Pumpkin Carving 2020

Last night Marilyn, Tashena, Sean, and I had our annual pumpkin carving party and it was a lot of fun!

Tashena and I picked out pumpkins from the Cross E Ranch pumpkin patch and we have accumulated a lot of carving tools and kits over the years.

Carving our pumpkins!

Our finished pumpkins!

Marilyn's Old School Jack-O-Lantern

My Witch Feet

Tashena's Sugar Skull

Sean's Miss Me (He designed this and I think it is cool).

Tashena is 20

Yesterday our family celebrated Tashena's birthday (her actual birthday is Wednesday) with dinner, birthday cake, and presents.  It is really hard for me to believe that she is 20 years old because it seems like yesterday we were celebrating her fifth birthday (her first birthday with our family).  My sister makes a copy-cat version of Cafe Rio salads and that was what Tashena picked for dinner.  It tastes just like the real thing!  After dinner she opened her presents.  She got some new shoes, a gift card, some money, and a train case for all of her makeup.

Happy Birthday Tashena!

Ghost

I really loved the movie Ghost when it was first released in theaters thirty years ago.  I thought Patrick Swayze was incredibly appealing as Sam Wheat but I especially enjoyed Whoopi Goldberg in a hilarious performance as Oda Mae Brown.  It is now back in theaters as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series and I had the chance to see it yesterday.  I loved it just as much as I did then (for the same reasons).  Sam is an investment banker on Wall Street who discovers that there are unusually high balances in the accounts he manages and confides this information to his friend Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn).  Later that night he is killed when a robbery goes wrong and soon realizes that he is now a ghost.  He stays close to his girlfriend Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) and is horrified when his murderer, Willie Lopez (Rick Aviles), uses the key he stole from him to break into the apartment he shared with her.  He finds the medium Oda Mae, a con artist who turns out to have a real psychic gift, and convinces her to warn Molly that she is in danger.  Sam eventually learns that he was killed because of a money laundering scheme and uses both Oda Mae and Molly to thwart the killer.  It was so much fun to watch this again and most of my favorite scenes involved Oda Mae, especially the scenes where she impersonates Rita Miller in order to access the stolen money and when Sam forces her to turn the money over to a group of nuns.  Even though it is a bit simplistic, I've always liked the symbolism of having a beam of light take the good people to Heaven and having shadows take the evil people to Hell (I remember cheering when the murderers were dragged to Hell the first time I saw it), although I did find the final scene where Sam goes to Heaven to be a little bit cheesy this time around (the rainbow beams are a bit much).  I remember thinking that the, now iconic, pottery scene with "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers was so steamy when I first saw it and now I was surprised by how tame it seems by today's standards.  I love Swayze's performance as Sam because, not only is he incredibly handsome (I love his burgundy shirt and black jeans), he is so earnest in his protectiveness of Molly.  I would definitely like to have him watching over me!  Moore, and her uncanny ability to cry on cue, is also really good as a grief-stricken woman who is torn between wanting to believe that Sam is still with her and her better judgment.  Finally, Goldwyn is so creepy as Carl, especially in the scene where he contrives to take off his shirt.  I'm not usually a fan of romances but I love this movie (there is a reason why it was the number one box office draw in 1990).  I highly recommend it, especially on the big screen (go here).

Dvorak's Serenade for Strings

Last night I attended an absolutely brilliant Utah Symphony concert which included a varied selection of music spanning over 400 years.  The first half of the concert featured the strings and they began with Lyric for Strings by George Walker.  I had never heard of this contemporary composer before but I really liked this piece because, while it was short, it was incredibly stirring and emotional.  Next came Serenade for Strings by Antonin Dvorak which was as wonderful as I knew it would be.  I love this entire piece because it is so exuberant but I especially love the lilting second movement.  I always imagine couples twirling around a grand ballroom in the 19th century whenever I hear it.  After a brief intermission, the second half of the concert featured the brass and percussion beginning with Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, Part 1 by Joan Tower.  This piece was written especially for women who have taken risks throughout history and I particularly liked the timpani.  The next piece was Sonata pian' e forte by Giovanni Gabrieli.  This sounded very religious to me and I imagined that it was being played in a large Renaissance cathedral.  Next came "Evangile" and "Apocalypse" from Fanfares liturgiques by Henri Tomasi.  This piece was very dramatic and featured themes played by the trombones.  My favorite piece of the evening, Funeral March by Edvard Grieg, came next and it was stately and somewhat militaristic because of the inclusion of the snare drum and it reminded me so much of Norway.  It was written in memory of Grieg's friend Rikard Nordraak, who died while he was away, and Grieg loved it so much he requested that it be performed at his own funeral.  I loved it, too, and I imagined a solemn funeral procession with a caisson carrying a coffin draped in black crepe through the rainy streets of Oslo as I listened.  Night Signal - Signals from Heaven II by Toru Takemitsu, which is about a herald angel, was another short but emotional piece.  The concert concluded with Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man.  I have heard it many times but last night's performance of it nearly reduced me to tears.  Copland wrote it during World War II as a tribute to the spark of light found in each of us and it just seemed so appropriate for right now.  I also really enjoyed guest conductor David Robertson.  He reminded me a lot of Maestro Fischer (who recently extended his contract to remain with the Utah Symphony through 2023) because he had a light touch with the orchestra and a soft-spoken charisma in his interactions with the audience.  This was one of the best Utah Symphony concerts I've attended and, even though tickets for tonight's performance are extremely limited, I would highly recommend making the effort to get one (go here).

Note:  I can't remember what the original concert was going to be before Covid-19 necessitated a change but bravo to whoever created this new program!  It was an outstanding selection of music!

Tracy Aviary

Yesterday Sean and I visited the Tracy Aviary in Liberty Park and, even though it was a little bit cold, we had a lot of fun!  I hadn't been there for at least twenty years and I was really impressed with the new Visitor's Center.  Both of us enjoyed walking through the gardens to get to the bird cages.  Because it was a bit colder the birds were quite active and they seemed to really like Sean because they would follow him as he walked around.

Pelicans

Golden Eagle

The Macaws were really playful and followed Sean around.

I really liked the Toucans in the South American Pavilion.

Scarlet Ibises

Sean gave me a lesson about the Peacock!  He said that the males are the ones with the dramatic plumage so that they can attract the females (which are quite drab).  He was quite comprehensive in his explanation!

Sandhill Cranes

This was Sean's favorite bird (I can't remember what it was).

My favorite birds were the Chilean Flamingos.  Their wings are a beautiful pink color with black underneath.

This flamingo was asleep with his head in his wings while standing on one leg!

Tracy Aviary is open every day, except Thanksgiving and Christmas, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.  Because of Covid-19, tickets should be purchased online (go here) and entries are limited to 60 people at any given time (you could be asked to wait before being allowed to enter).  Masks are required and social distancing is encouraged.  There are one-way directional arrows to encourage distancing (Sean yelled at me because I accidentally went the wrong way when I saw the flamingos).  Tickets are $9.95 for adults and $7.95 for children under 12 with various discounts available.  I definitely encourage a visit!