On Wednesday this week, I needed to do some research for work about Hong Kong in the nineteenth century. The Church History Library (where I work) is a good place for Mormon history, but not so much for Hong Kong history. The best, closest library was the U's Marriott Library, so that's where I needed to go. I'm a BYU grad, but I don't think that my school's better than the U, at least when it comes to academics. I detest rivalries, especially when they extend beyond sports into academia.
However, it sounded like figuring out parking there would be a headache, so I decided it might be easiest just to take the bus. It's been a long time since I've used public transportation, especially UTA. I wasn't entirely sure of what I was doing, but I got where I needed to go.
Once I got there, it was my first time ever visiting the U's main campus. Someone asked me for directions, but I was lost myself, so I couldn't help him. I made it in the library--I must say that I think BYU's Harold B. Lee Library is a bit more visitor friendly. It wasn't too different from BYU's library, except that the students showed more skin and hair and I smelled coffee.
It kind of puzzles me that people my age smoke there. I understand that once you start, it's hard to stop, but why would you start in this day and age? Ever since elementary school they've told us how bad smoking is. Smoking is a habit that is extremely unhealthy, expensive, inconvenient, and smelly. You'd have to be a complete idiot to start smoking nowadays, and complete idiots don't go to college, especially not the U.
Since I didn't have to go to work on Friday, July 3, I got up early to go running. When I got home, my ten-year-old nephew Preston told me he'd never seen someone so sweaty, but I've been sweatier. My seven-year-old nephew Franklin was amused to watch my throat when I drank, saying, "Up and down and up and down and up and down..." That made me laugh, and he was very tickled that he made me laugh. Then he wanted to run around where I went, so I drove him and five-year-old Nathaniel up to the trail and went to the little Banner Grove. At one point, the boys were talking about roly-polys, and Franklin said, "They're harmless. Who would want to hurt them? Only people who hate nature, and we don't hate nature." Nathaniel loved talking about how dangerous our hike was, that if we fell off, we would die, even though the trail was extremely tame. I hope my nephews grow up to be like me.
We went up to North Salt Lake's fireworks display, which was really good this year. Then we stayed up late talking about horrible parenting.
The Fourth of July was all right. In the evening we went to my sister's house to light fireworks, since they are forbidden in our neighborhood. It annoys me that there are people who feel entitled to light them even where they are forbidden. I mean, the rest of us would like to light them where we live, but we believe in celebrating our country by obeying its laws. (I know they're city laws, but still.)
Normally, July 5 is a sad day for me, as there are no real holidays to celebrate until Halloween. This year, however, I'm experimenting with formally celebrating Pioneer Day as I do the other holidays.
Three years ago, I said this:
"Sometimes I wonder why I don't celebrate Pioneer Day more, considering
that I'm a Utah Mormon of pioneer descent. There are eight holidays I
formally celebrate, and in the past I have added Chinese New Year,
Mother's Day, and Father's Day, but those became too cumbersome to
celebrate the way I celebrate the other holidays, and I worry that the
same thing would happen to Pioneer Day. But there is nothing stopping me
from watching fireworks and enjoying a day off.... Some people use Fourth of July themes (red,
white, and blue and stars and stripes) for Pioneer Day; however, I
reject this association. The pioneers fled the United States because
they wouldn't do anything for them. It's like putting up British stuff
on Independence Day."
Well, not quite. Although the pioneers were frustrated with the way they had been treated, they still loved America and wanted to become a state. In fact, the earliest Pioneer Day celebrations involved displaying American flags, shooting cannons, reading the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and talking about the Spirit of '76. Pioneer Day was more like the Fourth of July for the pioneers--the ones who invented the holiday and the reason we celebrate--than it is for us.
In the past, I've said that if I learned that the earliest Pioneer Day celebrations included American patriotic decorations, then I would accept patriotic things for the 24th of July. And that's exactly what I learned. Additionally, there are American flags on the Utah flag (along with a beehive and sego lilies, traditional Utah symbols).
I hope that we can have the 24th of July celebrated as a state holiday (which it is) rather than simply as a Mormon holiday. When I worked at Walmart, one coworker said she didn't care about Pioneer Day because she wasn't Mormon, but it is nevertheless a fact that Utah's first permanent settlers were Mormon pioneers. (The Native Americans were mainly hunter-gatherers, and the Spanish explorers and mountain men were only temporary.)
There are some problems with celebrating Pioneer Day: It's only a state holiday, so once you cross the border, it's no longer a holiday. As such, there's not much marketing for it, and let's face it, marketing is a big driving factor in holidays. It's perhaps observed mainly by Mormons. And I worry that it may remove some of the specialness from the Fourth of July.
On the other hand, there are good reasons to celebrate it: Since it's like a second Fourth of July, the timing is perfect to extend the patriotic celebrations. I celebrate St. Patrick's Day, even though I'm not Irish, and Pioneer Day is therefore more meaningful. It decreases the gap between holidays. And there are symbols and songs for the holiday, although it'll be a challenge to find Utah decorations. It's basically a ready-made holiday that I haven't formally celebrated before.
No comments:
Post a Comment