New Friends

We met in the forum of Snapshots of a Good Life Photography class...where a few of us have become fast friends! Incidentally, the class changed my photography bushels and barrels full forever. If you really want to understand your DSLR camera and photography...take Karen's class! 

Already planning a trip to the West including Zion, Bryce, and Moab, I invited Marilou and family to come a little bit further North and stay with us in good ol' Logan Utah with promises of pie and a good time!

What do you do with new friends who live in Miami, and whom you have never met in person?

Why of course...here at The Garlick Press, we will take you hiking!

And not just a slight stroll along the peaceful river, we'll take you to amazing heights on The Crimson Trail

so you experience Northern Utah's high mountain beauty.

Never mind that you might live at sea level and not be used to breathing at high altitudes.

Or that we'll bring along our dog who runs by knocking you off the cliff.

I think it was during the descent that Marilou began calling this the Hike of Doom! I'm pretty sure she might have been calling us names as well. And we probably deserved it!

But I do deliver on my promises...pie to anyone who finishes! And for the kids...any sort of prize you want. For rambunctious Ryan...it was a giant bag of Sour Patch Kids.

Cooling her tired hot feet. Isabel...adorable gorgeous Isabel said she wanted chocolate pie. You should have seen her pick up her pace. So later on that evening, together we made Isabel's Chocolate Silk Pie!

One of my favorite shots of the day. Such beautiful, sweet kiddos...I fell head over heals with both of them!

And what else do people in Utah do...we shoot stuff! BB guns are the latest summer evening entertainment here at The Garlick Press.

Isabel is the daughter of a photographer and you pick up on that immediately. She knows EXACTLY where to turn her face to maximize catch lights in her gorgeous, intensely deep, brown eyes.

Trying to redeem ourselves the next morning, we needed something powerful and impressive to show our friends from Miami. We couldn't have them returning to Florida telling everyone how the rude people from Utah tried to knock them off cliffs and deprive them of water in the hot dry desert sun. So back to the mountains we went...this time in a gondola to the top of Snowbasin.

Where we had a lovely lunch in this lodge, experiencing Utah's famous "fry sauce" for the first time.

Enjoying each other's company.

Witnessing the wildflowers springing from their winter hiding places. Our Miami-ans were skeptical about going to the top of another mountain. Do you blame them? I even wore flip flops to convince our guests we weren't doing any hiking!

But look what we found hiding at the tip top of the mountain just waiting for two kids from Florida to discover...snow!

What happens when you combine snow and kids of all ages?

SNOWBALL FIGHT!

And then the teasing banter began...
Her: I nailed you!
Him: Nope, nope you didn't.
Her:Yes I did!
Him: No, you didn't even come close (clearly he is picking the snow off his shirt)

Her: Lisa, I got him didn't I?
Him: No, no you didn't.
Her: Uh huh, and everyone agrees with me...I hit you.
Him: They don't know anything.

It was pretty delightful watching the bantering back and forth. Isabel held her own I have to admit though!

The meadow was gorgeous

as was the company.

Quiet and peaceful at the top of the mountain.

What a beautiful day with new friends! I can't wait for their return visit...obviously I'll have to promise more than pie next time!

June's Leap Year Photo

I think you'll agree...

the one photo in June that made my heart just leap!

Old Friends

As we both released from a lengthy and long overdue embrace that only old friends can understand...tears equally flooded our eyes.

How could this gorgeous grown up person standing in front of me be my childhood friend? The one that spent girls summer camp giggling until dawn with me. The friend who sneaked out with me on the very first day I was allowed to drive to school. The one that endlessly chased boys with me and then promptly ran away.

We named our first cars together. Mine was Baretta because it was EXACTLY the same car with EXACTLY the same dents and paint job that TV show Baretta drove. Her car we christened "Dubby"...an adorable vintage blue VW bug. Let's just say I preferred it when she drove, as the back doors on Baretta wouldn't even open!


Immediately we recounted how much time had passed since seeing each other...at least ten years we think. And even longer since we have had time to really "catch up!" We have crept in and out of each other's lives with occasional Christmas cards and wedding invitations. But it is her simple expressive notes arriving around Jocie's anniversary angel day that remind me why we are forever friends.

In Utah for a summer visit we finally arranged to meet for lunch this week. There are so many gaps of information and facts to update when you haven't visited with forever friends for such a long time. The conversation was continuously filled with smiles and laughter. Cindy has the most beautiful smile and contagious laugh. Her giggles soon opened up the memory of teenage moments we shared so many years ago. We discussed whereabouts and details of children, siblings and our parents. The years between us gradually melted away with each detail recounted. 


I saw the sympathy in her beautiful blue eyes as the conversation slid easily into Jocie's story. Of course she wanted to know how I really was doing and how I have survived such tremendous sorrow. Mistakenly people believe that you "get over" the loss of a child. Blatantly...you just don't! It's like wall paper on your mind...it's there every single day. Somehow I have figured out how to joyfully live with that wallpaper surrounding me. And at this point, I told her I'm as happy as I can be given what I've lost! Somehow from across the table her heart touched mine as if to gently say "I'm so very sorry my dear friend." 


In parting we vowed not to allow ten years to slip by before our next reunion. Because there is nothing like an old forever friend.

