Sunday
And so…

I took Adam to the airport this morning. His flight left at 0800; I had thought that getting him a flight this early might avoid some of the problems of long lines and waiting. Wrong. Fortunately, we were able to check his bags at the sky cap station outside. (Translation: “No waiting in line.”)

He said that he had a good time and enjoyed himself. He survived not only coming to the Land Behind the Zion Curtain, but also staying with Jess, the cats and me and meeting my friends. Not only did he survive them… he liked them. Not too shabby, if I do say so. It was nice to have him here. In fact, it was almost like going home for a few days. Almost.

Stray Toasters

  • I neglected to mention that we went to the Museum of Art at Brigham Young University (BYU) on Friday. Larry told us at Mallday that he and a few others were heading down there to see the Empire of the Sultans: Ottoman Art from the Khalili Collection exhibit. It was the first time in a very long time that I have been to an art museum. The exhibit was very impressive. There was a 00:10 video that they showed that explained a little of the history of the empire and the artwork, then you walked through the exhibit. At the entrance, you were given a wireless headset which could be used to listen to additional information about the pieces of art and some historical data.

    Larry’s parents went to the exhibit, too. They left before the rest of us. When they came up to me, I looked at his father in mock-astonishment and said, “You can’t leave yet! We haven’t gone for dessert and coffee!” He looked at me with mock-surprise, put a finger to his lips and mouthed, “You can’t say ‘coffee’ here!” I gave him my patented “I don’t think that it’s humanly possible for me to care less” look. He laughed.

  • Saturday
    • We went on a mini-tour of Big Cottonwood Canyon. We drove past the Solitude and Brighton ski resorts.
    • Then we drove up Wasatch Drive to show Adam the view of the valley… which wasn’t nearly as impressive as it could have been due to the inversion and haze.
    • From there, we headed downtown to The Gateway. We ate dinner and walked around the shops.
    • Land and Catherine met us and we went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. It. Was. Crowded. It was cool to have Land there to explain/discuss some of the history of the buildings and the LDS Church. We also went to the LDS Church Conference Center. To describe it in one word: Wow. That place is a marvel of modern architecture. That’s really about the only way to describe it. We went into the assembly hall area and we (those of us who had not been there before) stared in slackjawed amazement. The room seats 21,000 people. Twenty-one thousand. And there is another, smaller ‘theatre’ that seats an additional 1000. Land told us that one of the local newspapers had a comparative graphic of the auditorium, after the building had been completed: You could fit (not “squeeze in”… fit) a 747 on the floor of the hall. Unglaublich! We walked up to the balconies on the Center’s exterior and looked out over Temple Square and Main Street Plaza (which is the hotbed of a current local debate).
    • We walked through Main Street Plaza and ran into Julia, her sister Brenda, and her nieces and nephews. Totally unexpected, but very cool.
    • Bowling. Last night’s lineup: Jess, Lisa, Mary, Adam, Larry, Matt and me. Angie was there, but didn’t bowl. Land and Catherine showed up for a bit, as well.
    • Traditional post-bowling Village Inn breakfast. It was… “interesting,” to say the least. Yes, that’s a good way to put it. Jen and Keith showed up here… but they got there about 00:20 before we were getting ready to leave.

::: Football Update :::
All three of my teams are playing at the same time today. This means that there will either be a great flipping of channels or (if we get a feed that shows either the Panthers or Dolphins game) I will watch one game on the TV and one on the computer.
::: End Update :::

I think that I need something to eat. No… I’m pretty sure of it. There is a bowl of Honeycomb® calling my name. I’m going to answer that call.

Namaste.