Favorite picture of the week

It's been melting here in the valley. This week anyway. They had room for a picture page in our last Clipper edition, but this one didn't make it. My choice. It didn't fit with the others. I headlined the pictures: Warm, wet weather brings brief break. There are sure to be more snow pics on the horizon. And soon.

Ski day

The fellow on the lift from Seattle was surprised that January 15 was the first day this winter that we'd been skiing. Us Utah people should be up more often than that, surely. But alas, life and colds and work and weather limits even those of us who live within an hour of seven or eight resorts. These shots are from our first outing.

It was a day that looked gray at the start, but that in fact had a mix of sunshine as the clouds danced in and out and about the mountains.

The trees at the base were green, those further up had dobs of snow, those at the top were encrusted with frost. I tried not to stop too much for photos, but here's a feel for the atmosphere.

Anyone who can guess the resort from these photos wins ... my respect.

You can do it

"Where are my scientists?" came the question to a room full of second graders.

Every hand went up. All 60 of them.

"Where are my mathematicians?" Same hands. All enthusiastically raised.

"Where are my artists, singers, painters and and dancers?"

It was Dr. Jackie Thompson, educational equity coordinator in Davis School District, who raised the questions and who got the unreserved response again -- all hands went up saying they could do art and music and whatever else she suggested.

"Who has dreams?" she asked at the end. And there were those same hands.

I watched, astounded. Every last child in that room believed they could be anything and do anything. They had total confidence in themselves in every area of their lives and their interests. They knew whatever needed doing, they could do it. Whatever options were open, they would take them. And succeed.

Ah, to be in second grade.

Second grade comes, you recall, before junior high and high school, when those interests and that confidence are sorely tested.

I remember one great disappointment from high school that rocked my world. It showed me that some things just plain were out of my control and sometimes I was just going to fail.

I recovered. But something was lost. Something that a lot of people have in second grade but don't have 10 or even five years later. Confidence, maybe. Perhaps faith. Surely hope.

I greatly admire people who still believe they can reach any goal.

Our country's president had that aura about him as he headed into the most difficult assignment anyone could take on. When this November's elections sent the message that he'd failed, I feared he would lose hope.

He's only worked harder.

That's my hope for all of us as we begin a new year.

Don't tell yourself you can't set a resolution because you've set one in the past and failed. Just make up your mind that it's something you want to do and do it. Don't think that because someone didn't give you what you'd hoped to get that you should give up all together. Just look for a different way to make that something happen. Don't tell youself you can't do something because it's too difficult or otherwise impossible. Just work harder and watch yourself succeed.

Believe in yourself. Become what you want to become.

In other words, be like a second grader.