I don't want to learn this! It's completely irrelevant to my life!

Dad:  This isn't irrelevant.  Everyone needs to know this.

Calvin:  I don't! I can get along fine without math!

Dad:  Oh yeah? What do you want to be when you grow up? Every job requires SOME math.

Calvin:  That's not true! I'll be a... a... a caveman! Yeah!

Dad:  That's not really a job.

Don't be satisfied with being a caveman.  When a teacher (or someone else) tries to teach you something that is difficult to understand and that you don't see an immediate benefit of learning, resist the temptation to say, "When am I ever going to use that?".  Work hard.  Learn all you can.  Stick with something even though it's difficult.  Be the best version of yourself that you can.  

And if you need some help with math, just let me know.  I'm happy to help.

One Week In

I've failed to come up with a brilliant and exciting topic, but as I'm determined to at least make it one week with my weekly blog post resolution, I thought I'd give an update on how the first week of my "best body ever" resolution went, along with some details of what I am and am not doing.  I won't take the time to put this together as an organized, flowing narrative.  Instead, I'll fall back on my favorite crutch, the bullet-point list.

• As I mentioned in my previous post, my workout plan is to continue with my running schedule (I pull my training plans from www.coolrunning.com.  To start off the year, I'm working on the Competitive 5K plan) and to add P90X.  In addition, I will watch what I eat.
• As far as P90X, I didn't purchase the DVDs.  I got the iPhone App for free and purchased all the workouts for $60.  I'm sure I don't get everything that I would from purchasing the whole program, but I feel it will work for my purposes.  Plus, I'm cheap.  My plan is to do the P90X workouts 5 days a week, Monday-Friday.  Oh yes, Tony Horton is annoying.
• I had taken the last week off from running so when I started on Monday I weighed in at 208.3 lbs (which is up a little bit from where I have been).  This morning, I weighed myself after my run and I was at 201.0 lbs.
• So this is what my workout schedule looked like this past week

	Running (all done on a treadmill this week, I'm not as tough as Jeanell)	P90X
Monday	6 x 440s at 10.5 mph with 1:00 walking at 4 mph in between	Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X
Tuesday	7M at 7.1 mph	Plyometrics
Wednesday	7M at 7.1 mph	Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X
Thursday	10 Hills at 9.3 mph (each “hill” is .12 miles, I run .06 miles at 5% incline, then .06 miles flat.  I usually have to rest at least some.  This week I ran 5, then walked a minute or so, then ran 3, walked, and then the last 2.  I hate hills)	Yoga X
Friday	5M at 8.0 mph	Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X
Saturday	10K (6.2M) at 8.3 mph

• As far as eating, I've sworn off sweets and soda, but other than that I am not trying to eat or not eat any particular foods.  My big focus has been limiting my helpings at dinner.  Where in the past I was frequently enjoying three or even four helpings, I tried to stay with one.  (I did have two bowls of Jeanell's delicious Zuppa Toscana soup on Wednesday).
• Wednesday and Thursday my arms and shoulders were as sore as I ever remember them being.  It was to the point where I could barely put on or take off my shirt, couldn't pick scratch my nose.  Even when I went to sleep, it was hard to find a comfortable sleeping position.  Thankfully, the soreness subsided quite a bit on Friday.
• I'm a little nervous about the time commitment.  This week was pretty light on miles as compared to some of the coming weeks.  There will be days where I'll be exercising for 3+ hours.
• Overall, I feel good.  My legs are a little bit sore from the legs workout yesterday plus the running yesterday and this morning, but generally I feel good.  We'll see how the next week goes.

2013 Resolutions

And by that I mean my resolutions for 2013, not that I have 2,013 resolutions.

I enjoy writing out my resolutions along with some explanation each year.  Gives me a chance to reflect and think about what I want to accomplish and by sharing it with other people, I feel a higher level of commitment.  If it inspires someone else to set some goals for the coming year, all the better.  Without further ado.

• Physical

My goal for 2013 is to achieve my "best body ever."  I realize this is a purely vain and superficial goal, but...actually I don't even have a "but".  It is what it is.

