Over the last month, I have been occupied with my Grandpa's final days and his funeral, but of course that wasn't the only thing I was doing. Since I talked about his funeral last week, this week will cover the other things of the last two weeks.
At the Utah Historical Society, we have different teams. I'm in the publications team (there's only two of us, so I feel immensely lucky to have my job), which is part of the Education and Engagement team. Another team in the E&E team is the Women's History Initiative, and on Wednesday, June 5, they hosted an event to send the statue of Martha Hughes Cannon to Washington, DC. Cannon was a female doctor, suffragist, and polygamist wife, but more significantly, she was the first female state senator in the entire country, and she beat her husband in the election. Each state has two statues representing them in the nation's Capitol in the nation's capital (see what I did there?). Cannon is replacing the statue of Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of the TV, and she is going to be only the fourteenth woman statue out of one hundred.
For the event, I helped set up tables and chairs. It was a warm day, and there was no shade. It was hard work. As you likely know, I'm in pretty good shape, and I spend a fair amount of time outside, so I didn't understand why it was hard for me even though others were working just as hard. But it turns out one of my colleagues did have to take a break from heat exhaustion.
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| The statue of Martha on the truck before the festivities, while Cherie Call practices |
For a time, I assisted a colleague at the welcome table. When I got there, there was a man, probably in his fifties, who clearly had some kind of mental disability, autism or something. He just kept talking and talking about uninteresting things, calling people movie stars, and explaining his plans for when he becomes president.* While this man was talking to some passersby, my colleague said to me, "Stay here. I'm going to go get [our boss]." A mother and her daughter (late teens or early twenties) walked by, and he started talking to the daughter about the same incoherent presidential plans. He kept going on and on, and I felt bad for this poor girl. So I said to him, "I think she needs to catch up with her mom." He said to me, "Thank you for the advice," then kept talking. Our boss finally came and walked him away from the welcome table. I learned later that he went to every booth at the festival and explained his platform, which included mandatory remote work for nonessential workers, and I think he said Taylor Swift would be his vice president. And he reportedly also asked a fifteen-year-old girl if she was legal.😬
(*That reminds me of a story from my mission in 2008. My companion and I visited the not-altogether-there wife of a less-active member, and she came to church the following Sunday. When we reported in ward council that we had seen her, one of the bishopric counselors said, "It's an election year. She's going to announce her candidacy soon!" The bishop advised us to be cautious visiting her, because in 2004, a deacon was bearing his testimony, and she got up and basically pushed him out of the way and announced her presidential candidacy! So that was surprising.)
There was a period of time where people could come look at all the various booths that were set up, but then everyone gathered for the official ceremonies. Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson made some remarks, as did one of my colleagues. Then local singer/songwriter Cherie Call sang a song called "Better Days." I am her biggest fan, so that was a surprise. Then everyone waved purple, yellow, and white flags (suffrage colors) while a woman (!) drove the semi with Martha's statue off the capitol grounds.
Every Monday evening in the summer, the city of North Salt Lake has food trucks. This week they had a special event for Juneteenth with the Utah Black History Museum. Since Utah history is my job, I was happy to see that, and I was surprised at how bold the exhibits were in combatting racism and queerphobia.
That evening, I saw a robin egg shell on the sidewalk with ants attacking it.
I have been trying to downsize and get rid of things that I never use, so this week I took old video games to a used video game store to sell. Most of them belonged to my brother (I asked for his permission). They gave me twenty-six dollars, which was more than I expected, mostly because of Zelda and Metroid II. So that was surprising.
On Wednesday, I attended a wedding reception at my old stomping grounds at This Is the Place. I last worked there in December 2021, and I visited in 2022 for their new statues of Black pioneers. Since that time, they have installed electronic signs so they no longer have to use plastic A-frame signs. It was always annoying to have wedding receptions going on in the park when I was driving the "train," but it was fine when they were after hours.
When I visited Saguaro National Park in April, I opted to embrace the cactus theme by buying prickly pear candy and prickly pear taffy. This month, Normal Ice Cream in Salt Lake has a special prickly pear soft serve, so I had to go try it. I had it as part of their "composed cone" with cereal, coconut whipped cream, and lime marmalade on top, but once I got through all the toppings, it definitely tasted like prickly pear, though not as strong as the candy.
Recently I saw some prickly pear blossoms on a nearby trail. I wonder if we harvest prickly pear fruit in Utah?
I was at Trolley Square on Thursday, and a stranger asked for my number because he thought I was cute. So that was surprising.
My parents buy big bags of seasoned pistachios from Costco, and there was a bug in one of the pistachios. Not in the shell of the pistachio, but the pistachio itself. So that was surprising. I didn't eat this one.
One of the greatest things, if not the greatest thing, about the month of June is all the wildflowers. On Friday evening, I swam twenty-six laps, ran two steep miles, and did a leg workout. Then Saturday morning, I ran seven miles. None of those activities are terribly strenuous for me, but putting them all together left me sore (in a good way).
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| cutleaf balsamroot |
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| Sego lilies have my heart forever |
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| tapertip onion |
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| Dyer's woad, an invasive. Blech! |
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| Wasatch penstemon |
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| thimbleberries |
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| mallow-leaved ninebark |
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| James chickweed |
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| Utah sweetpea |
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| Mulesears |
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| Nootka rose |
June is also the month when my sister's cherries are ripe, so last night I picked three one-gallon bags of cherries. (I hate using plastic, but I don't know how else to freeze such a large quantity.) Then I pitted the cherries while watching Camp Snoopy. Then this morning, I made a s'mores cherry crisp—I made a regular crisp topping but put in mini marshmallows, graham crackers, and red, white, and blue M&Ms, then put more grahams and chocolate on top. It might have had too much going on, but it was still good.
And to close: I am a fan of twentieth-century pop culture, and my new favorite is Nancy, so here are some 1948 strips that hold up well. I am very much amused by this naughty niece who finds a loophole if she doesn't want to do something.
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| I know it's bad, but I did laugh |
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