Holy Week Part 4 Easter Sunday

We woke up to a beautiful day here in Utah. Getting dressed up in our Easter finery, we headed to Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church for an Easter breakfast sponsored by their youth. We arrived about 9:45 and were the last to eat. As we walked up to the building we saw older youth hiding Easter eggs around the property. The dining area was pretty empty as we entered their basement hall, as many families had gone up to watch the egg hunt.

We visited with a Mom who was grabbing a quick breakfast before choir rehearsal. She needed to gather the youth who were joining the regular choir for this festive day. After breakfast of eggs, sausage, fruit and pancakes, we moved upstairs. We went outside for a bit but the egg hunt was over and the morning was a little chilly without a coat.

Inside again we entered the sanctuary and heard the end of the choir rehearsal. The sanctuary was decorated with donated lilies around the alter, about 15 plants. Silk flowers had also been added to the green plants that regularly hung in the Sanctuary, and along with a beautiful Easter banner, added to the festivity.

The Easter service had additional special music besides the larger choir. The young man who had played Jesus on Palm Sunday was back with his trumpet and another brass horn which he played, accompanying several songs during the service. It was a perfect celebratory sound for our small sanctuary.

One of my favorite moments was when the Pastor reminded the children of that first Sunday in Lent when they had helped her put the word Alleluia in a fancy gold box. At this service she opened the box with a flourish and encouraged the congregation to join her in shouting, "Alleluia" as she pulled out the word. We had each been given a small bell on a ribbon and throughout the service, whenever the word Alleluia was sung or spoken, we all rang our bells, rejoicing in this special day.

It wasn't as grand an Easter celebration as we are used to at home, but the church was full, maybe 100 people all dressed in their Easter best, and the mood was exuberant. The Alleluias were echoing around the room and the joy was apparent on the faces as we greeted each person, wishing them God's Peace and stating, "Christ is risen" "He is risen indeed". It was a beautiful Easter morning. The service lasted 90 minutes and was a wonderful beginning to the Easter Season.

After the service we went home and had a little snack and nap before heading back outside to enjoy the sunny 50 degree weather. We were also able to visit with Ellen who was enjoying warm weather in TX. When we hung up, we drove to Liberty Park, a larger park in the city that reminds me a bit of Como Park. It was full of families picnicking and enjoying the lovely weather. We walked around the park, thinking of our families so far away, and enjoying all the activity, blooming bulbs, and warm sun.

Just before 3 we left the Park for a suburb just to the south of the city where we had been invited for Easter dinner by two elderly friends we had met at Mt Tabor. Marge and Barry did not want us to bring any food, but we did bring an azalea plant and card, explaining that we always ordered one to decorate our church at home for Easter.

We had a fun time over wine and beer, cheese and crackers, and pretzels and nuts as we shared our stories of how we came to be in Utah. They have three daughters, all married and out-of -state now, and seemed to genuinely enjoy being with us on Easter. Our daughters Beth Emily and Katie called to wish us a Happy Easter from Wayne's sister's home, and Wayne excused himself for just a few minutes to visit with them.

Marge had made a wonderful dinner. We moved from our stools at the kitchen bar into the dining room to enjoy it, with coffee, tea and pie for dessert. During dinner and afterwards, we had stimulating conversations on what we thought would become of the traditional church, sharing some differences between Mt. Tabor and Woodlake, and learning about their experiences living in a community dominated by the LDS church. Barry was intrigued by our answers and wanted to share with us a favorite author and book, The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg. We stayed until 8 PM when we excused ourselves as we still wanted to call Wayne's parents and wish them a Happy Easter.

We ended this special day with a nice visit with Ray and Fran Schmieg. How lucky we are to have friends and family with whom to share special days!

,

Holy Week Part 3 "Sad Saturday"

Saturday morning there was noise and excitement just outside our condo. The Gateway complex was hosting an Easter bonnet decoration party and parade.

