Happy Birthday, Grandma

A very happy birthday to my Grandma Dahl. It's hard to believe it's been four years since she and Grandpa passed away (within just three weeks of each other) but it's a great comfort to know they're together now, that they didn't have to be separated for long, and that they're reunited with Dad, even though they're Mom's parents. Dad always got along with them famously, especially with Grandpa, considering he lost his own dad when he was just 16.

Some of the things that remind me of Grandma the most:

Horses. 

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She grew up on a farm, so she always had a soft spot for horses. I remember seeing her on a horse at the Utah State Fair; she used to be the boss there.

The Utah State Fair.

Like I said, she was the big boss for several years, and she always gave us free tickets whenever she could. She even provided free tickets to music concerts; I remember seeing *NSYNC, Britney Spears, No Authority, O-Town, and Destiny's Child there. Of course, we had to stop by Grandma's office every time.

Politics. 

Oh, boy, Grandma was BIG on politics. I remember going to some kind of convention with Dad (I think it was about the mayor of Layton, or something) and Grandma was there. What I remember best is that she had a bit of a cold that day, and I asked Dad when we were alone, "Shouldn't she be home right now?"

Dad's answer ran along the lines of, "No way. Grandma wouldn't miss this for anything. Not even a broken leg would keep her home. She'd rather die than miss out on a political convention."

And I could only think, "Wow. That's dedicated."

I also remember Grandma kept a few political books lying around her house, and it seems almost fitting that she died on July 4. She was respectful about where other people stood, of course, but again, she had an incredible passion about that stuff. She didn't care so much about who the rest of us voted for as she cared about the simple fact that we had voted.

I also think of Grandma when I see red Jello. 

She made amazing red Jello with fruit salad underneath and tiny marshmallows on top. I hardly recall a single dinner in which red Jello with fruit and marshmallows wasn't somewhere on the table.

Turkey gravy. 

I'm not really fond of gravy, but oh, man, Grandma made the BEST turkey gravy at Thanksgiving. That was something I definitely put on my mashed potatoes!

Soft dinner rolls. 

Grandma and Grandpa always knew how much I loved rolls, so they made sure there were plenty of rolls to go around, too.

Cake, ice cream, and cookies.

Grandma used to make strawberry ice cream the old-fashioned way, she made a fabulous chocolate mint cake for birthdays, and Grandpa was just as famous for his gingersnaps. I also think of them when I have plain Oreos or graham crackers, because we often ate those when we visited in the last couple of years of their lives.

And finally, Grandma springs to mind when I listen to Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line."

There was a family slideshow put together years ago, with this song included, and I don't know; it's just that particular song that stuck with me the most, and I've sort of made it Grandma's official song. Likewise, I think of Dad the most when listening to "Yesterday Once More" by the Carpenters, and "Love is All Around" by the Troggs is definitely Mom's song.

Happy birthday, Grandma. We love you and miss you so much. Hope you're having a happy time up there with Grandpa, Dad, and all the others.

9-11 2023 Memorial

This isn't a tradition I'm necessarily happy about. But this time every year, I try to make some kind of visual tribute to that awful day, and of course, I play Alan Jackson's song, sometimes several times.

I may not remember all the details anymore, but I can tell you where I've been. I was 13, just barely entering eighth grade. First heard the story on the radio when Dad was chauffeuring me that morning. Dad often liked to listen to the news, even though I preferred music myself. The reporter's voice was very shaky; it wouldn't surprise me now if he had been crying for real. Being a young teen, I didn't really give it that much thought, though I was genuinely stunned to hear about four planes crashing on the same day. My thoughts ran along the lines of, "Wow, what a horrible accident."

It wasn't until much later, when I heard more about it and I saw the footage with my own eyes at home (that was all they talked about on every single news station, all day long), that it really hit me how bad this was. This was no accident.

The next few days, weeks, and months can only be described as an emotional mess. At least twice, I broke down crying at school. Mom told me the terrorists wanted us to be scared (hence their name) and I could only think, "Well, they're sure doing a good job!"

To this day, it still sickens me that anyone could do something like this on purpose. Only God can judge, but the way certain people are taught to hate this much, how thoroughly they can be brainwashed, how few qualms they harbor about causing this kind of harm, is horrifying.

I can only imagine what Pearl Harbor was like, or the Holocaust, among many others. 

Park City

Just got back from vacation. My mom's been wanting to do a big family vacation for quite some time. 

At first, we made plans to go to California. We wanted to try to go to Disneyland and the beach, and I was both nervous and thrilled because I'd never been on a plane before, or, indeed, outside the state of Utah. My uncle was going to help cover the cost of our flight and hotel. I made sure to give my job plenty of notice.

Unfortunately, there were too many of us (we invited Christine and Joel and their kids to come with us) and so the price would be way too high, even by Uncle Scot's standards. He's a generous man, but not that generous. 

So, we stayed in Utah, but we went to a place called Park City, where we rented a condominium for two nights. Uncle Scot did take the liberty of paying for the condo. 

It wasn't all I thought it would be. We thought there would be a pool and we wanted to try to go on the Alpine Slide, but there wasn't a pool anywhere nearby, the weather was a little too fickle anyway, and almost everything cost an arm and a leg, since this is a more upscale town in the mountains. Mom was horrified at how much our first dinner cost. We ended up splitting the costs among everybody.

At least the food tasted great, so I feel I got my money's worth there. The spaghetti and meatballs, and the Annex Saloon Burger and fries, were among the absolute best I'd ever had. On our last night, we ordered Domino's pizza and crazy bread to be delivered right to our door. That was very tasty, too.

And there was plenty to see, we were able to buy at least a few souvenirs, and we sure got plenty of exercise. We had to pay for parking, so most of our sightseeing took place on foot. My body's killing me, yet it was surprisingly hard to sleep at night. 

The condo itself was very nice. Rustic luxury, you might say. We had super-comfy beds and amazing shower stalls (the one I used was a glass box) and there was even a little office nook in the kitchen, the perfect place to set up my laptop. 

But as I said, I had a tough time settling down to sleep. Maybe it was because I was in an unfamiliar place, or my biological clock was a little off. Either way, I just kept waking up, and it rained both nights, so the rain kept me awake, too. 

By the time we had to go home, I'd pretty much had my fun, although leaving was still a bittersweet feeling. We made sure most of our stuff was packed and ready to go the night before. We ended up leaving an hour ahead of time; we had to be out of there by 10:00 and it was just a little after 9:00 when we drove down the mountain.

We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. I'm used to their burgers and fries, but their breakfast stuff is really nice, too. I had a bacon and egg McGriddle, so it was essentially an egg patty with bacon strips between two pancakes engraved with the McDonald's "M."

Then we went to the Olympic Park, but again, everything cost too much there, although we did get a few more souvenirs, so at least we didn't walk away empty-handed.

That's when we finally headed for home. 

I was sure glad to see Pippin. We asked our friend Kayalauna to come feed her, and she said the poor kitty really missed us; she let Kayalauna pet her for a good while. 

Overall, it wasn't a fantastic vacation, but it wasn't bad. I'm glad I went, but I'm glad to be home, too.

And, of course, I took as many pictures as I could. All I had was my Smartphone, but I think I managed to capture some pretty cool shots.