New carpet, new month

It was a fun week.

Memorial Day involved taking the remainder of the furniture out of my room so that we could take out the old carpet, which was probably forty years old. I had to sleep on my mattress on the floor downstairs for a few days. It was kind of like sleeping in a hotel.

On Memorial Day evening, I wanted to accomplish my third (and final) trail running New Year's resolution, which was to go to a new trail where I hadn't been before. I technically fulfilled the goal, but it was less epic than I had hoped. I decided to go to Holbrook Canyon, which is right by the Bountiful Temple. I started on this trail, which passes a lovely cascading stream.

After about a quarter of a mile, I came to a stream crossing, and I didn't think I'd be able to get across with dry feet, and running with wet feet sounds awful, so I turned around. I'll have to go back later in the summer or fall when the runoff dies down.

But since I was already there, I decided to go up a trail on the other side of the parking lot. It had some nice views.

 However, I didn't find this trail much prettier than the trails nearer to my house--and it was exceedingly steep. I ran up it a ways, but by "ran" I mean I would run a bit, then stop to drink and catch my breath, then run again. Steep hills are exhausting to run up, but I can only walk down them because they don't seem safe to run down. However, the next two days my legs were quite sore, in a good way. So maybe I should take up steep running--not for running's sake but to strengthen my muscles.

On Tuesday, my superiors asked me to go to the state archives, where I had never been before, in the Rio Grande Station. I didn't think they were overly helpful, but I found what I needed. On Tuesday night, I went to get a haircut. (I don't like talking about hair or haircuts because of my perpetually hideous hair, but it's the setting of this story.) I was talking with my stylist about small towns and how my dad's family is from Millard County, etc., when another customer getting his haircut said, "Wait, what's your last name, customer getting a haircut?" When I told him, he said that he had a book called The Melville Family of Utah in his car at that moment and he wanted to talk to me. So I waited for him to finish and he showed me his book. He said that just the previous night, his Melville grandpa was worried about the Melville name dying out and said he'd never met another Melville. I've met a few other Melvilles around here, so that surprises me a little bit. But the very next day, there I was! He said he almost fell out of his chair.

Wednesday welcomed June. I don't like heat, but I am looking forward to late sunsets and popsicles.

My family visited a place with a cliff that was popular with rock climbers, but you could also take an elevator or a side road to the top. We drove to the top, and as we were leaving, my dad was backing up, and I was just about to warn him not to go over the edge when he did just that! As we plummeted down, I thought, "It's too late! This is the end of my life! There's no other possible outcome." I didn't consider the possibility that it was only a dream and that I would wake up, but that's exactly what happened.

That got me wondering--when you dream, does your brain plan out the storyline in advance, or does it come up with things spontaneously? If a cliff shows up in your dream, it seems likely you're going to fall off of it, but the cliff appeared in my dream long before I even got to the top of it. (I also had a dream this week that I was back at BYU in a new apartment, which obviously did not fit BYU standards, as it was coed and didn't have enough beds, so I had to sleep on a couch. I didn't know my roommates' names, even though I'd been living there for a time, except that I knew one girl's name was Alyssos.)

On Thursday evening, I went out to Best Buy to have them look at a laptop battery. I ordered a new battery for my three-and-a-half-year-old laptop, and it didn't work, so I wanted to make sure it was the battery and not my computer. (It was indeed the battery.) While I had traveled that far, I decided to go do things that only I would do. I had to go to Shopko and See's Candies, since there aren't ones closer to me, so I could get their selections of patriotic candy. See's had these sour red, white, and blue stars, which are my favorite Fourth of July candies I've had so far.

I also went to a place in Sugarhouse where I picked some goatheads last year, and I picked some this time around.

 For those of you who haven't known me long, or who need a refresher, I hate the invasive weed species known as goatheads. If they were a person, they would deserve to be dipped in boiling oil. They grow as vine-like plants on the ground and produce lots of sharp seeds, which look like heads of goats. These seeds become impenetrably hard, and the "horns" pop bike tires, stick in shoes, and stab skin. I hate them. So. Much. But rather than simply complain about them, I do something about them during the month of June where I try to find them and pull them up. Why June? Because they are just starting to come up, so I hope I can catch them before they pollinate other plants and produce new seeds, and if I wait until later, the seeds are sharp enough to be dangerous. But so far I've only pulled them that one day. I will have to make more time to find them if I am truly on a crusade against them.

Then on Thursday night, I was delighted to see another June plant, but this time one I love. Sego lily season has begun!

On Friday, I saw even more sego lilies, and ones in better bloom, than I did on Thursday, but I didn't have my phone with me. They are less striking than, say, a field of mulesears:

However, I love sego lilies for their delicate, simple beauty and their pioneer connections. When I run past them, I have to stop to take a look at them because they fill me with such joy.

Thursday was also when I got my new carpet.

On Saturday morning, I ran a half mile past Elephant Rock in Mueller Park Canyon, since it's the shadiest trail around. (No pictures this time, because it's more commonplace now.) When I got to the trailhead, my old boss (who is indirectly my current boss) just happened to be there too, so I talked with him a bit, as he was hiking up. We talked about various things, including the book we published together, before I ran up. I ended up running 7.5 miles.

Yesterday was also apparently National Hug Your Cat Day. Jenny the cat wasn't too keen on the idea.