4th of July

This summer has felt kind of frantic from the get-go. I know that is partly because I had all of those family gatherings all at once when my cousin Mark passed away. But really it's been more than that. I think that as more and more people have gotten vaccinated and many guidelines for covid safety have relaxed, everyone I know, including myself, has been absolutely cramming their calendars with everything that we missed doing and all the get-togethers with all of the people we have missed seeing for months. I remember last year when covid took hold and our calendars emptied as everything got cancelled it felt like my life became a creepy ghost town. And this year is the opposite. I kind of keep hearing the Benny Hill theme song playing as I zip around like crazy from event to event and trying to get things done during the day. It's really rather exhausting, but I am part of the problem too - I want to do all that stuff I missed! I want to see all those people!

Another issue making this summer one for the memory books has been the heat. We have hit some serious records and it has been pretty miserably hot, to tell you the truth. We have had terrible drought, days on end in the 100's and not a real end in sight for much of the summer. We had the hottest June in history, and though it's still only July, we are only three days away from tying or beating the record for the most triple-digit days in a single year. We average about 3 a year and have had around 15 this year. 

By the time July and its famous holiday rolled around, we were all ready for a break. We started talking about a little getaway and a possible camping trip, but not only were we sick of the heat, we were sick of people! We talked about wanting to escape but not knowing where to go where we wouldn't be plagued with noisy neighbors. (We get enough of that at home thanks to living in a party-hood close to the university!) 

Eventually we realized we had friends we could mooch off of. We are getting to be close friends with a wonderful family who we seem to interact with more and more. And it just so happens that they have access to a property near Mormon Flats that is private. I know they go camping there pretty regularly and they were nice enough to let us take as much time there as we wanted over the holiday weekend. We started to make plans.

At first we thought a two-day camping trip would be really fun. But....then what would we do for two solid days in a tiny canyon with nothing but trees, rocks and potguts? (And no toilet?) Maybe one night would be just fine. Because the 4th was on a Sunday, we decided that a Sunday to Monday camping trip would be great. But there were a lot of celebrations around happening on Saturday instead, so we thought maybe we could do something else fun on Saturday. But you know what happened instead? The power went out.

Troy and I were lying in bed, just starting to wake up,  chatting about the day, when we realized that the cooler had stopped. A feeling of dread fell over us both. That day was just the dumbest. We were too hot to do anything. It was just miserable! I think we tried to be a little productive but instead we complained and got sweaty. We did plug in the generator so we could run the fridge and that was good. But other than that, what a sucky day. We finally had the inspiration to call on friends, the blessed and beloved Mayfields, who promptly invited us up to their house for dinner and a backyard movie. What heaven. And that was just the airconditioning in the car on the way there. I love those Mayfields. And by the time we made it home, the power was finally back on. 

So on Sunday when we started to gather stuff to go to Schuster Creek, we were a bit sluggish. And suddenly we had this inspiration that we could have a perfectly delightful time just going to the canyon, bringing stuff for a cookout dinner and some hangout time and then come home and sleep in our own beds. Luckily the girls were also up for this plan. And good thing too because the canyon was not really much cooler at all than the city. 

We did have a nice time though - set up the hammock, brought a propane campfire for roasting sausages, and knitting and reading and just chilling. We hiked around a little, sat around a lot, and tried to stay in the shade. Because we have had a very dry year, there was very little water flowing through the creek. What a sight it was to see the pond which was filled with fish that were jumping right out of the low water as they had their evening dinner. It's an absolutely lovely place and I hope we can revisit in the fall. And I hope we get more water around here soon!

Because we ended up leaving in the early evening, we found ourselves with just enough time to make it to a fireworks showing. Troy was done for the night, but the girls were really wanting to go. That was one thing that made them feel ok about not camping. It was actually really great in my view to have a little of everything - a little time away from civilization, a little gathering with the crowds on a warm summer night, lying on a blanket and waiting for fireworks to burst above our heads. The girls and I had rather a ball as the two of them tried diligently to teach me to speak in a Scottish accent. They are both amazingly proficient at it, and I just can't get it. So we lay on our blanket, tried to not get trampled by kids running around, and giggled like crazy while we spoke of haggas, bagpipes, Sean Connery and kilts. 

A memorable holiday, with many elements of both misery and happiness. Mostly happiness though.