Keeping it Weird

Sometimes and not enough, I tag along with the hubby on a business trip. Giving us time to reconnect with each other...I love coming along. This particular trip being Austin; the fourth largest city in Texas and capital of the Lone Star State.

With the Texas temperatures and humidity soaring, we decided to do something daring and extraordinary. Dean and I became actual tourists and signed up for a Segway Tour of Austin! 

There is a slogan in this city "Keep Austin Weird." Which most likely is a reference to the local's independent and eclectic style for living.

Austinites promote small and unique local businesses like this eating establishment. Some of the city's favorites are Amy's Ice Cream and Freebirds World Burritos. We indulged ourselves at both places. I even went completely crazy and ate an entire burrito.

Native Austinite developers noticed the charming potential of once dilapidated Rainey Street and envisioned a new and different kind of district for Austin's young crowd. Charming new bars and restaurants are slowly taking over the neighborhood but still leaving the street's historic character in tact. 

This Agave or Century Plant is just about finished with it's spectacular blooming process. A very slow growing cactus and a member of the succulent family, some century plants live for 50 plus years. Finally shooting out a giant stem when death is imminent. The plant's whole life is geared for this ending, which will produce the necessary seeds for germination. Then it dies...just like that!

Completed in 1886, the Driskill Hotel is the oldest operating hotel in Austin.

With a stunning lobby and stained glass ceilings, the Driskill was the premiere gathering place for cattlemen in the early 1900's.

The building is said to have been built with a special ladies' entrance that allowed female guests to proceed directly to their rooms, thereby avoiding the rough talk of the cattlemen in the lobby

And speaking of a rough crowd...we happened to be in Austin during ROT (Republic of Texas). One of the largest motorcycle rallies in the country. There was a whole lot of leather in town, with motorcycles literally filling downtown streets.

Somehow...our dorky tour guide convinced us to raise our arms straight above us just like the Goddess of Liberty statue while posing for this pic. And we did it! Go big or go home...even when being a tourist..

The inside of the capital rotunda is stunning and considered a "whispering gallery." Where a whisper may be heard from anywhere within the circumference of the dome.

The capital is over 360,000 square feet....larger than any other capital. This is the senate chambers.

and the house of representatives.

Because the capital was land locked, they built the new addition into the ground. It is the exact height into the Earth as the front of the capital is protruding out of the Earth. Cool huh? See what you can learn when you are a tourist?

After a few quick stops for fresh peaches and breakfast burritos by the side of the road...sadly our Segway tour of Austin ended. But not the fun! We laughed endlessly and discovered new things we never knew about each other...even after all these years!

Next time you are in Austin, I strongly urge you to hook yourself up with one of those Segways and do your best to Keep Austin Weird!

Marvelous Mama Meesh

For over a year now, I have been compiling a myriad of reasons why his crazy idea would never work.

Bears, moose, skunks, raccoons and a hundred other varmints live in them thar mountains!

And every one of them would love a tasty snack of honey and bees. Not to mention the cold summer evening mountain temperatures, strong winds, and lack of a beekeeper constantly watching over them. Gladly he ignored my misgivings and a few weeks ago placed Mama Meesh and her hive of honeybees high in the Cache Wasatch National Forest on property belonging to our very good friends.

Scott and Dean believe the wildflowers and the snowberry bush will make delicious honey. Seriously, if you were a bee wouldn't you want to live here?

After a two week settling in period, it was time to check on the bees to see whether they had even survived the move. Just the two of us made the drive into the mountain property that day...where a lovely light breeze scattered the scent of the forest around us. The afternoon was nothing short of a spiritual experience.

What we found was a busy thriving hive. The girls were actively flying in and out with bright yellow pollen filling the sacks on their tiny legs. Pollen is immediate sustenance for hard-working bees.

Mostly likely they were gathering it from this bright yellow mountain flower along with sweet sugary nectar. Using a straw-like proboscis, the worker bee drinks the liquid nectar, storing it in a special honey sack (almost like a honey tummy) within her body. The bee continues to forage, visiting hundreds of flowers until the honey sack is full when she brings it back to the hive.

Approaching the hive, we immediately noticed the absence of guard bees protecting the entrance. They usually zig and zag into your face. This hive was completely and inexplicably docile.

Even after opening the hive and moving frames around, Dean declared it to be the happiest beehive he's ever seen.

Signs of brood on this frame

and many others indicate the hive is expanding mightily

Sweet sugary nectar is already making the transition to delectable mountain honey.

I watched him methodically go about his work...

searching for the illusive Queen Mama Meesh

and placing the next honey super on.

Dreaming of harvesting the amber colored ambrosia next fall.

The face of a very happy beekeeper who should never listen to his wife!

The beekeeper and I sat on that mountain for quite some time and absorbed the magnificent vista. Casually he pointed out a grove of Quaken Aspen trees at the very tip top of the mountain overlooking the bees...Jocie's mountain. Her monument lies in that bright green grove. And her spirit wafts continually through these trees both winter and summer. It's no wonder that Mama Meesh is content and thriving with Jocie the beekeeper magnificently watching over her.

And then I couldn't help but giggle as I envisioned fifteen-year old Jocie and her girlfriend Lindsay frolicking among the trees that live here!