It began at 10:30 with the marching band from Provo HS marching down Rio Grade Dr( the curving road down the center of the complex) to Olympic Legacy Plaza, outside our windows, where long tables had been set-up with bonnets and decorating supplies.

Wayne and I didn't venture outside until just after noon, as we had been working on preparing our taxes, but we could hear the noise and excitement right through our closed windows.

We decided to go down and watch and Wayne took pictures. Whole families were decorating hats and enjoying a live band (like the Teddy Bear Band in MN) who were entertaining those who had finished the hats.

At 12:30 PM the marching band returned and led the families in a grand parade. Wayne and I did not decorate hats as they were low on supplies when we arrived and families were just arriving. Some chose to wear just paper bunny ears which we also left for the kids.

We followed the marching band and enjoyed all the marchers with their creations. Others lined the street to watch and wave. The band marched and stopped to play and twirl, working it's way to the far plaza and half way back to their waiting bus and trailer.

Families followed the band right to their bus before realizing that the parade was over! The families in their fancy headgear then dispersed all over the complex, as Wayne and I headed home.

After completing our work for the day, we decided to spend the rest of Holy Saturday (or sad Saturday as some call it) climbing to the top of Ensign Peak which overlooks the Salt Lake Valley.

It is said that Brigham Young was told by Joseph Smith in a vision that he would know when he had journeyed to the right place, when a valley opened out before him with a sentinel mountain overlooking it.

Ensign Peak is that mountain, and Brigham Young, with 8 other men, climbed it 2 days after reaching this valley and from there made plans for their new community. These plans included the very wide streets, large enough to turn around a team of horses pulling a wagon, for which Salt Lake City is famous.

We began our hike from the capital and so probably ascended on foot over 600 feet to the peak. The trail to the peak is a 382 foot ascent in 4 tenths of a mile from the trail head. There were several stopping places along the way, with historical plaques and gorgeous views of the valley. It starts as a cement walkway, and quickly changes to dirt trail. It was free of snow and ice and already hard as rock.

We stopped at all the plaques to read the history and mainly to catch our breath and enjoy the amazing views.

When we got to the top of the mountain, there was a large extended family of Mormons who were gathering for Easter and had climbed up there as part of their celebrations. The Patriarch of the family was giving a little history lesson and we listened in. Wayne took pictures for them with several cameras.

The walk down was much quicker but still had stunning views. We walked down through the Capitol Hill neighborhood to our car and then hurried home to call the girls and talk about their upcoming trip to UT, as they were gathering at Beth's. After a nice visit we walked to the Dodo for supper and came home to watch the movie, The Secret Life of Words, very good but disturbing.

Hoyl Week Part 2 Good Friday

We missed the Maundy Thursday night service, but were able to participate in the Good Friday Procession of the Cross along with several hundred people from 9 different Christian churches in the city of Salt Lake. These churches have been doing this together for the last 15 years. Only the church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints did not participate. (Discussing this with members of our Lutheran church, their thought was that the LDS church does not make a big deal out of church holidays-Christmas, Easter, etc, but instead expects its members to faithfully worship together each week.)

Station 1: The Cathedral of the Madeline

The procession began at the Catholic Cathedral with a welcome, gathering hymn, scripture reading, verse 1 of Were You There When They Crucified My Lord, a prayer and then an invitation asking who would carry the cross?

A volunteer came forward and the procession walked a block to the Presbyterian Church where these steps were repeated. A different gathering hymn was chosen representing the church of the station, the scripture was Luke 22:1- 23:56 with about 20 verses read at each of the 6 stations, and a verse of Were You There was sung at each stop.

Station 2: The First Presbyterian Church

We walked about 2.5 miles through the downtown area. For the first time in 15 years, the police did not show up so we did not have their assistance crossing streets. It took up to 4 lights to cross all the people in the procession and at one stage, when we had walked 4 blocks, the stragglers missed the gathering hymn and welcome.

