The end of spring

This week was Memorial Day, which is the first paid holiday I've ever had in my life. I can't take vacations as freely as I could as an intern, but I do get paid holidays now.

And since my holiday was paid, I couldn't just sit home watching Hulu all day. No, I had to actually do something fun. Back on Valentine's Eve, I went to the first radio tower on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and saw Ensign Peak, so since that time, I've wanted to make it there. I almost made it in April, but I didn't know where I was going, so I didn't. I thought Memorial Day would be a perfect day to go there.

I didn't run all the way there, and I think there are two reasons--I don't usually run in direct sunlight (it was sunny at that time, but it wasn't too hot), and mentally I knew I still had a long way to go, so I talked myself out of it. My walking times were basically only when I went uphill. I went something like thirteen minutes running, six minutes walking, twelve minutes running, approximately twenty minutes walking, and thirty-four minutes running.

There are two ways to get there from Tunnel Springs Park in North Salt Lake. To get there, I went down a large dirt road for a while until it met up with an unofficial, very steep trail. I'm not sure I recommend that way. But I made it to Ensign Peak, which I've only been to one other time, when I was a fat thirteen-year-old huffing my way up the hill from Salt Lake. There were tons of people there on Memorial Day, but I think the vast majority of them went the shorter way from Salt Lake. I went around and read the historical signs and was able to look over the valley. However, there are lots of other places near there with similar views of the valley, so I didn't find the view that extraordinary.

I went back a different way, and after getting to the top of a little hill just above Ensign Peak, I was able to run all the way back to the park. That trail was a littler longer than the way I came, but it was much less steep. At one point I saw something hovering in the air, and I thought it was a drone--but then I looked, and it was a bird, flapping its wings and staying in the same place in the air, like a hummingbird, but it definitely was not a hummingbird. I was a little astonished, because it wasn't even really windy (at least I don't think it was). Then a little later on the trail, I heard some rustling on the ground and knew there was some kind of animal there. I figured it would be a mouse or a bird, but it was a snake! It was probably two or three feet long. I don't think it was a rattlesnake, but I don't know what kind it was. It was grayish-tan, the same color as the ground.

Since January, I have spent my Thursday evenings helping with tutoring Tongan high-schoolers (and some middle-schoolers) in Glendale. They like to call me Peter Parker. Thursday was our last time with them this school year, although it was a barbecue and no tutoring. As we were driving off, one of them called out, "Bye white people!" Since I was born into privileged circumstances, I feel that helping with their schoolwork is the most important thing I do with my ward.

Saturday was a rather busy day. I helped clean my church building, then I had to spend a few hours at the Bountiful Family History Center for my new calling, then I had to get my car inspected, then there was a gathering at my house of some of my cousins on my dad's side, then I took my niece and dad on a very short hike. I took them to a little place called Banner Grove, which isn't that great, but I think I may be the first person to put this sign on the internet.

Here it is the last day of May, and I never saw it snow this month. Sigh. But I did see large quantities of hail that looked like snow.

Last night I dreamed that it was June 1, and it was snowing, and I was super happy. Some cars were sliding around. But it was June 1, 2009, so I was still on my mission, and it was snowing in Davenport, Washington (even though in real life I left Davenport in February 2009).

There are two ways to determine the seasons, astronomically and meteorologically. The astronomical way goes by the solstices and equinoxes, and that's what people generally mean when they say "the first day of summer" or "the first day of fall." But the meteorological method goes by the months, and I think it makes much more sense, because June 19 is much more summery than September 19, even though June 19 is in astronomical spring and September 19 is in astronomical summer. Therefore, tomorrow is the first day of summer, meteorologically speaking. And therefore, popsicles and such will once again be in season.

Six obstacles to dating

I am constantly being reminded about my singlehood. There are some relatives and some Church leaders (e.g. the stake president who insisted that you weren't doing your duty if you didn't go on two dates a week) who make it seem like my life is meaningless because I'm not married. Sometimes it's the first thing they ask about me. I feel like I might as well throw my diploma away because my life is worthless because I'm single.

