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.