Oh, what do you do in the wintertime?

Do you see this thermometer? Do you see the number on the lower right-hand corner? The one that says '15.5F'? That is the outside temperature tonight. It does NOT say that there is a slight breeze...but there is. It does NOT say that it is pitch black out there without even the light of the moon...but it is. So what do you do when it is so dark and cold outside?



If you live in our neighborhood, you have a hot dog roast and neighborhood potluck! It is dark in the pictures, but you can probably see the large piles of snow in the background if you look closely. I'd say we have 15-18 inches of snow on our yard.






We have tough neighbors!

38 Years

What should you do with a free hotel voucher and an anniversary? With possible winter weather, we didn't want to go far, so we decided on a destination just a few hours away from home...Park City. Of course, when we made our reservation, we couldn't know what the weather would be like. As it turned out, a huge blizzard was expected! I guess that is what comes of getting married in November instead of some more civilized month.

Unlike the unfortunate hotel in Moses Lake where the desk clerk flatly told us that there was absolutely nothing to do in that town, the hotel in Park City had plenty of suggestions:



As we walked along Main Street, we saw that some of the businesses were starting to close so their employees could get home before the storm hit.





As we walked I noticed a peculiar odor in the air. It seemed strangely familiar. Finally I realized it was the same odor that had permeated the neighborhood where I lived in Germany back in 1970. I was told at that time that the smell was coming from a local brewery. As I told Roger about it, we rounded the corner to find....a brewery. Funny how smells can bring back a memory from 40 years ago.



We even got a picture of a couple of old fogies standing under a 'family' tree at the Family History on Main Street.




Park City was originally a silver mining town. The local museum had artifacts from the old mining days as well as a silver mine replica that was 3 stories high!








In the basement Roger reminisced about the old days growing up on a homestead when dangerous materials could be purchased at the local hardware store.






The old town jail was even down in the basement. It looked to be a grim place to spend time.





There was a display about an old general store with all sorts of interesting tins and boxes.



One room of the museum is devoted to changing exhibits. For now it seems to be an exhibit called:

Our Lives, Our Stories: America’s Greatest Generation

I was especially interested in the food related parts of the exhibit.










Of course, more recently, back in 2002, Park City became famous as the site of the Winter Olympics. We will probably go back another time to visit the Olympic Park as the blizzard was still howling when we were there. They do have 2 museums there...one for skiing and one for the Olympics. The road up to the Olympic Park was steep and curving. Halfway up, we had to stop to wait for deer to cross the road in front of us.

More Pie

Perhaps you recall that last year we got a pie? Well it is that time of year again. Today our annual pie was delivered from our realtor...the fellow who helped us buy this house just over 8 years ago. It came along with a lovely Thanksgiving card (and a refrigertor magnet with the realtor's name and picture on it.)

This year it is a chocolate cream pie. Yum! Don't you wish you had our realtor?

More Bountiful Baskets

Bountiful Baskets has a pick-up in our town every other week. When the weather was nicer, it was in a cul-de-sac, but now that winter is here, it takes place in the lunchroom of one of the local schools. Since it is a volunteer operation, it is expected that folks who participate come early once in a while to help prepare the baskets. That is what we did this morning.

When we got to the school at 7:45 AM, the delivery truck had just arrived. They off-loaded all the cases of things on to the sidewalk to be carried inside. In the meantime, other volunteers set out the baskets for the day. Today, 79 baskets had been ordered, so we set out 2 baskets for each order, one for the fruit and one for the vegetables.

The cases of produce are then placed at the end of each row, ready to distribute. The lady who is the coordinator tells the volunteers how much to put in each basket, as it varies from week to week. Today, for example, the fruit basket had 1 pineapple, 1 cantaloupe, 1 honeydew melon, 7 bananas, 6 apples, and 4 pears.



The vegetable baskets had 7-8 red potatoes, 4-6 parsnips, 4 tomatoes, 1 head of red leaf lettuce, celery, 3 green peppers and radishes. It takes nearly an hour to get all the food into the baskets. There are usually extra things left, but not enough to go into each basket, so the extras are sort of randomly placed. So today some folks got an extra pineapple or cantaloupe, some got extra apples or bananas or extra lettuce. They divide it up as evenly as possible. People are allowed to order 1-3 baskets for $15 each.

