Picto Diary - 23 to 27 March 2024 - Minerva Theicart Murals at Manti Temple
Above: Roy, Z, Grrr, and TIMDT. Red Lobster, Sugarhouse, Salt Lake City, UT. 23 March 2024.
Granny can't believe how much the grandkids are growing!
Above: Iron Canyon, Park City, UT. 23 March 2024.
Whaaaaa? Granny watching March Madness???!!!
Above: Deer Valley, UT. 25 March 2024.
49 15 552
Image, from top of Jordanelle ski run, looks SE from Jordanelle ski run. Vector Albuquerque.
New metric: ratio of skiers on mountain to quality of snow. By this new metric, today, of my 49 ski days YTD, today was the best ski day of the year. E.g. snow quality high and attendance low. Eight inches new snow last 24 hours.
Second year in a row snowfall above average shows in Jordanelle Reservoir's near capacity water level.
Above: Provo Peak. Utah County, 27 March 2024.
Image taken looking SW from US 189 in Wasatch County.
Above: Bishop and TIMDT with Aunt Charmian. Springville, UT. 27 March 2024.
Aunt Charmian, wife of Dad's youngest sibling, Robert William Taylor, (1924 to 2001) is one of two surviving aunts (both in-laws) from my father's family of four brothers and two sisters. Parents of these six siblings were William Weldon Taylor and Nora Johnson Taylor, my paternal grandparents, both of whom died before I was born. The other surviving aunt is Sally, wife of Dad's brother, Richard Taylor. Sally lives in Mill Valley, CA. But for these two survivors, Dad, his brothers and sisters, and in-law spouses, are deceased. Aunt Charmian has four married daughters, nineteen grandchildren, and nineteen great grandchildren. Aunt Charmian's daughter, Sarah Taylor Wolley, facilitated our visit today. Sarah captured this image. Aunt Charmian described her and husband Bob's near two-month traipse around Australia in the early '80's. Bob was retired US Air Force, so they availed of space available Air Force transport to get to Australia and back. They traveled around the entirety of Australia with a group bus tour, often camping out along the way. I told Aunt Charmian and Sarah of our having lived for five years in Australia in the '70's. I outlined the story of my directing the Normanhurst (north Sydney) LDS ward choir in 1975 and finding that one of my choir members, eighty-five-year-old Lucy McKay, widow of LDS General Authority, Thomas E. McKay (brother of LDS prophet David O. McKay), was a teenager in the LDS ward choir in Sydney in the 1920's which was under the direction of my grandfather, William Weldon Taylor. Grandfather Taylor was serving an LDS mission in Australia at the time.
Above: Manti LDS Temple. Manti, UT. 27 March 2024.
The Manti temple, Sanpete County, Utah, has been undergoing renovations for the last two years. The renovations are complete, and the temple has been opened to the public for a two-week period. After the open house, once the temple is rededicated, only worthy members of the LDS church will be allowed entry. The Manti Temple was originally constructed in 1875 and first dedicated in 1877.
We joined good friend, The Monk, a cattle rancher in Sanpete and Sevier counties, at the temple open house. I was eager to see the famed Minerva Theichert murals (see file image above). The murals have not been seen by the general public since 1985, the time of the last temple restoration. When I entered the World Room to see the murals covering the walls, I was reminded of our visit to the Sistine Chapel in 2016 and the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar, India in 2019. Like today, at those venues there were many visitors eager to witness sacred art. And, like today, the crowds at those venues were respectful and reverent... and awestruck.
The Minerva Theichert murals were painted on sail canvas attached to the plaster walls of the temple's World Room in 1947. Preservationists cleaned and updated the murals and varnished the walls of the entire room.
The murals include the Crusades and the voyage of Christopher Columbus to America on the north wall, the building of the Tower of Babel on the east wall, the establishment of Zion in North America on the west wall and scenes of Abraham, Joseph being sold into Egypt, Moses and the Pilgrims on the south wall. As I contemplated Minerva Theichert's art, I wondered if she and Michaelangelo were hanging out together in heaven, discussing techniques of painting murals in religious buildings. I pondered on whether Muslim artisans present in that celestial colloquy felt left out due the Muslim religion's prohibition on human imagery in their mosques? Note: Mosques have their own, unique artistic beauty notwithstanding absence of physical imagery.