I've never forgotten a comment my high school Physics teacher, Ms. Vickery, upon seeing a certain photo of me in our yearbook:  "Well, twenty years from now, you'll be able to show this to your kids and tell them this is what you used to look like."  I specifically remember deciding at that time I would look better in twenty years than I did then.

A few years ago, I was not anywhere close to achieving that goal, but I've lost some weight, I've got into the habit of exercising, and I've decided that this year is as good a year as any to try to achieve that goal (even though it's a couple of years shy of twenty years from the aforementioned conversation).

My plan for achieving this goal is to continue with my running as I have since 2010 and to add P90X to try to add some muscle/definition.  I also plan to watch what I eat more than I ever have in the past.  No soda, no sweets, and most-importantly, reasonable portions (both size and number).

And don't worry.  I won't be posting any pictures.

As far as running, I've kind of set in my mind to at some point achieve a 6 min/mile 5K, a 7 min/mile 10K, a 8 min/mile half marathon, and a 9 min/mile full marathon.  (I realize that the 6 min/mile 5K will likely be the hardest to achieve).  Doesn't have to be this year, but I figure it's not going to get any easier as I get older.  I'd also like to beat my brother-in-law Cam in a race at some point (last year he beat me in the Ray Barrus 5K and the Layton Half Marathon).

As far as running generally, Jeanell and I (and Cam and Collin) are signed up to run the Ogden Half Marathon in May.  We have another Mouritsen/Jefferies team for the Wasatch Back Ragnar in June.  Hope to be in Grantsville for the 5K on the 4th.  Jeanell and I have also talked about doing the Top of Utah Full Marathon next September.

• Mental

I fell off on my reading in 2012 so my goal for 2013 is just going to be to get back to that.  My goal this year is to spend a minimum of 30 minutes per day reading a book.  I typically read history/biography, current non-fiction, and classic fiction.  I've tried reading three books at a time and alternating after I complete each chapter, but I don't think that has worked that well.  I think I'll just read one book at a time and try to alternate genres after each book I complete.  I will first finish Battle Cry of Freedom, then The Long Walk, and then Pride and Prejudice.  After that, I'll reload.

I'll try to stay up on current affairs by reading the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and the New York Times.

Finally, I'll continue to accept all Scramble challenges from my brother Scott.

• Spiritual

I plan to focus my gospel study on the Doctrine and Covenants this year.  Toward the end of last year, I had success in simply preparing a Gospel Doctrine lesson for my study each week so I think I will continue with that this year.  If I am able to finish preparing a lesson for that week, I will study the Teachings of Lorenzo Snow or talks from the most recent General Conference depending on the week.  I hope to spend 30 minutes per day on gospel study.

In addition, I plan to have a meaningful fast each month and say prayers each morning and night (I've always struggled with morning prayers).

• Family

With maybe a little bit of cross-over from "Spiritual", I'd like to have nightly family prayer and scripture study as a family (including completing the Book of Mormon as a family).

I need to do better at spending quality time with my kids.

Most importantly, I need to do a much better job of dating my wife and making sure we are able to spend time together.

• Social

Two simple goals here:

Write a weekly blog post (I've had this goal before).

Follow the lead of my fellow GHS Class of '95er Travis Tate and participate in an open mike night at Wiseguys.  I don't know that I have the desire to pursue this to the extent Travis has, but I do enjoy telling jokes and trying to be funny, and even though convenient, fast-and-testimony meeting probably isn't the best time to try out new material.  I need to build up more material and fine-tune some of what I already have in order to do this.  I expect it will be later in the year.

• Career

At the end of 2011, I left Vulcraft where I had been employed for 10+ years and went from becoming primarily a manager of developers to a developer.  I have learned a lot over the past year, but have also discovered that I still have a lot to learn.  A specific area of focus I'd like to have this year is improving my web-development skills.  I plan to spend 30 minutes each day on web development areas (html, css, javascript, jquery), starting with the tutorials from w3schools.

