Hiking Moon Lake

Meg, Mary, myself, and the dogs went on a hike up Moon Lake. One of the funny moments from the hike happened when we first passed the river. Rozy must have been hot and desperate. She immediately went into the river to cool off and drink some water. She normally doesn't like to get wet. It was a bit unusual.

Here a few pictures from our adventure.

 

Pioneer Day 2023

Happy Pioneer Day! I ate my pie the Relief Society gave out Sunday for breakfast. Then, Meg and I took our paddle boards out to Sand Wash for the morning/early afternoon. That evening we did some indoor grilling for dinner with the family. I hope everyone had a good Pioneer Day.

 

Beautiful View

My view walking Loki this evening.

 

July 2023 Library Book Club Book

    On July 10 I was able to go to the library's book club. This month's pick is Into The Wild. This is an interesting read. It's not something I would have picked up on my own. It's the story of a boy who goes off into the Alaska wilderness, expecting to spend a few months there, before returning to society. Alas, he did not survive. 

    We had a great discussion about the book. Some of the questions asked were what did we think about some of the other stories included? Did we feel they were relevant to help us understand Chris? Was Chris selfish for going into the wilderness/other adventures without telling his parents where he was going?

From Amazon: "NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. This is the unforgettable story of how Christopher Johnson McCandless came to die.

"It may be nonfiction, but Into the Wild is a mystery of the highest order." —Entertainment Weekly

McCandess had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Not long after, he was dead. Into the Wild is the mesmerizing, heartbreaking tale of an enigmatic young man who goes missing in the wild and whose story captured the world’s attention. 

Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.

Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless's short life. Admitting an interest that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the drives and desires that propelled McCandless. 

When McCandless's innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naiveté, pretensions, and hubris. He is said to have had a death wish but wanting to die is a very different thing from being compelled to look over the edge. Krakauer brings McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity, and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding—and not an ounce of sentimentality. Into the Wild is a tour de force. The power and luminosity of Jon Krakauer's stoytelling blaze through every page."

Mantua Poppy Fields

Before choir tonight, Becca took me to the Mantua Poppy Fields. When the Danish immigrants first came to the area, they had brought with them the seeds and planted them. With time they spread to become the fields they are now. They are beautiful and abundant. If you ever go, be careful as you walk through them to not trample them. Thanks Becca for taking me!

Orange World

From Amazon:

"From the Pulitzer Finalist and universally beloved author of the New York Times best sellers Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove, a stunning new collection of short fiction that showcases Karen Russell’s extraordinary, irresistible gifts of language and imagination.

 
Karen Russell’s comedic genius and mesmerizing talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner in lives is on full display in these eight exuberant, arrestingly vivid, unforgettable stories.  In“Bog Girl”, a revelatory story about first love, a young man falls in love with a two thousand year old girl that he’s extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog.  In “The Prospectors,” two opportunistic young women fleeing the depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives.  In the brilliant, hilarious title story, a new mother desperate to ensure her infant’s safety strikes a diabolical deal, agreeing to breastfeed the devil in exchange for his protection. The landscape in which these stories unfold is a feral, slippery, purgatorial space, bracketed by the void—yet within it Russell captures the exquisite beauty and tenderness of ordinary life. Orange World is a miracle of storytelling from a true modern master."

Tonight I had the opportunity to discuss the book Orange World by Karen Russell at the library's book club. Guess what, we actually discussed the book. For those that read this and are wondering what I mean by that, let me give a brief explanation. My mother's side of the family also has a book club (my mom and sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins). Often when we hold book club, the book discussion is very short, sometimes non-existent. I feel it is getting better and in the last couple, we have had some interesting discussions. 

Tonight we discussed themes we saw in the book: relationships with others, finding a sense of belonging; how stories and characters related to other stories within the book and outside the book; ideas we didn't understand (i.e. why did the doctor shy away from his wife and her support for him); and which stories were our favorites and why.

Thanks to the library for hosting and for all that came. It was an interesting and fun evening.

Funk N Dive Karaoke

On June 8, I was able to go to a karaoke night with my coworkers. We were celebrating Rylee's birthday. It was a fun time and we definitely have some hidden talents among us. Thanks Rylee for inviting us! 

Left to Right Front Row: Garrett (Karlie's Boyfriend), Karlie, Rylee, Elizabeth, Rich
Left to Right Back Row: Photo Bombing Girl (She and her date shared their table with us), Me (Cassy), Alli, Colin, And Chris (Rich's Husband)
Not Pictured: Val and Alecia and her Husband