Station 3: Crossroads Urban Center

As there were 9 congregations and only 6 stations, clergy shared duties at the stations. Our Lutheran pastor did the welcome and prayer at the Central Christian Church, as our church was 3 blocks outside the circle of the procession.

Station 4: Central Cristian Church

A few points struck me during the procession:

When requested "to walk in silence and contemplate such a Savior", most of the procession could not remain silent past the church property. (We did better when asked to walk in quiet conversation and prayer;).

The crowd enjoyed sharing this worship with others not of their church and even with passing cars.

The pastor of the Urdu worshipping community read the scripture in Urdu before a quiet, respectful crowd who for the most part couldn't understand him.

The volunteers chosen to carry the cross to the last station were 2 boys, maybe 10 years old, who carried it together for two long blocks.

Station 5: First United Methodist Church

The last station was at the Episcopal Cathedral where for the first time we entered the church and worshipped in the sanctuary. The crowd filled the church. We still sang a capella led by the cantor from the Catholic church. An offering was taken, as it has been for the last 15 years, for Crossroads Urban Center, one of the 9 participating communities of faith.

Station 6: St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral

When the last station was finished; we had shared the peace, finished the last verse of Were You There, and the Priest had said the benediction, the crowd just melted away into the growing darkness, and Wayne and I walked to a restaurant to enjoy a good dinner.

(The photos of churches at the different stations I took yesterday and today. It took me over an hour to walk the route again, taking photos at each site. I ran out of battery power so had to complete the photos today, 4/3/08)

Holy Week Part 1 Palm Sunday

Holy Week began with a moving service at Mt Tabor Lutheran Church celebrating both Palm Sunday, with waving palms, shouts of Hosanna, and a parade into the sanctuary, and Passion Sunday with a very moving reading of the Passion according to St Matthew. The readers were all adults with the exception of Jesus who was acted by a HS student, a last minute substitute. "Jesus" stood at the alter while the other readers were at the lectern and pulpit. It is gut-wrenching to watch the mood of the crowd change from excitement and shouts of Hosanna to shouts of Crucify Him. I, along with the rest of the congregation read the part of the crowd. The young man playing Jesus read well, and we were left with a feeling of what did we do?

Monday night we attended the performance by Garrison Keillor and were told the stories of what was happening in Lake Wobegone MN during Holy Week. It made us laugh and feel a little homesick.

Skiing at Alta Ski Resort

Because Wayne has been observing tests at night, on Wednesday March 19th he decided to take the day off. He spent the morning and early afternoon skiing at Alta Ski Resort , about 45 minutes from home, before heading into work at 4 PM.

He wanted me to come along, and I was ready to go a little after nine, after eating a big breakfast. Before you get too excited for me, (for getting back on the chairlifts) I need to tell you that I did not ski. In my defence, my back was still aching from my biking/Depot day and I did not want to aggravate it.

We had a lovely drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Wayne rented gear, bought a lift card, and was on the slopes by 10:30 AM. It was a gorgeous day! In Salt Lake City the temperature got to 65 and even up on the mountain it felt wonderfully warm, maybe 50? The sun was shining and there was little wind, so I pulled out my book and plopped down on one of the Adirondack chairs outside the lodge and facing the runs.



I had only been outside about 30 minutes when I felt like my face was burning. Wayne had taken our tube of sunscreen with him, so I grabbed my back pack and moved inside. I found a small table for 3 along a window wall of the canteen, and settled down to read and watch the skiers.



Wayne found me about noon. He didn't want to stop skiing to eat, as we needed to leave about 2:30 PM, so he just sat for a few minutes and showed me on the trail map all the runs he had tried so far.

Alta is a beautiful resort set only about a mile from Snowbird Resort and with about 5 runs that connect the two resorts. You can buy a pass for just Alta or a combination pass to ski on both. Alta has 7 lifts(the highest goes to 10,500 ft. and unfortunately all are chairlifts!) and 116 runs. Eight are green for beginners, not including the ski school slopes at the bottom, thirty are blue intermediate runs, and the rest are black diamond for the most experienced skiers.