I think that should probably do it for 2013.  As per the usual, most of these will probably be forgotten by Friday, and the rest by Valentine's Day.

But it's still great to start out a new year full of optimism and hope of what can be accomplished.

A Few Thoughts on Sandy Hook and Guns

I've really tried to resist writing anything because I don't want to get into this highly controversial debate, but...well, here we are.  I don't have a coherent, well-thought-out argument, just some thoughts.  In no particular order...

• I support the rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms, but I'm not sure the market is regulated enough.  I don't understand the point of requiring a background check if the purchase is made through a federally licensed gun dealer, but letting anything go if the purchase is made at a gun show or from a private seller.  I personally don't see a problem with every legal gun purchase having the same requirements.  I wouldn't be opposed to guns being registered similar to automobiles.  Is there really any reason for it to be easier to buy a gun than to buy a car?  I hear the argument that this will just increase costs for legal gun owners, but it costs me extra to legally own my car too.
• I cannot understand how people on both sides of the argument can't concede that exactly what is meant by the 2nd Amendment is open to interpretation. "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."  Do pro-gun individuals interpret this to mean that anyone and everyone is entitled to all the guns they want, with no questions asked?  Do current laws already overly infringe on an individual's rights to bear arms?  Do convicted violent criminals still have that right?  And are arms limited to guns?  Does the Constitution, if interpreted literally, actually grant the right to more advanced weaponry?  Where does the whole "well regulated militia" come in?  Do you need to be a registered member of an official state militia to actually have the right?  Does the regulation apply to the arms themselves or the individuals bearing the arms or neither?
• I don't like the NRA's proposed solution of an armed security guard in every school.  How do we guarantee that a nut job doesn't get hired as the security guard?  Assuming the answer is some type of careful screening process, why couldn't something similar be done for gun ownership in general?  Or at least for certain types of guns?  I don't understand the argument that we can't prevent someone who intends to do harm from getting a gun, but we can prevent someone who intends to do harm from being hired as a school security guard.  If it was always obvious who was going to commit these crimes, we wouldn't have this problem to begin with.
• I don't feel that having a concealed-weapon permit holder at any given shooting guarantees a better outcome.  What if there were multiple permit holders who tried to respond?  Can you always determine who are the "good" shooters and who are the "bad" shooters?  When police arrive, will they be able to distinguish the "good" shooter from the "bad" shooter?  Could the stress of the situation cause a "good" shooter to accidentally shoot an innocent?  Maybe it's just the way the arguments come across, but some seem to think that doing more to regulate gun ownership will do nothing but having a concealed-weapon permit holder present will solve everything.  I don't buy it.
• Like any complex problem, I don't think there is any one solution.  As I stated initially, people who wish to legally own guns for their own self defense may help.  I believe doing more to ensure weapons don't get into the wrong hands will help.  Unfortunately, in a free society such as the one we live in, we will always have these types of incidents to one degree or another.  We have before and sadly, I would guess we will again.
• There seems to be a narrative that the country is more violent now than ever.  Despite this tragic occurrence, the numbers don't indicate that.  Over the last thirty or so years there has been a steady decline in violence.  And to say times are more violent now than in the 18th and 19th century is simply not accurate either.  Our country's first Secretary of the Treasury was killed in a duel by the Vice-President.  Andrew Jackson shot and killed a man in a duel and was involved in several other duels and still went on to become President of the United States.  This is a reason I don't really buy into the theory that this is the fault of movies and video games.  If that were the case, wouldn't our society be much more violent now than in the past?  There could be some impact and for individuals who are already disturbed, maybe a scene in a movie or a video game plays a role, but to make the claim that we live in a more violent society than ever before and that this is because of movies and video games doesn't make sense to me.
• Good decisions rarely result from knee-jerk reactions to specific incidents.  Whatever action is taken needs to be carefully thought out and considered.
• I really don't like when I feel pro-gun activists refuse to even allow tighter gun control measures on the table for negotiation.  How do we know that there's isn't a law that could be enacted or that increased enforcement of existing laws couldn't help prevent another such incident?  What if requiring a mental health evaluation to purchase a gun would prevent one such incident every 5 years?  Would it be worth it? I don't know what will work and what won't work, but it seems anything that may help should at least be on the table for discussion.  Sometimes I feel the thinking is "well nothing we do is going to prevent all incidents so we might as well do nothing."
• Finally, for those that argue vehemently for gun rights, please use intelligent arguments and legitimate data.  I think as much as anything, what has pushed me more to the left on this issue are the trite, straw-man arguments in favor of gun ownership.  For example, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" or variations.  I've never heard anyone claim that guns, by themselves, anthropomorphize and kill individuals by themselves.  More often than not, when a person murders another person, it is with a gun and those who argue for tighter gun control simply feel that more could be done to keep guns out of the hands of those who intend to do harm to others.  Another I don't care for "Cars kill more people than guns do".  For one, I don't think comparing accidental deaths to intentional deaths is a valid comparison.  Secondly, cars are heavily regulated.  Annual inspections and registrations are required.  Everyone who operates a car has to be licensed.  We have all kinds of speeding and other traffic laws and law enforcement officers specifically dedicated to enforcing compliance with those laws.  I've seen a couple of variations of "drug laws works so well, let's have tighter gun laws" (I believe sarcasm is intended).  That logic could be extended to argue against any and all laws.  We have DUI laws but people still drive drunk.  We have speeding laws, but people still speed.  We have laws against robbery and murder and people still do those things.  I guess I just don't understand the argument.  So we just eliminate all laws, give everyone a gun, and see how things pan out?  Finally, several pro-gun arguments seem to be arguing against a ban on guns (with arguments such as "if we take away everyone's guns, only criminals will have guns"), which I don't see anyone calling for.

