Looking For Leaves - Mirror Lake

This afternoon Clarine and I drove to Mirror Lake. Our main objective was to see some glorious, bright, leaf displays . It was not to be. I don't know if it is all over, or perhaps we are too early. Anyway there is always lots of beautiful scenery in the Uintah Mountains. We stopped at Upper Provo River Falls, Mirror Lake, and countless other scenic spots in the vicinity. I even fished for a little while in a small lake near Mirror Lake. Nothing happened except I got some power bait on my fingers, and it isn't easy to get off - especially the odor. You can see from the enclosed photos that the leaves are not bright at this time. We found some snow in the Mirror Lake area. Phil reported that there had been five inches there. We didn't find any quite that deep. Though the object of our quest was pretty much a bust, we greatly enjoyed the beautiful creations that are the Uintah Mountains and their associated beauties. gwh

Wonders at Stansbury Park

When I got home from the football game last night, there was this most beautiful display in the heavens - a pair of wonderful rainbows to the east and a marvelous bright sky to the west. This is a grand place to live.

BYU VS AIR FORCE

Some of my family who are BYU football fans held their annual outing to a BYU game yesterday. Present were Callie and Dan and their unmarried children Jalayne, Clark, Julie, and their married daughter, Kim, her husband Chris Lucherinni and their chubby boy, Elliot. Also in attendance were Ken and his two boys, Alex and Wilmar. Amy and Tom's daughter Beth Russell joined us too. At the game Ken's friend, Kent Miner sat with us well. Before the game we tail-gate snacked in the Marriott Center parking lot where we had all three automobiles parked side by side. Our intent was to really tail-gate after the game while we waited for the traffic to clear. "Really tail-gating" meant firing up a grill and doing hamburgers and hot dogs with trimmings. It didn't work out that way as we had a steady rain from just before half time to the time waiting for traffic to clear. So our after game eating consisted of standing under a tree that was really good shelter and eating cold snacks: jerky, chips, salsa, cookies, grapes, Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolates. It was good and so was the company. I never got my camera out again after it started to rain, so the photos posted are all before the game started. BYU played excellently and totally dismantled Air Force's game plan. BYU won 31 - 6. I got quite wet, but I absolutely enjoyed the experience - game, family and food. THIS NEEDS TO BECOME A MANDATORY FAMILY TRADITION!!!!! By mandatory I just mean that the event needs to happen not that attendance is mandatory. Only those who think they might enjoy the experience should be the ones who would consider coming. Callie and Dan got the seats and arranged us all on three rows one behind the other instead of getting all of the tickets in one long line on one row, which sort of inhibits visiting to some degree. GO COUGARS!!!!!

Swimming Has Started Again - 9 - 17 - 2007

After what seemed like a long hiatus, we went to the swimming pool once more. It was good to start our erstwhile routines again, i. e., for me swimming five laps, and walking against current - first backwards, then frontwards, followed by left side up stream and then right side up stream, finishing with another back up stream. Clarine does all of the current exercises with me, and while I am doing laps she does current and arm and leg exercises. I am not a fast swimmer, so while I am doing laps she gets in enough exercise to get a fine work out.

I am including some photos that will give you a feel for the current area, some of the playthings in the center, the lap area, (I didn't specifically take a picture of the "pea pool" - the kiddie area. ) It may show up in some of the photos. There is a photo of the front entrance to the area. All of the other pics are of the inside activity area. I did not give total comprehensive coverage, but hopefully enough photos to give you a feel for what a fine facility it is.

More about our trip to the fair

We visited the animal barns, the art pavilion and the home making pavilion. We got tired sooner than we used to. By edict from Clarine our lunch had to be a Navajo taco. I also bought some candy coated pecans in a cone shaped container.

Let me tell you about the Navajo taco. It was a large piece of fry bread (very much like a big scone only maybe lighter) covered with the stuff similar to what is in a taco salad. It was large, so we ordered one and shared it. We ordered a second piece of fry bread (big a s a paper plate) and shared it as well. We covered it with warm melted, runny honey, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. It was yummy too. Clarine had a Dr. Pepper. Water was fine for me. We got very full, but I even bought the pecans after our fill. It was a very indulgent way to cap our fair visit.

