Snakes in the grass

Last week, I commented that rattlesnakes seem to be more common this year, and this week certainly confirmed that for me.

I ran up North Canyon four times this week. The first mile of North Canyon is a rough dirt road before the actual trail starts. On Monday, I was just running up the road when I heard a rattle. There was a rattlesnake like two feet away from me! I don't know how I didn't see it, since it was out in the open. I was a little freaked out that I was so close to it without seeing it. As much as I dislike these rattlesnakes, I do appreciate that they rattle first, because that benefits both of us. Then I met a hiker who said he had seen a three-foot snake up later on the trail, but I didn't see any other snakes that day.

On Tuesday, I was running down the road portion when I noticed a rattlesnake about ten feet in front of me. So I stopped and just watched it. It was a little interesting to see it flicking its tongue and slowly moving. But it was in the exact middle of the road, so I didn't feel like I could safely walk on either side of it. It was biding its time, so I figured I'd have to wait a while. But then I heard a car coming up the road. That will save me, I thought, because it will scare the snake off the road.

 Well, as the white Jeep came up, the rattlesnake did not get off the road in time, and the Jeep ran over it! As the tires reached the snake, it writhed around. Once the Jeep drove off, the snake appeared no worse for the incident and slithered off onto the side of the road, and I was able to safely walk past.

The internet tells me that often snakes will appear to be fine after being run over, but in fact their vertebrae can be separated and they die later. And I found myself feeling sad about this snake. Should I have tried to stop the Jeep from running it over? In my defense, I thought the snake would get out of the way. And I don't know if I would have been able to safely stop the incident, but I still feel guilty because part of me was happy to have it be run over. I don't like rattlesnakes, but I keep feeling sad about this one.

I think all these rattlesnake encounters has made me less afraid of them, but I don't know if that's a good thing. 

Sometimes I don't realize how dirty I can get while trail running.

Wednesday was overcast, and those are great days for running. Not only is it cooler, the wildflowers seem to glow!

I ran 8.75 miles instead of the usual 7. On my way down, there was a snake sitting on the trail. I'm pretty sure it was not a rattlesnake (no rattle and a different pattern), but I still didn't want to disturb it.

But it was just sitting there, and I needed to get past. I even wondered if it was still alive. So I decided I would throw a rock near it to see if it would react. But as soon as I crouched down to pick up a rock, it slithered off, and I was able to safely pass.

But then on Thursday I didn't see any snakes.

Friday, of course, was Pioneer Day. I see a lot of misinformation out there about Pioneer Day's history or about what it represents. It amazes me that I think I have become the world's expert on the holiday! I'm eager to get my stuff published. If it weren't for the pandemic, I might have already had my article submitted.

On Pioneer Day, my dad wanted me to help him put up moulding in my sister's basement. That took a few hours. I'm really not handy at stuff like that, so it's good for me to learn, even if I'm not learning very much. My dad has lots of fancy tools that make it easy.

We had some old Lion House mixes that we've gotten for Christmas over the years, so while my dad and I were working on the house, my mom made raspberry muffins and Lion House rolls for Pioneer Day. Pro tip: Lion House roll mix is not a good Christmas present, because it's time consuming.

I made zucchini soup, which was blander than I remember it being. I turned on my Pioneer Day playlist and had a generally boring afternoon. I went to RubySnap and got their seasonal cookies.

One of the few things that wasn't cancelled was Bountiful's Handcart Days fireworks, so we went to my sister's house to watch them. We had a decent view.

Now, in less than a month, I will be back in school. Eek! I've been having dreams about it. The other night I dreamed I had to go back to kindergarten, and I couldn't help but feel like I was taking a step back in life. We had to sign in when we got to school every day, and I was worried about crayon being less legible than pencil. Then last night, I dreamed I was starting grad school, and as I was walking around campus, I thought, "Oh no! I forgot to shave my beard!" And then I remembered it was the wrong school. One of my classes was a geology class, and I calculated one of the answers on an assignment as forty-two cubic inches, but I wasn't sure I was doing it right.

Trailers

Shortly before I was born, my family bought a tent trailer. We had that trailer until I was in sixth grade, at which point my parents traded it for another tent trailer. But in 2011, they decided it was too much work, and they would rather just do tent camping.

Two years ago, they decided they would like a trailer again, so they bought a regular trailer (not a tent trailer) because they thought it would be less work.

But then this year they decided they didn't like the trailer. It was too small and didn't feel like you were out in the open, and it wasn't that much less work than a tent trailer. So they bought another tent trailer.

This week we had our last camping trip in the regular trailer. It was me, my parents, and my niece; I slept in a tent since there wasn't room for everyone in the trailer.

We camped at Moosehorn Lake in the Uintas, which my family has been going to since before I was born. Across the road from Moosehorn is a trailhead that I had never noticed or paid attention to. So my dad, my niece, and I went on a hike on this Fehr Lake trail. Fehr Lake was pretty and easy to get to.

