Mark My Words: Appropriate for April

Now that springtime has returned and the snow has melted, I was able to get back on the trails this week.

On Monday, I ran about six miles to and from the radio towers on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Unfortunately, I got a side stitch, which I haven't had in a long time. Usually that only happens if I eat a lot or if I have had dairy products recently, but that wasn't the case this time. But I pushed through the discomfort.

Then Tuesday, I went on the Wild Rose Trail, where glacier lilies were out. These are the first wildflowers of the season, so it's always good to see them.

Then that was the end of my free time for several days, because issue 5 of Wayfare magazine was ready for proofing. There are several editors on the team, but I get the final say on the proofs. I am probably the most experienced copyeditor on the team, which means that the articles I already read were cleaner than others.

The magazine has some great articles, and I'm glad to help out. But it does make a few difficult days where I work my state job, and then I work my BYU job, and then I spend my evening hours editing, even though that's what I've been doing all day.

On Friday, someone in my ward invited people to go see the Improvables, an improv group in Bountiful. It was good to have something to break up the hours and hours of editing. Some of the sketches were more entertaining than others. They were very talented, but sometimes it felt like watching a group of friends playing games.

Then Saturday, I pounded out the end of Wayfare. Whew! I did some shopping, since I had been so busy all week. And in the evening, I went on the Woodbriar Trail, which is short but steep. The trail had some glacier lilies, but it also had tons of springbeauties and yellow bells. Glacier lilies, springbeauties, and yellow bells are the trinity of early spring wildflowers. They aren't the most spectacular, but they kick off the wildflower season.

Later this month, we'll have arrowleaf balsamroot and longleaf phlox; in May, we'll have mulesears, western waterleaf, smallflower woodlandstar, Utah sweetpea, and various penstemons; and in June we'll have sego lilies and sticky geraniums.

I am happy that Easter is late this year, and I'm also glad that Easter seems to be getting more attention than it has for much of my life. For example, my mom just bought this Easter equivalent of a nativity.

And, of course, let me geek out about the seasonal foods and treats I've been able to have this week. I classify these foods as category 2A, which means they take iconic seasonal flavors and apply them to something else.

Near my office is a bakery called Pie Party, and I tried them for the first time this week. They had a carrot cake pie, which I have never heard of before! It has a carrot custard, then carrot cake, then kumquat jam, then cream cheese frosting. I love the idea of this pie, but I didn't think it tasted that great. It was just OK. It was also expensive (seventeen dollars for a five-inch pie).

And they also had an Easter quiche! (Well, that's what they called it on their Instagram post, but not in the store.) It has ham, peas, and green onions. It's rare for savory Easter foods to get much attention.

And there are two ice cream shops, Rockwell and Blacksmith, that have both carrot cake ice cream and Cadbury Mini Egg ice cream.

One of the most iconic Easter treats is the chocolate bunny, but how to you make that into something else that's not just chocolate? Well, there's a cupcake shop in Farmington called Sprinkles (a national chain) that made a special chocolate bunny cupcake. It's different from their regular chocolate cupcake, and it has a candy bunny on top.

And Target has a Peeps Icee, which doesn't taste much like anything, just like Peeps themselves. (Five years ago, 7-Eleven had a Peeps Slurpee.) When I bought this, the cashier was slow in more ways than one. I brought a reusable bag, and she put one item in that bag, then tried to put my other items, including milk, in plastic bags, even though there was plenty of room in the reusable bag. And she tipped my Icee sideways to scan it!