I think the photos I will include will be something from the gardening area and from the livestock area. In the Dairy pavilion I was amazed at the size of the udders on the cows that had been bred to produce milk most abundantly. (They will never be able to place their hind legs together again.) Some of the garden produce had been on display for several days and had begun to dehydrate. Much of it such as squash had grown to huge sizes. We also saw beautiful floral arrangements.

As I mentioned in my blog yesterday, after we left the fair, we drove to the City and County Building where I photographed the tile pattern in the main entrance on the first floor. After that we drove to the Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolate Factory, so that I could take a picture of the sign and show Chris that all of their signs do not have inane phrases with them. Since we were there, we stocked up on about two pounds of their seconds which are as good as their firsts except maybe for appearance, and the cost is about half. MMMM!!!!! They surely do taste good.

We paid little attention to rides, shows and novelties. The shows seemed to be for a younger generation. Nevertheless our day at the fair was a good one.

Quilts and Such

Founding members of the Utah Quilt Guild: Carol Bitner, Hal Cannon, Jean Christensen, Janet Clark, Mary Alice Collins, Elizabeth Darley, Margaret Fairbourne, Ruth Garbett, Nina Grimes, Carol Hatch, Roberta James, Marian Johnson, Joy Knowlton, Connie Jean Kralik, Faires Miner, Carol Morgan, Beth Ann Neville, Phyllis Owen, Verda Reed, Nancy Richards, Ethel Towley, Elizabeth (Tibby) Simons, Frances Snyder, Cynthia Sturgis. This is a quote from the deseretnews.com for 9/10/07. There is an article about the Utah Quilt Guild. You will note that Carol Hatch is listed as one of the founding members. I am including a picture of Carol's Christmas Star quilt. We stopped by the Utah State Fair today. There was a star pattern quilt on display there as well as some other patterns. One of the great quilts made by Carol was designed after the colors and pattern of the tile in the first floor center hallway of the Salt Lake City and County Building. I took a picture of it today and included with this post. Phillip has the original quilt in his custody. I have always considered it a monumental achievement of Carol's. I took some other pictures at the fair. They may be subject matter for a future post.

Microburst - 4 September 2007

Within the last hour we have had a microburst that exceeds any that I have ever witnessed. The winds were very strong and had some rotational effect to them. Most of my damage here was out by the dock. The two quaking aspen nearest the water were laid flat. The patio table with a glass top was upended, the umbrela taken out and the glass top shattered. The two swings were upended. Tomorrow I have to mow the lawn, and then I can go to work trying to remove the tipped over trees. The thought is enough to make an old feller tired. Another storm is predicted here again in the next hour.

To Clarine

I just want to post a little tribute to Clarine. She is such a fine, understanding partner for this stage and circumstance in my life. May I list a few things below:

1. She is so unselfish. She thinks of me over her own comforts much too much.
2. She pretty much keeps me out of the kitchen. I often don't know where anything is in there anymore. If I don't spot what it is that I can do to help, she doesn't tell me.
3. She treats my children, grand children, great grand children and friends very cordially.
4. She tries to meet more than her share of household financial obligations.
5. She provides me with most wonderful friendship and companionship.

She blesses my life, and this list could get long. I will save some for another time and another posting. I think you already recognize these qualities of hers, but I think it is good for me to acknowledge them. GOD BLESS CLARINE!!!!!!

Sunset - Past Prime, 2 September 2007

There was a fiery, reddish-orange sunset tonight. I hurried to get my camera. When I returned, the scene had diminished in intensity. I took pictures anyway, and there is still some of the effect. Two photos were taken from my back lawn, and one was taken from the dock. The one from the dock reveals the moon vaguely hiding behind the clouds. We have many gorgeous sunsets here. I resolved to get a picture tonight. I am sorry that I was just a little untimely. I do feel that I reside in a wonderful part of the Lord's creations, and there will be other times to get pictures. There are some variables: readiness of camera; sentiment to take the picture; pressure of other activities; and above all optimum timing and conditions. Sorry I missed it just a little tonight.