 There were lots of wildflowers that I'm not accustomed to, since they are unique to higher elevations.

Elephantheads!

The white ones are American bistort.

 There were supposed to be three lakes, but we felt like we had already gone a long way before we encountered another lake, so we turned around at a small pond. It was a rocky trail, so it wouldn't be good for running, but it was fine for hiking.

We had a lovely campsite right on the lake, and I went on our inflatable boat a few times.

This is the old trailer.

 Then on Wednesday, my parents traded in the old trailer and picked up the new trailer. We keep it parked at my sister's house (for a few reasons), so we set it up there. It does seem very nice. But it's very tall—since I'm the tallest member of the family, my height will come in handy, but I worry how my family will manage without me. We will take this new trailer camping in a few weeks.

Since we picked and froze so many cherries last month, I have been cooking with cherries. My favorite cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, has a recipe for cherry sauerkraut soup, and I finally made it this week. I know that sounds super weird, but it was surprisingly good! But you definitely have to like sauerkraut. Besides the obvious ingredients, it has onions and was cooked with bay leaves and cloves.

This week I had a few things that left me feeling relieved. Our neighbors have an apple tree that hangs over into our yard, and I love spending October evenings picking apples and then making them into pies, crisps, omelets, and whatever else I desire. They were going to cut down the tree. One night while camping, I was thinking about how tragic that would be, especially since it's loaded with apples this year. But then I found out they're not going to cut it down! Yay! They're just going to trim it instead. That's a much better decision. That means this fall I'll be able to make apple sauerkraut soup! (That's actually the main recipe; the cherry version is a variation.)

Another relieving thing can be best explained with an incident from Christmastime. I was driving my mom and my brother to my grandparents' house, and I remarked that my own personal Christmas playlist was better than the radio. So my mom asked why I wasn't listening to my own playlist, and I explained that I had my playlist on Google Play Music, but it only let you have 1,000 songs in a playlist, and my Christmas playlist has 1,407 songs, so I couldn't shuffle my entire playlist. This week I learned that Google Play Music is being replaced by YouTube Music, which lets you have more than 1,000 songs! Yay! That will change how and when I listen to music! But my enthusiasm has been tempered, because so far YouTube Music appears pretty clunky. I'm hoping it improves. It also seems to be tailored to the subscription model. I don't like that model: why pay for something if I can't own it? I still buy music (and use streaming services to know what to buy—usually holiday songs).

This week I will give you a break from my North Canyon runs, but last night I ran on the Woodbriar Trail. I scared some kind of animal in the trees, and it made a weird squeal. I assume it was a deer, but I didn't know they made noises like that! As I looked out over the valley, a saw a plume of smoke coming from near Woods Cross High School. I saw flashing lights nearby, and it looked like traffic was backed up on I-15 southbound, but I haven't seen anything on the news about it. 

And then, as I was close to the trailhead, I heard a snake rattling, my first time encountering one on that trail. I know I've been running more this year, but I do think rattlesnakes must be more common this year.

Sego lilies and sunflowers

Now that the Fourth of July is over, it is the Pioneer Day season. (I have wondered if I'm the only one who thinks of it that way, but Fox 13 News is doing a special history series between the Fourth and the Twenty-Fourth, so I'm not the only one!)

I have always found it a bit sad that sego lilies, our iconic state flower and symbol of pioneer heritage, are out of season by the time of Pioneer Day. But this week, for the first time ever, I was able to see sego lilies in bloom during the Pioneer Day season! (Well, there was that time I saw them in California, but that was in California, so I don't count it.) I closely monitored these flowers in North Canyon over the course of a week, and I was surprised at how quickly they died out. I think they last longer in June than they do in July.

I think they are all gone now.

But even though one Pioneer Day flower is gone, we are just beginning with another. I love how every summer, huge sunflower plants grow like weeds in sidewalk cracks and along the side of roads. They are spectacular! I think they peak in August, but they start in July. A century ago, sunflowers were more often considered a symbol of Pioneer Day. In the late nineteenth century, it was common for Pioneer Day celebrations to show Utah as it was "then" and as it was "now." In the "then" displays, they would often use sunflowers and sagebrush. Even though today sunflowers might not really be associated with Pioneer Day, I will gladly embrace the connection.

Sego lilies weren't the only interesting thing in North Canyon this week. On Wednesday, I was running up when suddenly I found myself three feet away from a curled-up rattlesnake on the side of the trail. Eek! It rattled, and I think it hissed, so I backed up, and it slithered off the trail. It gave me goosebumps and a good case of the heebie-jeebies. I think I have a healthy fear of snakes. I keep my distance, but I don't think of them when I think of my phobias. I didn't think it was necessary or reasonable to stay away from North Canyon the rest of the week, just because I saw one rattlesnake. But rattlesnakes have been haunting my dreams, and I get a little jumpy when I hear movement in the vegetation.