It's especially annoying when people insinuate that it's because I don't want to be married. I wish I were married. It irks me when I see abusive, negligent, or stupid parents reproducing like crazy, when an intelligent, responsible person like me has no kids. I get baby hungry. Well, more like toddler hungry.

I have a hard time dating, and I know I'm not the only one. I've thought about why it's hard, and I've come up with six obstacles to dating. These are ones that I have personally experienced or that I think other people experience. I provide these not as an excuse but as an explanation.

#1: Time. I know that you can make time for anything. But when there are lots of things going on, how do you fit time in for dating? There's work, school, homework, and various other activities. It can be hard to fit in dating.

#2: Money. College students are poor. This isn't really an obstacle for me now, but it is for a lot of people of dating age. A lot of dates require spending money, and when you're worried about paying rent or even buying food, how can you spend lots of money on dates? I know that not all dates need money. But that leads to the next obstacle.

#3: Lack of creativity. You have to think of other activities when you don't have a lot of money. For some people, that comes easily. For others, it's hard to come up with an activity for a date. Even if you have money, this can be a challenge, because dinner and a movie seems like a cop-out.

#4. Not wanting to spoil otherwise good friendships. Sometimes this is more psychological than real, but I have seen it happen. You may have a decent friendship, but dating can ruin it. Sometimes it's not necessarily because there's animosity, but simply because being friendly may signal that you are interested, even if you are not.

#5. Thinking the girl wouldn't want to be on a date with you. Sometimes we might think that the girl wouldn't want to go on a date with us. Even if she says yes, she doesn't want to--she only agrees because she doesn't want to create a feeling of rejection or because she knows she should, just like she knows she should eat vegetables. We don't want to bother girls if they won't like it.

This one is especially true for me. I hear stories about girls watering their pillows at night because they aren't asked on dates. I think, "That may be true when it comes to other guys, but not with me. If a girl had to choose between spending a Friday night at home alone, or spending it with me, she would pick spending it alone."

#6. A lack of girls you're interested in. Sometimes the obstacle is the simplest: there's just not a large pool of girls you're interested in, and those that do appeal to you may be already taken or may not be at all interested in you.

I've heard lots of married people wonder why so many of us find dating hard. Well, here are my reasons. These obstacles are surmountable, of course, but they are nevertheless obstacles.

On the rock our fathers planted

Sometimes when I tell people I work at the Church History Library, they ask me if I get access to special records. Well, not exactly. Most of the things I see are open to the public or are online. When I refer to old issues of the Deseret News, I look at the PDFs on the Utah Digital Newspapers website. Rarely I've had to look at microfilms. (If you've ever used a microfilm reader, you know how frustrating that is. I would say they should invent a better one, but they're becoming obsolete anyway.)

However, for the project that I've been working on for a long time (since August, and seriously since December), one of the Deseret News issues I looked at had a very messy scan, both online and on microfilm. That meant my boss wanted me to look at the original! Normally they would be hesitant to lend it out, but since my boss is the managing director and Assistant Church Historian, they do what he wants.

I got to look at a bound volume that contained many original copies of the Deseret News between 1851 and 1855. Some of the pages are badly torn, so I had to be careful. Some people asked me if I had to wear gloves. The answer is no; I think gloves would make me not feel the paper and make it more likely to tear. The senior sister missionary I've been working with pointed out to me some of the papers from 1854, saying, "Look, they used a different type of paper." Indeed, the paper was softer and had a bluish tint. Luckily, I knew enough about the history of the Deseret News that I knew what was going on. They had to make their own paper, so they asked for everyone to donate their old rags to make paper. I was able to see blue fibers mixed in the paper. I had actually been hoping I would be able to see this rag paper, and since all those years were together, I did!

