Sachiko

Does someone have the secret knowledge of how to do captions? I used to be able to caption my photos, but it is lost on me now.

The school year ended and now my classroom has been deep cleaned and the first half of the carpet is drying with the aide of three fans. Bless those custodians! They work so hard ALL YEAR!

I finally made it up to my cave yesterday and it was a glorious June gift. The flowers were varied and perfect. There was a breeze! I photographed a piece of trail damage that wasn't there last fall...one rock and...poof! Asphalt is displaced!

How many pictures of this v-shaped canyon do I have? Numberless! I can't help myself from photographing the same things over and over again because they are so stunning, and I am so grateful that my legs can still take me to these places, and that my eyes can still see. So grateful.

Sachiko flew in from Japan yesterday. We walked around Temple Square and ate turkey pot pie at the Nauvoo Cafe. It's so nice to hear Japanese and still understand it. We sat on a bench in the shade and just talked. She gave me a piece of Japanese gum from her purse. She purchased a green salad from the cafe "for breakfast." I mentioned that most Americans wouldn't eat salad for breakfast and she said, "Reallllly???" Except me. You don't even want to know how many mornings this entire school year I ate green salad for breakfast. Yum.

I picked her up from her hotel this morning and brought her to church with me. On the way we stopped at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple, my wedding location. Such a lovely spring morning there.

Sachiko was a little surprised at how much eating was going on at church. People bring snacks for their small children. But nevermind. At the end of Relief Society, some sisters stood at the door passing out chocolate chip cookies. We stopped in the lobby and I asked her if she'd like to eat her cookie. She began to nibble. I finished mine in a few bites and tossed the napkin into the trash can. She was surprised that I had eaten one whole cookie all at once. She saved half of hers for later...wrapped it up in that napkin and tucked it into her purse. I suppose that's why she weighs what she weighs and I weigh what I weigh. They were just normal in size.

TR was thrilled to witness one of the most violent situations in nature. A coyote took down an elk calf and ripped shreds of bloody meat off to devour. Birds swooped in and plucked out the eyes first for their meal. Circle of life.

One more day of school district obligations and then summer vacation begins! Not sure how I'll count it up this time, but I sure am enjoying the whole concept of vacation--third summer in a row!