A Utah Thanksgiving: Pickles, Duke and the Outlaw Café

It’s 10:30 (MST) on Thanksgiving evening, and Myrna and I just returned from seeing the new movie, I Walk the Line, a biopic of Johnny Cash. We aren’t sure exactly when this movie opened—last weekend, maybe?—but it was packed. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who thought a Thanksgiving movie night was a good idea.

Myrna was still full from our Thanksgiving feast (which we enjoyed with a group of folks from her church) but I decided to indulge in popcorn and cherry Coke. While in the concession line, we noticed the menu: popcorn, candy, nachos, pickles.

Pickles?

Is it just us, or is a pickle that least likely movie snack you can think of? Popcorn? Check. Junior Mints? Check. Chilled, garlicky, preserved cucumbers? Not so much. But the guy two people in front of us actually ordered one, so apparently, it’s popular movie food in Utah. In Provo, anyway. (We’re assuming this item wouldn’t be on the menu if this is the only guy purchasing them.)

I arrived in Salt Lake City late Monday night—sadly, my luggage did not. Myrna greeted me at baggage claim, where we left information with the nice lady who deals with lost luggage, then headed to Denny’s for a midnight snack (for me, anyway—it was only 10 here, but literally midnight where I came from).

Tuesday, Myrna went to work while I slept in; later, we took a drive into Provo Canyon—looked for Robert Redford at Sundance Resort (no sightings). We drove north to Salt Lake City again—went in search of the actual lake (which we found, but right at dusk, so not much to look at). We found our way to our ultimate destination: the Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble in the city, where former President Jimmy Carter was doing a book signing. We naively hadn’t anticipated the long lines that wound around the block to await entry into the bookstore, but quickly decided that going to dinner was probably a more useful endeavor than finding the end of the queue. So instead of meeting Mr. Carter, we enjoyed a delicious meal at Mazza, a Greek restaurant a few blocks away. (When we finally arrived home, so had my luggage. Woohoo!)

Wednesday, we headed south to Moab, but only made it as far Wellington, where we met Duke at the Outlaw Café. We ordered lunch and asked the waitress about Nine Mile Canyon, which was close by, and were referred to Duke, who sat at a nearby table, sipping coffee while his daughter finished up her meal. A self-proclaimed “font of useless information,” Duke at first joked that he wouldn’t advise a trip back there if we valued our tires, but he and his daughter agreed that it would be a more worthwhile trip than a visit to Canyonlands, which was our original destination. (That or Arches National Park.)

On Duke’s recommendation—and with his business card in hand, should we break down and need to be rescued—we decided to take a chance on the dirt roads of the 40+-mile so-called Nine Mile Canyon. (It was a nice gesture, but we did not end up needing his assistance, which is a good thing as we had no cell reception for most of our drive.)

So now it’s after 11:00 on Thanksgiving evening, and Myrna is reading the Entertainment Weekly article about the movie we just saw, and I’m typing to the accompaniment of Johnny Cash in the CD drive, and we’re still figuring out what tomorrow holds.

Note: It is now Friday around 1:15 p.m. (MST), and so far, this day has held a lazy morning at Myrna's place, and a fruitless search for an open library at which to post this blog entry—both here and at M's blog. Apparently, library employees in Utah get to enjoy Thanksgiving Friday as a holiday, as the three we visited, in Springville, Spanish Fork and Provo, are all closed until tomorrow. So here we are at a Kinko's in Provo, paying per minute to use the computer. And we're soon off to find lunch and explore Park City. My Utah sojourn is coming to a rapid close...more once I'm back in Pennsylvania!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In just a few brief minutes, I'm off to the airport to catch a flight to Salt Lake City! I thank God for my many blessings, and especially for loving friends and family members. May you have a blessed Thanksgiving celebration, wherever you may be.

Stranger in a Strange Land

My friend Myrna moved to Utah in September. Temporarily. She is spending the year working with an environmental testing company, making as much money as possible to pay off graduate school debt and to replenish her dwindling savings.