I was astonished at the high quality of restoration throughout the temple... stairways, chandeliers, ceilings, carpeting, paintings, and period accoutrements were all near perfect in condition and placement. The views of the Sanpete valley, both to the south and to the north, from the temple's top floor assembly hall windows, were glorious. The glass windowpanes were irregular; they gave rise to an impressionistic, wavy view of the landscape beyond. But was the glass original from the period, or can they create modern glass to affect the image as being original? I couldn't help but speculate about the cost of this renovation. We saw the renovated St. George Temple six months ago and noted similar high-quality work to get the temple in shape. The LDS Church has been on a new temple building spree throughout the world with one hundred new temples currently under construction.
From Idaho to Guam, Photos Show the Mormon Church’s Global Building Spree - WSJ
Some rudimentary math calculations on, say, costs per square foot of new temples and restorations, will take you to a really big number. I don't imply this as a criticism, but, rather as an observation about the dynamism, as measured by financial strength, of today's LDS Church. Joseph Smith, out of whose mind, inspired or not, LDS temples and accompanying rituals sprang, would be (is?) amazed to note the far-reaching fruits of his inspiration.
Above: Mt. Nebo. Juab County, Utah 27 March 2024.
Southernmost, and highest peak, 11,950 feet of the Wasatch Range.
Image from UT SR 132, Sanpete County, looking WNW.
It's hard to look any direction in Utah and not see an awe-inspiring landscape.
Addendum:
Reader feedback on "I was a builder" daily blog. See following link:
I was a builder. | Stephen DeWitt Taylor
Steve was a builder when I was there!
RMK,
San Francisco, CA
You were, you are, truly blessed having "lived during the apex”. Me too.
Nathans,
Massapequa, NY
A "builder" indeed, Steve! I was with you at Citi in Miami during the worst of times, and you made us all proud.
Best,
Montevideo,
Avon, CT
Steve, great note. Be sure to use this as you write your personal history and dig down in for some of the underlying stories. See you and Margaret Thursday.
The Monk,
Ephraim, UT
Salud Big S !!!!
....S pinto
Mumbai, Maharashtra
Hi Steve,
I enjoyed hearing your story. I enjoy hearing stories of “problem solvers” that gets things done! It illustrated a “Can Do” attitude that I admire in people…Good Job!
Boeing,
Sedona, AZ
Steve:
Thanks for sharing that insight. A builder in many ways! Best.
Bling,
Albuquerque, NM
Thanks for explaining some things about yourself by way of your short bio. I enjoy you driving clear rhythm of writing. Reminds me of Elie Faure who I learned of while reading Henry Miller. Actually, I ordered 2 of Faure’s books today after reading your missive. Inspired to follow a pursuit started 45y ago.
Tony,
Park City, UT
Steve,
Thank you for your short history. Odd that we never met during my 1968-2008 years at Citi, with postings in NY, Buenos Aires (including travels throughout South America), HK, Japan (visits to most of Asia), and LA.
While at Citibank, for vacations, my wife and I would travel to FL many times when my daughter was playing USTA junior tournaments in the area. It gave me a chance to visit my refugee Cuban families on my mother’s side.
We have crisscrossed paths. I was sent to do the automation audit on IAC in Australia prior to Citi’s engagement in 1970-71. I traveled throughout Asia Pacific as our HK automation/software development team built the software to run computers in the major branches, with visits to HK, Tokyo, Manila, Taipei, Sydney, Bangkok, Bombay, Saigon, KL, Singapore, and Guam. Technically I reported to Rick Wheeler who arabesque’d me to Ray Kathe who with Jackie Kathe, resided in HK at the time. We became close friends.
When the WCG was formed, and Ray was named division head, he asked me to be his finance person in Tokyo. I was knowledgeable on how to spin-off MIS from the software to track WCG earnings for the 550 multinationals banked by Citi around the world.
