Gardening

Nick came back from Rawlins to spend the Memorial Day weekend gardening. When he left I'm sure he was ready to just not return. We worked like dogs. In the end I had summer squash, zucchini, pumpkins, tomatos, carrots, lettuce onions, peas, strawberries, bell peppers, chard, beets, basil, mint, and many more herbs and flowers planted. Our garden yielded many crops, which I ended up giving the bulk of to other people (primarily lettuce & squash). Apparently without Nick here to water and tend and cook and eat we just don't use up enough on our own. Next year, if Nick is gone for the majority of the summer I'm going plant lots and lots of flowering shrubs.



Meanwhile, Shanna took over the maintaining of the sprinkler system and mowing the lawns. She did an awesome job. She found buried sprinklers that Nick had never discovered. Our lawn was covered in little sprinkler flags waiting till he returned to help her fix them.

(Written Dec 2010)

Birding At Bear Lake Migratory Bird Refuge With Melinda

Melinda drove to Utah with Mom for a very short family visit. I met her in Logan and we took off birding. The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge http://www.fws.gov/bearriver/ has a stunning array of birds. I kept saying, what species I expected to see and lo and behold it would show up. The best was as we were leaving, I mourned the loss of spotting a curlew and one immediately flew by. It was a delightful day.



We saw:
Tree swallows
Barn swallows
Bank swallows
Cliff swallows
Western kingbird
Coots
Redheads
Gadwalls
Ruddy ducks
Yellow headed blackbirds



Red winged blackbirds
Magpies
Robins
House sparrows
Starlings
Cinnamon teals
Mallards
White faced ibis
Avocets
California gulls



Western meadowlarks
Ravens
Great blue herons
Cattle egrets
Bullocks oriole
Horned larks
Franklin's gulls
Western grebes
Vesper sparrows
Snowy plovers



Killdeer
Double crested cormorants
Canada geese
Grasshopper sparrows
Snowy egrets
Black necked stilts
Wilsons phalaropes
Northern shovelers
American White Pelicans
Brown headed cowbirds



Clarks grebes
Marsh wrens
Forster's terns
Black crowned night herons
Pied billed grebes
Common terns
Brewers blackbirds
Greater yellow legs
Eastern kingbird
Northern harrier



Great egret
Long billed curlew
Willet
American Kestrel

and a Muskrat

We had a really late lunch at a Mexican restaurant who's name escapes me. The interior looks like a Mexican street market. Then back to Dave's where I had to say bye. *sniff*

Photo's from Bear Lake 2009
(Written Dec 2010)

Utah Library Association - May 14 - 15

All Photos from Zion's National Park: Kolob Canyon

May 14th Conference/Presenting



I realized the night before that I would need to download the youtube videos to my computer and play them directly from there instead of pulling them from the internet. The internet at the conference center was too thready. So for the most part of the conference day I sat behind the exhibits area and downloaded, first a program to pull youtube videos to the computer then the videos themselves. It was tricksy with the internet being difficult and took about 4 hours for me to accomplish. ARRRGH. I am very glad I did it, cause the presentation went very smoothly.



For lunch we were invited up to the reserved table. This was a big mistake. Some of us were smart and left before the speaker began, but not me. NOOOO I had to stay and listen and then had to get up and walk out because he was running long and I had a computer that needed setting up for all of us. However, the luncheon speaker was fantastic. Music, creativity, scenery, a lovely presentation that I hated leaving early.



Our session, unlike the others I attended really did incorporate active learning techniques. I used the Cephalonian method, Annie used learning teams, and Regina used a hands on exercise. Cheryl began the session with a lecture that had lots of useful and helpful URLS which kept the note takers busy. All in all we did very well, especially for a two hour last session of the conference time slot. Our attendees stayed and a few others came in. Only one left and she told us why during the break.



I looked for dinner on the internet using the open door between the two rooms to facilitate the flow of information and suggestions. We settled on the 25th and Main restaurant. It serves sandwiches, salads, and cupcakes. I overdid it on the cupcakes, but what I didn't know was that the sandwich I ordered came with a full helping of food poisoning.



