Sighting of the Fantastical

Awaking from our tryptophan-induced comas on Saturday, Bob and I decided that some fresh air was in order, and we set out on a mountain bike ride up our Salt Lake canyon of choice. As we rode upwards, the crisp air cut like a knife through my jacket, and my ears ached in protest before succumbing to inevitable numbness.

As we rode along the ridge-line, I watched the last arc of the sun disappear behind the peaks and the trail headed downwards through a series of switchbacks. Around a sharp corner I turned, my back tire skidding a bit in protest, and I saw him. An elfish figure with pointy ears and crisp, white hair flitted in front of my eyes and was gone in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the trees in front of me changed. No longer brown and dull, every last corner of bark sparkled like diamonds in sunlight with white frost. It seemed as if I was descending into a fog or a cloud; rather I was descending into a Winter Wonderland sans snow. And out of the corner of my eye, I was sure I could spot the elusive sprite.

I have witnessed a miracle. I have spotted Jack Frost.

giving thanks

100 Things I am thankful for:
(not everything I am thankful for, and in no particular order)

1. a wonderful husband
2. warm socks
3. two incredible dogs
4. midnight hikes
5. pumpkin roll
6. this american life
7. freeways
8. the internet
9. craigslist
10. the iphone
11. sisters
12. my mother-in-law
13. diet coke
14. chick-flicks
15. owning an expansive library
16. skiing
17. facebook
18. google (trends, reader, mail, scholar, etc...)
19. hot cocoa
20. double-sided tape
21. blogs
22. loving parents
23. snowstorms
24. airplanes
25. babies
26. old friends
27. cuddling
28. salmon
29. pilot extra fine (05) ink pens
30. traveling
31. pregnant women
32. nordstrom's
33. millcreek canyon
34. an interesting and rewarding job
35. playstation 3
36. the simpsons
37. jackets
38. ponytails
39. shirts with thumb-holes
40. polymerase chain reactions (pcr)
41. cnn
42. air conditioning
43. atms
44. morals
45. asparagus
46. sweaters
47. six-packs
48. chocolate
49. yoga
50. pomegranates
51. piano
52. a good book
53. expensive cheese
54. water slides
55. winks
56. indie music
57. mountain biking
58. holding hands
59. libertarianism
60. snowshoeing
61. watches
62. science
63. steak
64. sunsets
65. kleenex
66. blinds
67. wait, wait, don't tell me
68. television
69. sneezes
70. national public radio
71. live music
72. films with hugh grant
73. the holy ghost
74. mountains
75. theatre
76. wii
77. revolving doors
78. tennis
79. amusement parks
80. nintendo 64
81. artichoke dip
82. sewing
83. quicken
84. unexpected kisses
85. muffins
86. holding something you've made
87. apple products
88. tools
89. contacts
90. pies
91. poetry
92. the book of mormon
93. tomatoes
94. soccer
95. spices
96. guitars
97. caves
98. fancy vocabulary (e.g. zeitgeist)
99. spending holidays with family
100. potatoes

their eyes were watching God

How is it that we are able to tell when we are being watched? It makes no biological sense, that creepy feeling that someone is furtively observing us. How do we know?

And why is it so disturbing???

rLOVEolution

A friend of mine recently was pulled over by the cops, hand-cuffed and taken into custody, and made to spend the night in the drunk tank without every being told what she was being held for.

In the garish light of day, it was found that she had a warrant out for her arrest for a fix-it ticket that she had both paid for and had a police officer sign off that she had taken care of. All of this had been resolved over four months earlier. "Hardy-harr-harr! Our mistake, have a nice day!!!" There will be no repercussions for the police.

And another libertarian is born...

Ron Paul at his desk.

PCMC

Our team has created the first prototype of our instrument (and it's mostly working by some sort of divine intervention) and placed it at PCMC. (We sling this acronym around at work like a policeman slings his badge around on Law & Order type shows.)

Primary Children's Medical Center. I was so proud of this placement, they love having our machine at the microbiology lab there, it's much more effective and efficient than their current respiratory testing services. We were all feeling really great about this vainglorious day in our lives, or at least I was, until yesterday rolled around.

Yesterday, I walked in the overly-cheery revolving doorway at the children's hospital, and the truth and foolishness of my pride hit me straight in the gut. Children were pulled to and from hospital rooms in little red wagons rather than wheelchairs or gurneys; the walls were covered with pastel letters and thank you donations; a giant water-fountain up front had real moving parts and looked like something from Willy Wonka.... But none of that could shroud the fact that the building was full of children; sick and dying children. My heart caught in my throat as we walked up the staircase and looked at the list of departments. Does your child have cancer? Ear/nose/throat problems? Needs surgery?

I've never seen anything so horrifying and eye-opening.

Guy Fawkes

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason, and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason,
Should ever be forgot.

I do appreciate Guy Fawkes day, a day full of fireworks and burnt effigies. I plan on celebrating it myself this evening. The British government, shaken from an attempt on Parliament, has used this story to inspire loyalty and patriotism through fire and explosions. Brilliant.


It is an important idea however, to recall those gigantic disasters that blow our own worlds apart and change our lives forever. Let us learn from our mistakes...

'till rot do us part

They looked like a snowglobe, dancing tightly together in perfect circles. We all stood around watching them in their married newness, pricetags still on their rings and cheeks aching from smiling too much.

"I would feel awkward dancing in front of everyone like this," I mutter under my breath to Bob.

"They're too in love to notice anyone else," he whispers back.

And on and on they spun, whispering and laughing, kissing and smiling till their faces hurt.

And all of us could only stare at them, wishing-longing-hoping-remembering a time they were also too in love to notice anyone else. Remembering their own snowglobe days.

(from my livejournal March 2007)