Tim Torkildson's Clown Alley

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Photo Essay: Potluck at the Bishop's House. Provo.

We start our Sunday services late, and don't get out until 5:30 in the evening. Since today was Fast Sunday, the Bishop invited everyone in the Ward over for a potluck tonight at 6.

There was pink lemonade and cupcakes made from scratch

Happy Ward members among the overgrown bushes

Kids goofing off for the camera

Sometimes Mormons can smile a leeeetle too much . . .

What would the LDS Church be without young married couples deeply in love?

Waiting for the watermelon

The Bishop worries: Are there enough tortilla chips?

This baby is thinking: "Hey, let me at that guacamole dip!"

"That's a good point, dear"

At an LDS feed there's always plenty for everybody

Let's get another look at those cupcakes . . .

A potluck is always a good place to try out some new headgear. Just call me Captain Peachfuzz.

Headlines & Verse. Sunday. July 2. 2017

EUROPEAN CITIES BANISH TOURISTS THIS SUMMER. WILL THE BIG APPLE FOLLOW SUIT?

A tourist who visited Venice

Was thrown out of town as a menace.

“You’re ruining our space!”

They said to his face --

“The San Pantalon ain’t for tennis!”

EVEN PIRATES HAVE TO BEHAVE THEMSELVES IN THESE SENSITIVE TIMES. DISNEY TO REVAMP ICONIC 'PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN' RIDE

Walt Disney thought pirates were game.

Today they just have to be lame.

They can’t take a wench

Into their foul clench --

Nor can they set cities aflame.

THE TSA WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE READING ON YOUR NEXT FLIGHT -- BE PREPARED TO SHOW 'EM THAT PLAYBOY OR TRASHY HARLEQUIN

When packing a bag for a flight

I like to take books that are light.

Not porn -- something clean;

Like MAD Magazine.

Not newspapers -- they are just trite.

WILL FERRELL LOBS ANOTHER BOMB AT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WITH HIS LATEST FILM -- 'THE CASINO.' WHY DOESN'T HOMELAND SECURITY DO SOMETHING ABOUT HIM?

Will Ferrell makes movies like custard --

In which he has added some mustard.

The taste is unique --

It’s not a technique

That keeps viewers seated and clustered.

Photo Essay: Where I Live

Where I live is at Valley Villas Senior Housing -- 650 West 100 North -- in Provo, Utah. I have been here for about 2 years. Before living here I stayed in a friend's unheated basement storage room. The building is owned and run by the Provo City Housing Authority. Rent is based on income. I pay $249.00 a month, which includes $25 a month for cable, which I don't use but have to pay anyway. Utilities are free. The place was built in 1995.

You need a key to get inside the building itself.

I spend most of my time in this recliner in my living room -- I'm in it right now, putting this photo essay together. Before I was able to get a bed, this is where I slept at night as well.

I'm on the ground floor, apartment 115

This is my patio -- regulations only allow 2 chairs outside

This is the view from my patio

My bedroom

My bathroom

My kitchen

My storage closet

My laundry room. Washers are $1.00. Dryers are 50 cents.

The main lobby

The community room, where we have a brief LDS Sacrament Meeting each Sunday

The garbage chute is on the third floor

The third floor also has a computer room, installed by Google. But the computers keep getting ripped out. Right now we're down to two.

I'm grateful for my little apartment. When I was raising a family I bought houses in North Dakota, Kansas, and finally Minneapolis. But I guess I'll never own a home again. Or live in a motor home or on a train again, like I did with the circus. Or rent a three bedroom bungalow with my beautiful partner in Thailand again. This place is as final as it gets, for me. I'm thinking this will be my home until I am called Home.

The Polished Soul

“Our trials and our difficulties give us the opportunity to learn and grow, and they may even change our very nature. If we can turn to the Savior in our extremity, our souls can be polished as we endure.”

Henry B. Eyring

My soul began its journey here as jagged as a rock;

Awkward angles, edges sharp -- yet dull as forceless chalk.

It would not take a polish nor hold up to heat and cold.

Twas not a thing of beauty, but a piece of punk fool’s gold.

The years have blunted many barbs; and tears dissolved the crust.

Yet heartache packed the rubble firm, with ev’ry unfair thrust.

And now perhaps a sparkle may at last come from my soul,

As Jesus starts to polish it and make it sound and whole.

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Photo Essay: The Provo Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park

The Provo Farmer's Market is held on Saturdays this summer at Pioneer Park, from 9 until 2. But truth be told -- it's more of a Craft Fair than a produce market. You can buy soap, Korean kimchi, jewelry, and other assorted knick knacks -- but I didn't see any fresh produce at all. Maybe it's just too early in the season . . .

This brings back memories of my days of circus tenting. The competition to get a plug on the rhino box was intense, even cut-throat -- because if you didn't get there quick enough, you couldn't plug in for juice for your trailer. It looked to me that only about a third of the booths at Pioneer Park were using electricity.

Dream catchers for sale

Frying up samosas

Henna tattoos

Political parties canvass for new members

Myosook Lee sells bulgogi and cucumber kimchi -- it looked so good I promised her I'd come back to buy my lunch -- but after reflecting on my budget for July, I decided I'd better stick to pork & beans. I just bought a new cell phone . . .