I don't claim to have any answers.  I know there are issues around mental health and treatment/help for those who are mentally ill that are being discussed as well which I've chosen not to get into.  This is really the first time I've thought seriously about gun issues.  I'm a little surprised that as I've thought about it, I've come down as much more of a moderate than I would have thought.

Ok, now tell me everything I've said that's wrong.

Not Everything You Read on the Internet Is True

Ever since, as a sophomore in college, I carefully forwarded that email chain-letter to twenty friends and didn't immediately become rich beyond my wildest dreams, I have been skeptical of information shared with me via the Internet.

Over the years, my BS-meter has become pretty finely-tuned and I can generally detect BS from a mile away.  When in doubt, snopes.com can be a valuable resource.  At this point, I pretty much know that the Nigerian prince doesn't really need my help, I didn't really win a $1,000 gift card from Wal-Mart, and perhaps a bit more obscurely, Dr. Benjamin Spock's son didn't really commit suicide.

So lately, I've seen this chart making the rounds on Facebook:

The numbers were questionable enough and the sources dubious or general enough that I decided to do a little research of my own.

Now let me preface by saying this has nothing to do with my politics.  While I do question whether current gun laws in this country are sufficient, I'm not trying to debate that issue.  What I do have a problem with is using made-up statistics to make an argument.

I also am not arguing that there are other causes of death that exceed those caused by guns, although I was not able to find figures that matched those claimed on the chart.  I also couldn't find anything that supported the claim that baseball bats are the number one weapon used in violent crimes.  But the claim that I really questioned was that there were more non-firearm homicides than firearm homicides.

Well, it would appear that according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics within the Department of Justice, that claim is false.  Note that the graph below separates handguns from other guns.  Here is the full report.

 Now I realize that this data is only through 2008 so I went to the FBI for some more current data.  The following is data for 2011.

By my count if 67% of murders are committed using guns, then there is no way that more murders are committed with weapons other than guns.

Again, I'm not debating the issue of gun control with this post.  Just making the point that using inaccurate facts to make your case only weakens your argument in my opinion.  Also, just in general, before spreading dubious information all over Facebook or your social network of choice, might not hurt to do a little research.

By the way, if anyone can find sources to support the claims of the original chart, I'd be interested in seeing them.

