A Weekend Where it's Warm

Like birds often do, my family flocked south last weekend to Hurricane, Utah - home of my grandparents, Jim and Shirley Baker. Grandpa Jim was turning 80, so my grandma had worked secretly for two months planning a surprise birthday for him. Over 100 people would attend. When I got down there Thursday night my grandpa pulled me aside and said, "Ya know, I love your grandma but she's driving me crazy! She's always disappearing or up to something and she won't tell me what's going on." I nodded and shook my head simultaneously as people do when they're overtly agreeing with something. "Oh, yeah.. that's just something all old women do I think..." Nodding some more. Yeah. He'd buy that right? He took a deep breath, then said, "Ya know, chicken is getting so expensive..." I'm pretty sure he hadn't heard a word I'd said, but it didn't matter. We were now onto more important things, like the price of chicken.

That's one of many things I love about going down to my grandparents' place. Random conversations in which you glean bits of timeless wisdom, mixed with ample spoonfuls of humor. It's the best...

Any trip to Southern Utah isn't complete without hiking. And the best part of the hike is in the details, right? The texture in this picture makes me want to touch that moss...


Tyler and Ryan - my two hiking buddies.


It was a beautiful day, albeit a little hazy.


Our hike of choice: Red Cliffs Recreation Area. It's like a giant sandstone playground.


With the warm afternoon sun on the rear porch, you can't help but smile.


The setup for the birthday was festive.


Surprise!!! He was so touched by this that he could hardly speak. It was incredible.


Lexi and Shannon. :)


Grandma and Grandpa.


Our awesome family.


I made sure to catch them while laughing. I love this picture...


Later, we hiked out to the edge of the Virgin River. It's quite the drop. Thank you, Chad, for standing in for scale.


On the other end of the photographic spectrum is this macro photo of pebbles in the sand. The way they erode, even at a miniscule scale, fascinates me.


ATV on the river bed that had been washed away in a flash flood. I couldn't help but wonder if somebody had been riding it, or if it was carried off of somebody's property. The thing looked brand new besides the fact that it was full of debris and some damage to the handlebars. I almost wished I could find the owner and tell them their ATV was found. :)

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend full of adventure, laughter, and wonderful family memories. I love my grandparents and appreciate any chance I have to go visit them. The hiking isn't bad, either. :)

-Barry

Lonely Birthday Hiker finds Some Body

Take a look at this picture and the blog title will make sense:


Click on it to see the full version, if you need to. Do you see what that is? It's a glove. It's hanging onto the edge of a rocky precipice. And it has flesh hanging out of it.

Well, not actually flesh, but it looks like it, doesn't it? I got close enough to conclude that the sinewy strips of matter hanging morbidly from the glove are actually just shards of the glove. I was totally prepared to find a body, though. Also, I'm not really lonely. It just made for an incredible headline. Can you imagine seeing that in the paper if I had found a body? Hilarious!

In other news, here are some more pictures I took on my hike. Nature is still mostly bleak, but you can find glimmers of beauty if you look.

This steel cable twists mysteriously out of the mountain. I wish I knew what it was used for.

Even in death these wildflowers offered beauty.

Rock is so fun to shoot because of the way it mimics, at the minuscule level, erosion at a larger level.

Go plants! Down with brown!

These buds could have been sculpted from butter and looked and felt exactly the same.

Inside this shattered can were the remnants of a wasp nest and multiple praying mantis egg sacs. I envisioned a tiny war wherein the can was torn to pieces - one side extinguished, the other forced to find a more suitable home.

At first glance you're looking up a tree, but then you realize you're looking across a bridge.

-Barry

Tyler's Birthday

My youngest brother, Tyler, turned 17 today! Aggh! I can't believe how time has flown. I'm so impressed with the person he has become, though. He's an amazing kid.

Tonight we all went up to Sandy for some dinner and cake and presents and such. Ty's dinner of choice was meatloaf, which was excellent. My mom did a stellar job there. After, we watched the Colts come from behind to beat the Patriots! Happy birthday to all of us!

This is what my camera saw.

Tyler blows out the candles while Steve gets WAY into the birthday song. Shannon captures the moment.

Can't remember what Dad was explaining here. Something to do with an old movie, I think.

This cake is full of chocolate and caramel and covered with whipped cream and toffee bars. Tell me that doesn't make you drool just a little bit...

Birthday balloons.

My two handsome brothers. Aww.

-Barry

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Today my wonderful, creative sister, Shannon, is celebrating her birthday!


Head over to Design Gal and wish her a happy birthday with a comment!

-Barry

Good Day!

On April 15...

... 1912 - The Titanic sank off the coast of Newfoundland on its maiden voyage after it struck an iceberg.


...1947 - Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player in Major League Baseball when he stepped onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers.


...1955 - Ray Kroc acquired McDonald's and opened his first restaurant in Des Plaines, Ill.


...1956 - The worlds’ first, all-color TV station was dedicated. It was WNBQ-TV in Chicago and is now WMAQ-TV.


...1981 - This happy little guy was born!

By the way, I share a birthday with this guy, this guy, and this girl!

Also, in true Utah weather form, it snowed again on my birthday. Sadly, this is not uncommon.

-Barry