Back in the whitewashed world of Orem

The past four days were spent in mostly sunny weather in Southern California.
While there we were treated to a performance of Annie, with two of our grandchildren, Ben and Suzie, in the cast. We were thrilled to see the quality of the performance of which they were a part, and most excited that our grandson Ben was able to ad-lib with humorous aplomb when two of the other actors missed their cues.
We also saw and enjoyed time with our respective families. The most memorable part of the days was the relaxed, unhurried atmosphere, attributable to what might be called small group gatherings. With the exception of the Annie episode, all of our other gatherings were limited to only a few people, with unhurried conversation and no time or activity constraints upon us. It made for a pleasant several days.
A remarkable coincidence occurred late last night. Our Saturday plans consisted of packing for the return to Utah, picking up Mark and Traci at Long Beach Airport, having breakfast at my sister Pam's home in Buena Park, then taking Mark and Traci for a brief visit with Connie and Darrell, before driving on to Moreno Valley, where they will spend Christmas with Traci's family; and finally a return to Connie and Darrell's to pick up our bags, return to the Long Beach Airport, turn in the rental car and fly back to Salt Lake, where we would catch an airport shuttle home to Orem. Phase two of the story is that Connie and Darrell left in their kid-packed van, sometime before noon, headed for 1 650 mile road trip to our home in Orem, where they will spend Christmas with us. So we flew, they drove. Almost precisely at Midnight, our Shuttle van pulled up in front of our home. As we stopped, we observed a set of headlights approaching from the opposite direction. Lo, behold, and coincidentally, the van contained none other than Connie, Darrell and the kids, arriving at precisely the same time from their road trip from California!.
Writing this is taking a few moments from preparation for the Priesthood Lesson I must teach today, the theme of which is "Unity." The lesson material is good and it will be easy to teach.
I intend to add only two or three short items to the material.
1) My friend and former Bishop, Gordon Mauss, once gave a lesson in which he reviewed an excerpt from lessons he had received as a young seminary student. It contained a quote by John Greenleaf Wiittier: "Thee lift me, I'll lift thee, and we'll ascend together."
2) The infamous Rodney King, a victim of a police beating, but otherwise a person who lived a life constantly in turmoil, made famous the post Watt's riot phrase: " Can't we just get along?"
3) The Chinese have no single word for the English word "unity." Their nearest approximation is the combination "Tuan Jie" which essentially means "working together." We learned that one of the great distinctions between Asian and western thought is the importance of the group or "working unit." To the eastern mind, the group has precedence. It occurred to me that "unity" and "unit" are both derived from the root "uni." one.
Enough of that, The sun is shining beautifully on the snow, the grandkids have already dressed in their warmest clothes and cavorted in the powdery white, and the Christmas spirit is palbable.
I hope you are feeling it.
Enjoy!