This week I ran for one hour and eight minutes, the longest I've ever run continuously, except for the brief moment I got a drink at a park drinking fountain. Oh, and the time the lady following dogs in her car stopped me. Three small dogs were running loose, so she called out to me from her car, "If they come up to you, grab them." Well, I reached down to grab one, but as I did so, my fear of dogs kicked in, and I thought, "This dog doesn't know me, and if I try to catch it, it might bite me!" So I petted it and tried to gain its trust, but it and the other two dogs ran off again. I felt bad, but I'm not a dogcatcher. It was really random.

Then this weekend, my family went down to visit my dad's family. We had a baby shower to go to in Cedar City in Iron County. Then we had a farewell to go to in Delta in Millard County. When we passed through Fillmore, we stopped at the Fillmore City Cemetery. My grandparents are buried there, and my parents will be, but there are some other ancestors and notable people there.

 This is the tombstone of Reuben McBride, my great-great-great-great-grandfather, who knew Joseph Smith. Many of these old tombstones are broken, but I think this is the original--especially since they didn't spell "Reuben" in the conventional way.

 This is the tombstone of Alexander Melville, my great-great-great-grandfather, a Scottish pioneer from whom we got our last name. Unfortunately, I don't know as much about him as I should.

This is not an original tombstone, and it is not an ancestor, but I was excited to see it because I know the story. Lieutenant John W. Gunnison worked for the United States Topographical Engineers, and he had come with Howard Stansbury when he made his survey of the Great Salt Lake around 1850. In 1853, Gunnison returned through Utah to find a better route to California. Unfortunately, his team was traveling through Utah at the time of the Walker War, when there were lots of tensions between whites and Native Americans. Some California-bound emigrants had killed some Piute Indians. The various tribes in Utah had a strong sense of retaliation, so if Americans killed one of their people, they had to kill Americans. The Indians distinguished between the Mormons and other Americans. Since Gunnison and his crew were Americans, the Indians killed Gunnison and a few others. In 1854, Edward Steptoe and a large group of rough soldiers came to Utah in part to seek justice against the Indians who massacred Gunnison. The Mormons generally were sympathetic to those Indians, so the government thought they were anti-patriotic. Some of Steptoe's men seduced a bunch of Mormon women and took them to California with them. (A lot of this was not relevant to Gunnison, but it's interesting how things build on each other.)

This is obviously not an original tombstone, since the pioneers used sandstone and marble, not granite. But this is Amasa Mason Lyman, my great-great-great-great-grandfather, who is mentioned twice in the Doctrine and Covenants. He did a lot for the Church as an Apostle, including overseeing the Saints in San Bernardino, California, with his fellow Apostle Charles C. Rich. He later left the Church and became a Godbeite.

All this interest in my ancestors comes primarily from my job, but it just happens to converge with my Church calling, as today I was sustained as one of my stake's family history directors. I knew it would happen soon. I wasn't at church today, but my former Provo roommate, Bryton, texted me and told me he heard my name announced at the ward he attended in Centerville! My job makes me more conscious of family history.

Things that annoyed me this week

It's not like it was a bad week, but there were a few things that annoyed me this week.

At work, I've been assisting with a book that's being published by Oxford University Press, and I've been reviewing the edits of a copy editor they hired. I don't think she works for Oxford, but she's been doing the copy editing. I Googled her to see if she was a student intern or something, but she's been editing for decades. Which means she should be much better at it. Some of the edits were good. Most of them were unnecessary. And some of them were just plain wrong. For example, she changed "Joseph Smith's family and their neighbors" to "Joseph Smith's family and its neighbors." Really? Its? I get that "family" is singular, but still. Shouldn't your ear (and your brain) tell you that notional agreement is better than grammatical agreement? Also, I think she thinks you shouldn't split an infinitive. And of all prescriptive rules, that one is the dumbest and most illogical. There were lots of other problems, but you'd probably be bored with all the editing-ese.

(Not being much of a reader, I think the next time someone asks me what my favorite book is, I'll say Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, because it tells me why all those so-called rules are dumb.)

