The Weirdest Day

While Dave was in St. George swimming and tubing with Lisa, Kirsten, Bryce and Alyssa during the weekend of August 3-4, I was in SLC, welcoming the rest of the Flindts--Kyle, Spencer, and Grant.  The three of them drove from Seattle for the Flindt family reunion.  That left only Michael at home in Seattle, working for the Panera sandwich shop.

Kyle invited me to spend Saturday, August 4, with Spencer, since Spencer would be at the Flindt reunion the entire following week, and drive directly from the reunion back to Seattle.   After I enthusiastically agreed, Kyle mentioned that Spencer's initial reaction was, "But won't that be weird--spending an entire day alone with Grandma?"  I thought that over, and then told Spencer this was a great opportunity for both of us--"You may never have another time, in your entire life, to spend a day alone with me."  I was willing to take a chance on the experience being "weird." It turned out to be a magical time, at least for me.  It was a time to chat unhurriedly about high school, college, friends, careers--all the things grandmas are too rushed to do with their teenage grandchildren.  Spencer, thank you!

I made a list of all the things I thought a 16-year-old boy might be interested in, Spencer ranked his choices, and we were off to visit as many places as we could.  First stop was The Leonardo, the new art, science, and invention museum in downtown SLC.  We rode the escalator past Philip Beesley's "Hylozoic Veil," a feathery sculpture that reacts to passersby.

We wandered through an exhibit on water, with a gurgling fountain and many dramatic photographs of people interacting with water around the world.

 

 

 

Spencer used animation equipment to make a video, and he explored the art center, with its several stations filled with art supplies.

 

 

Spencer also participated in a U of U-sponsored experiment at the Leonardo on the genetic basis of multi-tasking.  The researchers were searching for extremely good multitaskers, whose DNA they would screen to see if that skill was genetic.  Spencer donated saliva filled with his DNA and then scored in the 90th percentile on multitasking.  It was a high enough score to qualify him for further participation in the study. 

 

 

Spencer and I paused at The Corner Bakery for soup, sandwiches, and a shared lemon bar.

Next stop was the new Utah Museum of Natural History, housed in a copper-clad building with a deep "canyon" atrium with shapes of trees projected onto its high walls.  The museum exhibits focus on Utah, with a splendid dinosaur and prehistoric mammal collection.

 

 

 

 

Spencer and I then spent an hour at Hogle's Zoo.  We enjoyed the elephants, but spent most of our time at the new Rocky Shores polar bear and seal exhibit.  A seal was basking so close to the window we were peeking through that we could count the hairs in his eyebrows!  The polar bear made leaps through his pool over and over, rising through the surface right in front of the glass windows, with a huge splash.

 

 

 

 

 

 At 6:30, we met Kyle and Grant at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. They had been in Provo, visiting Grant's friend.  As always, the peanuts, hot rolls, and barbecued ribs were our favorites!  Since this was Kyle's first visit to Texas Roadhouse, we were showered with coupons and extra attention.

 

 

 

We finished the evening at Total Recall, a new science fiction movie that involved the hero riding a shuttle through the middle of the earth as he recovered from brain re-imaging.  It was a totally macho show, with guns blazing and knives slitting, even though it was rated PG-13.  I felt guilty to subject my grandchildren to all the violence.  On the other hand, Total Recall was also the perfect, over-the-top finale to a perfect, over-the-top (though not weird) day!