I'm excited to report that this time next week, I'll be getting ready to head to the airport to board a plane for Salt Lake City! I'll be spending Thanksgiving week with Myrna, exploring this foreign-to-me part of the country.

Speaking of which, Myrna has started a blog to share the impressions of Mormon country through the eyes of a (non-Mormon) western Pennsylvania native. If you're interested in reading some of her observations, you can check them out here. Stranger in a strange land, indeed.

Road to recovery

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Mom was released from the hospital yesterday (Saturday). By early afternoon, she was on her way home, and her prognosis is good. She just needs to take it easy and, according to her doctor, "not fall again."

So much for being kept in the hospital "through the weekend"! We'll take it, though.

Thanks again for praying.

Through the weekend

The latest word about the saga of Mom's ruptured spleen: sounds like they'll be keeping her under surveillance at the hospital through the weekend. Which we're interpreting as "at least through Monday."

While she'd certainly rather be at home, we agree that it's better to be safe than sorry, and the hospital must be where she needs to be for the time being. She's feeling relatively OK, but I'm not sure what progress has been made toward the spleen healing itself. Maybe there will be more word later today. It's a waiting game.

Thanks for praying!

Monitoring the situation

A big thank you to all who have been keeping my mom in your prayers. No big news to report today, except that she is still in the hospital and probably will be for the next couple of days. After a CT scan this morning, all seems to be at status quo, but it's obviously serious enough that the doctors want to keep a close eye on her, and they moved her to yet another room so that they can hook her up to heart monitors and such. I don't know why, exactly, but am trusting that the doctors know what she needs. We continue to hope and pray that surgery won't be necessary and that the ruptured spleen will heal on its own.

She would much rather be in the comfort of her own house and away from needles and other hospital paraphenalia, but Mom is hanging in. Thanks again for your concern and prayers.

Privacy

I just got a call from Mom a little while ago to let me know that she's been moved out of the ICU and into a regular room. She sounds like she's in good spirits, and she's definitely appreciating a more comfortable bed and relative privacy. I'm looking forward to visiting with her after work this evening.

Thanks for the prayers!

Rupture

Dad and I went to visit Mom last night in the hospital for the allotted 30 minutes (plus 10, since they didn't kick us out at 7:30 on the dot). She seems to be doing very well, considering. She's still in ICU and will hopefully be in a regular room tonight. Which means that she'll be in the hospital until tomorrow, at least.

And I had been under the impression that her spleen was "bruised," which I suppose is true, as far as it goes. But the terminology of "ruptured spleen" came up in our conversation last night, in direct relation to what happened to hers. Is it just me, or does "rupture" sound far worse than "bruise"?

I'm praising God that surgery looks to be an unlikely scenario. And I'm amazed by the human body's ability to "heal itself."

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." —Psalm 139:14

Prayers for Mom

Back in March, my mother had open heart valve repair surgery. She's been doing great ever since, and just the other night when we attended an exhibition basketball game between the University of Pittsburgh and Slippery Rock, I mentioned to her how relieved I was not to be visiting her in the hospital. (Her surgery took place during March Madness, shortly after we attended the last basketball game of last season, in the hospital right across the street from Pitt's Petersen Event Center.)

Mom went back into the hospital yesterday, not because of anything heart-related, but because of a fall she took last week. She's been experiencing quite a bit of pain since then, and apparently, the impact of her fall bruised her spleen. So she's back in the hospital, in the Intensive Care Unit, where visiting hours are limited to a half hour twice a day and where she has no direct telephone access. The latest report from Dad is that she's doing well enough for them to consider moving her out of ICU and into a regular room. We aren't sure they'll actually do that, though, as they can moderate her condition more effectively in ICU. Either way, I plan to get my half hour visit in later this evening. And so far, praise God, it doesn't appear they'll need to operate.

So. If you're inclined, please join me in praying for healing and comfort for my mom. Thank you.