Eileen’s Muse and News

We have had a very wet spring, interspersed with 1 week of weather in the 70s and 80s, then back to cold, rain and snow. This was the view out my kitchen window this morning - snow on the mountain viewed through the lilac blooms…..

There were lots of errands to take care of - starting with the window installer dropping by to find out why the new bedroom window leaks when it is raining and the wind is blowing from the southwest. He couldn’t figure it out, so will have to come back with a longer ladder to inspect some more.

Then, it was off to Wasatch Gardens nursery to purchase trees and plants for Ali’s yard. Manuel is busy building her rock mailbox and I wanted him to have the large trees to plant, since they were in very heavy 15 gal containers. The nursery man was very knowledgeable and talked me out of Canadian Red Chokecherry trees that had been specified by the landscape designer. He said they would always send out suckers from the base and want to grow into a bush, thus requiring lots of maintenance. Since Ali is gone so much, we decided to substitute another tree that branches out higher than people’s heads as they walk by. I think they will look very nice in the parking strip. They were too tall for me to handle, so the nursery will deliver them on Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully, it will have warmed up and the soil dried out enough to plant. Ali - I snapped this photo of deer in your front yard they other morning. As you can see, the scrub oak hadn’t leafed out yet…

I stopped by to see Suzie and drop off the rest of the plants and found her curled up in bed with the 24-hour flu. She was feeling terrible, but was due to fly out this afternoon for a 2-week trip doing trunk shows. I rousted her out of bed, gave her Imodium, Pepto Bismo, and 7-up and threw her into the shower. She perked up in about and hour and we got her packed and headed out to the the airport.

Then it was off to see Aunt Marj, bless her heart. She has a new roommate who is 91 years old and is recuperating from a broken pelvis. A very sweet, perky lady who never married but was a professor at the U of U. We have lovely conversations when I drop by and she seems glad to have people to visit with.

I dropped a load off at the cleaners, came home and started the laundry and then settled into the bed to watch the final Jazz 1st round playoff game. The cat joined me, and as long as the Jazz were well ahead, he looked pretty bored…..

The Jazz led until the early part of the 4th quarter when the rocket pulled ahead….. The cat actually appeared interested in the game for a minute or two.

At any rate - the Jazz pulled it off and will be playing in the second round - a great game that was a nail biter in the end.

Last Wednesday we packed up the Jeep and headed to St. George for some meetings interpersed with some serious playing. On Thursday, the seminar sponsor gave us a choice between participating in a golf tournament, ziplining and rapelling in Snow Canyon, or a 4-wheeler expedition into the canyons surrounding Zions Nat’l. Park. For me, it was a no-brainer. I don’t particularly like heights, so the Zipline sounded like a spike of extreme vertigo that would be over in 15 seconds or less. So, we chose the 4-wheeling expedition, which lasted about 4 hours and was way more fun than anticipated. We had the proverbial “blast”. Phil tolerated my driving for about 1 hour while he sat in back - then he took over and showed me how it is really done. Up until his early 30’s and two broken kneecaps, he spent a lot of time tearing up the country on a dirt bike.

After arriving back at the hotel, showering and getting the sand and grit out of our hair, teeth, toes, etc., we had a chance to explore for a few minutes before dinner. The town is growing by leaps and bounds which, in my opinion, is not a good thing. We were told that there is enough water in the area to support a population of 700,000 - which will completely overwhelm the area. St. George has the dubious honor of being last year’s fastest growing area in the nation, with a 50% growth rate. The traffic is at a crawl and it seems there are franchises and cookie-cutter malls of every sort every few feet. The landscape is being ravaged for housing developments everywhere. If you love the desert, this is not a welcome sight.

This area is on the way out to The Ledges golf course and housing development.

