Late July

 All the holidays are over, so things aren't very exciting right now.

I was off on Monday for the observed Pioneer Day holiday. But I'm of the mindset that when the holiday is over, it's over, so I already moved on. I ran up North Canyon, which gives me nostalgia for two years ago when I ran up there every day in the heat. I recently bought a new brand of trail shoes, Topo, and so far they seem to be the most comfortable I've ever had. But we'll see if I continue to feel that way.

fireweed

I was startled to see a new trail! I didn't know they were making one here. I'll have to try it sometime, but I'm also kind of sad to see the forest marred, and to see the trail get busier.

chicory, a nonnative species, but at least it's pretty

It was the last day for my brother's kids to be in town. At their request, I took them and my niece to the arcade, Nickel Mania in Murray. I went there for a YSA activity three years ago, and within the last three years they quit using actual nickels and instead used a card system. I opted not to play any games, but the kids enjoyed them. There was just something about being at an arcade on a hot summer day and the excitement of cashing in on ticket rewards that made me feel nostalgic for summer days of my own childhood.

That evening, I took my brother's kids to Deer Hollow Park, which is an amazing little park with a zipline, a zippy slide, and other fun equipment. I guess it's more of a park for bigger kids than for toddlers. 

They headed back to California on Tuesday. It's sad when they go back, but at least they remember us now, instead of a decade ago when they were tiny. I feel like I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked—when I asked if they wanted to go get ice cream or go hiking, they were involved in computer games.

The rest of the week wasn't that interesting. In previous years, I have only gone goathead picking during the month of June. But this year, I regularly go back to a few particular goathead patches, and I continue to do so. When you pull them up before they get big, they are safe enough that I can continue to pick them for the rest of the summer. I really feel like I have made a good impact on the goatheads in those areas. I am confident I have aborted hundreds of goathead plants in one area.

And yesterday I ran up North Canyon again, since it's the most amazing place.

The last week of July isn't that interesting. I'm excited for a new month tomorrow!

This year's Pioneer Day festivities

 I had a lot going on this week!

My brother's kids who are visiting love Reggie. He sure is cute. I caught him doing a facepalm this week, and I tried to think of good captions to go with it:

Me: I work for the Church History Department
Them: Oh, have you read The Lincoln Hypothesis?
Me:

On Wednesday evening, I went with a few members of my ward to the Wilford Wood Museum here in Bountiful. I walked there for a field trip when I was in fourth grade, but it's only open by appointment (family-led tours), so I hadn't been since then. It's a series of old houses full of old Church artifacts purchased by Wilford Wood. There's even a ceiling made of rocks. All I could think was "I wouldn't want to be here during an earthquake." There's already a dilapidated storage building that apparently has been condemned. I didn't take many pictures because it seemed a little awkward to do so. It was interesting but not riveting. 

On Thursday, I was invited to a Christmas in July party with a group of mid-singles. We made creations of candy and graham crackers, and I titled mine Pioneer Day.

There was also a white-elephant gift exchange, so I took a Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook that I found at Book Garden. I ended up with the card game Santa Cookie Elf Candy Snowman.

Friday morning, I took a couple of hours off to go see the unveiling of the new Pioneers of 1847 Monument at This Is the Place. I got there early enough to get a decent seat. The opening prayer was offered by the president of the NAACP in Ogden; I was glad to hear an inclusive non-LDS prayer in this setting. Then Mauli Bonner, the instigator of the monument, gave a rousing speech about being inclusive from a faithful perspective. I really appreciated his remarks. (Bonner made the movie His Name Is Green Flake, which is an important movie but not a very good movie.) Then Governor Spencer Cox spoke about his pioneer ancestors, learning later in life that one of his Mormon ancestors was a slaveholder, which he found heartbreaking. His speech was good but not as good as Bonner's. Then the Bonner Family sang the original song "Child of God"; they are very talented singers. Then President M. Russell Ballard gave a few remarks before his dedicatory prayer, acknowledging that our Mormon singing isn't as good or rousing as that of Black churches. Elder D. Todd Christofferson was also there but didn't speak. So there were a few local celebrities present. In the audience, I saw Charlie Bird, the gay Cosmo the Cougar, there with his boyfriend.

