My bucket list of things to see is so long that some days I think I should sell my house and just wander about in an RV. It may happen, you never know. But today, I checked several things off my list.
Lists are a good thing. I have lists of places I want to go birding and lists of places/things I want to see. Sometimes I can combine them into one trip. Today, for example, my plan was to drive up Butterfield Canyon and down the other side, which is Middle Canyon into Tooele. In order to get to Butterfield Canyon you have to go through Herriman, which has been on my list because that is where the Up house is.
Bangerter Homes got permission from Pixar to build a replica of the house from the movie, Up. It was great fun to see this little house. It is so charming, not to mention true to the original house.
My only gripe is that such a cutie-pie house with all the lovely Victorian details is sitting smack dab in the middle of an absolutely boring subdivision of cookie-cutter houses all in the same beigy-tan stucco. Yetch. You'd think that someone with the vision to make this little gem come to life would or could create a neighborhood of interesting homes. No such luck. Nevertheless, it was great fun to see.
After descending Middle Canyon on the west side of the Oquirrh mountains, I thought I could just drive out I-80 and see the Tree of Utah. So I did.
Okay, I admit this is just odd: an 83 foot tall sculpture called Metaphor: The Tree of Utah. It is illegal to pull over on I-80, but I did anyway. And another car followed me off the road. Fortunately there was not a lot of traffic. It is huge and stands out against the blinding white salt flats. And it definitely is the closest thing to a tree for many many miles in all directions.
The statue has four crescent shaped pieces that surround it. They remind me of a seed pot that has split open. Perhaps the seed sprouted and resulted in this tree. In the nearest crescent, if I were to stand by the high end, it would be several feet taller than I am. It is hard to imagine the scale from this photo. In the photo below, the fence surrounding the base is easily 12 feet high.
Without the tree, this is what you would see in all directions. It is a good distraction against the unrelenting brightness. It helps that you can see the tree from 17 miles away.
There is a lot of guerilla art on the salt flats along I-80. People stop and leave messages, hearts, flowers and other art work created from rocks.
Since at this point I was so close to Wendover, on the Utah/Nevada state line I had to continue on. When I was a kid, one of my favorite places driving west on I-80 was Wendover's Stateline Casino. The Casino spanned the state line and inside there was a line painted between the restaurant and the casino. The casino was on the Nevada side so you could step over the line and gamble after eating on the Utah side. I always thought that was fascinating. Just step over the line and be in another state.
In addition, the Stateline Casino had a monstrous sign that I was and still am enamored with. Wendover Will is 63 feet tall. At night he is all lit up with neon, even down to the glowing tip of his cigarette and his arms would wave. I also loved that his pedestal had messages on it. If you were traveling east towards Salt Lake City it said "This is the Place." And if you were traveling west to Nevada it said "Where the West Begins."
I haven't seen him for 40 years. Imagine my surprise to find there is no longer a Stateline Casino. But, the new owners of the Stateline (now called the Wendover Nugget I think) donated the cowboy to the city. The city then raised a lot of money for renovation and Wendover Will now stands in the middle of the road welcoming people to Wendover. His arms don't wave anymore, but he is such an icon that I am thrilled he is still on display. Isn't he something? Notice how small the car driving by is in comparison. When I last saw him, he was wearing a yellow and white checked shirt. Guess he got updated in the renovation. But he still has the Bull Durham tobacco in his pocket...see the little yellow tab hanging out? All cowboys used to roll their own...
Oh, and now there is a Utah/Nevada state line painted on the road. This is funny. The Montego Bay parking lot is on the Utah side, but the casino is on the Nevada side. Guess it still works.
It was a very long day, but wow, what a lot of fun!
First day of summer and it is hot. Currently it is 97 degrees and it looks to be continuing this way all week.
I spent my day staying cool by getting wet. Thought I ought to clean out the fountain pool so even if it's hot I could at least hear falling water, which you have to admit is a very cooling sound. I got the stagnant water drained out of the upper and lower pools. By drained I mean me and a bucket. Then I took my fireman's nozzle to the concrete for a good cleaning and had to bucket all the water out again. I got soaked, but it felt great. Now I just need to hook up the pump but I'm not sure I remember which hose goes where. It's always something.
I also celebrated with my family's favorite summer drink, a root beer float. It has to be A&W root beer with French Vanilla ice cream. And it just isn't right unless it is served in a frosty mug right out of the freezer.
My father introduced me to another drink that has become a summer favorite as well. It's called a Blue Goose, but I can only drink it at home, or if there is someone else to drive.
One drink and I'm done in. It consists of Grey Goose Vodka, Hypnotiq, Blue Curacao and a bit of lemonade. Shake it over ice and serve in a chilled, ice-filled glass. Pretty, but oh so potent! My advice is don't drink this on an empty stomach. A paper umbrella might make you think you are on a beach, but it really doesn't need one.
I have an internal soundtrack for my life. No matter where I am, or what the situation is, there is a song in my head that may or may not be apropos to what is happening. Today though, summer songs were accompanying my every move.