I started cramping in the middle of the night and got up and down and up and down. Eventually, I prayed that things would improve. I was doubled over in pain and relief seemed to escape me. Moments later things started to come up and out and I've never been so happy to be barfing. It was an excrutiating night. I was mostly awake and in the bathroom for one reason or the other. In the morning, we had planned on leaving early, early to visit Kolob, I declared an emergency and had Cheryl drive me to Albertsons where I bought a bottle of Pepto. It started to help immediately.



May 15th Driving Home

We took off. Dawn was breaking over the mountains and though I felt like 10 miles of bad road we went to Kolob canyon. The lighting was exquisite. The scenery gorgeous and the flocks of Western Tanagers surprising. Then off we went towards home. Cheryl and Regina took turns with the driving. After dropping Annie off we stopped at Thanksgiving Point for lunch. Though I just stayed in the car with my napping and my bottle of pepto. I've never been more grateful to get home and go to bed. I had a horrible ending to an otherwise amazing experience.



For more photos see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157625367951323/

(Written Dec 2010)

Utah Library Association - May 12 - 13

All Photos from Zion's National Park: Zion's Canyon

Late last fall I submitted an application to speak at the Utah Library Association Conference in St. George with Annie, Regina, and Cheryl. Luckily our proposal was accepted.

For more details about the conference itself see: http://librarybanter.blogspot.com/2010/05/utah-library-association-may-2010.html



May 12th Driving to St. George
Early in the morning I picked up the minivan from Enterprise. This would have been easier if they hadn't advertised it as the Airport Enterprise Office and located it on Yellowstone instead of out by the airport. Regina met me out at the airport and we searched around and then finally realized that the address on the website had an address on Yellowstone. Very misleading advertising. Next we picked up Cheryl and headed south.



In Orem we snagged Annie and went to lunch at a great place called Mimi's Cafe. It's one of her colleagues favorites and I could certainly see why. More driving followed. I drove and drove and drove and then stopped and switched with Cheryl. I then fell asleep. What I didn't know was that the snow was awaiting us at the upcoming mountain pass. All the bad weather we encountered occurred while Cheryl was driving. The best part is, Cheryl is an extraordinary driver and we were safer with her than with anyone else in the car.



We bypassed Kolob Canyon, instead, we drove directly to The Best Western Abbey Inn where we were staying. I knew we'd be going to Zions the next day and didn't want to spoil it for Regina by seeing Kolob first. Zion's is spectacular and it may have seemed less so if the scenery of Kolob was viewed. For dinner we went to Pancho & Lefty's for Mexican food.



Then we stayed up working on sequencing and timing of our presentation, uploading it to the website and otherwise working.



May 13th Conference & Zion's
The Best Western provided a free continental breakfast then we drove over to the Dixie Conference center and attended conference sessions.



Later we met at the van and headed for Zion's. It was spectacular. We parked the car and got on one of the free bus things that patrolled around and around the park. You can get on any of them and then get off at any stop and back on any other one coming around. It was awesome. We got off and looked and then got back on. At one point the others decided to take a hike up the mountain. I stayed on a lovely bench overlooking a scenic valley and watched the birds.



Birds for the day included
Robins
Yellow rumped warblers
Yellow warblers
Western tanagers
Chipping sparrows
Wild turkeys
American goldfinches
Lesser goldfinches
Turkey vultures
Possibly a plumbeous vireo
More likely a canyon wren



Driving to and fro
Red tailed hawk
Osprey
Crows
Ravens
Magpies



St George:
House sparrow
Common grackle
Great tailed grackles
Mourning doves
Brewer's blackbirds



That evening, really late, we stopped for dinner at Olive Garden. We also practiced our presentation for a last time.

For more photos see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157625367830621/

(Written Dec 2010)

Honor's Tea

Kay was out of town for this event which is how I got involved. She had paid for a table and needed to fill it. Peter called me and a couple of other people and then I took over. I love asking people to things so I get to spend time with people I enjoy... Our table had the most men, Nick, Jim, and Keevan. We also had myself, Maura, Sandi, Karen, and Janet. The tea was awesome and it just kept coming. I was truly wired by the end. I love black tea but don't drink it often because of the caffeine. EEEP. I took photos with my phone and sent them to Kay so she could be involved. It really was lovely, with good food and entertainment ranging from awesome to not so awesome. This kind of fund raising event is a great idea. I hope they do it again, whether I'm involved or not.











Other sizes of the photos can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsemenza/sets/72157625367976389/with/5217782753/