At 8:45, people start picking up their produce. They bring bags, boxes, coolers and laundry baskets to take their food home in. We usually pick ours up in a large laundry basket. Once people are signed in, they are given a fruit basket and a vegetable basket and asked to transfer the food to their own container. As they leave, they take the two smaller baskets to a table where they are cleaned and stacked for the next time.



In addition to the regular baskets, there are sometimes special offerings. During canning season, for an additional charge, they often have cases of fruit available. Once thing they always offer is bread. Today we chose to order the 9-grain bread which comes in bags of 5 loaves for $10. It keeps nicely in my freezer until I am ready to use it.



An hour and a half after arriving, we went home with all our goodies. One lady said, "It's almost like Christmas, coming to see what will be in the basket for us to take home each time!"

Bountiful baskets currently offers pick up locations in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

November Sunrise

We live on the eastern side of our valley, which means when the sun starts to peek over the mountains to the east of us, the valley is still in shadow when the sun hits the peaks on the western side of the valley. If you happen to look out at just the right moment, before the shadows on the valley start to move, you can see the mountains all lit up. It's a beautiful way to start the day.

Veterans Day - part 2

You probably thought Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th, right? Well, it is. But for some reason, the local buffet restaurant decided to celebrate this evening. It is always crowded on the 'free dinner for veterans' night, which was from 5-9 pm. They really went all out. Employees stood outside each entrance, handing out stickers to each veteran. We attended along with our daughter and son-in-law. So we had a Vietnam vet and an Afghanistan vet.



Since son-in-law had to be back by 7pm for a class, we decided to go early. We actually got there shortly after 4:30 to find they were already letting folks in. The line was even relatively short.



The tables inside filled up quickly. Since the 4 of us were sitting at a table for 6, the manager soon came along and asked if we'd mind if 2 other folks were seated with us. They were an interesting couple. He turned out to be the fellow who started the unit son-in-law is currently with.

Later, as we were leaving, the line was MUCH longer. There was a fellow stationed out in the parking lot, singing various patriotic songs to provide entertainment for the people waiting in line.






The line went clear out the door and to the end of the building! Another employee went down the line of waiting people passing out cups of hot cocoa. There must be a lot of veterans in the valley and tonight they all came for dinner.

Memories

Memories are odd things. Over time they fade, only to be revived by random odors, sounds or conditions. It was the annual program today presented by the children at church. Here it is mid-November with Thanksgiving soon to be upon us. All of these combined to strongly evoke a memory from 1996. It was totally unexpected...like a flashback. One of the little girls in the program expressed her feelings of joy, knowing she would someday see, and get to know the grandfather who had passed away when she was just 3 years old.

Suddenly, there I was, 14 years ago, a couple of days before Thanksgiving, standing in a conference room in the office area of the high school, waiting for the principal to go get my daughter out of class...preparing to tell her that her grandfather had unexpectedly passed away...the grandfather who had given her a special blessing just a few days before...the grandfather who allowed my children to fill his hair with barrettes and hair ribbons...a grandpa who loved them no matter what...a father-in-law who treated me like one of his own children. I think it was the first Sunday in forever that I didn't have kleenex with me. Big mistake!

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is a really big deal in this area. It is nice to know it is not just an odd thing squeezed between Halloween and Christmas. The local high school sponsors a big assembly to which any veterans in the community are invited and honored. In addition to music by the choir and band, a 21 gun salute is performed by a local veterans group.






The honored guests...the veterans...were invited to sit according to which branch of the service they were or are in. While the band played the songs associated with each branch of the service were played, vets who served in the various branches stood to be honored while their song was played. Some stood for more than one song. One, whom I know well, stood for Army, Navy AND Marines.



Our family had 2 representatives at the assembly.


In honor of some of the vets from my family I decided to post some of their pictures.




Here is my grandfather, Ernest, who served in California and France during World War I. He is the fellow on the right.



Next is my father, Verlin, who served during World War II in the states and also Guam.






Third is my husband the woodworker during the time he was a Marine. He served in Vietnam. Later he served in the 'Cold War' in the Navy Reserve and the Army National Guard.





Last is my son-in-law, Ron, who is currently serving. He spent some time in Afghanistan. He is the bearded fellow in the center of the bottom picture.






Thank you to those who serve.