My Life and Times in Overton, Nevada

Part  I

Over the years when my brother, Loren, and his wife , Julianna, began to spend their winters in Overton, my brother would invite my wife , Anita, and I down to Overton to go fishing.  We would periodically come down and spend several days or a week with them fishing and having a good time.  Their was several times when we would invite Anita's cousin, Wanda, and her husband, Pat,  to join us.  At one time, the visitors were expanded to include several of Wanda and Pat's friends from California.  That was a time when we put too much pressure upon my brother to be the host and take everyone fishing for three or four days in a row.  He still suffers from that experience to this day.  Nevertheless it was always fun to be a guest of my brother as he has a terrific memory of the past and always has many stories to relate regarding fishing and his experiences from the FBI.  He is a excellent fisherman and writes in a column for the weekly newspaper, the "Progress", called "Fishing the Overton Arm", meaning the Overton Arm of Lake Mead.  The articles are always fun to read and find out whose is catching the most and largest fish from Lake Mead.  He has is own network of fisherman that relate how fishing is in Lake Mead or in the Overton Arm.
A number of years ago, 2013, my wife, Anita suddenly passed away and left me a widower.  Of course I struggled with the loss but my daughter, Kathleen, suggested that I go to Overton and spend some time with my brother and his wife for a month or so.   My daughter said she would drive me down to Overton from Wilsonville where I had my home of almost 20 years.  I agreed that it would be a good change of scenery and I knew that I would enjoy being around my brother. Kathleen and I traveled to Nevada from Oregon and I spent about a month living with my brother and his wife.  I returned to Oregon to have Christmas with some of my Children.
My children were all busy with their lives and I found myself with little to do and somewhat lost.  It was then that my brother suggested that I come back to Overton.   My brother had a fifth-wheel   in Storage at the Fun and Sun RV park.  He said he would put the unit in an RV space that I could rent that would be close to he and his wife. I could join  with him and his wife in the activities of the park and I could become his fishing companion which would relieve loneliness and comfort me in the loss of my wife. I decided to take him up on the offer and returned to Overton and began to live in his fifth wheel in a rented space of the RV park.  The arrangement seemed to be working quite well as I was enjoying my association with my brother and his wife.  However,I did not like the very close living space of the fifth wheel trailer.
It was not long thereafter that a single wide manufactured home in the park went up for sale.  The seller wanted $30,000 for it and it had been re carpeted and thoroughly cleaned.  We made a deal and when My brother and his wife left for Bountiful to the summer and fall home, I left also with a newly purchased home and returned back to Wilsonville, Oregon.  I decided at that point that Oregon was too far distant to commute as a snow bird and I made the decision to sell my home in Wilsonville and buy a condo near my brother in Bountiful, Utah.
I think all my children thought is was an OK move, but I'm not sure of their true feeling about moving away from those that lived nearby in Oregon.  In any case, the move was a big chapter in our lives.  The condo I bought in Utah was quite small and I could not take all of our possessions, so I began to divide and give to my children many of the things Anita and I had collected over the years, such as crystal and glassware of all kinds and some furnishings.  Most of Anita's clothing was donated. 
The movers finally arrived and delivered all my household effects to Bountiful on September 4, 2014.  Kathleen drove me to Utah and stayed and decorated my condo after delivery.  She did a beautiful job and I began my life in Bountiful, but only for about one month as October was the time that Loren returned to Overton and I planned to leave about the same time after the LDS conference in Salt Lake.
Of course, I had to decide which of my possessions should go to Overton.  I must add that part of the move from Oregon was to decide what household effects were to go to Overton.  Shauna and her husband, Skip, provided the transport of all of those effects before the Bountiful household effects were moved.  This would provide sufficient furnishings for  the Overton home when I would arrive in October, 2014.
So, my arrival in Overton began the snowbird life of living in Bountiful and in Overton, May to October in Bountiful and October to May in Overton .  I will not give a chronology of life but rather a routine of life here and to give a glimpse of my comings and going.

Reflections at the beginning of 2018

I have a journal that at times I write in it about my life's happenings.  Since my wife's passing, 4-1/2 years ago I haven't felt much like expressing my feelings in this type of publication where family can get some insights into what is going on in my head.  I guess my children feel like I'm doing Ok.  A few stay in close contact for which I am very grateful.  My life goes along pretty well during the day time in as much as I keep busy with all kinds of projects.  I usually work at such until it is time for news on the TV.  Then I try and figure what am I going to have for dinner, the hard part, then it becomes time for late news and weather at 9:00 pm.   The hardest part of my life is the loneliness of the evening.  I could go over to Loren's place and watch a movie with them, but it always seem like a waste of time, so I turn to my computer and fill the rest of the evening with reading the scriptures and doing family history work.  I attend a family home evening group once a week and meet friends and acquaintances that live close by.  I have resolved this year to be more out going and thoughtful of others.  I use my bread making skills to help with that by baking bread once or twice a week to give to a friend or neighbor. As with all the things I have become engaged in, I love the creativity of making flour and water so delicious to eat.

Today is Jan 21, 2018 and I just returned from church.  We had a wonderful sacrament meeting where the speakers spoke upon the Love that God has for them.  One was a young man that had just returned from a mission in Tennessee.  I came away feeling such gratitude for my membership in the Lords church.  To know the path you are in is the way to eternal happiness.  The gate through which I passed to get on the path was baptism and the gift of the Holt Ghost so that I may receive a remission of my sins.  To go each Sunday to the Sacrament table and covenant to always remember him and keep his commandants and take upon ourselves his holy name, is a renewing experience that brings joy and happiness to my soul. By so doing my soul is refined as I go about life's activities keeping in mind the covenant I make each week. My faith and hope is the remission of  my sins will become a reality according to His sacred word.  Perhaps the Lord has grated me a little extra time to repent so that I might receive this blessing.
Loren and Juliana invited me over for dinner tonight.  Very good and I thanked them,

Today is Feb 4, 2018 and I just returned from church.The question that I came home with and I'm pondering is one that we collective spoke about in our High Priest quorum.  "How can I come closer to God and receive more guidance from the spirit in my life."  I confess that I'm a very introverted man. I'm not very good at seeking out people and sharing my life's experiences.  I am very content in working on a project alone, trying to become schooled in what I'm doing .  I spend hours each week in family history work.  I'm content to work in my shop for hours at a time.  I have concluded that to become more like my Savior I need to keep the commandants so that the spirit can  be with me.   Then I need to act upon His promptings by being more outgoing and share my life with neighbors and friends.  I have learned a great deal about the spirit and to recognize a prompt when it comes. 
I have a pain in my hip area that at times becomes very difficult to move about.  This pain helps me to remember my Savior and seek his healing influence.  Which helps me to try and remember Him each and every day.