Race Day

It was race day: so Sparky and I got up early and drove to Salt Lake to watch Wart and Leslie run the Salt Lake 1/2 Marathon.

Bert & Ernie had been up there with their tribe since Thursday. Worried about being able to get to the Hilton where they were staying we dutifully tuned the radio to 1300 AM to listen for marathon traffic updates. Unfortunately, the powers-to-be did a better job of promoting the station on the I-15 traffic signs than they did with transmission power and we could barely hear a voice above the static. With the radio off, we flew by the seat of our pants. Luckily the traffic was minimal, early-Saturday-morning traffic. We drove right to the Hilton and parked in the underground parking.

We called Nic again, announced our arrival, and sat down in the lobby to wait for the tribe to come down. Shortly thereafter, Nic brought Frank down, dropped him off with grandma and went back up the gather the remaining tribal members.

10 minutes later we were all gathered and walking the six blocks to The Gateway and the race finish line to await Wart and Leslie. We stood in the cool morning breeze and helped cheer the runners as they made their last, one-block effort to improve their time.

After a while Sparky decided to check her phone and saw she had missed a call from Wart announcing she was already finished and was waiting for us at the north end of the shopping center. So we walked up and found her and Leslie, who apparently had just finished the race while we were walking to get Wart. So we missed both of them.

Dr. Z had apparently run by our earlier race-watch-position just prior to our arrival and then Leslie went by without our seeing her. Bummers all around!

We then walked back to the hotel for a quick potty break and then we walked another 3 blocks to a local diner for breakfast -- good simple cooking. I was surprised how well the kids did walking and nary a complaint from them -- surprising for today's youth to have to walk that far, probably 2 miles by now. (Good for you mom & dad.)

Next it was back to the hotel where we split up; the tribe went home, and we worked our way around the marathon boundaries and up the U to drop off Dr. Z and Leslie.

Next, Sparky and I decided to drive to Park City for some shopping at the outlets. Unfortunately, we had only started shopping when the power went out. So it was off to downtown Park City where we parked the car and walked the street, window peeking and people watching (my favorite pastime).

A fun day even though not everything happened the way we had wanted it.

Buds & Snow

She wasn't yet complete!

Ol' Mother Nature had another thought last night as today we awoke to 9-inches of snow in the yard. The plum tree was really bending under the weight of snow. But still no sign of Mr. Bee (see earlier post.) which I will still classify as good.


Neighbor Dave was out with his plow pushing snow to the side up and down the street. I got in the act by following my immigrant neighbor's earlier lead and used the snow blower so Sparky could pull out of the driveway make it to the office. Who would think that on April 16th I'd be blowing snow. But I guess it was my own undoing since last Saturday I had awaken the neighbors as I ran the gas out of the blower in preparation for next winter. Good thing I hadn't dumped the remain gas out.

In the back yard the Robins were lining up on the snow-covered branches to get in the bird bath. "Rob" has this daily ritual thing, but snow around the rim made a splash difficult (not to mention the bath heater power was out again leaving slush in the bowl; someday I'll . . . ).

It's a cruel trick Mother Nature plays on the plants when she entices them to awake and shrug off ol' Man Winter, show their budding flowers and leaves, and then she dumps snow on them. But they generally seem to shrug it off year after year, ignore her game and get ready for a re-birth with spreading leaves.

Still, it was a funny morning to awaken in mid-April to both Buds & Snow.

Welcome Spring!

It's 3 O'clock in the afternoon and there are probably 3-inches of snow on the plum tree.

Welcome Tax Day, April 15th. On Monday I went blading on the Provo River Parkway and today, Wednesday, I'm needing a snow shovel. I'd say welcome to Utah's weather but I have found almost every place I've visited, the locals say the same thing. (Although I don't remember them saying anything about snow in Hawaii.)

Cynically, I say the good thing about this snow is that it is keeping Mr. Bee in his hive and not pollinating my plum tree. Hence, I hope there will be fewer plums to pickup later this summer. Let's not, however, keep Mr. Bee from the fruit orchards. (No reason to add to the current economic problems.)

Welcome Spring!

Easter Preps

The kids were up to Granma's to help with the preparations for Easter, and five dozen eggs were humiliated as they were given a new look that only a human could appreciate. One can only imagine what a self-respecting hen would think if she understood what had happened to her potential chicks.

Every year the short ones do better waiting for the transfer of color. And every year more unigue designs are revealed than the previous your. A lot of work and patience, however, paid off when after more than two hours all five dozen eggs had been morphed into beautifully colored icons that Faberge, and Czar Alexander III, would be jealous of.

What a fun time we had, preparing for Easter. Now we just hope all the eggs were cook. Bert reportedly put one raw egg into the mix to keep everyone alert. Hopefully we'll remember this in the week or two to come, and won't be surprised when a runny yoke comes pouring out onto our lap. Yuk!