Wayne stayed mostly on the green and blue runs and had a wonderful time; but even skipping lunch he was unable to go on all of them. Meanwhile I greased myself up with sunscreen and headed back out to the chairs. I finished one book and started on another. The day was so lovely that even though I had money to buy myself a tall chai and a treat to stay warm, I stayed in my chair and just drank cold water from my bottle, soaking up the sun, and enjoying the day.




Besides reading, I was also able to enjoy the gorgeous view of the resort, and listen in on the excitement of the families who sat down around me. The children were eager to tell of all the runs they had conquered. The Moms reminded them to ski safely and keep an eye on siblings. The Dads pointed out new runs they should try, and how even the greens can give them a challenge if they keep up speed and try to jump the hills just in front of us! Tourists new to the area shared with each other their opinions of nearby ski resorts, and places to see on "rest days" if they want to take a day off from skiing. I learned about a canyon a few hours North of us that sounded like a "must see" place. Everyone was friendly, happy, and enjoying the beautiful day. An older gentleman next to me made a phone call and said that the day was awful, windy, sleety and that his daughter was bitchy. His friend was lucky he hadn't made the trip. After hanging up, with all of us looking at him in surprise, he explained. His friend had recently injured himself and had to cancel his trip. He didn't want his friend to feel bad. He introduced us to his daughter when she skied up and told us how wonderful she was and winked!



So you see, even though I didn't get to swoosh down the slopes, or take in the views from the tops of the mountains, I did have a wonderful time at Alta!

Wayne got back just after 2:30 and was bushed. He decided next time he would be sure to eat lunch, even if it did take a little time, so he could get more nourishment and give his legs a break. I drove back down Little Cottonwood Canyon and we had the road almost to ourselves. The Prius got at least 100 mpg(the highest it shows) for the first 30 minutes of the ride home, making a nice ending to a perfect day in the mountains.

Celebrating St Patrick's Day

The Gateway, the complex where our condo is located, holds celebration events free of charge for the community. On Saturday March 15, they hosted the local St. Patrick's Day Parade. Unfortunately, Wayne needed to be at work, but at about 10:15 AM I left my condo and went out on the roof courtyard of our building (on the 5th floor which is one floor below our condo). With my camera in hand I found a good location against the courtyard wall and looked down on Rio Grande Dr. lined with people bundled up in blankets while sitting on chairs or the curb. The watchers were dressed in all sorts of crazy green attire and were cheerfully waiting the start of the parade even though the temperature hovered near 30 degrees (cold for SLC) and there was a bit of a wind from the NW.

We didn't have to wait long before police on motorcycles opened the parade at 10:30. Unfortunately that's when my camera flashed that my memory card was full so no more pictures for me. I thought about running back upstairs, down-loading the pictures, and then deleting, but I knew Wayne liked to back them up somewhere else and that I didn't know how to do. Besides that would mean I would miss the parade! So I stayed where I was and enjoyed every moment of the 2 hour long parade.

There were the usual things you expect in a parade: local high school marching bands, politicians running for office, Police and firemen in their vehicles, floats made by local businesses and organizations, cars holding important people and a few horse-drawn carriages. (One horse left a mess right below me and I was entertained the rest of the parade watching marchers try to avoid stepping in it.) There were stilt-walkers, Shriner's in little cars, Scouting groups and lots and lots of candy thrown by everybody passing by.

There were a few things unique to St.Paddy's Day parades: family clans marching behind banners, Irish dog breeders walking their dogs, representatives from every local Roman Catholic school marching with their banners, bagpipers and Scottish clubs (I guess they don't get their own parade.)