I was also really annoyed with Google this week. They try to help me find things by guessing what I'm thinking, but it's not helpful. I had to do some research on Gibraltar, the British colony on the south of Spain, but many of the search hits included this message: "Missing: Gibraltar." For rills? I can force it by putting the word in quotes, but if I didn't want to include hits about Gibraltar, I wouldn't have put it in the search terms. So frustrating.

It was very rainy. I love rain, although it made me miss out on trail running. But I was really disappointed it didn't snow. I haven't seen it snow in May since 2011, although I know it has snowed in other years. I just haven't personally seen it in four years. I hope it snows this month.

Sometimes people misunderstand what I did scholastically or what I do professionally. My major was English language, the sister department to linguistics. People often think I was an English major. I'm NOT an English major. English majors are people who don't know what to study, or are nerds who love Jane Austen and Doctor Who. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just not me. It's gotten better since I decided to say "English linguistics" instead of "English language," but people still don't get it and ask me questions I've heard millions of times. No, I don't want to be a teacher. No, I don't read a lot. (English language is to English as geology is to geography. Which is another thing people confuse, but not as much.)

Another thing that happens is that when I tell people I work for the Church History Department, they think I work for the Family History Department. They used to be the same department, but they're not anymore.

Speaking of geology, I was extremely frustrated to hear a news report that some Utah parents are mad that the state wants to teach evolution and global warming in schools. I mean, I graduated from BYU, the most religious and perhaps most conservative college in the state, and it was there that I learned the factually based science behind those theories. How did the science behind climate change become politically charged? And why is evolution regarded as fundamentally contradictory to religion? And even if it were (which it isn't), why should you forbid something just because it's not what you believe?

Our cat, who is nearly thirteen years old (in human years), likes to bring us dead mice. This proves that she is a useful animal, because it's better to have a dead mouse outside your door than a mouse, dead or alive, in your house. In the past, these mice have been simply dead. Recently, however, they have been horribly mutilated. Today I had to throw a mouse's head away. Its internal organs were left on the step, and I didn't know what to do with them, so I left them there. The flies should take care of it. Gross.

My mom's family came over for Mother's Day, and my cousin Joe told me I had a worm on my neck. I thought he was joking or maybe telling me I needed to shave my neck. So I rubbed my neck in response to what I thought was a joke. Then he told me it was on my hand. And indeed, there was a little inch worm on me!

A worrisome adventure

In the past year, I have discovered the joys of running on trails. I have a few trails that are tried and true, but in the last couple of weeks, I've started to branch out a little bit and explore places where I haven't been before.

I had an experience with a new trail this week that really had me worried.

On Earth Day, I explored part of this trail, so this week I thought I would see where it went. It's a trail that starts just south of the Wild Rose Loop, and parts of it can get very steep. I didn't run the whole time, because running up steep hills is hard, and running down steep hills is potentially dangerous. Anyway, I decided I would make it to the top of one of the peaks.

Once I got to the top, it was beautiful. I got to see sides of the mountains that I never see. I even saw some cliffs (probably sandstone or limestone) in the foothills above Salt Lake, and to the north I saw limestone cliffs in the mountains. (I looked on the Utah Geological Survey's website and learned that the conglomerate outcroppings I see regularly are probably from the Miocene Epoch, between 23 and 5 million years ago.) Even though I was close to the city, I felt like I was out in nature. I even saw some deer in their natural habitat instead of in my yard. The trail was obviously used by motorized vehicles, but it was a little rough.

It was so lovely, in fact, that I didn't want to stop. I thought, "Back in December, I went on another trail that seemed to go for a while, and I bet that this trail meets up with that one. I'll go until I get there, because that will take me right back where I need to be."

I have since looked on Google Earth. I was correct that that trail meets up with the trail I was on. However, I was way off in guessing where it met up, or in thinking I would recognize it. In fact, by the time I thought the trails might meet, I might have already passed the intersection.

Nevertheless, I kept expecting to meet up where I needed to be. I kept thinking, "If I turn around now, it will take me longer to get back than if I keep going." I thought that many times, and each time I thought that, I could have safely turned around and saved time.

