quiet

Remember last year when school started how I tried to take a picture everyday and share it? It only lasted like 6 weeks and then midterms set it and I gave up. But I'm going to try again now. Maybe with my iPhone I'll be better about it?

Mostly I just want to remember the things I am seeing right now. Because everything is new! Everything. Every corner I turn, every sidewalk I take lies some unknown. And I'd like to be able to remember the things I saw and what I thought about them for later when everything is comfortable and familiar.

This is my picture today:

I will admit, it's not particularly exciting. Many of you may even have been here before. But the Las Vegas Nevada LDS Temple was my adventure today. 

The drive to the the temple is so different than the area that I am living in and so different from the area around the temple in Provo or in Boise or even London. This drive took me through some ghetto parts of town. I'm talking bars on the windows, graffiti. It was interesting to me to watch the subdivisions change as I got farther out from the city, closer to the mountain and closer to the temple. Though there were still many rundown houses there were also lots of nicer, upscale homes. The landscaping at the temple is incredible. For one thing, there is grass. Green, thick, luscious, healthy grass. I never knew how much I loved or would miss real grass. For another thing there are the perfect combination of palm trees and other things to look excellent. And I love the mountain behind the temple. Granted there isn't a living thing on it. But I love mountains. More than almost anything. 

But what I want to mention is not about the physical appearance of the temple though it is beautiful and striking. What was the best part of the temple today was the quiet and calm and peace that was inside. I've noticed this very profoundly inside the Boise temple which is right on the freeway but today it was a very significant detail for me. I have felt hustled and bustled by this busy busy city. It always seems to be rush hour. There are always a lot of people trying to get places and it seems they are always in a hurry. Not so inside the temple. The temple workers moved at a relaxed pace, no need to be pushy or hasty inside the house of God. After I had finished my work I had time to sit and read, to ponder and to be grateful. 

Of course, now it's back to reality. I have to stop procrastinating. Because I have homework homework homework. Can I tell you a pet peeve? I hate when you show up for the first day of a class and the teacher has assigned readings that were supposed to be completed before that class period. So by the time you receive your syllabus, you are actually already behind. It's absurd. If you send out an email and inform people that they need to check an online system or inform them of the assignment some other way it's okay. Or maybe once you've had a teacher you could be expected to know what format they use for their class and plan to check online. But the first class in a brand new program? Not cool. So I have two weeks of reading to do before next week. Blah. Welcome to grad school I guess?