Family magic

I saw Brave last weekend.  Opening Day, actually, at a matinee, in a theater full of children with their moms, and sometimes dads.  And that was appropriate, because the movie and the experience afterwards reinforced the importance of family.

I'm not going to give away a secret about the movie, or I'm going to try not.  If you've seen the preview (if not...)

 

then you know that the movie is about a Scottish princess who tries to change her fate because her parents want her to get married to one of three Scottish goofballs.

To get out of this, the princess, Merida, does something that turns out to be horrible for her family. It's an accident, of sorts, but a selfish and horrible one.

Yet the mother's reaction in the movie is just what I'd expect from a mother.  She doesn't hold a grudge, and even though she's justifiably angry, she spends the movie obviously loving her daughter, growing closer to her, and helping solve the problem Merida created.  The film isn't quite as good as some of the best Pixar movies, but the message is.

And then after the movie I went to the restroom.  You should know, at this point, that when guys use urinals we just pull down whatever covers our bottom half just far enough to take care of business.  At least, we learn to do that over time.  When I was in elementary school, I once dropped trou all the way down in the boys' room in sort of a "feast your eyes" moment, though the intention was just to pee.  I got laughed at by enough older boys (one would have been enough) that I never made that mistake again.

Well, there was a wee lad in the men's room at the theater who made the same error, and both halves of the moon were showing as I entered.  But this laddie's older brother, seeing his brother's predicament, went and stood guard behind him, so that his backside was protected from strangers' eyes.  Then after the older brother lifted him up to reach the soap and sink to wash his hands.


Family creates the kind of bond that makes otherwise young and immature people do simple and selfless things.


It's no wonder that life on Earth is a family-centered plan.

Hikes

Utah is just a fantastic place for being close to the city and also close to some of the best mountains in the world.  In a single weekend you can get pictures like this.

This first set is on the way to Red Pine Lake up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Running water may be the best sound Earth makes, and I love to walk along it on gorgeous days like last Saturday.  The snow was melting and running down, though as you'll see below, not quite enough of it had completed its journey.

The first part of this hike is steepish and rocky.  Good news is that there aren't bikers, but the bad news is that it's as hard on knees and ankles as it would be on tires.  After you hit the first creek run, you can go one of two ways.  I went toward Red Pine Lake.  On the way you see the mouth of the canyon opening to the Salt Lake Valley to the west.  

It was too early in June to complete this hike, especially if you didn't know that and wore open toed shoes, like I did.  So did Robin, who I met on the mountain.  Up high at about where I expected the lake to be, the trail and most of the mountain was still hidden by snow.  For a while she and I braved the cold and wet feet to find it, even climbing like monkeys on some rocks that protrude from the mountain and snow above a running stream beneath it.  But whatever that was I knew it wasn't a trail that leads to a lake.  Eventually, Robin and I both decided that the lake would be there in July when the snow wasn't, and we'd be back.

Then I drove to Moab, which conveniently has one charter school that scheduled its board meeting for early in June before it gets unbearably hot there.  My favorite hike there is Negro Bill Canyon, but this time I went for variety over familiarity.  I hiked the Moab Rim Trail.  It's listed as a three-mile one-way hike with 900 feet of altitude gain.  The websites don't mention that the whole gain comes in the first half-mile as you climb a mountain with no trail at all, just rocks.  And even though it's early June, there's still plenty of sweating to be done.  But as you climb, you're rewarded with views like this.

The Colorado River running by the Rim and parts of Canyonlands (I think) in the background.

Looking to the east, the city of Moab fills a valley between the red rock mountains.

If you forget your hat, you're bound to get sunburned, especially up top where the hair isn't as thick as it used to be.  So, you move your hair around to cover the barer spots at different times and end up with a do like this.

This bush was singing "She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes."

  By now it's pretty warm, so I went to hike the Powerhouse Trail along Mill Creek and found this:



You have to cross the creek three times in knee deep water to get here, so remove your phone from your pocket.  This swimming hole was a ton of fun, but it was also great getting here.

Love the contrasting colors.

For some reason you have to tilt your monitor counter clockwise to get the effect of this mini trail between the rocks and the foliage.

This waterfall was a bear to climb the first time.  There's another trail to get to the top of the cliffs that surround this pool, but I didn't take it.  So, I climbed up the moss-covered rocks against the water.  There are moss-free sections of the rocks on which your shoes (wear water shoes on this hike--not a good idea to have to take off your shoes and go barefoot here, though some people were that crazy) can get a grip.  But I was paralyzed with fear for about three minutes before I was able to take the last few steps and grips to get above the water.



