Last week, June 30, I wore my American flag suit to church, which is always a fun time. Before church started, in the restroom, I felt something on my neck, and there was a little bug, an aphid or a gnat or something. Then in the chapel, I overheard a woman saying something about "they're falling on me." I blessed the sacrament, and there was one of the bugs on the bread, so I had to flick it off. As I sat in the pews, I kept seeing and feeling them. The speaker said, "I'm sorry, there's a bug on my talk." Then later she said, "Oh, the bug is back," and the woman behind me muttered, "It's a different one, I can guarantee it." Since it was a fifth Sunday, our second hour was in the chapel, but they considered moving to another room to avoid the infestation. But I think the infestation was not confined to the chapel, so we stayed there. The bishopric counselor remarked that at least the bugs seemed friendly.
On Monday, we welcomed a new month. My brother's youngest kid, fourteen-year-old Amity, is here for a few weeks, so I took her to Deer Hollow Park, which has a zipline. This park also has a stream for storm water, and we were astonished to find a raging deluge of muddy water! It wasn't a particularly stormy day, so I don't know where it could have come from. It did calm down while we were at the park.
Monday evening was the season finale of Summer Baking Championship. The week before, the preview showed that the host, Jesse Palmer, was wearing my flag suit. Not a similar suit, but the identical suit. So I wore my suit while we watched so I could match him. (I did have to buy new pants, because the old ones got a little too tight.)
But now we have to wait two months for Halloween Baking Championship, which I predict will start on September 9.
On Tuesday evening, I was running home from the Wild Rose Trail when I saw a black cat in a yard. Whenever I see a cat, I want to be friends with it, so I stopped and put my hand out. It came up to me, then knocked over my water bottle, which scared it.
On Wednesday, July 3, I got a late start to work, because, among other things, I was shopping for Campfire S'mores Cup Noodles to review. But July 3 is the night we attend North Salt Lake's annual firework show, so I didn't want to work late. But I need to catch up on reading for the Utah Historical Society's book awards, so I found a solution: I went up extremely early so I could get food from food trucks before the crowds came and so I could get a good spot. I took books so I could catch up on reading, and I just read on the golf course for several hours. These days I'm firmly entrenched in history, so once in a while it's nice to revisit my old stomping grounds of linguistics
and geology.
Only the first chapter was about geology
I just think it's great that the entire community comes together for a joint celebration. It was very busy and crowded.
When we got home from fireworks, I had to stay up to make the base for ice cream.
A few nights earlier, I had a dream that there was an ice cream shop at the airport that sold unique flavors. I was looking for seasonal flavors, but they also had weird ones: cilantro, jalapeño pickle (which also used the cilantro base), and saguaro (which wasn't ready yet).
Now, I didn't know if I wanted to make a treat for the Fourth of July this year, but after this dream, I knew what I wanted to do. In 2018, I made Cap'n Crunch stuffing from a dream, and in 2020, I made pineapple zucchini crisp (well, with yellow squash instead of zucchini) from a dream. So Wednesday night, I steeped cilantro in milk before adding the other ingredients. I have a recipe that uses mint leaves, so I just replaced the mint with cilantro.
Then on the Fourth, I put the mixture in the ice cream maker. This cilantro ice cream was better than I expected! I could taste the cilantro! And it went well with the vanilla base. I think it would be worth making again, except that I don't make ice cream that often. I wonder what parsley ice cream would be like?
I kept some of the steeped cilantro leaves, but the texture was not good
And I also made strawberry lemonade with the lemons that have been in our fridge for a while.
And I wanted to run up North Canyon for the holiday.
spreading fleabane
giant red Indian paintbrush
In the afternoon, I submitted my review of the s'mores ramen. And in the evening, we went to my sister's house to see/hear her neighbors' fireworks, since they're illegal in our neighborhood. When we have fireworks, I'm the one to light them. I opted not to light any this year. I like them but I don't love them, and I have significant concerns about the smoke, litter, and fire hazards. We just sat outside while I played my Fourth of July playlist from my Bluetooth speaker. It has 299 songs, so I will probably break 300 by next year.
And then the Fourth of July was over.
But! It wasn't quite over. Of course, now it's the Pioneer Day season, which is Utah's after-party. It has been celebrated like a second Fourth of July for 175 years now, so I keep all my star-spangled stuff out for another twenty days.
On Friday evening, I took my mom and Amity to see Salt Lake City's drone show. I went super early so I could get a good parking spot. Amity wasn't happy with how early we went, even though we bought pizza and ice cream from the food trucks.
As we got there early, we picked a shady spot. Which meant that some of the drones were covered by trees. But it was an enjoyable evening. It was shorter than we might have expected, but I still think they're more interesting than fireworks, and they don't have all the drawbacks of pollution and noise. (However, I can't help but wonder if there will still be some unexpected problem, like a lithium shortage or something.) They had various animated images, many of them with an outdoorsy theme.
some of the drones were burned out. This flag rippled, instead of just sitting there
sego lily
Salt Lake City's flag
Utah with the Great Salt Lake. At last year's Pioneer Day show, they had a star and a heart instead of the lake.
camping
The kayaker went down the stream
The hiker moved up
Delicate Arch
patriotic eagle that flapped its wings
The biker went up
hot air balloon
happy *th of **ly? Stupid tree!
Then yesterday I went up North Canyon again. It is my very favorite because it is not too busy, it's shaded, it's gorgeous, and it's just challenging enough without being too difficult. We are at the end of sego lily season, so I took pictures of as many of them as I could, because I probably won't see them for another year.
And now, if you're not burned out by an image-heavy post, I will close with this week's AI dream images. The generator took some creative license with many of the prompts.
An old woman gets mad when Ben and Charlie bring her soup
Mark offers Deanna a Christmas decoration with a nativity scene and cranberries on it
Mark wades in the Centerville pond, which is by a landfill
Mark walks down the street only wearing towels
North Salt Lake opens a new water park
Mark sees that Big Lots! is going to open a store on Highway 89 in Bountiful
Mark goes to Indian Hills Elementary School one last time
Mark reads an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about a bisexual BYU student
Mark watches Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm in a hotel
pullups and chinups are hard for Mark, even when he cheats
Mark lives in a dilapidated apartment complex that was converted from an old railway station
Adam and Camryn debate where and when to observe their anniversary
The Utah Historical Society wants to publish about monster movies
Mark gets a measuring cup for his Easter trail mix
an airport ice cream shop sells weird ice cream flavors, including cilantro, jalapeno pickle, ice pop, and saguaro
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