The Browns Depart as Yamaguchi Rises

My parents' visit is winding down and I'm sad. It's been really wonderful to have them here and for Maryn and Avery (and Suzanne and me) to spend a lot of meaningful, undivided time with them. Yesterday, Dad, Avery, and I toured Ford's River Rouge F-150 Truck Plant. Watching a truck being assembled from the ground up is exactly the kind of thing my dad likes. He has a mechanical mind and watching gears and parts all fit together into a functioning whole is as satisfying and interesting to him as seeing a really good movie might be for me. Avery was a trooper and didn't complain or whine one bit during the whole two hour tour. It was a lot of fun.

Maryn stayed at home with my mom who taught her the basics of cross stitching. Apparently, Maryn sat stock-still for two hours, creating an Easter bunny sitting in green grass. Mom eventually had to tell her to take a break and chill out for a while. I never would have guessed Maryn would turn out to be a die hard cross stitcher.

Tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning, Mom and Dad will load up and head back west. Dad thinks he wants to take an alternate route home that will swing them past Mount Rushmore. We'll see if the weather and my mom's patience cooperate.

AND NOW A FEW WORDS ON WHY KRISTY YAMAGUCHI IS LIKE A UTAH FARM BOY

Okay, so in her little pre-dance film this week, Kristy Yamaguchi was all shy and embarrassed about "shaking it" doing her Latin dance. The editors cleverly constructed the segment to create doubt in viewer's minds as to whether or not the demure, elegant K-Gooch (my new nickname for her) could pull off sweaty and hip-thrusty. Even I was thinking, "Did I pick my horse too early? Is she going to be another Jane Seymore and be a sad, one trick pony who looks great doing the waltz and like an embarrassed albatross doing the mambo?"

And lo, K-Gooch came forth and laid out a heapin' helping of sweaty, hip-thrusty, dance smackdown.

And this is how she's like a Utah farm boy: (I have your interest at this point, I know.)

When I served my mission for the LDS church from 1994 - 1996, I came in contact with a wide variety of other missionaries who came from different places, different backgrounds, etc. Some were smart, others were not. Some came from fabulously wealthy backgrounds, others were used to washing their socks in the bathtub. Some were extremely poor workers while others never really stopped working except to sleep. The crazy workers were usually the Utah farm boys. They understood the necessity and inevitability of work. It wasn't something to be avoided, negotiated, or managed -- it was something to be done. Period. Consequently, all the time that many other missionaries spent just trying to learn how to work, how to keep at a task, how to not melt down and go home, was spent by the Utah farm boys actually doing missionary work. They usually had a lot of success, were usually asked to be leaders, and were usually nice guys.

The thing about K-Gooch is that she's an Olympic athlete. She knows how to work, how to train, how to commit to something. Extended, disciplined effort comes as naturally to her as eating an entire 2 pound bag of M & M's comes to me. Like a Utah farm boy, whether or not to work or how to work simply aren't questions she worries about. I don't get the sense that Adam Corolla has ever broken a sweat except when his jokes flopped on stage. To an Olympic athlete, hard, complicated physical effort is second nature.

So, because hard work was old news to the Utah farm boys, they had time for their natural skills and gifts to come to the fore. One guy might be a great scriptorian, another might have strong leadership skills, another might be able to talk to anybody anytime without fear. These were skills that other Elders didn't develop until after they had learned how to work.

So it is with Kristy. Because getting in shape, training hard, and working isn't a big deal to her, she has time to transition her coordination, grace, and performance abilities to the dance floor from the ice rink. And thus I continue my contention that, if given the chance by the more horse-brained portions of the voting public, K-Gooch will demolish the competition this season.