saturday explorations

The weather was sort of hit-or-miss while H's folks were here: first mild and sunny, then cold and blustery, then spitting snow and rain, then mild again ... challenging for making plans for outside activities.  On Saturday we were feeling a little cooped up after hanging out at home all day the day before (what with the rain and wind and spitting snow) and when it turned out to be a fairly nice day, we all jumped in the car to go places and do some stuff.

First we went up to Solitude so H and I could pick up our 5-pak ticket passes (good for five reduced rate tickets and reloadable at the same reduced price).  There were a good number of cars there and it was great to see folks skiing, but I couldn't imagine paying for a day ticket with how little snow we've got.  Then we stopped by REI so I could buy a new pair of boot covers, having shredded mine by the end of last ski season.

Hope that sucker's not loose

Our next stop was someplace new and a little bizarre: Gilgal Gardens, "an historic sculpture garden created by Thomas B. Child, Jr.," located at 749 East 500 South in SLC.  Child created twelve original stone scuptural arrangements and over seventy stones engraved with Bible scripture, poems and inspirational text, beginning in 1957.  After his death in 1963, the gardens got new private owners until 1997 when the Friends of Gilgal Gardens was founded to preserve and protect the site.  The plantings in the gardens are cared for by volunteers from the Salt Lake Co. Master Gardener Association; things were obviously end-of-season when we stopped by, but I bet it's really pretty in the summer.  "Gilgal" means "circle of sacred stones."  The garden is a weird little place, a quiet oasis in the middle of the city.  I found some of the sculptures a little unsettling (like the hands reaching out of the rock to the two sacred hearts) but I have admiration for people who are called to and able to make things with their hands.  Some of the explanatory material said that Child didn't care if people thought his garden was weird - it was important to him that people thought about it at all.

Peekaboo

After all that art/religion it was time for a beer.  To continue our trend of trying something new, we went to Red Rock Brewing Co. for a late lunch and some brews.  I had the oatmeal stout (which was good once it warmed up a little) and the tasty soup of the day, green chile with shredded chicken.  We swung by the Beer Nut on our way back home so H and I could purchase our very own wine bottle corker (now we're committed to making more wine at home).  The evening was spent companionably, watching football, drinking homebrew and playing games - good, homey, Thanksgiving weekend stuff.