Fresh Warm Apples

Friday, I picked all the apples on our tree. I left some of the pecked ones for the birds. Then I tossed the overly-wormy and the rest of the bird-pecked apples into a big white bucket to throw out. The salvageable and edible ones, I gently placed in a big white bowl. I ended up with about 42 apples-- just the right amount. Sixteen of them were mostly unblemished and went in the fridge for whoever wants to eat them fresh. The rest I cored, skinned, and cut up into bite-sized pieces.  I threw the pieces into a pot and steamed them, intending to make applesauce. Their cooked, golden color warmed my heart. I decided not to smash them. I put some of them in a little bowl and sprinkled on cinnamon. It was a fabulous and satisfying snack on a cool afternoon.

Singing for Pretty Peppers

One night a week, my husband goes to singing practice with a group of other men. One of the things that makes it easy to support him is he usually brings home presents from their leader's lovely, large garden. In the past, he's brought home nectarines, peaches, zucchini, pears, and plums. One week, somebody gave him a half-gallon of "the best chocolate milk ever."  Unfortunately, I can't remember the brand name, but they make it in Idaho. And yes, it actually contains potato flakes. This week the present was tomatoes and these beautiful peppers. 

Unpredictable

(<--Stewart Falls  and  --> Fluffy weeds at the Jordan River Parkway)

Sometimes this world is hard, sometimes soft.

I've been struggling with some hard things and the unpredictability of life. I've also been reading about the tragic results of volcanoes that erupted in Colombia during the 80s and 90s.

The year I graduated from high school and started college, the entire village of Armero, Colombia was destroyed by the volcano Nevado del Ruiz. Because of poor equipment, not enough knowledge, and the lack of communication, many people lost their lives or were injured who could have been spared. The year I gave birth to our daughter who has Down Syndrome and Autism, scientists were injured and killed on the volcano Galeras. I don't remember hearing anything about either of those volcanic events.

I was in junior high and had recently experienced a disruptive and catastrophic move from Iowa to Utah the year Mt. St. Helens erupted. We heard a lot about it, but so much turmoil was going on in my own life that it wasn't until years later when my college roommate Margaret, who was from Seattle, talked about the event that I thought much about it at all. Proximity makes a difference. Margaret was killed in a car accident while we were still roommates-- less than a year after I met her.  When I think about volcanoes, I think about Margaret.

Volcanology has progressed a lot since the 80s and 90s. Now, scientists are more able to predict when an eruption will occur. Their equipment is more sophisticated, they know what to look for, and they constantly monitor the earth's activity. I am reassured. When we were visiting Yellowstone National Park last year and saw the geysers and other bubbling geothermal activity, I worried about imminent eruptions. Now I know more and worry less.  Visitors would not be allowed if there was any evidence of extreme danger. Even so, accidents still happen. Not everything is predictable.











Volcanoes are volatile, powerful, fascinating things. That's why every year in probably every elementary school around the country, at least one child creates a volcano that actually erupts with baking soda and vinegar, red food coloring, or other creative materials. Despite or maybe even because of their danger and unpredictability, volcanoes are popular.

Sometimes in life, I think it would be nice to know what to expect so I can be more prepared for the hard stuff. Other times, I'd rather not know so I can enjoy softer things with less worry.

Dying with Paint

At the "normal" school she attended in New York and also last year here in UT, they didn't dress up the teenagers for Halloween. Our daughter's new "special school" is having a Halloween parade today. My costume idea for her was simple: I bought cheap butterfly wings and a headband and thought I'd dress her in black and yellowy-orange to match. Easy! The best long-sleeved shirt I could find for her had100% cotton white sleeves that are almost like lace. I thought they'd look pretty and gossamer-like. In order to make them match the rest of the costume, I thought I'd dye them orange.

Unfortunately, our local grocery store carries every other color but orange.  This was yesterday and the parade was today.  I didn't have the desire or time to hunt for orange dye. What to do?

Then I remembered I have yellow-orange acrylic craft paint. I poured some into warm water and swished it around. Then I dunked just the sleeves and the bottom trim in the water, swished them around for a short while, and let them dry.  I didn't rinse; this wasn't a permanent fix.  They look more yellow than orange, especially in this picture, but they look much better than they did when they were white. Surprisingly, they aren't stiff at all.

I'm not sure I like the look. Maybe later today, I'll try dying the sleeves with black paint.

Hike Jordan River Parkway

We started out at the Gardner Village in West Jordan and walked all the way to Murray.  That's just a little over 1 1/2 miles.  Then we walked back.


I was amazed by things we saw along the way.

 

An Effective Walk

I found this leaf on our walk today.  So I carried it the long way home and put it on a cabbage.

Earlier, we were in deep conversation and I wasn't looking up.

"Do you think that's effective?" he asked.

"What?" I said.

"What's on that wall."

I looked up.

I thought it was very creepy, but I wasn't sure what he meant. If he meant creepy and Halloweeny the answer would be "yes."  If he meant did I like it or would I put giant spiders all over my house the answer would definitely be "no."

"What do you mean by 'effective'?"

"Did it get your attention?" he said.