My meeting started at 7am on Friday and ran until 1pm. After that, we checked out of the hotel, and headed eastward to The Grand Staircase Escalante area. We found an adequate motel room in the small enclave of Escalante. No cell phone service - which makes it a perfect getaway spot. Saturday morning we headed south on a rough dirt road called “Hole in the Rock Road”. It is in a very historical area, according the “Butch Cassidy” legend. If you travel the 50 or so miles south, you will eventually end up on an outcropping overlooking Lake Powell, where the intrepid can then hike down the cliffs to the lake. We drove about 3/4 of the length of the road to a side road heading northeastward. Here, you end up on the top of Coyote Gulch. After a torturous and steep descent by foot into Coyote Gulch, you can explore 3 slot canyons situated across 3 miles of the Gulch. I posted some photos of our slot adventure in the picture album.

Some birthdays simply require an extended celebration of at least a week. Ali and Suzie took me to dinner at Cafe’ Madrid on Tuesday evening. Ali had been in Puerto Rico working in a trauma hospital and missed my actual birthday, so we had a delayed celebration. Phil had already left for Saratoga Springs, New York, where he became the proud grandfather of his second grandchild, Benjamin — then he flew from there to Venice. Julian was also invited to the party, and it has been a lot of fun to get to know him better. Ali was sporting her “I’ve been in the Caribbean tan”. The food was wonderful and the company was even better. We ended the evening on a crazy note by purchasing a painting by our waiter, cum pretty good artist from Venezuela, cum brother to the restuarant owner. He was also a lot of fun and worked very hard to make our evening memorable.

On the way to the restuarant Tuesday evening, we had a call from Erin to tell us the news that Grandma Sugar had passed on at the age of 101. The viewing will be Thursday afternoon/evening in Springville, then the funeral will be this weekend in El Cerrito California. Erin, Adam and family are driving up from Phoenix and should be here in the wee hours of Thursday am. Sabra will arrive shortly thereafter. Ali postponed her trip to Iraq for a few days so she can go to the viewing. So, 4 out of the 5 grandchildren will be represented.

There are several birthdays in our family this month - mine, Roland’s, Nina’s and several grandchildren. This year is a milestone birthday for me–highlighting my advance into decay and senility. This subject has been particularly on my mind for months as I tend to Aunti M and watch her decline. Trying to make light of the subject, I made a joke overheard by two of my beautiful young adult children that I planned to spend this birthday in Death Valley, as it seemed rather fitting. We could even re-name it Derth Valley or Derge Valley. They didn’t get the humour - instead were shocked and horrified that I am able to make light of my advancing age.

To cheer me up, Alison and Suzie bought us 2nd row seats to see the Cirque de Soleil Beatles Show at the Mirage in Las Vegas. Amazingly enough, Phil, who has lived, worked, and travelled all over the world, had never been to Las Vegas. So, I booked a suite at the MGM and we took in the show. It was marvelous. Everthing was perfect - the staging, costumes, technical difficulty, music, dancing, sets - everthing. We had a wonderful time.

The next morning we drove north past the Nevada Test Site where the nukes were set off in the 50s and 60s. Also where Sabra worked for the Desert Research Institute while attending UNLV. Her job was to map Indian sites in the desert, try not to get over-exposed to radiation, and stay one step ahead of rattle snakes and scorpions. There is a whole lot of nothing out on that desert!

We found a hotel in a little burg called Amargosa, then headed west toward Death Valley. It had been in the back of my mind from time to time that maybe that would be an interesting place to go in the WINTER time, but I wasn’t prepared to actually be charmed and fascinated by the place.

We drove into Death Valley via a narrow, one-way, twisting, torturous backroad that wound about 28 miles across the desert, up over mountain passes, through ghost towns, and finally through a fantastic slot canyon before emerging onto an alluvial fan high above the desert floor.

We had hoped to be at a place called Dante’s View at sunrise to take a picture of the valley far below. Unfortunately, the bed was strapped to our backs and we couldn’t free ourselves in time. We ended up going there as the sun set. It is a breathtaking view.

Please enjoy the rest of the photos in the picture album.