A Run through Grantsville

I haven't lived in Grantsville since 2000 and even though I visit regularly, I don't get out about town much on those visits. This past weekend, we stayed over in Grantsville Friday night to attend my nephew's baptism the next morning. Since my training called for me to run 11 miles that day, I mapped a route of that distance around Grantsville and did my run early Saturday morning (started about 6:30). The following is what transpired, told in the present tense. My thoughts are in quotation marks (I wasn't talking to myself).

After fiddling with my water pack for a bit and finally getting it to stop leaking, I am off, heading north on Deseret Circle. I take a right onto Main and head east.

"Dave's car is already at the store. I thought I might have got up before him this morning. Guess not. Wonder how long he's been there. Is the store open? I know they're changing their hours but I can't remember when and to what."

I take another right onto Quirk, heading south.

"Which of these houses was Annie Eloriaga's? I know it was one of these. Didn't her mom once win a bunch of money in Wendover? She had a purple Mitsubishi Eclipse. And there's Grandma Twyla's. I wonder how she is."

I come up on Cowboy Drive (which used to be Cherry Street).

"When did they name this part of Cherry Cowboy Drive? Was it my junior year? I wonder how hard it was to do that? Did any postal carriers ever get confused? Can a city just decide to change a street name or does it have to be approved elsewhere? Does the city council just vote on it?"

I reach Durfee and take yet another right (apparently I like to run clockwise) so I'm heading west now. I recall what my dad said the night before.

"You're going to run on Durfee? Well be careful. There's no sidewalk or anything and not much of a shoulder. Make sure you run against traffic so you can see the cars coming at you."

I'm running with traffic.

Another runner approaches from the opposite direction. She is running against traffic.

"I thought you were supposed to run with traffic. That's what I always remember. Or was that just if you were riding your bike? Should I try to say something funny? Like 'you're going the wrong way'? Probably not. Is she running faster than me? Maybe I better try to run a little faster."

"Good morning," I say as we pass.

I reach Hale Street and am now passing Grantsville Middle School. I remember Mr. Despain and Mr. Callister and Mr. Camp and Miss Harrison and Miss Lindberg. I remember Kyle Matthews and his buddies snowing me when I was in 5th grade and they were in 6th.

I pass Orgills.

"They have a nice yard."

I cross Park ("Ryan Keisel") and Center ("Aaron Allred") and then turn right onto Cooley, heading north. I never spent much time on Cooley.

"Do I even know people that live on this street? Well there's Bishop Tayon's house. I know him. And I was in Esteem Team with Michelle. She always said she was going to come back and blow Grantsville up. I wonder if that is still her intention."

I pass Vine ("Justin Hislop") and Peach ("Shelly Larson").

"I never realized Peach was this close to Main Street."

I watch for cars as I come up on Main Street but it's clear when I reach it so I'm able to run straight across without breaking stride. As I pass Clark Street, I hear a yell and turn around to see my dad. I wave.

"He doesn't want me to stop and go talk to him, does he? I mean, you can't really stop in the middle of a run? Is he wanting to run with me? I don't think he can keep up. I mean, he's over sixty years old. It's impressive that he's made it this far, but he can't run with me. I'm running 11 miles!"

I continue running.

"Palomino Ranch? I'm pretty sure that wasn't here when I lived here. I wonder how long that's been here. There are some pretty nice houses. Is that where all the Wal-Mart DC employees live?"

I pass a sign that says "Road Damage."

"Only in Grantsville would there be a permanent sign indicating road damage. 'We're not going to fix the road, but we'll put up a permanent sign so that you know it's damaged.' Of course, in Elwood, we'd just have the permanent damage and no sign."

I'm off the pavement now and wondering how far north Cooley goes. I'm supposed to turn right on Vegas Street, but I'm not sure how far that is. I come to a street with no sign, but it really doesn't look like there will be any more cross-streets further north. I take a right, hoping this is Vegas Street.

