Old Chimney

Early Utah construction materials often included local bricks, made of native clay and dried in the sun. I'm not sure that our original chimney was quite that earthy, but after many decades in the southern Utah weather, it had become more like a pile of dry mud than a chimney. We hired Buddy to fix it for us . . . and he tried. But, in the interest of safety and functionality, we eventually authorized him to use modern bricks for a rebuild. The old chimney is now on the ground where it, hopefully, can't hurt anything.

New Pipeline

The City of Parowan is a universal service provider. That is, the City manages all services necessary for a comfortable existence. The City provides electricity, culinary water, a library, a swimming pool, garbage collection, irrigation water, law enforcement, a retirement home, and free universal health care. (Ooops, skip that last one, the US Congress is working on it right now, so why saddle Parowan with the burden.) One of the quirks that comes with all this utility is a very wide street-side right-of-way. Between the edge of the street and The Homestead is a vast expanse of lawn that appears to belong to us, but does not. And it would be foolish to plant anything in it either because, without warning, the world can be filled with the sound of multiple track-hoes for the better part of a week while a new waterline is installed.

Hail Storm

We've had a couple of wet weeks. Each afternoon a thunderstorm has rolled through and given us a good pelting. After living in Escalante for five years, it feels as though we have moved to Costa Rica. We've never seen so much water. Yesterday, Ellen and I were out hiking in the canyons and, when we got home, there was a bit of a hail storm between the truck and the house. After I took this picture I told Ellen that we'd jump out and make a run for it. I got out first and stood there in the deluge urging her to jump. She balked and started crying. I grabbed her, slammed the door with my foot, and ran to the back door. Later, I said, "Hey, you're a big strong kid. No crying about a rain storm."