After the ceremony, I said hi to a few former coworkers at This Is the Place, but I was kind of incognito with my hat, sunglasses (instead of regular glasses), and clean-shaven face. Then I went to look at the new statues. There were lots of people around, so I didn't get very good pictures.

Hark (Lay) Wales and Oscar (Crosby) Smith. They were two of the three slaves that came into the Valley two days before Brigham Young. Last year I wrote a bio for Oscar for the Century of Black Mormons database, but for some reason it was never published. Both Hark and Oscar moved to California and drifted away from Mormonism.

Green Flake is the most famous of the three slaves. He stayed in Utah and Idaho throughout his life, and he often spoke at Pioneer Day celebrations about his experience.

Jane Manning James arrived in Utah in September 1847. She was not a slave but still, of course, endured hardships.

I didn't have time to read the bios on the stones, but from what I could see, they have rather religious language. That would be fine for a monument on Temple Square, but it makes me uncomfortable that those are the bios they use at a state park.

I was so happy to see these people finally get a monument. I have long thought Green Flake (at least) should have been on the main 1947 This Is the Place Monument. But maybe they thought it would be glorifying slavery to put a slave on the monument? I don't think they excluded him for nefarious reasons, but he was still excluded.

Saturday morning I decided to participate in one of Bountiful's Handcart Days races. The only options were 5k or half-marathon. A 5k is too short for me, but a half-marathon is the upper limit of my running, and I didn't feel like doing a long, shadeless, flat run on a July morning, so I opted for the 5k. I was happy with the themed shirt and finisher medal I got. (I have been disappointed with the poorly themed Thanksgiving and Valentine's shirts they gave out at other races.) 

I ate the breakfast that was part of the race (though I felt like I was stealing from the serious runners, the half-marathoners), but then there were still two hours before the awards ceremony. Instead of hanging out for two hours, I decided to go up Holbrook Canyon for an hour. I don't go there often because it's not good for running, but it was better than I remembered. It helped that it's later in the summer, so the creek wasn't as high.

On my way back to the rec center for the award ceremony, I heard my radio clip play on KUER (local NPR station)! But then when I got there, the awards ceremony was already over. But I later learned I wouldn't have gotten any awards anyway. (Today I learned that my uncle and cousin heard my spot on the radio today!)

In the afternoon we had a delayed family party for my grandpa's ninetieth birthday. It was supposed to be on July 2, but he got COVID.

This year, Salt Lake City opted not to spend any money on fireworks, instead putting on a laser show. So I took my "posterity" to Liberty Park to see the laser show. Once it started, we were away from the action. They had a screen onto which they projected laser images while playing pop songs, and there were some laser lights up on the trees. But it was a bit underwhelming, and we didn't feel like staying to battle crowds for the whole show.

Then today, July 24 itself, has been a bit boring. But that's what happens when holidays fall on Sunday.

Getting ready for Pioneer Day

We have one week until Pioneer Day, and I have been doing things to get ready. 

I had a bit of a battle on the Wikipedia article for Pioneer Day. I was removing things that were simply not true; someone had misinterpreted the source cited, and even that source was inaccurate. But then someone kept adding the false stuff back in! Ugh! It was very annoying. But I think they've stopped now.

Periodically I will go to Google News and type in "Pioneer Day" to see what comes up, to help with my research. In so doing, I discovered that KUER, the local NPR station, asked people to submit recordings of how they celebrate Pioneer Day. So I submitted one where I talked about my research and the fact that I have a Pioneer Day playlist with songs about pioneers and other elements of Utah history. They liked my recording, so they set it to music and plan to play it on the air! 

But then they got back to me and asked if my playlist is publicly accessible, because they thought it would be fun to incorporate music from it into my sound bite! But my official playlist is not publicly accessible—I still buy music (for a few reasons), and a majority of the playlist is not available on streaming services. I have no fewer than seven full albums that are not on Spotify (eight if you count a random concert CD I found at DI). But I made a sampler playlist with some of the songs and shared it with KUER. I usually listen to music from my phone when I'm driving, but I'm switching to NPR in case I hear myself on the radio. (But like everyone else, I hate hearing recordings of my own voice.)

