Sunday, May 31, 2020

Same old, same old

Monday was Memorial Day, but it really didn't feel like a holiday, because all the days are the same now.

Of course, I have continued my own running routine. But I have also been taking my youngest nephew, Nathaniel, on evening hikes. My nephews' lives really revolve around video games. If they decline to participate in an activity, it's because it conflicts with their gaming schedule. If they do something that isn't video games, it's often so they can earn more game time. Nathaniel has more energy than his brothers, and he also seems to actually enjoy these hikes (but part of that is also so he can earn more game time), so he's eager for me to take him. Right now really is a spectacular time of year in the foothills, with lots of wildflowers, tall grasses, and green everything.


On Tuesday, my family went on a social-distancing outing at Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point. My parents bought a grandparents pass for Thanksgiving Point in December, so it was a fun outing, though I don't think it would be worth the cost if you didn't have a pass. It's interesting to walk through these lush gardens and then see the natural desert on the other side of the fence.

That night, I took Nathaniel on a five-mile hike. It was a simply glorious evening.


 I was so happy that the Palmer's penstemon was finally fragrant! There was a full field of it, and Nathaniel said it was like cat hair, since each hair is a little different length and a little different color.
 I have run past this tree dozens, maybe even hundreds, of times, but this was the first time I ever noticed it in bloom!

After that late five-mile hike, I wasn't ready for a morning run on Wednesday. But that evening, I went on an 11.3-mile run in North Canyon. That might well be the farthest I have ever run in that canyon! It also marked the very first time I ever tripped and fell in six years of trail running, but I was fine.



 The next day, I still had enough energy to run the six miles in Mueller Park. I have been avoiding that trail for social distancing, but that day the shade and the ease made it the only one that sounded enjoyable.

But on Friday I was back to North Canyon. It was hot, which made it hard; I just did the typical seven miles. But four years ago, those seven miles were a big deal to me; now they're a medium difficulty to recover from longer runs in the week.
Sticky geranium

On Friday I had to make a Target run for the exclusive version of Lady Gaga's newest album, Chromatica. The last time I did that for one of her CDs was back in 2014, when there was a Target-exclusive version of her Tony Bennett collaboration (and CDs were still released on Tuesday). What is truly remarkable about Chromatica is that it is completely clean—not a bad word or explicit label in sight! Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to spawn any songs of the summer. "Babylon" is a fun song, but it sounds too much like Madonna's "Vogue."

This week I also made myself some new pillowcases for Independence Day and Pioneer Day.
In November, I'm planning to vote for Joe Biden and (fingers crossed) Spencer Cox.



I had nephew hikes again on Thursday (when Preston, the oldest, also joined us) and Friday evenings.

Saturday, my family went to a social-distance gathering with my dad's family in Millard County. We went up a canyon outside of Kanosh; I had never been through Meadow or Kanosh before. It was either hot or rainy, but it was an enjoyable outing.
For some reason, there were lots of grasshopper shells on the rocks in this stream.
But as we went to that outing, and as I went to a small birthday gathering earlier in the week, I realized that social distancing is really impossible in social settings. Not everyone respects the six-feet rule, not everyone wears a mask, and even the best intentions end up with mistakes. So I'm glad that Kaysville-turned-Tooele concert has been cancelled. It's also good that various fireworks and parades have been cancelled. People cry, "Why can't we still do it with social distancing?" We can't because social distancing is easier said than done.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Olympic

I bet you can't guess what I'm going to talk about this week...

On Monday I went—you guessed it—to North Canyon. Because of the wind, a few trees were blown over.

 For some reason, I just didn't have the energy for a full run that day. The last time I ran out of energy like that (2016), I sprained my ankle, so I turned around after just over two miles, making my total run less than four and a half.

As I was coming down, I saw a cyclist stopped on the dirt road. He pointed to the side of the trail. There was a rattlesnake! I have seen at least four or five snakes this season alone, but I think only one was a rattler. I was reluctant to walk past, so the biker insisted on standing between me and the snake, using his bike as a shield.

I went back again the next day when I had more energy, and I ran ten total miles. I've wanted to gradually increase my distance on that trail, but my time is running out before it gets too hot.
More wind-felled trees!

Showy stickseed!


That afternoon, I made mushroom asparagus pie. I made it four years ago and really liked it, even though I don't like mushrooms. Then three years ago, I made a variation, parsnip wheat berry pie, which was not good, and I was too afraid to try mushroom asparagus again. This time I didn't like it as much; it was more mushroomy. And I had more leftovers this time, and I did not look forward to the leftovers.