But I kept on going. And I was getting a little worried--it was getting dark, I thought my parents would worry, I was thirsty with no water. There were more paranoid thoughts, like how I might sprain my ankle or how a mountain lion might be lurking in the trees. There were no people around, although there were plenty of dog footprints in the muddy portions of the trail. (There were also lots of deer tracks and some curious three-toed footprints that Google's not helping me identify. I can identify rocks, but not plants and animals.)

At one point, I thought I was a little closer to civilization, because I found some signs telling people to keep out because they were revegetation areas, and I even found a "No Parking" sign lying on the ground. That sign really puzzles me, because it wasn't in an area where you would have to worry about people parking, and it seemed a ways off for a vandal to deposit a sign. But even when I got to this point, I was still a ways off. I had to climb up, and then down, what was probably the steepest portion of the trail, covered with loose rocks. I came down it pretty slowly.

After I had been on the trail more than an hour, I finally made it to pavement. There was a little building that perhaps had restrooms. It had a drinking fountain, but unfortunately it didn't work. Once I made it to the road, I knew I would be safe, but I was still far from the park where my car was parked. Eventually, I ended up where the first counselor in my YSA bishopric lives, so I knocked on the door. His wife answered at the same time that he got out of the truck of our second counselor. I asked for some water, so they gave me some. Then he offered me a ride back to my car, and I accepted. I wasn't too far, but it would still be another ten or fifteen minutes of running, and it was dark, and the sidewalk along that road is inconsistent.

I've mapped out my route on Google Earth, and I went about six and a half miles.

Although I was worried for a large portion of the time, I don't entirely regret the experience. I learned a few things, like not to guess where trails go and not to go exploring late at night. What's most satisfying is that I learned where the trail goes. I've been wanting to just explore where these places go, and I was able to do that. I just wish I'd had more daylight, water, and a phone.

Yesterday when I went running, I got a drink from the park drinking fountain, and the drinking fountain didn't shut off! When I got done on the trails nearly forty minutes later, the fountain was still going, so when I got home, I called NSL City parks and left a message. I feel bad. It wasn't my fault it got stuck, of course, but I'm the one that was using it when it got stuck. And water is very valuable, especially in Utah, especially this year.

A shout-out to my blog readers

In honor of the fourth anniversary of this blog, I'm going to list all the people I know, or have strong reason to believe, have read this blog (or my other one).

If you're not on this list, it's possible I forgot you; but a more likely explanation is that I have no indication of you ever reading my blog.

Ann (and Rick) Melville
Susanne (and Allie) Melville
David and Ya-ping Melville
David and Eula Ebbert
Sue Thompson
Jesse and Lisa Thompson
Joe Thompson
Peter Thompson
Quin Thompson
Tammy Finch
Shane Ebbert
April Barton
Peggy Thornton
Teresa Perry
Terri Baldwin
Rosemary Mead
Dave Finklea
David Christensen
Wayne Christensen
Caleb Christensen
Debbie Pope
Hillary Ulmer Haws
Christina Naegle Bennion
Tarra Call Stott
Kenneth Adair
Sara Snell (I don't remember her maiden name, which is weird because she unfriended me as soon as she got married)
Laura Tait Thornock
Hannah Russell
Kristen Jensen
Carissa Friedman
Hanna Dunn Burgener
Kat Sanchez-Navarro Peterson
Krista Roy (married with a new name)
Michelle Sutterfield
Bryton Beesley
Cameron Haas
Megan Ward
Shayli Simmons Cottman
Andee Gempeler DeVore
Westin Leavitt
Morgan Crockett
Steven Farrell
Nathan Garlock
Dave Taylor
Cory Jensen
Colby Johnson
Nicholas Major
Derek Warren
Jesse Bramall
Derrick Keddington
Jacob Moench
Amy Gifford
Nash Gifford
Max Cook
Brittany Schwartz
Shane Gibbs
Emily Edwards
Peter Moosman
Michelle Moosman
Destani Mata