I used this as an opportunity to add to my Pioneer Day playlist. It had 184 songs when I recorded my clip, but now it's up to 235. I decided to add the Killers' Pressure Machine to my playlist, since it's about the town of Nephi, even though it's darker and grittier than most of the music. I really enjoy finding and collecting music for every holiday.

Saturday morning, we attended Bountiful's Handcart Days parade, which hasn't been held since 2019. They held it a week earlier so they could have it on Saturday morning instead of an evening. I approve, since it's cooler in the morning. I enjoyed the parade, perhaps more than I have in the past. But perhaps the best part was hearing the commentary from my fourteen-year-old nephew Franklin.

Then we also watched the fireworks from my sister's driveway in the evening. Since Pioneer Day is kind of niche, and so many people seem to hate it, sometimes I wonder if it's going to die out. But all this shows it is still very much alive and well. Providing me with research material for years to come!

***

This week I was also happy to do some things for the first time since my eye surgery.

On Thursday I got a haircut. I don't like talking about haircuts, because I am unreasonably insecure and weirded out by talking about hair. But this was my first haircut where I didn't have to take my glasses off! I could actually see in the mirror and tell what was going on! (I have been going to Trolley Square Barbers for four years, because I finally found a barber I feel comfortable having conversations with. He's really interested in Church history.)

I'm supposed to wear sunglasses whenever I'm outside for six months after my surgery, so I invested in some Ray-Bans, which are better than the cheap patriotic ones I got. I put my new sunglasses on, put my cheap sunglasses in the case they gave me, and then promptly lost the case. I'm glad I didn't have the expensive glasses in the case! Maybe it will still turn up.

Anyway, I mainly wanted some good sunglasses so I could get back to trail running. I ran up the Woodbriar Trail and then Mueller Park. It felt great to get back on the trails and work off some Fourth of July excesses.

Richardson's geranium

fleabane

I'm hoping to have more fun preparing for Pioneer Day this week!

Another Fourth

 I had a satisfying Fourth of July. 

In the morning I donned my flag hat, flag sunglasses, stars shirt, flag shorts, flag socks, and flag shoes and went to the T-Mobile store to buy a new phone so I wouldn't have to worry about my old one not charging (it wasn't worth getting it fixed). 

I made cherry chocolate chip ice cream using the cherries we picked from my sister's tree.

In the afternoon, we headed to my sister's house to have a fire in our portable firepit. We roasted hot dogs and s'mores, and this year I decided that s'mores are a Fourth of July treat. Since I have now relaxed my movie habits, I watched Independence Day, and then I watched the first half of Jaws on TV but did not have time to finish it, since those both take place at the Fourth of July.

Then we returned to my sister's house in the evening. We opted not to light fireworks this year, thanks to the drought, but her neighbors were lighting them, so we watched them.

Then the rest of the week has not been too eventful—just getting into the Pioneer Day spirit, picking goatheads, working, spending time with my brother's kids, and getting used to my new eyesight. I still haven't gone running with my new vision, which is something I need to do after all the Independence Day treats. 

On Friday my new phone arrived, a Google Pixel 6. It's always an adjustment getting used to a new phone.  The phone seems good, although there are plenty of things that annoy me, especially the fact that it doesn't have an aux port but doesn't work with the aux adapter I have. I don't use the aux port that much these days, but I like to have options, since Bluetooth can be so annoying. Why is that a thing now?!

My brother's kids have enjoyed seeing, petting, and playing with Reggie. Franklin (14) says Reggie makes him want a cat. He is so beautiful and affectionate.

I am very happy that sunflower season has resumed—I love seeing them pop up next to the road and in the sidewalk cracks. In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, sunflowers and sagebrush were seen as a symbol of Pioneer Day. I think we should resurrect that imagery, since I love these flowers. They start blooming now, but they peak in August and September and even last to November.

Was blind, but now I see

 Recently I learned about a website, Craiyon, where you can type any word or phrase into the prompt, and it will create nine AI-generated images.

