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Today's walk took Tortoise north into Zion View Estates, this view was taken near the halfway point at 6;42 am.  Total distance walked was 3.58 miles, with 117 feet climbed, in 58:39 minutes.  Tortoise rating was 5.4; calories burned were 585.  For a map, more pictures, and a thought by Jayne B. Malan heard while walking, please click below to continue reading ...

Cheerio!

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Looking a slightly different direction near sunrise from the picture above

No.  Tortoise will never tire of pictures highlighting the Pine Valley Mountains
at sunrise from every possible vantage point!

2014 Stats:

687.94 miles walked, which is 68.73% of my 2014 goal.

216:48:27 hours walked, which is 69.27% of my 2014 goal

32,076 total feet climbed 

109,765 calories burned
66.13% of the year has passed

I've walked 16 consecutive non-Sundays since my last missed day on August 11, and overall have walked on 195 of the 207 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 94.20% consistency rating.

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells me I am on track. I'm sure this is more numbers than you are interested in, all I can say is I'm really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because I don't do them every, every day.

And now the thought from Jayne B. Malan, formerly a counselor in the General Young Women's Presidency, given in October 1989 General Conference,  It's a beautiful thought, part clean living, part a lesson on the importance of taking care of each other ...

"The day school was out at the beginning of each summer, our family went to our ranch in Wyoming.  One year my father was waiting for us as we arrived. He said he had a big job for my brother Clay and me to do that summer. I was about twelve at the time, and my brother was two years older. Pointing to the field by the side of the house, my father said, “Do you see all of these lambs in that field?

"To feed one or two baby animals is one thing, but to feed 350 is something else! It was hard. There was plenty of grass, but the lambs couldn’t eat the grass. They didn’t have teeth. They needed milk. So we made some long, V-shaped feeding troughs out of some boards. Then we got a great big tin washtub, ground up some grain, and added milk to make a thin mash. While my brother poured the mash into the troughs, I rounded up the lambs, herded them to the troughs, and said, “Eat!” Well, they just stood there looking at me. Although they were hungry and there was food in front of them, they still wouldn’t eat. No one had taught them to drink milk out of a trough. So I tried pushing them toward the troughs. Do you know what happens when you try to push sheep? They run the other way. And when you lose one, you could lose them all because others will follow. That’s the way with sheep.

"All we wanted to do was save our lambs. The hardest part was seeing them die. Every morning we would find five, seven, ten lambs that had died during the night. Some the coyotes got, and others starved to death surrounded by food they couldn’t or wouldn’t eat.

"Part of our job was to gather up the dead lambs and help dispose of them. I got used to that, and it really wasn’t so bad until I named one of the lambs. It was an awkward little thing with a black spot on its nose. It was always under my feet, and it knew my voice. I loved my lamb. It was one I held in my arms and fed with a bottle like a baby.

"One morning my lamb didn’t come when I called. I found it later that day under the willows by the creek. It was dead. With tears streaming down my face, I picked up my lamb and went to find my father. Looking up at him, I said, “Dad, isn’t there someone who can help us feed our lambs?”

"After a long moment he said, “Jayne, once a long, long time ago, someone else said almost those same words. He said, ‘Feed my lambs. … Feed my sheep. … Feed my sheep.’” (John 21:15–17.) Dad put his arms around me and let me cry for a time, then went with me to bury my lamb.

"It wasn’t until many years later that I fully realized the meaning of my father’s words. I was pondering the scripture in Moses that says, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of [all mankind].” (Moses 1:39.)

"You wonderful young people, from what we’ve observed, you’re not unlike our lambs. You, too, are hungry—hungry for things of the Spirit that will make you grow strong and keep you safe from the coyotes that are out to destroy you. You are capable and willing to do your part in building the kingdom when you are taught how. And we want to help you.

"We know that you need someone to love you, someone to listen and understand. You need to be needed. You need opportunities to come together in a safe environment, a safe fold so to speak, where you can share with one another and develop wholesome friendships based on brother-sister relationships rather than romantic involvement. You need opportunities to experience the joy of sacrifice and service, of caring for and loving one another as our Savior loves us. Within the gospel we have what you need, but you will need to reach out and accept it."

Sister Malan's whole talk is worth reading, watching, or both.  You can find it here:  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/10/the-summer-of-the-lambs?lang=eng  #ShareGoodness

The tortoise is smiling!