Home again, Home again...

Geez.  Sometimes I still hate the internet.  Spent hours composing a post for today and somehow it all vanished.  I can't find it in the history or anywhere.  So, here we go again, with fewer words.  Maybe it's for the best.

The weather's been gorgeous, with more rain than usual for Utah.  I tried to capture the mystery of cloudy mornings on labor day, while still in Spanish Fork.

Provided they're not destructive, I love stormy skies like many people love the moon.  They're evocative of dragons, wizards and cloud angels and make me feel alive.  Ever changing, this recent sunset mimicked a raging fire and I doubt I'll ever see its equal again.

Everywhere people were pulling over and climbing up on their rooftops to get a better view as the entire western horizon flooded with brilliant neon colors to end the day.  While I love the Eastern US, and Eastern countries as well, the West puts on a better show for sunsets and sunrises!
On Labor Day I walked for 3 hours because the next day was slated for me to go back to my place in Midvale and start putting it back together.  I'm here now.  Home.

Thanks to several gallons of bleach, carpet cleaner and disinfectants, as well as scented candles, it feels more like home now.  Everything in my place has a history, a story to explain how it got there, all of which contributes to what home is for me.  I'll never rent my personal space out again.

Jordan and Karli get married in less than 2 weeks.  Photos of that will have to wait, as it's inappropriate to post photos I took of her trying on her wedding dress and I'm trying very hard not to hover to often.  But, going to the temple with Jordan yesterday was really nice.  We got to talk and agreed that the real joy isn't about the prepping for a gorgeous reception.  It's in things like fixing dinner together, which they'd done the previous evening.  The moments of joy in my life have almost never come on cue.  Rather they wander in unexpectedly, like when you're playing with your child or notice a moment in others' lives.  Like watching Emmy Schwarzmann with her daughters.  Happily, Iley likes her frog fan from Korea!  BTW, why are red heads always so darn cute????  Need to see them more often!

Now that I'm back, my walks are to and from nearby Wheeler's Historic Farm.  A cooler place than I ever expected to live near, it's a slice out of history, yet actively relevant for hundreds of regular visitors.

I LOVE this place!  It's home to cattle, horses, rabbits, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and geese, too.  If you go early in the morning, they're expecting breakfast, so I got some fun photos.

We raised goats and chickens, even though we weren't farmers, when I was a kid.  My dad was a Baltimore city kid who longed for space and fresh air.  Think "Green Acres."

Dad called our first 2 goats Cosmos and Damian, and Simon Aristotle Garfunkel came along in the 60's.  But, he dubbed our only steer as Sirloin.

With some semblance of order restored, I'm ready to work on adding words to the illustrated pages of my books this week, using transparencies.  The plan is to not screw up what I drew and colored onto paper from Korea.

Oh, and after subbing for SLC's East High on Friday, I was offered and accepted a temp-to-hire position with Zion's Bank as an assistant fraud investigator.  Thank you, niece Emily, for the referral! Happy to be employed!  But really enjoyed my day teaching at East High.  Hmmm, we'll see which way the road takes me from here.  Perhaps I'll love working with Zion's and make it long term.  Maybe I'll continue to look for 1/2 time teaching work so I can get certified too.
We'll see (Mom's favorite sentence--now mine).

Ok, that's it for now--it this vanishes too, well, you'll be spared any unwelcome blogging completely!  Hope the end of summer finds you well, productive and happy.