"Yes." When I looked up, it got my attention.

Later we saw this.

"Is it effective?" I asked.

"No." he said.  I think he just didn't like it.  But it got my attention and I thought it was kinda funny.  Maybe I'd have liked it better without the face.

Pumquash

My mom by marriage has a great garden. This year, these mutant pumpkin-squashes grew in her backyard all on their own.  They have thinner skins than regular pumpkins and taste more mild than pure pumpkin.  They're taller and skinnier than normal.  We're pretty sure they're some kind of hybrid.  My kids are very happy with them-- especially with the one that already has a nose.  Carving these is going to be uniquely challenging since they're so narrow.  I'm just happy the kids were able to pick them on their own and they were free. 

Enduring

On days that aren't so good, it helps to remember the wonder of past days. 

How do people endure to the end?  How do they stay mentally, emotionally, and spiritually strong? The older I get, the more I am amazed by aged people who are still valiant-- people like my parents, though I don't really think of them as that old. I'm thankful for their example. 

Some days, I'm just glad I made it to the end of the day. 

Wonderstone

I inherited these wonderstones from my grandpa who was an avid rock collector. 

(Rock collectors and sellers sometimes use a penny to help show size.)

I dreamed I was an igneous petrologist last night after a long, torturous afternoon of identifying, sorting, and labeling rocks for my son's school rock project. In case you didn't know, an igneous petrologist is a geologist who studies volcanic rock. A few of our specimens we believe are wonderstone--an igneous rock that typically has layers of maroon, white, and yellow-brown-- that we found while on our wild rock-hounding trip to Vernon Hills. The specimens we found are more rough and red and less layered than these polished rocks of my grandpa's. 

I would have never learned about wonderstone, gone to Vernon Hills, UT (pictured above, behind my blog title), or learned about igneous petrologists if it weren't for my son's fourth grade project.

Shh, Don't Tell My Lawn Service (aka Husband)

Its large, fluffy, white globe was irresistible. I ignored the perfect lawn and held the weed up by the long stem toward the sun.  I blew hard, hoping to capture tiny parachutes falling against blue sky.  I'm glad my eyes work better than my camera. 

Hike Stewart Cascades

 It was the best hike yet.  Weather-wise it was a perfect autumn afternoon.  The colors in the mountains were spectacular.  Because of the views and variety, the impact of the experience was even better than autumn walks I have enjoyed on the east coast.  Right now, colors on the back side of Mt. Timp, particularly around Aspen Grove, are phenomenal.

Both far away and up close, seeing the falls was worth the 3.6 round-trip miles up, over, and around rocks and branches. We started up past the fee area above Aspen Grove at the Mt. Timpanogos trail head and came back down the same way.

I loved being so close to brightness and beauty. No editing, cropping or tweaking any of these photos-- not that I know much about that stuff anyway.  My favorite photo is the one below that I took when I was looking up right at the base of the falls.  Fortunately, the water doesn't fall too fast this time of year.  I enjoyed feeling stray droplets, seeing the light shining through the spray, and being so close to the powerful plummeting water.  The moss on the rocks intrigued me.  The look of awe on my son's face was priceless.

This is the Place Heritage Park

Went on a field trip with my son's school class today. Last time we went here on the "free" day which was too crowded.  This time, it was very pleasant and a good educational experience.

The kids were able to push and pull handcarts.  I kept thinking about how much easier we have it these days.

Walk Around the Block

I enjoyed seeing these bright flower colors today.

Our suburb has this set up at every bus stop: black garbage, black bench, and black planter that is usually full of flowers.  I like the unified look and I can tell when I'm close to home.

My son noticed this leaf print on the sidewalk on the walk home from school.  I'm pretty sure the culprit leaf was from a maple tree that is right above the print. We had a good little talk about decomposition on the way home.

Rock Hounding

This afternoon, we went to look for rocks for my son's school project.  We drove a big circle on back roads down south to Eureka and found nothing exciting. Then we took another back way to Vernon Hills to find wonder stone and found some.  Then we took another scary and winding dirt road toward home and eventually passed a Pony Express monument.  It was a wild, fun trip.  

Apple on Fire

I was surprised when I saw this picture my daughter took with my camera. I thought she lit the apple's stem on fire. She said the stem was missing, so she put a candle where the stem was and took a picture of it because she thought it looked cool.  I wonder if you could really light a stem on fire and if it would stay lit for long enough to take the picture.

Sumfalinter

 It's that confusing weather time again here in UT. Feeling like staying inside and reading a good book.

Play with Your Food

"Mom, you tell us to play with our food, right?" my son said.

"Yes."  

My nephew looked a little surprised.

They can play with their food as long as it doesn't fly.  Whenever reasonable, I want them to engage their creativity.  They don't mess with their food very often, but whenever we eat mashed potatoes, you'll see all kinds of landscapes on the plate.

A couple of days ago, we dug up a new batch of cool carrots from my mother-in-law's amazing garden. When I was cleaning them up for dinner last night and saw the legs, I couldn't resist putting together the rest of this 100%-from-a-garden dude.  Yeah, he looks a little weird, but I try to practice what I encourage.