Jerry Mungo - In the Summertime
Donovan - Sunshine Superman
The Drifters - Under the Boardwalk
Sly and the Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime
Moody Blues - Tuesday Afternoon
Otis Redding - The Dock of the Bay
Eric Burdon and War - Spill the Wine
Richard Harris - MacArthur Park
Beach Boys - Quite a few came in and out during the day. You have to admit they are the quintessential summer band. Not only that, but the first album I ever bought was Surfin' Safari.
Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
Joni Mitchell - Woodstock
Grateful Dead - Friend of the Devil, Truckin'
Martha and the Vandellas - Dancing in the Street
Speaking of summer drinks, there were quite a few Jimmy Buffett songs in there as well. Mind you, the entire songs did not go through my head. Just snippets drifting in and out reminding me that it's five o'clock somewhere.
There were more, but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. As I write this I have The Beatles Here Comes the Sun flitting around behind my eyes. So much music.
In retrospect, it surprises me how many of these are older songs. Were summer songs better in the 60s and 70s? Could be.
Meanwhile, if the effects of the goose wear off, I will end my first day of summer up the canyons. First stop will be up Little Cottonwood to see if I can find the Black Swifts. Then over to East Canyon to see if any Poorwills or Flammulated Owls are out and about.
And that's as perfect as a first day of summer can get. Happy Solstice, everyone!
My head is so full of new stuff that I think my brains are leaking out of my ears. There is an image for you!
In February, I signed up with the Tracy Aviary to join their Citizen Science team to do breeding bird counts. Sounds simple? Hardly! The training is intense. We have field trips several times a week to learn the survey areas, learn how to use GPS devices to find the exact spots we will be doing the surveys from, learn how to use range finders, learn how to identify birds, and in addition to this we were sent ten or more bird songs a week to learn and get quizzed on. Did I mention my brain is on overload?
I think we are up to 92 bird songs, most of which are so jumbled up in my head that I am now questioning the ones I know. But slowly, very slowly it is all coming together.
The hardest part about the bird songs is that a bird does not have a single song. Take robins, for example. A robin might use the entire song, or the first part of the song, or the last part, or add a bit of its own to the song. A song is not static. Each bird might have its own slight variation. In addition to the songs they sing during breeding season, there are calls. Calls can be short chips, whits, buzzes, etc. There are notification calls and alarm calls. The whit call in the mountains will be a flycatcher, but if you hear something darned similar in the valley it will be a different kind of bird, so you need to think about the habitat when you are listening. It is crazy hard.
The very patient soul who is teaching us said he identifies over 90% of the birds by song. We'll be hiking up a trail, he will stop dead and say "Did you hear that? It's a Ruby-crowned Kinglet." Most of us never even heard it. Pretty funny. I am getting so I can hear or be aware of the tiny, high-pitched chirps, but I think there were too many Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, CCR and King Crimson concerts in my youth that have affected the high range of my hearing.
I should tell you more about the Citizen Science program. For the last five years, Tracy Aviary has partnered with
a variety of agencies such as Salt Lake
Public Utilities and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and through the
Citizen Science program conducts annual
breeding bird surveys.
The goal of this project is to generate science-based
knowledge to provide support tools for managers of the
canyons to help them in decisions that support bird and riparian habitat conservation. The hope is that
over time a baseline of knowledge can be
established to better understand how the abundance and distribution of birds
relate to the quality of the habitat they live in.
The timelines are different
for low, medium and high elevations. There are two weeks of surveys left in the
low elevations which include many areas along the Jordan River, Parleys Canyon and City Creek Canyon. Next week the surveys start in the high elevations such as Alta.
The survey areas covered can be huge. The area is marked in grids and then points are dropped in. Since it is done by map, you may find a point where you standing in a marsh, calf deep in water and surrounded by mosquitoes. Or you may have to bushwhack your way through brush and tall grass. Many of the surveys have up to 16 points and take three to four hours to complete.
We fill out a form for each point on the survey. Wind, sky, temperature and noise levels are noted, as well as any water or snow that is within 50 meters. For each bird we have to note whether it was detected by call, song or visually. We need to note which direction it was first seen, how many, and the distance in meters.
Bird surveys start at sunrise, which means you have to be on your first point about 5:30 am. Getting up at 4 am is hard for this night owl. I am learning a lot and not getting much sleep. It is
wonderful and frustrating at the same time. But little by little the
information is beginning to sink in and even more importantly, it is becoming
retrievable.
My part in this is coming to an end so I will be able to turn my attention to my much neglected garden.
Okay, I admit this is just odd: an 83 foot tall sculpture called Metaphor: The Tree of Utah. It is illegal to pull over on I-80, but I did anyway. And another car followed me off the road. Fortunately there was not a lot of traffic. It is huge and stands out against the blinding white salt flats. And it definitely is the closest thing to a tree for many many miles in all directions. 
There is a lot of guerilla art on the salt flats along I-80. People stop and leave messages, hearts, flowers and other art work created from rocks. 
