'Tis the season......

Pictures

My house, in the snow today. Went for a walk to take pictures and this is as far as I got - it's cold out there.

This is in the summer a few years ago.

And this is before the big remodel of aught-4.

Finally, the Subaru all covered with snow.

Hope you made it home safe too....

I was down in the Daybreak subdivision (115000 So 5000 W) around 7:30 when the storm hit. They had already been hit pretty bad from the first storm, the one that came in from the south. It was raining up here in Sugarhouse when I left, and they had already had about 6" of snow. That one completely missed the north end of the valley, I couldn't even tell it snowed until I hit around 90th South.

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Well, the second storm came in from the north, and it hit hard. The roads were all snowpacked, including the freeway. At the 7200 South/I-215/I-15 interchange area traffic was slowed down to 20 MPH (for those of you unfamiliar with SLC, let's just say it's a confusing area when the weather is good). It took me over an hour to make a 30 minute drive. But it was worth it, I'd had a lot of fun. I was visiting with an old friend, Carol, from my early Free Wheeler days, back when I was about 19. I wrote about her earlier on here when I went to her 60th birthday this summer. I hadn't seen her or her family for over 10 years, and a mutual friend called me out of the blue for the birthday party. We promised to keep in touch, and since I'm at the same house I was in 10 years ago, she sent me a Christmas card and invited me out to her son's house on Christmas.

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Her daughter wasn't at the birthday party because she lives in Ohio, but she was there tonight. I remember her as a 14 year old, when she would answer phones at Free Wheeler (she's 40 now, it's been a lot longer since I saw her). I walk in and say HI to all the people I remembered from the birthday party and she looks at me and asks "Do you remember me?" I stutter, stall and probably have a blank look on my face when she says "I pulled your pants down on 21st South." - "Sheri, holy crap!"

-> Screen starts to go all rippley as we fade into flashback <-

-> The edges of the screen remain foggy <-

It's the summer of '83, I'm managing the Free Wheeler Pizza in Sugarhouse, Sheri is answering the phones that night as her mother, Carol, the aforementioned friend, is delivering pizzas. Carol's sister-in-law Jan, Sheri's aunt, is going along with Carol for the entertainment. It's hot, even hotter in the store right by the ovens, where I'll be spending most of the evening, so all I'm wearing is a pair of those light lycra swimming trunks for pants. (Yes, I have a shirt, shoes and even a hat on too). It's rush hour, so traffic is backed up right in front of the store. I go outside to talk to Carol about who knows what, she and Jan are sitting in the car, just about to leave on a delivery. I'm leaning over the car talking in the window when, whoosh!, all of a sudden my pants are down below my knees. Sheri didn't expect them to go down so easily. Shocked, I stand up quickly, the window of the car with the two faces of the women I was talking to right at crotch level. They get an eyefull, literally. Hell, a bunch of commuters got an eyefull.

-> Rippley effect as we return from the flashback <-

I didn't talk to Sheri for the rest of the night. I got over the embarassment, got a few compliments from Carol and Jan, and eventually forgave Sheri.

Happy-Merry Christmahannukwanzastice.

Heartwarming email stories, gotta love them. (Uh, not really).

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.

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On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

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The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

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Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

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Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

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Probably wasn't the same elephant.
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This is for everyone who sends me those heart-warming bullshit stories.