Saturday, October 29, 2011

Ha Ha - The Hair Wins

At the trunk or treat there was a question about who would say the paryer.  Two contestants.  Deciding attribute was who had the most hair - and I WON!!!!

So there.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Colors





October 19, 2011
 On the way to Logan, Utah from Ogden, Utah, one has to go over Sardine Canyon – a pass through the Wellsville Range. On a normal day, it is just a trip up the mountain and then down the mountain. On Saturday we made this trip and were awestruck at the glory of the autumn colors. Never in the many, many trips over that pass have I seen it so vivid and beautiful. Alas, I did not stop to take a picture, for how could a camera capture the browns and reds and yellows that covered whole hillsides.

The next Friday, when passing over it again, some of the wonder was gone, yet it was still a mighty feat of nature to create such a canvas. Alas, I still did not stop to capture it in a picture.

However, on Wednesday, after I finished working, Mar picked me up with the Mother and Brenda and we drove up Logan Canyon just to see the colors. Might I say that I once read that one magazine ranked Logan Canyon as one of the top ten spots in America to view Fall foliage. It did not disappoint this year. We drove up and stopped at a little picnic ground by a little grotto on the river. It was a lovely secluded little spot – with a reward of a wild apple tree that was bearing pretty good tasting fruit. We went a little further on and turned up Blacksmith Fork canyon to see something off the beaten way. The leaves were beautiful in the approaching twilight and the canyon itself was delightful. We would stop now and then, and then continue on.

As we got almost to the top of the canyon (we were looking for Old Ephraim's grave) and looked out on a breathtaking autumn scene, Mar – who was driving – looked down and said "Oh my, we are almost out of gas". I must say, that stopped the pilgrimage to the burial shrine. We were well into the back woods, and we were probably saved a lot of stress and tribulation by the fact that it was mostly downhill back to civilization, so Mar coasted much of the way.

A delightful trip – and I did take some pictures. Alas, a cell phone is a sorry excuse for a camera, especially in the shadows of twilight.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Travels with Mar and Lar


Ogden and Logan, Utah
October 13 – 22, 2011

 
Maybe this was a business trip. Maybe it was a family trip. Maybe it was a pleasure trip. As it turns out, it was all three. And it was the result a one of those "perfect storms".

Lar was scheduled to do a business trip to Tucson, Arizona. Not looking forward to it very much. Then he got an overview of the upcoming schedule and found that another instructor was doing a class in Logan. Charlie, the other instructor, had no reason to be in Logan other than the class. Lar had lots of family reasons. So a short phone call later, the classes were switched – Lar on his way to Logan – Charlie to Tucson. And because it was Logan, Lar decided it would be real nice – I mean real , real nice – to take Mar. So a ticket was purchased and the plans were made.
 
We went out on the Thursday before the class, because Lar had taken that Thursday and Friday off a long time before – more of the "perfect storm". Thursday night, Friday and Saturday morning we spent with Melanie and Mom (that would be Lar's mom) in Ogden. On Saturday morning we all went to breakfast with Emily and Rick. We like doing family help things for them. This trip we:
Trimmed a bush
Trimmed two trees
Cleaned out the rain gutters
Installed gutter guards
Repaired the shed (sort of)
Helped Melanie order new doors
Put plastic on two windows
Played lots of games
Ate lots of food

Saturday morning we went to Logan to stay with Mar's mom for the duration. We sent her into stress by telling her we wanted her to come back home with us. She said okay, so we got her a ticket on our return flight. We stayed with her until Friday morning. We did some things for her also:
Cleaned up a rock garden
Dug up some flowers (that we delivered to Brenda)
Trimmed bushes and spread bark
And Mar did a lot of running around town with her
Spent time with a lot of family

On Tuesday through Thursday, I taught the class – which went okay.

Friday we went back to Melanie's and finished some work (and played games). Then Saturday morning we flew back home.

Good trip – made even better by being surrounded by people I love – and people who love me.