What Is It About A Summer Storm...?

 What is it about a summer storm that makes you not only want to see it, but need to experience it? Maybe it's because where we live in the west, rain storms are the exception, not the standard. I'm sure that has something to do with it. We received a storm earlier in the week, a wonderful glorious storm that gave us some much needed rain.

And we went outside, sat on the porch, and smelled in the wonderful aroma of rain.

There was an added bonus...lightning.

I tried catching a photo of it. The only way I can do this is to take several videos and hope I get a strike in the frame. When I caught the lightning, I then take a screen shot of the strike. I saw many photos posted on social media of lightning strikes from the recent storms. So many amazing shots--some literally breathtaking. Mine...well, it's a photo of lightning.

Lightning is beautiful, but it can be deadly, as evidenced by a recent lightning strike that killed three people at the White House yesterday. So sad. And, I suppose we accepted a degree of risk sitting on our porch watching the rain fall, hearing the water hit the ground, taking in the cleansed air.

Yes, the storms are few and far between, so we enjoy them when they hit. We're supposed to have a wet day tomorrow. And if it does reach us, if we can, we'll be outside--hopefully safe--enjoying the summer storm. 

Almost Ten Years To The Day...Joining Another Writing Group

Every once in a while I go back in time and check out what I blogged about in years past. I don't know why but when August 1st hit this year, something was bugging me. I kept thinking it was an anniversary of some event in my past. I think I was confusing 8/1 with 7/1. My mother passed away on July 1st.

That wasn't it.

For fun, I thought I'd look back on my previous blog posts for August 1st and I found something interesting. On 8/1/12 I drove to a South Salt Lake coffee shop (as a non-coffee drinker...) and attended a writing group. The handful of screenwriters gathered and discussed a submission from the group. I don't remember the story we critiqued, but I wrote down who it was that submitted. I also blogged that it was a story set in a Jane Austen setting. I'm posting the same picture I used in my blog on 8/1/12.

Tonight, I'm going to attend my first meeting with a new writing group...well, new to me. I'm a little nervous and anxious, as I was when I first attended the screenwriters group. I suppose it's natural.

It's been years since I was part of a writing group. I participated in one for several years until Covid hit and we moved. I suppose I could have stayed with them because we were attending remotely, meetings held online. Tonight, we'll be meeting remotely as well.

Participating in a writing group is a double-edged sword. A sword can defend you, provide food for you, or cut you, if you're not careful. When you open yourself up by submitting your art, that sword can cut deep. Of course, for the most part, the cutting needed to be done...you just need someone to tell you about it. If you let it, the critique sword can demoralize you, or, it can make your writing so much better.

I'm hoping tonight for the latter.

 

Looks Like...We Hit The Precipitation Jackpot!

 It is monsoon season in the desert. Tropical moisture has found its way to the Beehive State and we're loving it. We love it because we need it...so desperately need the rain. The other night, I had a tough time falling asleep because of the storm that was pounding our house.

I did fall asleep and when I woke up, my wife informed me what we both assumed...we got walloped. She heard we received a couple of inches of rain the night before. In talking to my neighbor, he asked if our basement was flooded. It did not, thankfully. But, he said others did. He heard some areas in our community got up to four inches of precipitation from the storm.

We do need, the rain, but four inches from one storm is a lot, especially for Northern Utah.

The next day, I came across a photo that listed the rain totals from the storm at various locations across the upper half of the state. Turns out, we won! 1.98 was the high score. Yes, we got the most rain. This is unusual. Many times I see posts from friends in other part of the state posting pictures (basically bragging...) of the rain/snow they're receiving. I've noticed in the almost two years of living up here, we haven't gotten the rain/snow they seem to get.

My wife reminds me that we're living during an unusual time weather-wise. So, what we're seeing may not be normal. I sure hope the rain patterns return to the area. Without it, we're in some serious trouble.

But, for one night, we hit the jackpot. We're willing to have it happen again.

What I Didn't Realize...Is This Thing Will Get Humans Back To The Moon

 I went because I wanted to see something cool. I didn't realize until I got there and began talking to other spectators, is that I was looking at history, aviation history, space travel history.

This thing will get humans back to the moon.

I had no idea.

I know they've tested rocket boosters in the hills in Box Elder County, Utah for decades. I've always wanted to see a demonstration. I got to know one of the engineers who works on those rockets and I asked him if the test firings were open to the public. He said they were--the first opportunity to go, I went.

Among the thousands of fellow curious onlookers were several who I would describe as geeks, super-intelligent scientists who were more excited to see the event than I was. I set up my camera next to a several other tripods and struck up a conversation with one of those scientists. I didn't get his name, but I found out he works for Northrup Grumman, the builders of the rockets.

In the hour-plus we waited for the firing, he and I talked. He knew all about the rocket and not only that, he knew what the rocket would be used for. Had I cared to do even a little research I could have found out, too, but it was wonderful to hear someone with the passion of a scientist tell me the importance of the booster. 

