Yevet Tenney

The yellow leaves of autumn are sprinkling the trees. Soon they will be full-blown orange and red. The world will be a panorama of beauty. Summer will be forgotten, and thoughts of winter will come with the chill of breezes that shake the dappled trees. It makes me think of a Shakespeare sonnet I memorized in an acting class when I was in college.

As I have worked with the Boy Scouts, I have gained a greater appreciation for the Constitution, and for the Founding Fathers, who set up this nation of free people. I am one of those people who believe that Jesus Christ had a hand in setting up the Constitution. I believe the Founding Fathers spent a great deal of time on their knees communicating with Deity.

During the Dark Ages, when I was in seventh grade at Heber School, I was required to memorize the Gettysburg Address. I puzzled over the meanings and archaic mentions of time.

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A few weeks ago, I was privileged to act as a merit badge councilor for a group of Boy Scouts. I have been a merit badge councilor for Citizenship in the Nation (a merit badge) for over twenty years. I went to the dentist the other day to get a root canal, and the young dentist said, “Do you remember when you taught us about the Constitution in Boy Scouts?”

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Last November, my niece, Annette, lost her son in an unforeseen accident. He went to bed one night and choked on a piece of candy. A shock like that is hard to get over. One day, he is alive full of mischief and teenage emotion, and the next day he is gone.

The other day Reg, my husband, and I were traveling across the Navajo Reservation near Many Farms, Arizona. We saw hundreds of motorcyclists in black suits and masks driving towards us. My heart leaped to my throat as we pulled to a stop at the man-made road block.