"I wonder why they named this street 'Vegas'. There are like two houses on this whole street. If you're the only people that live on a street, do you just get to pick the name? Why would they pick Vegas? I guess I'm not even sure that this is Vegas."

I reach the intersection with Burmester. This time, there's a sign. It was Vegas Street. I turn right again and head south, back toward Grantsville proper.

"I wonder if a lot of people get on the freeway this way. I always went and got on at Lakepoint, but I wonder if you live in West Grantsville, this is faster."

A couple of cars pass. I'm looking for Race Street. According to Google Maps Race Street has an east-west part and a north-south part. The east-west part is supposed to intersect with Burmester. I'm getting pretty close to North Street though and still haven't seen it. I pass Koester Street, which I didn't even know existed. "This must be it." I turn left onto Koester.

"Man that house has a lot of cars. I wonder why they have all those cars."

I've reached the end of Koester and I'm in a field. I have to turn around and go back to Burmester.

"I hope no one saw me run both ways. I'd feel like an idiot."

I'm back on Burmester heading south again. I reach North Street ("Cassity Bleazard") and turn left again. I pass Justin Wingfield's house ("I wonder what Justin's up to these days?") and continue on until I reach Maple Street (another that I didn't know existed). I turn right on Maple, then left on Clark.

"How far am I from Race Street? Oh, there's another runner. He's running against traffic as well. Is that where you're supposed to run? Is he running faster than me? Well maybe he hasn't been running as long as I have this morning. If you ever pass someone out running, you should always remember they might be on mile 15 when you're only on mile 1." We wave as we pass.

I pass the rodeo grounds and finally reach Race Street, where I feel like anything but racing. I turn right back toward Main.

"There's where Tammy Kimber lived. And Julie Millward." I remember Jason Millward speaking at his missionary farewell.

I'm back on Main Street, where I turn left and cross to the south side. According to RunKeeper, I'm over half way done. I'm next supposed to turn right at Worthington, but my brother Kevin had mentioned that he might run with me for a bit. I continue past Worthington to Eastmoor and run into my parents' house.

"Hello?" My dad is back home.
"Is Kevin up?" I ask.
"I don't think so."
"Ok. Did you run all the way up to Cooley from here?" I ask.
"Yep. Well, ran and walked. Six miles."

I'm impressed (I mean he's over sixty years old), but of course I don't tell him that. I head back out the door. I run south down Eastmoor and then turn west back toward Worthington. I remember my dad telling me that I couldn't really get back to Durfee via Worthington the night before.

"Well, I couldn't drive my car up there."
"Dad, I'm not going to be driving"

The road is pretty rough and I wouldn't want to drive it, but for running it works fine. I'm back on Durfee and headed west again. I'm on the home stretch now.

I run past Johnson's and past the Grantsville Stake Center. I'm coming up on Willow Street now.

"Didn't Mrs. Croom live in one of these houses? Didn't she used to give you the actual multiple-choice test as a study guide and then she wouldn't even reorder the questions so all you had to do was memorize the letters. Lots of people did well on those tests without knowing much science. I wonder if Matthews' farm is going to smell."

It didn't. I pass Kelli Matthews' old house. I pass Kelli Matthews' new house. I notice the fence that juts in around the telephone pole. "I wonder what that looks like on the other side."

I'm back to Quirk Street now, retreading the same few blocks I ran earlier. As I come up on Hale, I see the same runner that I passed back on Clark Street.

"If we're passing right here, who does that mean is going faster? I guess I don't know because I don't know where he turned up to Durfee. It looks like he's going faster than me right now. Maybe he hasn't run as far as I have." We casually wave again as we pass.

I turn right on Center this time and head back toward main. I say "good morning" to an elderly woman walking on the other side of the street. Either she doesn't hear me or she chooses not to acknowledge me.

"Oh yeah, the Senior Citizen housing. I had forgotten all about that," as I pass the red-brick buildings.

