March 6th 2008

Left for the field trip at 7:45 AM headed toward Provo town! As the bus slowly chugged its way up "Sardine Canyon" pass, I noticed on my watch/altimeter that we went from 4200 ft elevation up to 6020 ft at the top of the pass. Cache Valley, were I live was still covered with snow, but after Sardine pass, we careemed down to the giant "Utah Valley" where the snow was pretty much gone. Utah valley from Brigham City (in the North), to Provo (to the south), is about 100 miles of nearly solid citys, towns, and suburbs. Utah Valley contains most of the populus of the entire state. The Great Salt Lake is a few miles to the left of the Northern Utah Valley. Seismologists say that if the next earthquake reaches a magnitude of 7 or more, much of the Great Salt Lake will spill over and flood this valley. The "Wasatch Fault" runs along the East side of the valley, and usually moves every couple thousand years or so. It is currently overdue by a few hundred years.

After 1 1/2 more hours of driving we finally reach the Springville Art Museum where the state-wide high school art competition is being held. My god some of these Utah students are talented and creative. Much of the work is as good or better than College level or even than many professional artists. I guess this is due to the fact that most high school Art students haven't been ruined by having too much Art History crammed down their throats.

The Jewelry display was abyssmal, with my top students pretty much dominating the rest of the jewelry entrys, and the only one that won an award. We have another competition next week, and I'll be able to show off more of my student's work!

Got back home at 3:00 P.M. and was too beat to go anywhere else. Hung around Logan and Freddy the rest of the evening, made some steaks and beans (I forgot to buy potatoes which to me go better with steak), then washed it down with some local "Provo Girl" beer!

Went to bed around 10:00 PM. I plan to wake up early so I can get things done.

March 5th 2009

Nothing too eventful happened on Thursday, March 5th. Finishing on my latest jewelry endeavor, which is a silver ring inlayed with a piece of blue abalone shell. Hope it turns out ok, I'll add a pic next week when completed.

School went great, had to stay after school in order to get ready for tomorrows field trip down to "Springville" which is just past the great town of "Provo" Utah. Provo is the home of Brigham Young University, named for the man who settled Utah in the 1840's. I watched a historical video of the History of Utah, and Young pretty much settled the entire state all by himself. At one point he faced down the entire army of the United States. Brigham had lots of courage, and lots of wives. Anyone willing to put up with more than one wife has my greatest respect.

Went shopping for ingredients to make the national dish of Egypt called "Koshari", which consists of layers of rice, lentles, chickpeas, macoroni, with layers of a spicy tomato sauce and topped with grilled onions. Egyptians eat this meal every day, where are Koshari restaurants and fast food stalls all over the country from what I hear. Hopefully, I will make the trip someday.

So I was shopping for some chickpeas, lentils, and onions, and walked out $120 poorer. Seems that T-bone steaks and rib-eyes were only $4.49 per pound and thick slices of pork loin was $1.99! Combine that with some other stuff I really didn't need, and a $5. grocery trip became quite expensive. Oh well, at least I have enough meat to last until June.