Since it was supposed to be rainy Wednesday, I didn't want to commit to a long run, so I went to Holbrook Canyon. It's a pretty trail, but it's not a good running trail. It's narrow with lots of stream crossings. I turned around less than a mile up because crossing the stream seemed precarious. The last time I went on this trail was July 4, 2017, and I sprained my ankle (a different sprain than the 2016 sprain mentioned above). But I've never been here in the fall, so I should try that sometime, because the stream would be lower.

The real unusual highlight of the week was on Thursday. Since my dad hasn't been working, he wanted to hike Mount Olympus. So we drove down to the trailhead. Even though it was a Thursday, the trail was very busy; I can only imagine how bad it would be on a Saturday!






 We made it to the saddle, but apparently it's a scramble to get to the summit. I know myself well enough to know that I would not enjoy scrambling to the top—and especially scrambling back down. The saddle was good enough for me. This hike was more than seven miles round trip, with a climb of over 3,800 feet.
 Honestly, I don't know why this hike is so popular. Sure, it was pretty, but there's lots of pretty trails. This trail was very steep, with lots of climbing over rocks. Coming down was very slow. I wouldn't consider it a fun trail. It was hard, so there's satisfaction about doing hard things, but I didn't find it especially enjoyable.

On our way home, there was a large bench or step stool on the freeway. I went on the UDOT website to report it, but the website said that if there's an object in the travel lane, that's considered an emergency, so it's appropriate to call 911. So I did. But there was a decent amount of time before I called. Now I know for next time that I can call 911 for something like that.

When we got home, the bathroom door would no longer latch closed, so I went to the hardware store to get a new doorknob. The one I got most closely matched the old knob, but it turned out it was only for mobile homes, so the inside part was too small. So I had to go back to the hardware store to get another one.

I went back to North Canyon the next day, but I only did the standard seven miles. I couldn't help thinking, "This is the same distance as yesterday's hike, but it's a much more enjoyable seven miles."

Friday was also my arbitrary day to begin the Fourth of July season, as it incorporates Memorial Day and Flag Day as well.

A few days ago, my youngest nephew, Nathaniel, asked me, "Would you like it if every time you opened your mouth, a song from the radio came out?" So I had to show him the episode of Gilligan's Island where that happened. I don't think he was impressed.

We had snow on some surfaces on Saturday morning! I'm still waiting for a year when I see it snow in nine out of twelve months, and it has to snow in May in order for that to happen. I can't decide if I should count it for May this year since I didn't actually see it falling, but I did see the snow on the ground that wasn't there the night before, so I guess it counts.

I went back to classic Bonneville Shoreline Trail Saturday evening so I could smell the Palmer's penstemon. It wasn't as fragrant in the air as I would have liked, but I loved sniffing individual flowers.
 I also went to a lookout where I hadn't been before, but it wasn't much different from all the other lookouts nearby.


The next few months appear to be more of the same, only with hotter temperatures.

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Mr. Magoo goes on a run

This week followed the same formula as previous weeks, but there were a few things to break up the monotony at least a little bit.

Since Monday was mostly cloudy, I took the opportunity to run on the shadeless Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which is one of the busier trails. A cyclist was coming toward me, and even though the trail is wide, I hopped off the trail to be out of his way. Once I hopped off, I realized that I had hopped right next to a long snake! But I don't think it was a rattlesnake, fortunately. But the rest of the week, I got a little spooked every time I heard something moving in the grass, especially when I thought about seeing a rattler last summer.
I thought about naming this blog post "Snake in the grass."
 The main reason I wanted to go on this trail is because at this time of year, there is a large field of Palmer's penstemon, which is extraordinarily fragrant. The penstemon was in bloom, but I couldn't smell it.
 Dyer's woad is out in abundance now. It discourages me how many invasive weeds there are, and I even feel guilty when I find them pretty (like dyer's woad and hoary cress).
I came down Woodbriar and Wild Rose Trails.

On Tuesday, I went up North Canyon again, and it was gorgeous as the aspens are regaining their leaves. The best thing about trail running is that it's different every time, because different plants are at different stages.


Wednesday was cloudy again, so I went on the less shady trails again. I saw three cats on this run!

 I decided to take a really steep trail above Wild Rose, an alternative to the Woodbriar Trail. The last time I went down this trail was October 20, 2016, and the last time I went up was sometime in 2015. It was difficult, but it was less hard than I remembered, probably because I'm in better shape.

 That afternoon, my nephews wanted to get milkshakes (which they erroneously call smoothies). My oldest nephew, Preston, was talking about me getting shakes on "Leprechaun Day." Of course, he meant St. Patrick's Day. I don't quite understand what happened next, but for some reason he decided to Google "Leprechaun Day." It turns out that there really is a Leprechaun Day—and it just so happened to be that very day, May 13! We were amazed at the coincidence.

