Trivia - Mormon settlements in the 1800's were based on 'assignment' rather than personal choice. Brigham Young was the master of this spreading of the Church to fill the intermountain west.

Foreshadowing the next chapter, Brigham was unapologetic that his Deseret was a theocracy. While folks in Washington were wrong to attribute malevolent motives to Brigham's behavior, it is true that Brigham was setting up a large swath of ... Continue reading »

Trivia - Apparently Brigham would grant divorces relatively easily. But he would always charge the man $5.00 (vaguely equivalent to $2500 in 2007 dollars). One year he was so fed up with the number of folks who were seeking divorces that he declared from the pulpit that anyone who could hear him speak who wished to no longer be married, could consider themselves divorced .

Trivia - There are a couple of scenes which I intend to include in the book that you haven't read yet. One of these deals with Melissa Lott becoming one of the wives of Joseph Smith after the events of August 1843. It was only recently that I realized Melissa got to the valley several days before Jonathan, and that Melissa's father was the un-named individual who told Mary Fielding ... Continue reading »

Blech. I hate feeling ill. I have traditionally been tense, speaking from a physiological rather than psychological standpoint. The trick for the past several days now is that my gastrocnemius muscles on both sides have decided to become painfully tight. Makes movement rather painful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastrocnemius

Fortunately, this pain is not indicative of any nasty problem. So with adequate rest and stretching and meds over the next several weeks, my ... Continue reading »

Today I attended the memorial for a friend's baby, Regan Ka'uloa Aust (whose middle name is Hawaiian for 'mine forever.') Regan had Trisomy-13 - a chromosomal disorder that 'is not consistent with life.' The service was beautiful, celebrating the 45 minutes the Austs had with their son before he died. Apparently only 400 babies a year who suffer from this condition are even born alive. Which makes it amazing that ... Continue reading »