You Cannot Imagine What This Meant...To The Danes

 The news hit years ago...this year's Tour de France begins in Denmark. I know a little bit about the country, having lived there for a little while. Even though it's been decades (three, exactly..) since I stepped foot on Danish soil, I knew what it meant to the country to have the world's most historic cycle race begin on their roads.

In a word...epic.

It helps that the country is bicycle crazy. They pride themselves by their love of bikes. In the big cities, bicyclists have their own lanes on the road. They even have their own traffic lights. It's wild. When you drive in downtown Copenhagen, you have to look--not twice, but several times--when you're making a right-hand turn. If you're not careful, you'll take out a whole line of bike riders.

They bike for practical reasons, but I believe they'd bike if everyone had cars.

I watched the last day of racing in the country. The race ended in Sønderborg, the country's southern-most larger city. I never made it to Sønderborg, but I'm sure it's beautiful (as is the rest of Denmark...). Watching the fans line the street, the Danish Flag (Dannebrog...) flying, crowds cheering until their voices are gone. 

The Danes are proud of their country, as they should be. And when a Dane becomes famous, it's a big deal. They see themselves as a tiny country taking on the whole world. Having the Tour de France start in Denmark, well...they'll be telling their grandkids the time the best bikers in the world flew over their streets, when the whole country came out to see them ride. 

Be It Ever So...Frustrating, There's No Place Like A Hardware Store

 What you see is a photo of a part, something I thought I needed when I walked into the hardware store hours earlier, and something I paid for and took with me.

Something that I didn't need.

You see how smooth it is inside the one end?

A dead giveaway it was the wrong part. It should have been threaded...nope, it wasn't. 

I don't know if you've had the opportunity, the pleasure, the incredible experience of putting in your own sprinkler system. I've done three, or at least, put in one and worked on two others. When they work, they're wonderful. When they break down...not so much. The problem is, fixing a sprinkler system is not difficult, for the most part. You can replace a broken part, swap out pipes, all fairly easily. 

What's frustrating is going to the hardware store with a list of parts I need, then buying everything I THINK I need only to find out, I need something else.

Then, to add insult to injury, you go back to the store, get another part/more parts, come home, try and fix the system, then find out you were not done after all--you still have to go back to the hardware store for yet more stuff.

Now, keep doing this pattern over and over again all summer and you have a blueprint on how to fix/maintain a sprinkler system.

Years ago, when working on another broken part, I had an idea. I thought about buying a van and loading it up with every sprinkler part anyone could ever need. Then, I would drive up and down neighborhoods on weekend mornings so when people working on their sprinklers could buy the parts from me instead of making trip after trip to the hardware store. Good idea...probably not cost-effective.

Still, I sure wish someone would do that when I work on my sprinklers. I'd use that service for sure.

The Mystery Of...I Believe In You

 This summer my wife and I have spent many weekend mornings in the search of yard sale finds. It's our second summer here--last year we were working like dogs to get in our yard. Now, with things mostly in, we have time to go on treasure hunts.

I think our quests have been mostly successful. There are fewer people here so there's fewer yard sales. Still, the ones we've found have been good. We've found things for inside the house, outside the house, clothes for the kids and even a $220 pair of shoes I picked up for free (sweet...). Last month we found a nice sale a bit north of us. We found some shelves, and a table we thought would work well for when we had get-togethers outside in the next couple of months.

Last night we pulled out the table and used it for the first time. When the gathering was over, I put the table back in its place. That's when I saw the sticker.

Then, my brain formulated a question...

How did it get there?

Then another question...

Who put it there?

I recalled the home where we picked up the table. You could tell by the house and yard and what they were selling, a family lived there. The kids did not appear to be either too young or too old. The table we bought was obviously a craft table--don't know if it was stored inside or out. Things were built on it, created. It was used without consideration of keeping it pristine...the table was used.

So, who put on the sticker, a simple smiley face with, "I BELIEVE IN YOU" written above. Was it a child, an adult? Was it meant as a joke by a teenager, or by a dad who picked up the sticker after getting a cash withdrawal to buy a birthday present for his daughter, and after putting the sticker in his coat pocket and finding it a month or a year after, stuck it on the table instead of throwing it away?