Within a few years, these boosters will help send humans back to the moon, but not just to land, walk/drive around for a while (hit a golf ball, maybe...), then leave. No, they'll be building a station on the moon. The scientist not only knew those details, he knew all the launch dates of the missions scheduled for the next couple of years. Fascinating.

Like I said, I could have done a little research and found out the same thing. I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad I waited and heard it from someone who works in the field, who couldn't wait to be in Florida when the rocket actually launches and not just scorches the side of a Northern Utah mountain. His passion was infectious. It got me excited, too.

Yes, I went for one reason with a certain amount of knowledge. I came home with more than I had expected. Amazing times ahead.

Would You Spend $75 On An App...? I Passed

I subscribe to a lot of iPhone apps. Some I use everyday. Some I haven't opened in years. One of the apps I use everyday (because I get a notice everyday...) is called AppAdvice Daily, or Apps Gone Free & Daily Tips. If you search in the App Store, you'll find it.

Basically, the app posts several apps that are free for the day. I've found some good apps over the years, and I've found some duds. I usually check them out, then go back to work or whatever it is I'm doing around 10:05am each morning.

Every once in a while they'll post an app that is unusual. This happened last week when they posted an app that cost $75. I know there's more expensive apps out there and if they can get people to pay, more power to them. But this app was a little different. It was an app that helps metal detector enthusiasts. 

Metal detector enthusiasts.

With the app you can track where you've searched using GPS technology. You can also log your discoveries and keep track of your progress. I can't really say if the app is worth $75 because I do not go treasure hunting with metal detectors or any other accessories. 

Is this thing worth $75? It might be. 

It was, however, not for me. I passed on the opportunity, even though I almost added it to my app collection because it was free and I wanted to see if it was worth it.

I checked on the other day--I believe it was still free. So, if you're a metal detector enthusiast, check it out. And if you do, let me know if you think it's worth $75. 

Give Thanks...For How We Used To Live

 If it weren't for the car in the far left of the picture, or the telephone/cable box just slightly right of center in front of the buildings (and, had I not adjusted the photo by removing all color...), this could be a picture of many places in America in the mid-twentieth Century. It's not...I snapped it today driving home from church.

I live about three miles from here. Where I live looks much different. Like most places, the town we call home was built in sections. Much of it sprang up when Thiokol Chemical Corporation built a rocket-building facility about twenty miles to the west. You can see the homes built during the 1950s and 1960s. They're small, a single story above ground.

Then, as farmers sold their property, new housing developments were built. They too were a reflection of their times. Larger houses, bigger yards, bigger garages--you see the pattern over and over again. Even where we live, homes built in the last twenty years. They define those who built them and those who live in them.

Still...

There's a beauty in the rural, in the structures built with wood, tin, and nails, built for livestock or to store food, and also to house those who cared for the animals, for the land.

The structures are a testament to the people who settled the high desert. They worked spring, summer, and fall to sustain them through the tough and cold winters. Then, it began all over again until they died. Most of us no longer live that lifestyle. And had those who came before not persevered, not survived, life would be much different than it is now.

When I turned down the street and saw the scene before me, it made me think of my ancestors and I'm grateful for their example. I'm also thankful there are reminders so close to where we live showing all of us, how life used to be.

Spotted The Grasshopper's Legs...One Of My Earliest Memories

 I had a meeting today in Salt Lake, actually a little south from the official Salt Lake City limits. After the meeting I was about to turn west on 5300 South when I looked at the mountain range to the east.

That's when I spotted Mt. Olympus, or what I used to call...

Grasshopper Legs.

You see, my family used to live about twenty blocks east from where I pulled my car over to snap a picture. I lived on Delmont Drive, just north of the old Cottonwood Mall. I lived there from when I was born until 1970. I was only four-years old when we moved north to a street where I lived off-and-on for fifty years.

That mountain view was something I saw every day (every day I was outside, that is...) between the ages of newborn and four. The Mt. Olympus peak was the most prominent feature of the mountain range to the east. And to a four-year old (and younger...), the peak looked like a pair of grasshopper legs. I remember few things of the time when I lived on Delmont Drive, but I've never forgotten the grasshopper legs.

In the time since our family moved, I returned to the Salt Lake valley thousands of times. I attended school and graduated from the University of Utah. I worked downtown for more than a decade. When my wife and I first married, we lived in Salt Lake for years. The thing is, you can see Mt. Olympus from anywhere in the valley, but only if you're around 5300 South do you get the perspective to see the peaks line up the way they do.

Millions of people have lived and passed through the Salt Lake Valley since 1965, millions of children grown up in the shadow of those incredible mountains. I wonder how many of them looked upon Mt. Olympus and thought it resembled the legs of a grasshopper.

I know of at least one.