El otoño es magnífico

*The title of my post comes from a poster hanging in my seventh-grade Spanish class.

There were several talks I liked in general conference last week: Bednar, Daines, Ardern, Phillips, Soares, Gong, Giraud-Carrier. I was really interested that Elder Bednar mentioned J. Reuben Clark's 1947 talk, because it's in my Pioneer Day article. I talked about the April 1947 conference, because there were lots of pioneer talks, but then one of the reviewers suggested that I add Clark's talk from October 1947. (This week I finished reviewing the second round of edits for my article, and it has gone to the typesetter, so it should come out in a few months.)

I keep thinking about President Nelson's talk. I have a theory that his talk was ghost written by President Oaks, at least in part. Here's the evidence I have:

• His emphasis on living celestial laws and not telestial laws is identical to Oaks's talk. In fact, every time I hear "law" mentioned in Church settings, I can't help but think Oaks is involved.
• Nelson said, "When you make choices, I invite you to take the long view—an eternal view." This sounds just like Oaks's words in a devotional this past May: "Affected persons and family members should therefore take the long view."
• His advice "Never take counsel from those who do not believe" contradicts his statement last year: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints embraces all truth that God conveys to His children, whether learned in a scientific laboratory or received by direct revelation from Him." 
• The topic of his talk and its harshness intensity is much more characteristic of Oaks than of Nelson. (His shaming of people with addictions was especially problematic.)

And I have been astonished at how many people loved his talk, because literally none of my gay friends liked it (or Oaks's).

Anyway, I'm not going to say more about it, because this is just a frivolous blog meant to discuss frivolous topics. On to the frivolity!

This is the best time of the year for evening trail runs. Unfortunately, this is the time of year when it gets dark earlier. But I don't have to miss out—I just have to use my headlamp! I don't know why I haven't used that option much in the past. I definitely prefer running in the daylight, but the headlamp is OK.

I was astonished to see this sinkhole in the trail after a rainstorm. It was a foot or two deep!

Yesterday (Saturday) was my one free Saturday this month, and I didn't want it to go to waste. So I decided to do a thirteen-mile run between Mueller Park and North Canyon. It went like this:

• 0 miles: start run at Mueller Park
• 1.2 miles: turn onto Bonneville Shoreline Trail
• 5.2 miles: arrive in North Canyon
• 7.25 miles: arrive at Rudy's Flat. Downhill from here!
• 10.1 miles: arrive at Elephant Rock
• 13.5 miles: finish run at Mueller Park trailhead (and witness a woman with dogs completely fall on the ground)

The leaves weren't as pretty as I had hoped, but they were still lovely. They aren't as pretty in the daytime as they are at the golden hour in the evening.

This bridge has seen better days. Maybe it's from all the runoff that submerged the bridge this spring?

I was feeling pleased with myself for doing this thirteen-mile run. Remember when I was thirteen and could barely hike one mile? But it turned out that my run overlapped with an ultra race where people were running fifty miles or a 55k. And suddenly my mere thirteen miles didn't seem so impressive.

Of course, my life isn't all about running. On Tuesday, the Utah Historical Society met at the capitol so we could have professional headshots taken of us. Even though I'm only a part-time employee, I get a lot of perks, such as free headshots, free academic memberships, and free trips to LA. (The Church doesn't give me as much [not that I expect them to], but they do give me more access to scholarly databases [JSTOR and the Oxford English Dictionary].) Once we were done at the capitol, I walked down the hill to my other job at the Church History Library. One of my CHL colleagues was walking up to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum by the capitol, and he asked what I was doing in that part of the city. It's such a weird position I'm in to say "my other job." But I think both of my jobs are really cool.

On Wednesday, I attended the musical Jekyll and Hyde with my sister and my cousin. My mom gives my grandparents season tickets to the theater, and they have extra tickets so they can take other people. But my grandma saw it in 2014, and she didn't like it because it was too dark. My uncle quipped in 2014, "It's like if you go to a movie about Noah, you know there's going to be a flood." I like spooky things at this time of year as long as they're not gory. 

***

And of course, we can't forget pumpkinundation roundup!

See's Milk Caramel Apple Scotchmallows are tasty, but they're not super evocative of caramel apples. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Pecan Pumpkin Instant Oatmeal has bigger, sturdier oats than most instant oatmeal. I like it. 7/10.

Of all the pumpkin bagels I've had, Thomas' Pumpkin Spice Bagels are the best. They're soft, and they have little pieces of pumpkin filling. 8/10.

The Maverik Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie is more like a chewy chocolate chip cookie, rather than the cakey cookies that most pumpkin cookies are. It really hit the spot. 8/10.

Trader Joe's Fall Harvest Salsa has pumpkin, apples, and other things. I enjoy it. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Tortilla Chips have pumpkin and spices. They're good with salsa; they can get a little bland on their own. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Fall Leaf Corn Tortilla Chips barely count as a pumpkin item. On first glance, it's just the shape that's seasonal, which is not what this feature is supposed to be. But they are made with pumpkin, carrots, and beets. The beets are for color, but they don't specify what the carrots and pumpkin are for. They don't taste like pumpkin, but they seem more enjoyable than regular corn tortilla chips, and they're adorable. 8/10.

"decidedly delicious (not to mention deciduous)." Give that writer a raise!

I put Torani Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie Syrup on crushed ice. How do you even fit pumpkin pie in sugar free syrup? It's OK. 5/10.

I was nervous for Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Lasagna, which has squash puree and pumpkin seeds. I don't like a lot of cheeses. But I liked this lasagna. The cheese wasn't gross, and the squash gave it an unusual but welcome flavor and texture. 7/10.

Taco Time Pumpkin Empanadas have been around since at least 2009, and with good reason. They're pumpkin pie filling in a sweet tortilla. 8/10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Batons, surprisingly, taste more like pumpkin (as in the actual vegetable, not just the spices) than any other item I've had this year. I like to use them to sip up my cereal milk. 7/10.

Crave is always so accommodating when I ask them to put their cookies in my own container (instead of their horrible plastic clamshell containers). The Crave Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie was OK. I feel like it's hard to mess these cookies up, but this one just wasn't as interesting. 6/10.

Edit: I forgot to add the Quick Quack Car Wash Pumpkin Spice Scent. It was a fun autumnal scent, but I paid for the cheapest option, and it didn't get my car very clean. 6/10.