During the pandemic, I've been spending a lot more time on the trails, especially during the day, so I have seen a lot more snakes. I would estimate that 70 percent have not been rattlesnakes, 25 percent might have been rattlesnakes but I didn't get a good enough look, and 5 percent have definitely been rattlesnakes.

At one point on the trail, about a third of a mile from Rudy's Flat, there is a shortcut on the trail. But I hate shortcuts! They cause erosion, they don't really save time, they're harder, and they're less pretty. So every time I pass the shortcut, I pile rocks to discourage people from using it.There's a pile at the top of the shortcut and at the bottom of the shortcut.

As I was placing a rock on the top portion of the shortcut this week, there were three teenage boys coming up it. So I kindly said to them, "Please don't take the shortcut, because it causes erosion and it's unsightly. That [motioning to the main trail] is not harder, and it's prettier." The first boy said, "OK." They seemed like good kids, so I hope they don't use the shortcut anymore.

I'm trying to be more open about addressing problems and concerns, but doing so in a kind way and not being passive-aggressive. Now I have to figure out what to do about the neighbors who let their dogs wander.

July Four, a bore

Well, this certainly was a less-than-glorious Fourth of July. Not necessarily bad, but certainly subdued. We missed St. Patrick's Day festivities and Easter church services, and this time we missed community fireworks and parades. The same will go for Pioneer Day. Will trick-or-treating be cancelled in October?

Last week, I had a sore throat, which is now listed as one of the COVID symptoms. Since that was the only one I had, I suspected it wasn't the virus, but just to be safe, I stayed away from North Canyon, since social distancing is harder there. But then, after a few days, I looked in my throat and saw that I had two canker sores on my uvula.

I was relieved it was just canker sores! But I also was in pain. It made it very difficult to swallow anything but water, and I would wake up in the middle of the night with my throat stinging. Thankfully they're better now.

Anyway, once I discovered my trouble, I felt comfortable going back to North Canyon after a nine-day hiatus.

This mushroom was just sitting upside down on the trail.

 I was delighted to see sego lilies there! They are gone from the lower elevations, but this was the first time I had ever seen them in North Canyon, probably because I usually don't go there in the summer because there are some exposed parts. They're mostly a June plant, so I was happy to see them in July.

COVID-19 doesn't only kill people, it also kills businesses, as I have learned that some of my favorite local places have shut down. So it renewed my commitment to patronizing small businesses that sell seasonal treats.

Cutler's Cookies (I was allowed to have the raspberry lemonade flavor)

Pizza Pie Cafe

Sweet Rolled Tacos

RubySnap

Sweet Rolled Tacos, again, this time with my niece and two nephews.

We usually go to North Salt Lake's July 3 fireworks. We haven't missed a year since 2013, but of course they were cancelled this year. So we bought some fountain fireworks and took them to my sister's house. We made homemade ice cream to make it a more memorable occasion. When I was a kid, we could light fireworks at our house, but now they are forbidden. I like fireworks for the tradition, but I wouldn't be overly sad if they outlawed personal fireworks. I really think they need to outlaw aerials, which have only been legal since 2011. In my Pioneer Day research, I have learned that personal fireworks in Utah were banned in 1939. I asked my parents when they were made legal again, and they said they were always legal that they can remember. But then I found that in 1977, they were still illegal, but the laws weren't enforced. I haven't yet found when they made them legal again, but apparently the fireworks ban didn't do much.

On the Fourth, I knew the trails would be busy, so I stayed away. I made several items for my family's Fourth of July meals: red, white, and blue pancakes, cherry blueberry salsa, lemonade, and cherry crisp. We had a barbecue, and in the evening we lit the rest of the fireworks. It was relatively boring, especially since we couldn't stay up late.

Today was a sad day. On March 21, my brother's family arrived here for the quarantine. My brother went back to California in May, but his family stayed. Now, after three and a half months, my sister-in-law decided it was time to go back. So this morning we got up super early to accompany them as far as Elko, Nevada, so my sister-in-law didn't have to drive the whole way by herself. I drove their van between Wells and Elko. She's eager to be home, but I don't think my nephews are. They get better internet and more space here. Video games are the center of their life, but I'm glad we can be part of their life when they're not playing. I'm hoping they will find their tiny apartment too confined and will come back.

It's going to be boring and quiet around here. It's just me, my parents, and Jimmy. I adore Jimmy, but the conversations are pretty one sided.

Now that the Fourth of July is over, it is the Pioneer Day season, which I have only formally been celebrating since 2015. I still haven't worked out exactly the ways it's the same or different than the Fourth of July—even though, at this point, I might very well be the world's expert on the holiday. I have drafted a twenty-two-page, single-spaced academic article on its history, but I have a few more sources to check before I can submit it to a journal. And I can't check those sources until the Church History Library opens again.