I have no idea, though it was a fun exercise for me. I'm also sure I'll most likely never find out. If they were important questions, I could find the family and ask, perhaps someone would remember. Since it's not important, it will remain a mystery, a small but mentally engaging mystery.

Happy Independence Day...From The Top Of Utah

Years ago I lived in a foreign country. I lived there for two years. I celebrated the country's national holidays--all of them--twice. I felt it a privilege and honor to be in a country while its citizens came together to celebrate their heritage and traditions.

Today, in the United States of America, many did the same thing, we gathered, we dined, we talked, we shared each other's company. No, we're not a perfect country--far from it, but I love it. It's as part of me as my name.

When I lived away, the nation's flag was everywhere, especially when the men's national soccer team played--flags literally everywhere. I loved seeing it. I love seeing the American flag flying at homes, on license plates, even flying from the back of pick-up trucks.

I hope everyone celebrating our Independence Day enjoyed their day, enjoyed what is truly important. Happy Independence Day, from the Top of Utah!

 

Give Thanks...For The Love Of A Mother And A Daughter

I didn't realize until later, but something happened, or, didn't happen on Friday, July 1st this year. You see, every year on 7/1 I would see a post on Facebook. Sometimes this post was expected, sometimes it was a surprise. Two days ago, someone else posted the reminder...

And it floored me.

You see, since 2007 on July 1st, I would pull up Facebook and a post from my sister would remind me of my mother's passing. She died fifteen years ago, July 1st, 2007, and my sister never forgot it. Each year on the anniversary, my sister would post a photo and include a heart-felt message to the one person in her life she loved more than anyone, the one person who she missed with her entire being, the one person she wished more than anything she could once again hold her hand and hug and talk to about life.

This year, I didn't see a post from my sister. She was unable to post a photo or include a heart-felt message. She could not express publicly how much she missed her mom. No, this year, the pain was doubled. This year, my sister's daughter had to post something from a year ago, the last time my sister could acknowledge just how wonderful a woman our mother was. This year it was my niece's turn to mourn.

For as long as I live and as long as social media continues to exist, I know my sister's daughter will do the same thing to her mother that my sister did for her's. She'll post a message of love, of sadness, of wishing the two could be together again. I'm grateful for traditions, of letting others know just how much each means to the other...too bad some of those expressions must come after one...or two...of them are gone.

So Many Incredible Cars To See...I Was Drawn To The VWs

For the second time in as many years, my mother-in-law and I attended the Cache Valley Cruise In car show. Last year was a first for me (my mother-in-law had gone years before...). Like last year, there was a lot of walking, a lot of sun, and some incredibly beautiful cars.

I was drawn to the Volkswagens.

I always am.

Seeing the cars is bittersweet for me. Until I got married, and a little bit after, I only bought/drove VWs. I had bugs and a convertible rabbit. Of course, that was decades ago. And when I think I should have kept those cars, it would have been a hassle to store and keep them running. No, it was a good decision to sell them when I did. They were fun, they had their purpose. Still, it would be nice to have one (or all...) of them back.

Since I can't show you them, here's some of the cars we saw yesterday.

(it's a VW kit car, or truck...)

Oh, Those Amazing Skies...

It's due to the lack of trees, really.

It seems my wife, mother-in-law, and I are always talking about the skies. One of the negatives of "The Great Move" that happened to us almost two years ago was the leaving behind our views. I looked at the same western skyline, off-and-on, for half a century. I was sure wherever we moved could never compare. For me, it would be a huge sacrifice, but considering all the other reasons for moving, it couldn't prevent us from taking action.

Then we moved.

Then, I was surprised--pleasantly surprised--at the views from the Top of Utah.

I've wondered why we love them so much and I've come to a conclusion--it's due to the lack of mature trees. Our neighborhood is new--half a decade ago none of these home existed. And, as evolution goes, first come the houses, then come the trees. We live where trees didn't already exist...in other parts of the world, houses come by removing trees. We do not have that problem.

It's funny...before our family and my mother-in-law left our previous homes, trees were actually reducing our amazing views. We kept seeing less and less of the skies. That issue will follow us here. And, as evolution goes, the trees planted here today will one day soar into those beautiful skies reducing the views even more.

But, for today, the skies are amazing...and we love them dearly.