FLOWERS, FILMS, FOXES, AND A STORM!

Spring in New York has been exciting and beautiful.  Two weeks ago we had a variety of experiences we want to share with you.

FLOWERS

There is a park in Rochester, Highland Park, that contains 120 acres and over a 1,000 varieties of lilacs.  We went there one evening after we visited people we are working with in Rochester and enjoyed strolling among the lilacs.  The aroma was heavenly and the flowers stunning!

We enjoyed a short drive along Lake Ontario looking at the apple trees as they were in blossom.  There are miles and miles of apple orchards here in New York, home of Seneca Apple Juice.

In the Sacred Grove plants are beginning to be lush and green!  For a short window of time we enjoyed the Trilliums in bloom too.

FOXES

The foxes aren't so little anymore and are venturing farther and farther from their den (PVC Pipe under the road).  They are still calm around the visitors and have added a nice addition to our tours of the Smith Farm.  We expect they will outgrow their home and be moving on soon, but we have enjoyed watching them grow.  See them as babies.

FILMS

Richard Turley is head of the Historical Department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He has been traveling throughout the United States making a documentary of the historical sites, including the ones here in Palmyra where we serve.  They were filming at the Smith Farm while we were working there.  It was fun to watch - such patience - filming the same short scene over and over again until it was just right!

The next day they were filming at the Book of Mormon Historical Publication Site and we were assigned to work there that day, so we got to watch again.  The camera was amazing!  Besides a very large lens and a monitor with prompts, it could be controlled by remote, making complex shots seem easy.

The director watched each scene filmed on a monitor and could guide the production from a distance.  I was able to talk to the director's wife for a while.  Steven and I also visited with Richard Turley.  The entire crew worked long hours and with great patience.  One scene at the Whitmer Farm had to be shot 49 times.

This was the big semi truck that transported all of the equipment needed to make the documentary.  See our red PT in the parking lot too?

STORMS

. . . and we thought they only happened in the winter! 

We had a big wind storm on Saturday. A tree blew over on the road to the top of Hill Cumorah and that part of the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center had to be closed. Then the power went out at Hill Cumorah and the entire site was closed. The Sacred Grove was also closed due to danger of falling branches with the high winds (gusts were from 45 - 60 miles per hour).

That is how our mid May went: Flowers, Foxes, Films and Storms.  Of course we continued to give tours and meet lots of wonderful people too!