It’s a nice, quiet evening in Pocatello. It’s also cold with haze and fog. The days are getting a little longer as I now can leave work and drive home in daylight (if not twilight) rather than in the dark. The weatherman thinks we may get some snow over the coming weekend which is a good thing. Spring isn’t all that far away. Just for the record, it’s 22 degrees outside with a wind chill of 21 degrees, humidity of 91%, and a dew point of 20 degrees. The wind is calm. As I said, a nice, quiet evening.

I spent an hour in the dental hygenist’s chair this afternoon. The company’s dental plans offer Willamette Dental as an option. They are primarily oriented towards preventative care and do a pretty good job of that. The office never seems to be overly busy. This afternoon only the hygenist and the receptionist were there. It actually turned out to be an OK visit. I don’t enjoy being at the dentist office (who does?) but because there was no hustle or bustle, and particularly no other dental office noises such as drills and saliva evacuators or whatever they’re called, it didn’t seem very much like being at the dentist. They hygenist was very pleasant and just prattled on about life and things as she poked and pried around my mouth. Nothing that I needed to respond to or answer. I just sprawled in the chair, closed my eyes, and tried to drift off into la-la land. An hour later and I was on my way back to the office.

The week has also been full of political news both at home and internationally. President Bush delivered his State of the Union address last night. Last Sunday elections were held in Iraq and despite major threats of violence, more than 55% of eligible Iraqi’s voted. A political cartoon in paper today showed a fellow watching someone on TV going to vote in Iraq while dodging bullets and suicide bombers. The TV-watcher said, “Remind me of this the next time we have elections!”

There always seem to be very loud voices proclaiming that “it can’t be done!” and the elections in Iraq are a typical case in point. For months naysayers have been proclaiming that elections couldn’t be held, it was too soon, not enough preparation, too many people would be killed trying to vote, no one would turn out to vote, and on and on and on. Goverment officials are derided for trying to stay the course. Horrendous predictions are made about the outcome and strident voices shout that the elections must be postponed. I’m pleased that neither our government nor the Iraqi’s listened to the doomsayers and proceeded to plan and hold elections on schedule and as promised. The Iraqi people certainly made a statement to those who were sure the election could not be held and if it was, would be a failure. Congratulations to the people of Iraq who have proved once again that people truly want a say in their future.

We’ve had a visitor here for the past week. A good friend, in her mid-80’s, who worked with us at the Denver Temple came over last Saturday and will fly back home on this coming Saturday. She’s been widowed for several years and works faithfully two days a week in the temple. She’s been fun to have around for the week and I hope that she’s enjoyed being here. I’m sure we’ve also worn her out! I hope to be that spry and healthy when I’m her age. Life continues to be good!