And then there were things new to me in parades: a Civil War re-enactment group with foot soldiers from both sides marching and carrying their respective flags, followed by their women in period costumes, and finally their officers on horseback; what looked like a mini-car driving in circles that was actually a bright green coffin with a giant shamrock on the cover, followed by a 1950' s hearse and then a modern hearse with signs saying they were sponsored by a local mortuary; and a stuck float (the very first float tried to fit under a pedestrian bridge over the road and got stuck. It had tried to go under the tallest part of the bridge which luckily was way to the west side, and there it sat for the rest of the parade with the riders waving at other floats who squeezed past. Some of the floats were pulled by Semi-truck cabs and they really had to slow and squeeze over to fit in the space left free by the float.) I was going to go down after the parade finished to see the stuck float up close, but they backed it out before I had a chance just as the parade finished.

Because Wayne had missed all the excitement of the parade, we decided to go out for an Irish supper to celebrate. The day had rapidly deteriorated after the parade and it was sleeting pretty hard when we left to go to Murphy's Bar and Grill. So instead of walking we hopped on the TRAX and only had to walk a few blocks through the sleet and hail.

We had to buy a 3 week membership in order to enter the pub, but didn't have to wait to be seated. Another thing about private clubs; they all seem to be smokey. We were seated where we could watch a TV that had on basketball. They didn't have a regular menu, just a card sitting on the table with 3 choices of Irish fare. Wayne had Corn Beef and Cabbage with an Irish Stout and I had Irish Stew in a bread bowl with a Killian's. The place was crowded with 20-30 year olds, most of whom were smoking so we didn't stick around after our food and beers were gone.

The sleet had changed to giant snowflakes but we still took the TRAX home where we watched the movie, My Dog Skip, and then an episode of the Irish RM before heading to bed.

Wayne had a test on the night of the 17th, but was able to leave early, after the intro, as I had bought tickets to see Garrison Keiller at Abravanel Hall and the show started at 7:30 PM. Wayne picked up Mexican take-out on his way home, which wasn't exactly Irish but we could eat it fast and still get to the Hall on time. The Hall was designed by the same architect who designed Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis so when we entered the performance hall it felt like coming home. We had good seats on the main floor and enjoyed one and a half hours of his humorous stories, poems and songs. He was dressed as he does for his radio show, in black suit with red tie, red socks and red high-top tennis shoes. The stage held only a stool and microphone and the only action was watching as he changed from standing to sitting to standing again. We enjoyed it very much but noted that although he had many references to Holy Week, he never mentioned that it was St. Patrick's Day! This seemed odd to me as most of the audience were dressed in green.

After the performance we walked home in a round-about way so we could go by Lumpy's, another club that was having live music, special Irish drinks and karaoke. We peeked in but decided it wasn't what we were interested in tonight, and instead headed home where we made mint tea and added Bailey's Mint Irish Creme to warm us up while we did a crossword puzzle. It was a very nice ending for our celebration of St. Patrick's Day!

The Depot after biking City Canyon

There is a nightclub just across the street from our condo called the Depot. It has a few bands performing there each week. Wayne and I noticed that the Young Dubliners were performing the week before St. Patricks Day and after listening to a few of their songs on Rhapsody we decided to go.

It was Saturday, March 8, a day threatening rain but not too cold, so after biking to the barber and missing a little misty rainfall while inside, we got on our bikes and headed N up the mountain neighborhood known as The Avenues.

A few times I had to get off my bike and push as the road was just too steep, but eventually we got up to 11th Ave and B Street where we got onto N Bonneville Dr., a scenic downhill ride into City Canyon. We switched to the City Canyon Rd/trail (all uphill) and managed to get to rest stop #17 before I just couldn't go uphill anymore. But what a beautiful place to rest!

We finally got back on our bikes and braked and coasted downhill all the way back to our condo. The sun was setting and my hands were frozen by the time we were back home. I took a shower to clean up and warm up while Wayne did some computer work, and then we dressed in nice casual clothes and headed out to check out the Depot.

