Back in 2012, I made a blog post called "Pioneers and Olympians." Twelve years later, I thought I would dust off my French so I could reuse the title.
My newfound professional expertise came in handy again this week. My friend Madi asked me to speak at her ward's FHE on the history of Pioneer Day, so I did that on Monday. My old Cub Scout leader from the 1990s is in her bishopric, so that was a fun surprise. People were very complimentary of my presentation, though I don't think I'm a great speaker. It was a fun evening.
I had Pioneer Day off, and I decided to spend it in the style of the 1880s, with recreation and leisure. My parents and I went up to Farmington Pond, where I enjoyed swimming and paddleboarding. I would like to get more comfortable with open-water swimming.
My mom told me she got a great picture of me swimming . . . and then when she sent it to me today, she said, "I thought it was a better pic."
Then I went to the Gateway to Sweet Rolled Tacos, because they had banana cream pie ice cream for Pie and Beer Day. I bristle slightly at the concept of Pie and Beer Day, but if I'm going to be the world's expert on the holiday, I need to become aware of different kinds of celebrations. But I must never endorse or condone alcohol use, because it ruins too many lives.
I try to avoid plastic spoons, and sometimes it works when I ask.
In the evening, I wanted to see Salt Lake's drone show, just like last year. I invited ten people: six people responded they couldn't make it, and four didn't respond. (When people don't respond, I assume they didn't want to be invited, so I consider putting them on my "don't invite" list.) So I went by myself.
Before the drone show, there was a Powwow at Liberty Park. I think it's wonderful to have the Native American festivities on Pioneer Day. I briefly watched some of the Native dancing, but it doesn't interest me that much. (Does that make me racist?)
I actually found a great spot right below the drones. The show was delayed because an airplane flew over right before it was time to start. But it was an enjoyable show, though several of the drones were unlit. They had a theme of Winter Olympics. (The pictures are in reverse order because Blogger is horrible.)
Last year they had a handcart. I think the wagon is a better option.
I didn't know whether this was a hat or a UFO. But now that I look at it, I think it might be Jell-O?
Pie and Beer. Sigh.
The honeybee is our state insect, and cherry is the state fruit
Everyone thought this was a popsicle...
...but I think it's a feather.
I'm guessing this hand represents Indigenous peoples.
This is Salt Lake City's flag, but most people don't know that. On both July 5 and July 24, I heard people around me saying it was Utah's flag.
On Tuesday, I started noticing that I seemed to be developing a mild cold or something, and it got more pronounced through the week. On Friday evening, I ran up a steep but short trail. As I got to the top of the ridge, I was totally winded, even though I run there frequently. (Downhill was easy though.)
Because of this evening run, I knew I wouldn't have the lung capacity for a longer run on Saturday. So I just took it easy.
I have to say, I don't love the last week of July. It's the hottest time of year, there's no holidays, it's still generally too early for plums and grapes, and it doesn't have the same fond memories as August. But the Olympics are kind of fun. Randomly, I've remembered these bizarrely hilarious Emerald Nuts commercials from the 2004 Olympics.
And, of course, it has become a new tradition to end each blog post with the week's AI dream images. I had one multifaceted dream about missionaries, and apparently AI thinks the Great Salt Lake is sinister. I like to see what AI comes up with, but a lot of the fun comes from describing my dream in one succinct sentence.
Mark eats a hot chocolate Pop-Tart in front of class, but it's just minty filling between two slices of bread
Latter-day Saint missionaries stay inside their church building to guard it during the pandemic
Latter-day Saint sister missionaries are very happy they got to eat berry cheesecake
a Latter-day Saint mission president gets up and calls the king of England a monster
Mark opens a Christmas gift he wrapped himself in Peanuts comic strips (I'm actually jealous of this fake person's shoes)
Mark almost buys jeans with pink lace, but they don't have his size
Mark plays songs by the Free Design in the locker room
everyone can see a colossal structure in outer space
A local shop changes it's name to Fillmore (I made this image on my phone, and my phone changed "its" to "it's" 🙄)
Ann is uncertain if the body of water next door is the Great Salt Lake
Sue talks about Nathan's height in the Great Salt Lake
Mark and Katherine ask if there are any edible pumpkins
Mark and Scott watch an unreasonable man heckle the employees in a restaurant kitchen
Mark looks at unisex Halloween sweaters for sale
Mark has gummy bears on the grass, and children step on them
Mark looks at a 3-d printed diorama to see which way he should take to get to the store
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