Remember our wampa action figures?

One "Star Wars" toy that we always had fun with were the action figures from the wampa scenes in "The Empire Strikes Back."

I can't recall if we bought these pieces as from a couple of different sets, but in any case we quickly combined them into one. It included a wampa, the white monster that captured Luke Skywalker, Luke himself, and his taun-taun, the dinosaur-like creature they used as a horse. I recall that pieces of raw meat that the wamp ate came with the set - yech!

We also had a Han Solo dressed up for the winter scene on Hoth (the planet where the wampa lives), so I think we combined two kits: Han Solo and the taun-taun; Luke Skywalker and the wampa.

Unfortunately, I don't remember any specific stories about playing with these toys, only that they always were part of the starfighter base that we typically built on the glass coffee table in the green house in Lancaster.

Always forgive others for wronging you

Unfortunately, I am not allowed to be with you each day, Kieran, so I am unable to lisen to and talk with you about your concerns and problems. Because of that, I will on occasion offer advice about moral codes to live by. Here is another such entry.

Once someone has wronged us, our natural reaction is to protect ourselves. This means being punitive and distrustful of the person who hurt us. We probably are angry at them and want justice served.

While we should make clear to this person that what they did caused pain and is not permissible, we cannot allow our bitterness and resentment to transform into hatred and violence. If we do, then we also become a person who wrongs others. If this chain of wronging continues, then all of us will be filled with anger and hatred for one another.

The only way to break the chain of wronging is to be forgiving. We have to let go of our anger and hatred and tell ourselves that the person who wronged us did not actually intend to or that they suffer from a calamity that led them to make a bad choice.

Forgiveness is not just a way to bring about peace in the world but is necessary to heal our own hearts. Anger destroys us emotionally by making us cynical and bitter. It destroys our physical well-being by raising our blood pressure, increasing our risk of a heart attack, and reducing our immune system’s effectiveness.

How can we forgive? We must consciously decide to forgive. Unfortunately, forgiveness usually does not happen with one bold statement. Our anger can be persistent. We must tell ourselves to forgive every time our anger flares, until the matter finally is settled in the heart.

Going to your first concert - 'The Beatles'!

Three years ago tonight you went to your first music concert - by a Beatles tribute band at the park in Palmdale, Calif.!

You always loved the Beatles (One of the many, many loves we share!), so going to the concert was a no-brainer.

The first half-hour was spent waiting for them to come on stage and goofing around with one another. Then they came on, and you tried to guess the song titles (You were fairly accurate, by the way!).

We left at intermission, after they'd played the Beatles hits through about 1965/66. By that time, it was getting way past your bedtime, and you were about to fall asleep in my arms!

Here are some photos from the concert!

A moral code to live by: the Golden Rule

Unfortunatley, I am not allowed to be with you each day, Kieran, so I am unable to lisen to and talk with you about your concerns and problems. Because of that, I will on occasion offer advice about moral codes to live by. 

Perhaps the most important rule you can follow when interacting with others is the Golden Rule – “Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you.” Virtually every culture has some version of the Golden Rule in its moral code: “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself” (Chinese); “Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you by others” (Greeks); “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful” (India). Along with “Don’t commit murder,” the Golden Rule perhaps is the most universal of humanity’s moral axioms.

The Golden Rule is more than a “Be nice to others” stricture, though. Underlying it are the basic beliefs that every human being is of value and therefore deserves to be treated fairly. These are the foundations for human rights and justice. For example, if you believe that others shouldn’t limit your ability to speak or vote, then you cannot limit their ability to do the same. If you do limit their ability, then you must believe yourself superior to them. You then should expect that holding yourself above others will result in their resentment of you. Given this, the Golden Rule also is about reducing violence.

So before doing something that effects another, ask yourself “Would I want someone to do that to me?” If you wouldn’t like someone cutting in line in front of you, getting a better test score because they cheated, or flipping you off, then don’t do it either!