The choice of “pool rate” was the bone of contention with those who headed the consumer bank which reported to the Senofs. Too high an opportunity costs and the WCG borrowing clients were under water; too low a cost and the branches suffered. The branches provided the source of funds and the WCG units were users of funds, except for the big oil companies with large cash deposits in NY. Mobile Oil complained to seniors in NYC that their large deposits at the Madison Branch, was ignored by our bank in Tokyo when their subsidiaries in Tokyo needed funding because MOF tightened guidance on bank lending/swaps.
That is when I got to better know people like Dick Huber, Dick Freitag, Ed Harshfield, Sam Eastabrooks, Bill Farnsworth, Bert Davidson, and others across the table from Tom Theobald/Ray Kathe on this key MIS issue. There were also personnel issues. Generally, it was solved and the growth and profitability of the WCG worldwide put Theobald (RIP) on a trajectory with John Reed to succeed Wriston. We know the outcome.
As the year 1979 came to an end, I was asked to head the WCG in Soul. I demurred. Having been overseas with Citi for almost ten years, I did not want to be classified as an “expatriate” and be separated from the stateside US culture. (Indeed, it had changed – I had lived overseas since my birth in Havana in 1940, the Canal Zone and on Citi assignments for most of my adult life, except for semesters attending boarding school, college, and the military). Of all the countries I lived in, Japan, the birthplace of my wife and daughter, remains the only country I have an interest in returning to. My wife warns me that it too has changed, not unlike Los Angeles since 1980.
I have gotten close to visiting you when my granddaughters attended a swimming meet in Saint George. While stationed in NM, trips through Utah were quite lovely, (unless you wanted a cold beer on a Sunday after driving in my 1963 VW bug all day – no air-conditioning in that model).
Abrazos,
Dick,
Los Angeles, CA
Very nice
Fritz,
Park City, UT
I enjoyed reading this. Thanks.
Ken,
Salt Lake City, UT
Picto Diary Feedback
Steve,
Thanks for sharing! I spoke to Drums on Friday and heard the great news. I think UNT will be the making of him - as university is for so many young people! Hope all is well in PC and looking forward to Tuesday.
Allon
London, UK
Hi Steve
Love the pics of Deer Valley. Reminds me of the last time we skied together in March,2020, just before the place shut down due to covid. That ended my skiing career at age 87. I see where you have a few years to go to reach that mark, so keep it up.
I never did get a refund on my season pass, and I assume no one did.
Ohl,
Houston, TX
Good to hear from you, Ohl. I reflect often when skiing..."hey, I'm the same age Ohl was when we skied regularly together 15 years ago. Send me your phone number. I'll call to catch up.
The drummer who is in the 1:00 band at the University of North Texas is generally considered the best college drummer in the nation! Phin should aspire to that goal. So many other great alumni including Ronnie Tutt who played drums with Elvis Presley, Greg Bissonnette- one of the first call Studio drummers in LA, Ari Hoenig- free-lance trendsetter in NYC, Rich Redmond- Nashville studio ace and drummer for Jason Aldean, as well as Lyle Mays with Pat Metheny, Norah Jones and Snarky Puppy!
Drummer J,
Lehi, UT
Dear Steve and Margaret,
Our heartiest congratulations to Drums on getting into this college.
Please give him our best. Am sure he will shine in his pursuits in this field of education.
Mohan,
Gurgaon, Haryana
Hi Margaret, Hi Steve,
Soon you will be leaving for India, and I hope your trip will be as interesting as mine was.
I wanted to congratulate you both on Phin's acceptance to UNT's college of music; that is so fantastic. And, as mentioned previously, I will be in Park City when you return from India and will stay until the 23rd. So I hope that we can get together and ski together. Unfortunately my lady friend Dawn will not be joining me.
Have a save trip, and hugs to both,
Espresso,
Washington, DC
Beautiful inside look at life in your pictures. Thanks!
Tony,
Park City, UT
Steve,
Congratulations to your Grandson for getting accepted to UNT. There is much for you, Margaret and him to be proud of. Report on my two Granddaughters. We just returned from your old stomping ground, Miami and Coconut Grove, where my eldest got married. Both Granddaughter and now Grand Son-in-Law attended University of Miami, Coral Gables. Second Granddaughter will graduate Berkeley in May. Time and tide stop no man from getting older and grandchildren moving into their own lives.
Tom,
Aspen, CO