Anita's Big Adventure

You will remember that Anita came to live with us in December 2011. Anita is a Colorado Blue Spruce (called Fat Albert- which I thought was so rude because Anita is a girl and she's just fluffy!) The original plan was that she was going to be our Christmas tree (which she performed without a flaw) and then take the place of the dying flowering pear tree on the north side of the front yard... but the rub was that said flowering pear decided to live and thrive so Anita was out of luck!

I didn't know what to do. So for the next 15 months Anita lived-

• on the deck
• in the side yard on top of the peach tree stump
• on the front porch decorated as a Christmas tree 
• on the front porch as a naked tree (look out of the way)

But Anita needed a permanent home. And today she finally got one!

The first step was to move her from the front porch to the backyard. She is a little prickly (hey, people called her Fat Albert!) So I yoinked her off the porch into my wheelie-cart (which I'd love to get a twin for!) and wheeled her to her new PERMANENT HOME.

Since this is the first tree I've named I thought she needed a little bit of journaling... after I trimmed off some bottom branches she is 36" wide... (I love how the grass shadows highlight the appropriate number- a little serendipity there!)

And 45" tall. Anita you are so big! I think it will be fun to watch her grow over the coming years.

It was an absolutely perfect lambie March day... look at that sky!

And as long as I was in the backyard...

I decided to tidy up a different peach tree stump (I trimmed fruit trees this week). Sadly this is the second fruit tree I've lost to some kind of bore-beetle.

But because I'd been using all of my Grammie-arm-muscles (aka Relief Society arms) they were sore and weak. I couldn't put enough pressure on the saw to make much progress with my little chain saw. What to do? What to do?

I know!! Use my strong legs! That little saw just went through the rest of the stump like it was butter! There is just no substitute for strength!

Yay little-Joanie! Your short stocky legs paid off again! (Even if they are painfully white!)

Serendipitious Meeting

I can't believe that I haven't had the label *serendipity* before now!

Lasterday, up on Squaw Peak, we had just such serendipity! We arrived just minutes after a whole truck load of paragliders. I've seen paragliders often at Point of the Mountain and occasionally from 9th East in Provo... but I've never been up-close-and-personal!



I'm not sure what I expected but I was surprised with the process of launching (they told me they don't *jump*). Everything seems to be contained in a largish duffel bag which they open and re-configure... odd description, but that's the best I can do. It took them the better part of 30 minutes to do this.



After spreading out the wing and re-stuffing everything back into a duffel-bag-now-seat, they strap in and wait for the wind. I think it looks like a turtle's shell. They take everything with them except the vehicle they arrived in.



I turned my back just at the wrong time and missed this guy, the big-kahuna-instructor-guy launch. It was just that quick. Dang!



So I watched this fellow while he waited for the wind to pick up again so he could launch. Gordon pointed out to me that there is a small stake with surveyors tape tied on it that they use as a mini windsock! Clever.

This guy waited for a long time like this, with the wing partly inflated.  Meanwhile Big Kahuna was soaring overhead.



The speed and direction turned just right, paraglider-dude gave several sharp tugs on the strings and the wing started to lift.



Then he turned, started to run, and up he went!



It didn't take long for the others to get their launch.



I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to soar up there in the sky with the birds.