Kirtland Rocks: I think Drew Carey got confused
Dear Uncle George,
It is called the internet. And I have not had it. "Issues" at the last hotel. And I am not talking about just the bathroom floor.
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At the risk of sounding like a demographic snob, the area I was in the suburbs of Cleveland is not somewhere I will be relocating to any time in this life.
The great news of my time there is that the car was still intact and still there when I woke up each day. That always makes the day seem to go a little better....when your car has not been sold for parts. I didn't really tell Mr. Fun because I didn't want him to worry. But the hotel clerk, Pem, said that he was "pretty sure" nothing would happen to me or the car, and well, since he too has been to India, I believed him.
I gave myself a day off from my missionarying because you know, I had been at it a whole three days. I took myself to the Cedar Point amusement park. Yes, alone. I know. I am pretty sure I was the ONLY person there alone. People feel sorry for you when you don't have a seat mate for the roller coaster ride and they get cranky when the ride supervisor tries to make them sit with you.
I wore my ninja t-shirt from the thrift store, which had some sort of powerful effect on the buddies there. My first ride a man asked me I wanted to ride with him. I think he thought I was really as stealthy as my t-shirt said. Here are some notes I took from my day:
I didn't get the memo that I was suppose to have a tattoo and wear my skankiest clothing
There are a lot of teenage volleyball players in Ohio
I rode the world's largest steel roller coaster
There was a couple making out in said roller coaster line
Who wears stilettos and no bra to a park like that? Or anywhere?
I got a henna tattoo with a little girl named Sophia from Philadelphia. I hope she can spell better than I can.
I think the youngest person there had been born the day before. It reminded me of the movie "Sweet Home Alabama" where the woman brings her baby to a bar.
And I saw more redheads (hello, "gingers" as Chris J. corrected me) there than I had seen in Ireland in two weeks. I felt like I was in a leprechaun colony.
So my boyfriend from the first ride was disappointed that his love for me was not returned. So many boys, so little time.
I want to flat out keep it real and say the "Cleveland sucks" but this is a churchy blog so I won't. That said, if it weren't a churchy blog, I would have to say that Cleveland does not rock as Drew Carey has led us to believe in the 90's. It sucks and I have pretty much established a new life goal to never return there.
That said, if you find you need to buy a new emergency camera lens, Dodd Photography. And if you find you need to buy some emergency Chinese food, Pearl of the Orient.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That said, there is like a magical bubble of green, wonderful forest goodness has been placed over the Kirtland. I can not figure it out, given it is seriously only like 20 minutes out of the city. Whatever the purpose or reasons, Kirtland is a marvel.
As a matter of fact, I think I owe Kirtland a little apology. I have not given it the amount of proper pondering I have all the others sites I have visited over the years. Kirtland, you are neat.
Sidenote: Since coming to the East, I have had about 23 minutes of sunshine. This photograph took up the first 4 minutes and 34 seconds. The next 17 minutes were yesterday in late afternoon and today I had 2 minutes. As a matter of fact, right this very second it is storming so bad the cable is out and I can't see out of the window. Sweet.
Kirtland. There are books and stories you can read about it. Basically, in the Mormon Church, it is considered a "cradle" of doctrinal development and solidification. The Saints were here for 8 years before heading to Missouri. It was a small village that still retains it's small feeling. This temple is the first that was built by the Mormons in 1833-1836. It was a huge offering, emotionally and financially, from the members of the Church and it was difficult for them to leave it.
There are several break off groups from the main church body, and one of them has retained ownership of this temple. They are kind enough to give tours of the building for a couple bucks.
But there is something that you can't read about. When I took my tour the other day, my tour group sat in the large assembly hall that the original pioneers sat. Even though the guide was not a member of our church, we do share a history. She invited us to sing the same hymn that was sung at the dedication of this building in the 1830's.
As my mom says, the Baptists couldn't sing their way out of a brown, paper bag (which I can neither confirm or deny but as the only person in our family raised Baptist, she is the resident expert).
The Mormons, however, can. We have this little group called the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and just to make sure we are ever-improving, they have brown, paper bags for us in the pews each week. :) jk
There were about 30 of us on the tour, and when we started to sing, you could hear perfect four-part harmony.
It was powerful. And for me, an unexpected feeling raised in my throat. And I cried.
