The inevitable happened

 It started out as a typical, good week. I went running on the Woodbriar Trail and came across a tarantula, since August is the month they come out. 

This zoomed-in picture turned out better than I expected. I didn't want to get too close, because tarantulas will flick their hairs at you when they feel threatened.

On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Reggie was sleeping next to me in bed. I looked at his adorable face, thinking how he has an easy life. I give him his food and water, and he gets to do whatever he wants all day in the house. He doesn't face the struggles I face. But then I thought, maybe his life isn't so easy. Does he miss his previous owners? Does he miss his front claws (which his first owners had removed)? Does he miss the dogs that lived in his previous place? Maybe I'm humanizing him too much.

Wednesday afternoon at work, my throat felt a little sore, and I felt unusually tired. I hadn't slept great the night before, but it was nothing unusual for me. So I decided to leave work early, since I clearly had a cold of some kind.

I slept poorly because I had to keep drinking water to soothe my throat, and then I had to keep getting up to use the bathroom. I did some work from home, but then I was too tired to keep doing so.

On Friday, I didn't feel as tired, but I continued to work from home. My parents got back from a trip they took this week, and they encouraged me to take a COVID-19 test. I thought it was just a cold, but I agreed to take it anyway.

Gulp. It was positive!

It has been two and a half years since this virus first disrupted our world, and it finally caught up to me. But I'm so glad that it didn't come to me until I had already been vaccinated (two doses) and boosted (once). It hasn't been too bad. I've had a cough, a sore throat, and some congestion. There might have been some mild chills. I've had other sicknesses that were worse. 

But since I got the result, I have been confined to my room. That has been boring! When I was in high school, I said that my hobby was watching TV. But now I think watching too much TV is boring! And I have lots of reading material, but I read for learning, not for entertainment. And I brought my Nintendo Switch into my room, but I already beat Super Mario Odyssey and I'm really not a gamer.

I finished reading Patrick Mason's Restoration, which should be required reading for Latter-day Saints. And it's only one hundred pages!

I have spent some time working on my Pioneer Day research, but that gets boring too.

Cats can get COVID, so when Reggie comes onto my bed, I stay away. I feel bad that he doesn't get the cuddling he so desperately loves. I have had to lock him out of my room at night so he doesn't sleep next to me.

Late August is when summer starts transitioning to fall, and I'm disappointed that I have to be stuck at home while this happens. But my mom did feed my holiday Squishmallow habit by bringing these home to me yesterday.

The skeleton and the coffin are the inside-out counterparts to the tombstone and the Grim Reaper (they're called Flip-a-Mallows)

Tomorrow (Monday) will be day 5, and I should be able to end my isolation on Tuesday, as long as I wear a mask. I do seem to be getting better. I slept better last night than I did the previous nights.

Welp. I'm glad that when COVID-19 finally got me, it wasn't that big of a deal.

Just more August

Now that I'm not in school again, Augusts aren't that eventful. 

Last year, my parents planted a peach tree. We had one many years ago, but it died. And this year we had our first crop of peaches! On the old tree, the peaches would be eaten by bugs and birds before they were fully ripe. But on this one, they were ripe and tasty without being eaten by pests!

Yesterday morning I participated in a service project, which meant I couldn't do a morning North Canyon run. But luckily, it was cool enough that I could do an afternoon run. It felt like fall!

I go there all the time, but sometimes I forget to look up and see new things, like this conglomerate outcrop

Back in 2015 and 2016, I was privileged to be on the editorial team for At the Pulpit. Today I was saddened to learn that one of the coeditors, Kate Holbrook, died (I think from cancer). I regret that I wasn't able to talk to her again once I returned to the Church History Library this year. I saw her in the hall once, but it didn't seem like the right time to talk to her. Oh well. The other coeditor also has a history of cancer.

Meteor-ocre

Hmm, I guess it just wasn't that interesting of a week.

Yesterday morning, we heard a loud boom, which was not a sonic boom, nor thunder. All signs are pointing to a meteor, so that's cool.

I knew there was a race going on in North Canyon and Mueller Park yesterday, so I opted not to go there. Instead I went to Holbrook Canyon, which I don't like that much because it's so slow paced, with stream crossings, rocky portions, steep drop-offs, overgrowth, etc. But I liked it better than I remembered! I would have liked to have gone farther yesterday, but I had to turn around because I had a car maintenance appointment. (They called me to set up the appointment, and they had a wide open schedule, but I was still there two hours. Why does it take so long!?)

Anyway, it really was a lovely day in the canyon. I might have to go back in the fall to see how far I can go.

One of my favorite things about August is all the plums on our plum tree. Back in the spring, we had an insane amount of blossoms. But then there were very few plums on the tree. I recently saw that a few plums were purple, but they weren't ripe yet. So I went back, and the few plums had vanished! Sad day. First our apricot tree died, and now I don't know how long our plum tree will last. Oh well. At least we seem to have a decent crop of grapes.

August is the month for back to school, and I'm so relieved that I don't have to worry about that anymore!

Agosto

Since 2012, I have come to appreciate the joys of August. 

One of my favorite parts of August is the monsoonal thunderstorms, and we had a couple of good ones this week. Outside our house is a storm drain that is damaged, so the city has placed orange cones over it. Not once but twice this week, I watched cones travel down the gutter during the intense storms. They remained in an upright position while the water washed them away, so it was almost like they were walking away. It was kind of funny. 

This couple took a honeymoon down the block. I picked them up and took them back where they belong, but carrying two was surprisingly more difficult than just carrying one.

Last year's storms really took a toll on some parking strips that don't have plants in them, and once again they are devastated.

It's hard to tell, but the hole is probably two feet deep. The hole was not there a week ago.

I continue to pluck up goathead plants, and there was some environmental factor this week that caused them all to sprout at the same time. There was an insane amount of little baby goathead plants! It took me quite a while to pull them all up, but it's better to get them while they're tiny than to let them grow big. My dad likes to go walking past one of the patches, then the goatheads stick to his shoes, and he tracks them all over the house. But he remarked yesterday that he hadn't seen any this year, and there haven't been as many in our house. And that's all because of me and my efforts!

And yesterday, before the rain, I ran up—you guessed it—North Canyon. May and June are peak wildflower season, so I was surprised to see all the August flowers. On cloudy days, the flowers are more vibrant. And there were also some low-hanging clouds near the top. It was an amazing environment! But the mugginess drenched my shirt with sweat.

Fireweed and aspens

Over the last two years, I have continually added to the barrier over this unofficial trail.

fleabane. An ugly name for a pretty flower.

Streambank wild hollyhock! I don't recall ever seeing this one before!

Goldenrod and fireweed

Richardson's geraniums

There wasn't a lot else that went on this week that I care to share with the world. But I'm excited to see what the rest of the month will bring!