I pass Allred's house where I spent a good portion of my high school years. Delirium is setting in by now so maybe this didn't even happen, but I remember Aaron and I pulling the "telling our parents we were sleeping over at each others' houses" scam and nearly (but not quite) getting caught in our web of lies. I remember experiencing my first kiss that night (with the girl I would later marry). I'm sure that didn't happen. We were both such good kids.

I pass Peach Street.

"Didn't there used to be a stop sign here? I remember always running it (on accident). The new elementary school looks good. I didn't realize they had moved the school so far back from Main Street. I would've run by here during the 5k on the 4th, wonder why I didn't notice it then. Probably because I was going so fast."

I turn right back on to Main Street, heading east.

"There's the old City Hall. I remember going there with Aaron and lifting weights. His dad (Jackson) had a key. Actually, that probably happened like twice."

I pass Jay's and McMichael Street ("Scott Snively"). Just as I'm about to reach Deseret Circle, I see a mailbox with the name "Keele" on it. "Is that where Jacob Keele lived? I didn't know that. I wonder what he's up to."

As I turn onto Deseret Circle, my RunKeeper app informs me that I have now gone eleven miles. I stop and walk the rest of the way to Jefferies house to cool down. I sit on the porch for a minute and drink what's left of my water. I pull out my phone and see a text from Kevin: "I'm not going to make it" sent at 6:40 that morning.

I'm just glad I'm done.

Walking To Church with Lila

As an aside, I was sitting on the couch with Jeanell, with my arm around her before coming to the computer to write this. "I think I'm going to go write a blog post," I told her. "Is that alright?"

"Yes, that's fine. Why would you need to ask my permission?" she replied.

"Because you're on my arm."

Anyway, our house in Elwood is just around the corner from the church we attend. This is convenient in that we can easily walk when the weather is good and are home soon after our meetings are over. We do have the disadvantage that if we miss a Sunday (not that we ever do), the Bishop, or anyone else interested, can easily look across the parking lot to see if it looks like we're home.

But today it was an advantage. The weather was nice. Jeanell had dressed Lila and done her hair so Lila and I were going to walk to church. The following is an account, as best I recall, of what happened and our conversation.

"Let's go Lila. Come hold my hand."

Lila reaches up and takes hold of the index and middle fingers of my right hand and we walk down the driveway. We get up to the road and check the mailbox (forgot to get the mail yesterday). As we begin walking down the side of the road, a Toyota Highlander drives past.

"Oooh, big car!" Lila exclaims.

"Stay close to me, Lila," I say.

We walk a little further and another car zooms past, in the opposite direction.

"Big car!" Lila shouts again. She then feels the need to run and begins to chant "run, run, run" while pretending to run next to me.

"Don't run," I tell her. "You'll get all tired and sweaty!" She looks up at me quizzically, probably because she has no concept of what it means to be sweaty. I, on the other hand, know the feeling all too well.

We walk a little further and she points to some tall, ugly weeds with a couple of yellow flowers. "Oooh, flowers! Cute!" she says excitedly.

"Those are weeds," I tell her. "Weeds?" she asks. "Yes, weeds."

We walk a little further and she sees a bunch of morning glory. "Oooh, flowers! Pretty!" she exclaims again. I don't bother to correct her this time.

We start to turn the corner and she catches sight of the church, which is maybe 100 yards away at this point. "The church! I found it!" she shouts.

We walk a little further and she lets go of my hand so she can go and climb on these three concrete cylinders in the church lawn (I'm not sure what purpose they serve), which has become a tradition each time we walk to church. She carefully climbs on the first, walks across it, steps to the second, then to the third, and finally jumps triumphantly back to the grass.

"You're a big girl!" I tell her.

We walk across the parking lot and she catches sight of the steeple. "Look!" she tells me, pointing excitedly.

I look.

We walk into the church, cut across the chapel, and go to the library because I need some copies made. I drop off the paper I need copied and tell them I'll return momentarily after I drop Lila off at nursery. "Thank you," I say. "Thank you," Lila repeats.

We arrive at the nursery and I open the door. Lila runs in and immediately gives Sister Sills a big hug. I quietly close the door.

How I love my sweet daughter and her wonder at the world.