I am an adult convert, as you know, to Mormonism, so the history at times is removed from me. The church has been out of my family's life for several generations. We didn't even know there was any Mormonism in the past. I wasn't raised knowing anything about the LDS Church. I don't know all it's stories or feel its impacts.
That said, I felt this.
It is called the internet. And I have not had it. "Issues" at the last hotel. And I am not talking about just the bathroom floor.
.JPG)
At the risk of sounding like a demographic snob, the area I was in the suburbs of Cleveland is not somewhere I will be relocating to any time in this life.
The great news of my time there is that the car was still intact and still there when I woke up each day. That always makes the day seem to go a little better....when your car has not been sold for parts. I didn't really tell Mr. Fun because I didn't want him to worry. But the hotel clerk, Pem, said that he was "pretty sure" nothing would happen to me or the car, and well, since he too has been to India, I believed him.
whew, here's the proof
I wore my ninja t-shirt from the thrift store, which had some sort of powerful effect on the buddies there. My first ride a man asked me I wanted to ride with him. I think he thought I was really as stealthy as my t-shirt said. Here are some notes I took from my day:
I didn't get the memo that I was suppose to have a tattoo and wear my skankiest clothing
There are a lot of teenage volleyball players in Ohio
I rode the world's largest steel roller coaster
There was a couple making out in said roller coaster line
Who wears stilettos and no bra to a park like that? Or anywhere?
I got a henna tattoo with a little girl named Sophia from Philadelphia. I hope she can spell better than I can.
I think the youngest person there had been born the day before. It reminded me of the movie "Sweet Home Alabama" where the woman brings her baby to a bar.
And I saw more redheads (hello, "gingers" as Chris J. corrected me) there than I had seen in Ireland in two weeks. I felt like I was in a leprechaun colony.
So my boyfriend from the first ride was disappointed that his love for me was not returned. So many boys, so little time.
I want to flat out keep it real and say the "Cleveland sucks" but this is a churchy blog so I won't. That said, if it weren't a churchy blog, I would have to say that Cleveland does not rock as Drew Carey has led us to believe in the 90's. It sucks and I have pretty much established a new life goal to never return there.
That said, if you find you need to buy a new emergency camera lens, Dodd Photography. And if you find you need to buy some emergency Chinese food, Pearl of the Orient.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That said, there is like a magical bubble of green, wonderful forest goodness has been placed over the Kirtland. I can not figure it out, given it is seriously only like 20 minutes out of the city. Whatever the purpose or reasons, Kirtland is a marvel.
As a matter of fact, I think I owe Kirtland a little apology. I have not given it the amount of proper pondering I have all the others sites I have visited over the years. Kirtland, you are neat.
Sidenote: Since coming to the East, I have had about 23 minutes of sunshine. This photograph took up the first 4 minutes and 34 seconds. The next 17 minutes were yesterday in late afternoon and today I had 2 minutes. As a matter of fact, right this very second it is storming so bad the cable is out and I can't see out of the window. Sweet.
Kirtland. There are books and stories you can read about it. Basically, in the Mormon Church, it is considered a "cradle" of doctrinal development and solidification. The Saints were here for 8 years before heading to Missouri. It was a small village that still retains it's small feeling. This temple is the first that was built by the Mormons in 1833-1836. It was a huge offering, emotionally and financially, from the members of the Church and it was difficult for them to leave it.
There are several break off groups from the main church body, and one of them has retained ownership of this temple. They are kind enough to give tours of the building for a couple bucks.
As my mom says, the Baptists couldn't sing their way out of a brown, paper bag (which I can neither confirm or deny but as the only person in our family raised Baptist, she is the resident expert).
The Mormons, however, can. We have this little group called the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and just to make sure we are ever-improving, they have brown, paper bags for us in the pews each week. :) jk
There were about 30 of us on the tour, and when we started to sing, you could hear perfect four-part harmony.
It was powerful. And for me, an unexpected feeling raised in my throat. And I cried.
I am an adult convert, as you know, to Mormonism, so the history at times is removed from me. The church has been out of my family's life for several generations. We didn't even know there was any Mormonism in the past. I wasn't raised knowing anything about the LDS Church. I don't know all it's stories or feel its impacts.
That said, I felt this.
Kirtland rocks. :)
Oh my. What can I say? Love reading your posts...you are gifted in so many ways. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post -- great pictures!
ReplyDelete