As you can see, there's a few people there already, all clothed (I found out later that this is a popular place for the teenagers to skinny dip).  The cliffs are probably just under 20 feet on the left and about ten on the right. Braver souls than me made the big jump, doing flips and whatnot. One guy even found a spot to do a wall run for about four steps on the cliffs before jumping in the water.  It's only about six feet, so no diving.

Then on to board meeting, where the locals love to hear how much I love their town.

Then, just to round everything out, I went to Bell Canyon Reservoir a few days later.

Isn't Utah just grand?

Isn't life just grand?

Scots fest

I went to Scotland in 2008.  It was for a wedding, so I give props for the wedding being the best part.  The actual best part was the day of the wedding when the groom and I speed-golfed.

That's very good form.

So it's always fun to go to the Utah Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving Point each June.

This year for the first time I went on Friday instead of Saturday, so I got to see the strong man competitions.  Very burly men get out and flip tree trunks, throw weights over a high-jump bar, and lift massive stones over their head.  Not their own stones.





For the burly ladies, they also have a rolling pin toss (is that chauvinist?) over the bar.  I didn't watch that because the marching bands were getting started, and its not just the kilts that make that worth watching.  The drummers are not only talented musicians, but also talented stick twirlers.



Food wise, the festival leaves something to be desired.  There's a booth that serves Haggis, but that's only so-so when it's done at its best, so I'm not about to try it at a fair booth.  Instead, I always get a meat pie, which is English more than Scottish, and tastes kind of like English food, which means it's nothing to write on a blog about.

The highlight is always the bands, especially Molly's Revenge, with their way-into-it fiddle and bagpipe player, and the Wicked Tinkers.





Yeah.  That song is called "Wallop the Cat."  Good times.

There should've been more dwarves

If there is a movie that is prettier to look at with a dumber script than Snow White and the Huntsman, I can't think of it.  While the movie will likely be a candidate for several Oscars, including for cinematography, make-up, and some good costumes that Charlize Theron no doubt makes look even better, it will win no praise for writing, acting, or directing.

The movie is often nice to look at, but the dialogue and delivery are so bad, and at key times even so laughable, that the movie would have been better if it just muted the actors and just let us watch the pretty pictures.

Snow White suffers from its obvious attempt to be Lord of the Rings-y.  There's a dark phantom army that turns to lumps of coal when they're stabbed, dwarves (which are the best part of the movie), and a rousing speech before the final battle.  But Kristen Stewart is no Viggo Mortenson, and Snow White is no Aragorn. "Fight like thundering waves," from Bella Swann just doesn't carry the same gusto as, "There my be a day when the strength of men fails, but it is not this day."



As a director, Rupert Sanders, who's mostly done commercial work, has the good sense to pick good cinematographers and very skilled technicians, but direction to his actors couldn't have been more than, "Scream this part really loud."  You'll grow to hate all that screaming by the end of the movie.  Scratch that, by halfway through the movie.

And why does The Huntsman of the title fall for Snow White?  That's a mystery, as is at what point in the movie he developed any feelings for her.  Somehow he does.  Perhaps in the movie's world love is a state of no emotion or connection.

I could complain more about the movie, but I can't do so without spoiling things for anyone who still might want to see it, so I won't.   Instead I'll end positively.  When the dwarves show up, I got hopeful for a minute, hoping that the movie was about to take a turn for the better.  It only lasted a few minutes, but for that few minutes as you recognize the guy from Deadwood, Hot Fuzz, and Sherlock Holmes in fantastic make-up and looking completely integrated with normal-sized folks (the one thing that this movie actually does better than LOTR) it's pretty cool.



If you must go see this movie, bring ear plugs and just enjoy the scenery.

Ghost Falls

The Wasatch Front has to be the place on earth with the best ratio of big city proximity to mountains and recreation.  Today, my friend Nathan and I hiked to Ghost Falls along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, the entrance to which is in the middle of a neighborhood of homes in Draper.  Here are some views of the valley while we hiked:

Unbeknownst to me, but knownst to Draper City and unannounced to me by them, the main trail to Ghost Falls was closed today for a bike race.  Closed to hikers, anyway.  So we had to go around the long way, which was awesome.  Better exercise and better views.

Because it was cold Saturday and Sunday with lots of rain in the valley, the mountains beyond us were freshly capped with snow.

While our part of the mountain was green and lucious.

