The weather has been lovely in the valley–sunny, with the trees still pretty colorful. We went to the local arboretum yesterday to enjoy the sun and the trees…and to see an orchid show that their calendar of events promised. There were no orchids anywhere (we never did find out when it was actually supposed to be) but we saw grasses and autumn crocus and a very Bob Ross waterfall. Definitely not a wasted trip.
We had some good weather yesterday and hadn’t done anything with our nephew in a while, so we spent an afternoon at a local…Halloween/fall extravaganza? Its official name is “Kuwahara’s Pumpkin Patch & Thriller Park,” it had the production values of your local high school theater class, and it was great.
(In fairness to the production values, I think a lot of it was meant to be seen at night, with people popping out from the pumpkins to scare you, but I liked it during the day.)
As aunt and uncle, we’re contractually obliged to buy Skyler whatever he wants on these outings, and this time he wanted a 42-pound pumpkin. This is why I work out.
The fall colors, that is. We went up Millcreek for a bit yesterday and it’s almost at Peak Color.
That water is colder than ever, too (I still went wading).
I haven’t had a chunk of time off since…last year? so it was really nice to have a whole week. We went on two hikes, hung wallpaper (!), cooked different sides (!!) for solo Thanksgiving, started The Mandalorian, and put up the Christmas tree. (And, you know, sat on the couch a lot and looked at the internet, too.)
David Leibovitz’s “moelleux of summer fruits,” more underwear (still trying to find that perfect pattern; these are not it but they used up some lace scraps), Smitten Kitchen’s summer squash pizza. It cooled down enough to use the oven!
We’ve been taking outings to local parks lately, which offer the excitement of LEAVING THE HOUSE but make spreading out a lot easier than on a hiking trail.
I’ve never really spent much time in parks–we don’t have kids or a dog to play in them, and I always (snobbishly) thought, “Parks aren’t really nature; just go on a hike instead.”
But you know what? City parks are kind of a miracle: There’s open space, there’s something for everyone (Fairmont Park has a skate park! Murray Park has an outdoor fitness circuit, complete with bros!), and they’re just…there…waiting to be enjoyed. For free!
Spending time in places that embody civilization has been really soothing, an antidote to fears of the end of it. Find some local parks and start your own tour this week.
There’s been far less snow on the ground this year compared to last year, but I’ve still reached the point in winter where I’m so sick of browns and grays and need to see green. So we went to Red Butte. There wasn’t a lot of green outside but their big greenhouse–the Orangerie–didn’t disappoint.
They even had orange blossoms!
Doc had the BRILLIANT idea of doing a kid’s party package at the local skate rink for my birthday and it was amazing. About 20 people came, we fed them pizza and soda and Rice Krispie treats, and I went off the smallest jump on the speed track at the very end.
Not bad for a 40-year-old!
Having a week off was SO GREAT: We went on a Black Friday hike and a Sunday hike, I sewed elaborately ruffled things, we watched movie trilogies and I knitted, we had a mellow Thanksgiving and put up the Christmas tree, and we took my nephew ROLLER SKATING (finally! and I didn’t fall down).
I have the week of Christmas off, as well–can’t wait for MORE VACATION.
We went to the botanical gardens yesterday instead of a hike. Outside, it looked like the Arthur Rackham illustrations for The Wind in The Willows…
…and inside it looked like Hawaii–the Utah Orchid Society was having their annual show.