Now, back on St. Patrick's Day, I had thought about going to Pace's Dairy Ann to get a green mint milkshake, but I didn't because I had already eaten enough. And then I felt bad that I hadn't supported a small business during this difficult time. So I decided that I could have a Pace's mint shake on Leprechaun Day to make up for it.

Now, I feel a need to clarify. I do not observe those nonsensical, made-up holidays. But because of the remarkable coincidence of the day, and the desire to support small businesses, I could justify it.

But the reason I feel a need to clarify is that people often come up with bizarre reasons for me to eat out-of-season treats. (I don't know why they are so concerned with what I choose to eat or not eat.) So I don't want this incident to become a justification for future situations. I have heard people say things like, "You can eat this brownie because everything is brown outside," "Today is the birthday of the wife of this obscure general authority, so you can eat this treat from her cookbook," "Today is National Coconut Day, so you can eat this coconut cake [when he literally just made up the 'holiday' on the spot]." But I pretty much only eat treats for my nine canonical holidays. 🕛💘🍀🐣🦅🐝🎃🦃🎄 (In case you are wondering, I will start the Fourth of July season on Friday, as it will be the start of Memorial Day weekend.)

We went to my sister's house, and Preston put his hand on the rail handle and touched something weird. Then he realized it was a large jumping spider.

I must say that I am continually amazed at how good my phone's camera is!
On Thursday, my dad and brother dropped me off at Mueller Park, then they drove to North Canyon. I ran up Mueller Park, past Elephant Rock up to Rudy's Flat, then down North Canyon. It was nine and a half miles round trip. After all this time in the more challenging North Canyon, Mueller Park was refreshingly easy. Once I hit mile 5, it started to get harder, but then once I hit mile 6 it was all downhill. Since I prefer North Canyon, I had forgotten how pretty Mueller Park is. However, this run reinforced why I'm sticking with North Canyon for the present. It was so busy! I saw at least a dozen people on my way up to Elephant Rock. Between the rock and Rudy's, I saw one person. And then I saw maybe a half-dozen people between Rudy's and the trailhead.
Elephant Rock

Caterpillars!

A meadow between the rock and Rudy's
 I did feel accomplished for running six miles uphill that day.

Here's a random picture of Jimmy by a mirror, because two Jimmys are better than one.
 I did another shadeless run on Friday because it was mostly cloudy.
Tufted evening primrose!

I think I smelled the Palmer's penstemon this time, but it still wasn't as strong as I had hoped.

Then on Saturday, I planned to increase my running stamina by running ten miles in North Canyon. The trail was exceedingly busy. On the dirt road portion, I passed two people on horses. Ugh! I hate sharing with horses! A mile and a half up the trail is a little spot where I like to go off the trail for a bathroom break. When I got back to the trail, the horses had just passed. Drat! I felt like I was far ahead of them, but they caught up to me. It was going to be hard to pass them again, because now we were on singletrack trail. I took off my glasses to wipe my forehead, but I accidentally dropped them—and they broke right in half! 
 Well. I didn't think it was a good idea to do my whole ten-mile run if I couldn't see, so I just turned around. And that would solve the problem of passing the horses (and the busy trail in general).

Let me tell you, running while squinting through the blurry woods is a surreal experience. I had to go slower than usual, and I had to mostly look down since it was harder to see trip hazards. And I had to call my brother and have him bring me glasses so I could drive home.

These broken glasses came from Standard Optical in 2017. They're an old prescription, so it's not a tragic loss. But I have had other glasses that have lasted much longer. In fact, I got the glasses in February/March 2017, but I had to have the frames replaced in November 2017 because they had already cracked. It was the most I ever spent on glasses, even though I had insurance at the time, and they turned out to be some of the lowest-quality frames I have owned. It also took me longer to get them than from any other glasses place. Let's put Standard Optical out of business!

In non-running news, on the side of our garage is a plot of soil that we have never done anything with. It's just been a place for weeds to grow. A couple of months ago, my dad told me he was going to extend the sprinklers and put grass there. But that groundwater class I took in 2013 taught me things. I said to him:

"My thought is that Utah is a desert, and it's only going to get bigger, so we need less grass, not more. If we're going to do work, why don't we xeriscape it instead?"

And he said, goodnaturedly:
"If you want to do it, I'm fine with that."

So I thought once the quarantine was over, I would go to a plant nursery and ask for help in selecting xeriscape plants. (This was early on, before we knew how long it would last.)

But instead, my mom went online to High Country Gardens and ordered an entire collection of xeriscape plants that came as a unit. I was glad for this, because it sounded overly daunting to figure out what to plant.

They arrived yesterday, so I arranged them according to the map that came with the plants, and then we placed them in the ground!

I am really excited for this. I hope they survive, since we're not good at growing things. But the idea of having a garden full of of low-maintenance, low-water plants really appeals to me. And then if it works, maybe we can xeriscape other parts of the yard as well!