Playing Curious George computer games

The other day your cousin Rebekah was watching "Curious George" on PBS. That got me to thinking about how much you loved the show and the "Curious George" games we'd play on the computer when together.

One of those that we played was "Present Time". It was less a game than an activity. First you got to pick out who you were going to get a present for and then you selected their gift. Finally, you got to create the wrapping paper for them by coloring it and picking out the pattern!

Another game you really liked was "Mix and Paint". You could mix four different colors together and then brush it on a line drawing of one of the characters from the cartoon.

There were other games we tried as well, but "Present Time" and "Mix and Paint" seemed to be your favorites!

Our hike along the Traverse Ranges

Atop the Transverse Ranges
at 4,995 feet elevation

One of the many interesting places that we hiked when living in California was Ritter Ranch Park. It's not much a "park" but more of an area preserved and set aside so that it can't be developed. Anyway, we hiked it three years ago today!

I remember having a difficult time figuring out to get there when planning our expedition. But eventually I found the right roads, and we drove them through Acton and then up a steep, winding mountainside.

We hiked the eastern-most ridgeline of the Transverse Ranges. The ranges are among the fastest rising pieces of earth - and the rocks we stepped across were more than half a billion years old.

You loved it up there, playing with a hiking stick as we walked about the road! I'm not sure why - maybe it was the view or just a sense that this was a wonderful place for a great adventure.

Here's a bunch of pictures from our adventure!

My letter to you for Aug. 4-10, 2013

Here is my letter to you from Aug. 10, 2013, just in case you do not receive it:

Dear Kieran,

How are you doing today? I am doing fine, though I miss you like crazy!

I want to begin by letting you know that I was as disappointed as you were about not getting together Friday afternoon. I’d also like you to know that I wanted to get together and did not cancel our visit. I actually was driving to the center when I received the call that our visit had been cancelled. I have asked the center to set up a makeup visit, but whether or not we are able to do that is entirely up to the person who cancelled this visit. I love you very much and never would cancel or be late for one of our visits except in the direst of emergencies. If I were allowed to, I would see and talk to you every day.

In addition, I want you to know that your emails to me continue not to be sent. As of this writing, 31 days have passed since your last email was sent to me. That is very unfortunate, as I am now not aware of what you are doing even though I would like to know so we can talk about those things (and perhaps I even can participate in them in some way). I have never missed sending my weekly letter to you in the nearly 11 months since I have been allowed to write to you, and I never will miss a letter except in the direst of emergencies.

Hopefully we will get to see one another again very soon for our make-up visit, and hopefully I will begin receiving your emails during the next day or so. We are next scheduled to meet on Friday, Aug. 23, but there is no reason that we cannot have a makeup visit before then. I always will change my schedule to be there for you and to see you.

You must be getting very excited about a couple of big events that are coming up!

First, the Minnesota State Fair starts in just 12 days, on Aug. 22. It is a lot like the Los Angeles County Fair we used to go to in California, but I’d say the Minnesota State Fair is a wee bit better. When I was a little boy your age, I remember seeing the fair on television. One of the cool carnival rides the TV always showed was a big yellow slide, like what we used to go down on gunny sacks at Legoland and at the Poppy Festival in Lancaster. Hopefully the slide will be there again this year, and you’ll get to go down it!

The other big event is that you’re about to start first grade! I don’t remember much about my first day in first grade except that my friend Ron and I had to go through different doors into the school than we did during kindergarten. The kindergarten room was in a different section of the school than the first through sixth grade classrooms! My first grade teacher’s name was Mrs. Rhiel. Do you yet know the name of your first grade teacher? What day do you start school? Do you know which of your friends will be coming back to school with you this year?

I hope that you’ve been having a great summer and have gotten to go to lots of places in the Twin Cities. There are many fun things for kids to do in Minneapolis-St. Paul, from carnivals to museums and from sports to bookstores. I miss and love you very much and look forward to seeing you at our makeup visit!

Love,

Rob