We stopped in at a restaurant that shares the space on the north end of the old Union Pacific Depot but decided it was too fancy for our dress. We noticed a line forming outside the nightclub so we decided to get tickets before eating. We bought tickets from a young man who couldn't make the show, and after hearing that the Depot served food, decided to stand in line until 8 so we could get in and get a seat.

About 15 minutes to 8 people started going in. Apparently they knew the band or had a special pass, as the rest of us just waited. Bouncers came down the line and had one member of each party sign a form to "join the club", and after checking IDs, stamped our hands. (One of the interesting things about SLC, which is slowly being phased out, is that alcohol can only be served in private clubs where one must first pay a membership fee. Now, many restaurants may also serve alcohol as long as one buys food.)

We finally began to go in and after giving our tickets and showing our stamps we headed up the stairs to the 2nd floor. There were tables on platforms around the edge of the large dance floor but they all seemed to be reserved. Tall stools around the outside edge of these platforms were already taken by the early arrivals so we headed up to the third floor which was a U shaped balcony looking down on the stage and main floor. Again the tables on the edge of the balcony were all reserved, and the first row of tall stools were also claimed, but Wayne and I found 2 stools on the East wall. The Depot had 2 giant screens mounted on our level near the stage area and we had a clear view of them, but couldn't really see the stage.

We noticed only one other couple near our age, most of the audience seemed to be in their 20s & 30s. Wayne got us beers and we settled onto our stools and were entertained by watching our neighbors, the end of the Jazz game (which was broadcast on the large screens), and the bouncers who were keeping people out of the reserved table area (you needed a wrist band to prove you were part of the party that reserved the tables). I think some money may have passed hands too, as I saw a Bouncer get chairs from a back area and place them along the front rail behind the tables for a few patrons.

At 9 PM the warm-up band began and they were a local Irish music band. We enjoyed their music but had to stand on tip-toes to see anything other than what was on the big screens. Nobody was running the cameras for this band as sometimes the soloist wasn't even on the screen! I had to use the restroom and it was a pleasant surprise. I left early enough, expecting a long wait in line, but found a new spacious facility with more stalls than the Metrodome, and no waiting! On the way back to our stools I stopped on the steps where I had a great view of the stage, until the bouncers moved me along.

The early band had warmed the crowd up and the Young Dubliners began a little after 10:30PM. Wayne had gone down one level to the main bar and brought back a giant pretzel and more beer which was our supper. The crowd was very rowdy, singing along and dancing and jumping to the music. Sometimes it was hard to even see the screens! Instead I listened to the music and watched all the commotion going on around me.

One table particularly interested me. It was center front of the balcony, and remained empty until just before the main act. A waitress who had been waiting on all the reserved tables, brought to this empty table 4 brandy snifter sized wine glasses and a large bottle of red wine. This intrigued me as everyone else in the place was drinking out of kegger-style plastic cups (a good decision by management with all the jumping around!) About 15 minutes before the main act, the waitress came back to the table and opened the bottle to breathe. Then, with about 10 minutes to spare, the party arrived led by a woman close to my age with short, neon-pink hair. She was well known to the staff and received hugs from a few. She had with her a few hunky looking young men and another older woman. I didn't recognise her but assumed she was someone famous. Watching their table was great entertainment for me when I couldn't see the stage or even much of the screens as our neighbors jumped and danced to the music.

The Young Dubliners played more Irish Rock than traditional music and my ears were ringing by midnight. It was a fun experience but I was feeling old and tired before they were done. We stayed through their encore and it was only when the lights all came up and I slid off my high stool for the last time, that I realized how stiff and sore I felt.

I blame my pulled lower back muscle on pushing my bike up the Avenues and later the City Canyon trail, but probably sitting on a tall stool for 4 hours and craning to see the stage, or at least the big screens, did not help. Ten days later I still have twinges in my back, especially when I have to sit too long. Maybe I am too old to be going to nightclubs to enjoy rock bands! I know if we plan to go to the Depot to see a band again, I will find out how to reserve one of the tables with normal chairs and a view of the stage!