My Intermittent Blog (Life!)

I'm sitting in our hotel room at Jacobs Lake Lodge in Kaibab National Forest. We're about 40 miles from the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and tomorrow, we'll probably go on a hike below the rim, just because we can.

For those of you among my four readers who are wondering why I haven't written in here in about two weeks, it's because I'm on vacation, having a really wonderful time, seeing parts of America up close and personal, which is really a good way to see it.

Community of Christ Temple in Independence, Missouri

We have seen what appears to be a fantastical space ship landing in the midst of Independence, Missouri. Latter-Day Saints seems to be a subtext of this trip. We walked around the Temple Lot, and admired the Temple built there by the Community of Christ. On the Temple Lot is another Latter-day organization, the Church of the Temple Lot, and across the street is a visitors center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This ground is a sacred place for many people, and Harry Truman spoke in the auditorium here a couple of times.

Tall Prairie Grass

Further on our travels, Jerry and I happened on the Tall Prairie Grass National Preserve. The visitors center there is an old limestone barn built by a rich farmer. The land has been acquired by the National Park Service and the National Conservancy and is jointly managed. The prairie, here, is beautiful, and I never would have seen it if I had called this place Flyoverland rather than Drivethroughland. It really is worth the drive through.

Stay tuned for more ruminations. I'll try to add something here later.