It's a lot of fun to play around with (if you have the patience to wait for the image generation). As you can see, you get a pretty good impression of what the images are supposed to be, but they are fuzzy and a little off-putting.

That's kind of how my vision has been this last week as I have been recovering from my PRK surgery.

Last Sunday was the worst day. Everything was blurry; it was too hard to read anything, and of course seeing from a distance was a challenge. I just "attended" church via Zoom—my parents were out of town, and I didn't feel like walking. I spent a lot of time napping and listening to game shows on TV.

On Monday, Moran Eye Center called me to reschedule an appointment, and when I said that Sunday had been the worst day, they said that was a textbook example. But my vision still wasn't good enough to go to work. My cousin Teresa and her husband and daughter came to visit for an extended time, which was nice, since we don't get to see them very often.

On Tuesday, I tried working from home, but my vision was still too blurry to be productive. That day, my parents returned from California with two of my three nephews to spend a month here. It's not summer without them!

On Wednesday, my dad drove me into work, because I wanted to meet some colleagues for lunch. I made the font really big on my computer and worked most of the day, but when I had to read a handwritten nineteenth-century letter, it kind of took away all my visual stamina.

Thursday my dad drove me into the office again, but my phone had decided not to charge. I walked into businesses in City Creek Mall, but they couldn't help me. That night I wanted to go to a T-Mobile store, but we were all going to Texas Roadhouse for my mom's birthday, and I couldn't drive myself. Why does everything happen all at once—two sets of company in town, recovering from eye surgery, birthday, phone dying, grandparents having COVID! While we waited at the restaurant, my dad took me to T-Mobile and suddenly my phone was charging like normal again. That was a relief (emphasis on was).

Friday I had an appointment to remove the contacts in my eyes, which were functioning as a bandage over the laser incision. They had told me that I would be able to drive at a week, but I still didn't see well enough for that, so my mom took me in. It was a quick visit, but I did find it uncomfortable as they took out the contacts. My mom dropped me off at work, but my vision was even blurrier than it had been the previous few days. But I still worked a full day. Then I took my nephew Franklin to get a smoothie from the food trucks that were set up for NSL's car show.

But Saturday—I could see! Still not perfectly, but I could see decently. We went to Walmart, and I was able to see as well as I needed to. I made cherry omelets, cherry salsa, and cherry dessert topping. In the evening I took my nephews up to the fireworks. I watched people jump out of a plane, and then it struck me that I could actually see them! I wore a flag hat, flag sunglasses, patriotic shirt, flag shirt, fireworks socks, and flag shoes. The kids said something about my outfit, and I asked them if they were embarrassed to be with me, to which Franklin responded, "No, it's like we get to hang out with America himself." Then he said they should stab me with a pin to see if I bleed red, white, and blue.

Now that I don't wear glasses, I can wear sunglasses!

Then on our way back home, I was able to see not only the crescent moon but also the dark, unlit portion of the moon. I can see!

Today I wore my flag suit to church, which I love wearing. I taught the youth Sunday School class, and I had a very specific dream last night in anticipation of the lesson. [Cue the wavy screen to indicate a dream sequence] I was attending some church event in West Jordan, but I worried about parking, so I took the bus. Then I needed to take the bus to get back in time for my lesson. But the bus was going slow, and then I missed a bus, so I wasn't going to make it. But luckily, my mom texted me that my cousin Shane and his wife were visiting and they were going to take over the lesson. I found myself in some Church-related sites in West Jordan. One building had evidently found an 1880s meeting program (handout) that was riddled with mistakes, and the people thought it was so funny that they enlarged it and put it on the wall. Instead of "How Firm a Foundation," it said, "How Buern a Foundation." It talked about a hymn called "The Christmas Fountain," even though the program was from March. I was really disappointed that I had missed teaching my lesson. My parents happened to be there, and I began to suspect that it was just a dream, so I told them, "If this is just a dream, then as soon as I wake up, we need to drive straight home so I can teach my lesson!" [Cue wavy screen indicating the end of the dream sequence]

But once again, my phone is not charging. I have turned it off so that it will have some charge to make it easier to transfer data in case I need a new phone. If you need to contact me, find another way. Sigh. Why do we spend all this money on devices that are not built to last?