I've hiked to Ghost Falls once before, or tried to, but couldn't find the falls.  Maybe my sister, who is a wimpy asthmatic with bad knees, and I just petered out before we got that far.  (Love you, Reb.)  But since we had to go all the way to the top of the mountain and then back down to approach the falls from behind, they were easy to find today.

I don't know what the dealio is with this.  Every since I started taking pictures with my Samsung Galaxy S2, I get this upside down or sideways problem.  It's stupid.  I rotate the pictures, I save them, they show up fine on my computer, but when I upload them here or to facebook they show up all cattywompous. 

Quit complaining and turn your monitor on its side.

Quoting movies

I like friends and family that quote movies with me.  Rebby's good at that.  Adam's good at that.  In Mexico, we quoted The Three Amigo's a lot.  He'd shout at me to, "Hold up your hat!  Higher!"  He quotes Jurassic Park with me, too.  "Some of them smell.  Babies smell!"

Once I was at the actual Field of Dreams, where the movie was shot, in Iowa.  I stood in the outfield and shouted out loud, "Hey! Is this Heaven?"  Someone shouted back, "No. It's Iowa."  Nice.

Last night was a church activity sponsored by my committee, so I was there to help set up.  We were putting paper tablecloths on the tables and taping them down.  I shouted, "Give me more unidirectional bonding strip!"  Not a single person said back, "Mr. Lightyear wants more tape."  What is with people?

Later on when I was sweeping up with a dust mop, someone was in my path, so I loudly and dismissively said, "Out of the way, peck."  Instead of a knowing smile, though, I got a dirty look.  And that happens every time I say that, which is every time someone is standing in my way.



I've decided that recognizing, using, and tolerating random movie quotes is a necessary attribute of any girl who wants to enjoy my chicken salad for eternity.  Especially if they can quote things like, "Follow me!  I'll follow you!"

Cancun

The beach is beautiful here. The combination of the soft sand on the beach, the sunshine, and mid-80s temperature of both the air and water make this what has to be one of Earth’s most perfect places.

Earth's perfect water.

It took us a while to find church on Sunday. The church’s mapping program didn’t match the maps of the city we got here, and neither of those maps matches the actual roads. We drove around a lot of the non-touristy part of Cancun asking several people. Four guys in white shirts and ties asking for directions to church. One lady asked us if we were “Mormona.” That got us excited, but she sent us the wrong direction.

Finally, one guy knew it was just around the corner. So we got there after the sacrament and during testimonies. I of course couldn’t understand anything except the end of everyone’s testimony—even Adam’s, when he bore his. Good meeting, though. A sister talked to Adam after Sacrament because she used to live in Mexico City where he served his mission. No connection other than that, but good conversations. Mormon’s are cool.

On the flight out here from Phoenix the flight attendants asked if anyone was there on a honeymoon, which I guess is a common thing on flights to Cancun. There was one couple, and we all cheered. They were at church, too. In fact, the groom had been roped into playing the piano for the hymns. We talked to them after Sunday School, and it turns out they are coming along on our trip to the Mayan ruins on Wednesday.

Monday was our first excursion. We met at the mall where a local dude, Merak, took us around in Hummers to see some Mayan ruins, ride some zip lines, swam in a natural cave pool populated with bats, and went to an interactive zoo.

That's Merak on the left.  He says that Mexico means "Belly Button of the Moon."  We aren't sure if we believe anything he said, but he was a fun tour guide.

That's Adam Harward driving the ATV.   The best part about riding the ATV through the jungle is arriving at the cenote, below.

The cenote is a natural underground pool.  Water is cooler there because the sun doesn't hit it, but the water is still clear and refreshing.  Too dark to take pictures in the sinkhole itself, so you don't get to see the bats or the zipline.

The zoo was small, and if it hadn’t been interactive it would probably have been boring. But they actually let you in to the habitats and can hold and feed some of the animals. I held a crocodile and a snake, and fed deer, birds and monkeys. Many of the monkeys are wild and just hang out at the zoo for the free food. I would do the same because free food is a motivator for me. I’m not that far removed from the monkeys in that respect. Also, I have that big gap between by big toe and the other four, and can curl them all under.

The most amazing part was the macaw. We got to feed this bird some peanuts. She’d take the peanut and softly crack the shell with her beak. Then she’d stick in her tongue and fish out the peanut, and put the shell with the other nut in her claw. Then shed hold the peanut gently with her beak, put on enough pressure to break the red skin that’s on the actual nut, and peel it! She’d drop the skin and eat the peanut. Amazing. She could get the whole peel off in a single piece. I wish I’d have video taped it.

