Art and Rivalry

The last week of January is usually the coldest, dreariest time of the year. On January 30, there were blue faces, but they were not cold, but painted blue for the BYU/Utah basketball game in Provo. Kids pitched their tents next to the fieldhouse for up to three days and nights to get the best seats. We captured photos of some of the more colorful characters.

Art is not usually as flamboyant as real life at BYU, but the new contemporary art show at the BYU Art Museum had some interesting video images.

There was also an exhibit on images of divinity...

a sculpture celebrating love...

and a display on the history of the BYU art collection (with a favorite painting by Minerva Teichert).

We paused to savor the views of the mountains around BYU.

After getting our fill of art and BYU/Utah rivalry, we searched for and found a new ethnic restaurant in SLC--the Asian Star. We read advertisements for Lion Dances at the restaurant on Chinese New Year, and we wished we could be there.

And our favorite event of the weekend--sharing fresh tuna steak and chocolate hazelnut cake with berries and cream with Michael on Sunday afternoon. Of course, Jonny called to tell us the meal he cooked--braised short rib sandwich with melted cheese and arugula--was even better!

Winter Sunday

There's beauty in gray, winter days. The mountains around SLC are snow-covered, with bits of blue sky peeking through gray clouds. On Sunday afternoon, Dave and I hiked up City Creek Canyon, where the leafless trees were shades of brown and gray and even dark purple.

We watched the relections of trees in a mud puddle...

and we paused to enjoy a snow-covered log...

and the rocks in a stream.

There were just a few other joggers and walkers, like this baby and his big sister.

After our walk, we drove towards the Utah Capitol, framed against the westside mountains...

and against gray clouds, with every Greek column on display.

We went home for the highlight of our winter Sunday--Michael and Grandma Spendlove as guests for a steak and cherry-raspberry crisp supper.

Getting Away (But Not Very Far)

Dave won a coupon for a night at the Red Lion Hotel from Supersonic, where he washes our cars. We decided to go, even though we didn't have anything to escape from, as in the days when we fled to the Airport Radisson to evade, for just one night, the pressures of four kids at home. Of course we brought with us plenty of baggage, including clothes, books and magazines, and the camera...

The bed was fine...

and there was a view from our balcony of beautiful 600 South, with cars wandering off the freeway.

The entertainment for our Red Lion weekend was three movies at the Broadway Theater--"The Young Victoria," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," and "Bad Lieutenant."

We had the theater to ourselves for "Bad Lieutenant."

We ate dinner on the 13th floor of the Red Lion, where we had The Charcoal Room to ourselves, as well.The lights of SLC sparkled below...

the pianist played all the selections we requested, from "Twelfth of Never" to "Deep Purple" and "The Rose"...

and the server flamed bananas foster by our table.

"Why would people in their 60s want a romantic get-a-way, anyway?" Jonny asked. We have our reasons.

We had two other fun getaways this week. We shared pad thai and curries with Michael and Melissa at Thai Lotus on Wednesday.

And we ate a hamburger and a meatloaf sandwich at the Road Island Diner in Oakley on Sunday afternoon.

As always, we enjoyed the signs--how reassuring that "Our foods are pure, our kitchen is clean."

We also enjoyed checking out the other diners, some of whom, it appeared, had many burgers and fries in their past.

It was gray and cold in SLC, with a murky inversion. It was bright and scenic as we drove to Oakley through Brown's Canyon, enjoying the ranch houses and the cows, which made bright and monotone patterns in the frosty landscape.