After we came back, we went back to Tacos Rigo to get some more of their delicious tacos, and then went to see The Avengers, because why not see the biggest American movie when you’re in Mexico? It had Spanish subtitles, so we figured that was perfect. But there’s a part of the movie when the talking is in Russian. The subtitles were still in Spanish. Luckily, we had one return missionary from Mexico, one who took Spanish in school, and one who missioned in Russia. I had already seen it, so we ironed this unexpected wrinkle pretty easily.

Tuesday was a beach day. We woke up and pretty early made our way to the beach. It was warm and sunny, as it has been every day here. We rented a few boogie boards, but the waves were a little small to make much use of them. But we all spent plenty of time swimming in the Caribbean, which is gorgeous in every way.

Yesterday on our excursion we stopped by a little vegetable market and bought the ingredients for guacamole. I made that today after the beach. It was delicious, though I could do better in a full kitchen with a pantry that has kosher salt, fresh pepper, and people who like cilantro.

Then tonight, in what will probably be the highlight of the trip, we went to the ballpark downtown to see the Tigres play the team from Tabasco, whose name I can’t remember. I thought baseball in Mexico might be the same as in Japan with the extra rowdy crowds, but nope. It was almost like an Owlz game, except with cheerleaders and better food.

I cut my foot twice since we’ve been here. The first was in the cenote on Monday. There’s a zipline in it, and I rode it, dropped into the water and my foot hit a rock on the bottom. Then yesterday we went to a flea market thing to buy a few souvenirs. I got three cool looking tshirts. I stepped on a big crack in the sidewalk in my flip flops, cut my foot on the jagged concrete and fell down. I brought bandaids, but it’s a bummer to be here at the ocean with an open sore on my foot.

Today was no ocean, however. It was another excursion day and we went to see Chichen Itza and Tulum, to famous Mayan ruins with temples and stuff. Our tour guide was Helaman, a member from down this way who’s been a tour guide for thirty years or so. He told the story about how he’d always been showing people around these sites, but when he got a call to teach seminary and was reading the scriptures more and more, he decided he should specialize in touring LDS people. He thought he could show people like us how the Mayan ruins and culture are consistent with the Book of Mormon.

Chichen Itza.

That's Tulum, with its main temple in the background.

We looked at the design of Mayan temples and he showed us how similar in design they were to the description of Solomon’s temple in the Old Testament, which was based on the Tabernacle from Leviticus. The Mayan calendar I almost the same as the calendar as Leviticus describes also. We learned about the symbolism of figures on the Mayan ruins and he pointed us to scriptures that explain them and show how the Mayans traditions are described in the Book of Mormon.

We’d actually look up the scriptures right there, since many of us had our phones with us. It was awesome. We also planked and Tebowed at the ruins, which was cool.

We all love Tim Tebow.  We're respecting him, not mocking him.  Or, we're just acting like goofs.

It was so hot out there away from the water. We were inland, but it was still very humid, and we all sweated plenty. When we got home I took a dip in the pool and made fruity frozen drinks.

Thursday was another beach day, with tacos in the evening.  That might sound boring and routine, but in Cancun the routine is relaxing and refreshing.  And AWESOME!  More time in the pool than the beach today, mostly because of the open sores on my foot, which aren't getting better.  No worries, though.  The pool is fun for its own stuff.  Like, I found out I can beat Adam at HORSE when we play in a pool.

We played some Texas Hold-em that night, and I won at that, too.  We just played for M&Ms and Jolly Ranchers, and in the end everyone ate it all anyway. (Except the Jolly Ranchers.  Who buys Jolly Ranchers to bet with in poker?  Devon Ellis, that's who.)  I ended up with bragging rights only.

Friday we rode SeaDoos on an Ocean Safari, which is properly named only if you consider safari to be synonymous with riding SeaDoos.  We did park in the sea and jump in with snorkels for about 20 minutes near a reef.  There weren't a ton of fish, but there were some, including a school that kind of followed us around.  There was also a sea turtle.  I only brought my phone as a camera, so I have no pictures of anything under the water, but the Caribbean is as clear as the air.

When we came home the next day I couldn't walk from riding the wave runners, so it was just as well that we sat on airplanes for seven hours.  By the way, US Airways sucks.  I guess all airlines suck, but at least the others don't try to push a credit card application down your throat on every leg of the flight.

The vacation was perfect in every way, including the length.  A week away from real life is just right.  I got tan enough, rested enough, and energized.  Now I'm ready to get back to work with gusto.  Everyone should spend a week in Cancun.  I'd like to do it every year.  Maybe next time with a girl.

Please?

Or not.