The girls were delighted

What a great way to spend a Friday night!  After arriving downtown, we found ourselves in JB's.  The girls could order anything they wanted from the kids menu, and guess what?  Erin ordered her favorite dish - mashed potatoes.    

 
I don't know what is on her fork, but Jenna ordered spaghetti, and before we left she had eaten almost all of                     it.  Later her Dad told me that she is really fond of spaghetti, and I believe it!        

Jenna is really good a facial gestures, and Erin is all but serious as indicated by her expression.  None the less, we, Grandma and Grandpa Zucc were totally entertained with their antics.

Grandpa and Grandma Zucc

After dinner, our happy little foursome made our way over to the Assembly Hall to take in a "free" concert. The Schubert Singers were performing, and with their conductor Harold Stokes, they provided a delightful performance - sort of a mixture of show tunes and patriotic anthems.  It was a great program for a spring concert.
 

After the concert, we left the Assembly Hall, and made our way to the parking lot below the Conference Center.  As soon as we closed the car doors, out came the cookies we bought at JB's.  The girls were delighted, as was I.

Buildings -  old and the new

It was just getting dark, and Temple Square had sort of a fairyland flavor.  The temple has to be one of the most engaging pieces of architectural accomplishment in the USA, if not the world.  Every season, and even every time of day seems to portray this building in a different way.

"Yes sir, we had some mighty good food, and all is well."

On a collision course?

I didn't take the following photos, but they are really cool anyway.  By the way did you know that the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxies are on a collision course?

The Milky Way over Jackson Lake and Tetons at Grand Teton National Park on August 23, 2011 in Wyoming

Not to worry though!  If mankind can stick it out on Earth for another two billion years, our descendants may witness quite a show in the night sky.

Galaxy Collision  

Even if there is life on earth during the collision, the sun is scheduled to turn into a white dwarf at about the same time.  Maybe before our planet is burnt to a crisp, scientists will build a Star Trek type space vehicle (Enterprise) to transport some of us to another planet somewhere in space.


That would be cool, huh?  Imagine immigrating to another planet!  It would kind of be like our ancestors emigrating to this land from the old world several generations ago, to start a new life.


In the meantime, I think I'll just sit back and wonder about these things, knowing I won't be around in 40 years much less in 2 billion years.  


The only new life I will see immediately is the growing of the little walla walla onion starts Tammy sent to me for my birthday.  


"Grow, Grow little onions, for your future is ordained. On top of my grilled burger, sliced and juicy, your glorious flavor is sustained."  Grandpa Zucc poetry.  

Ah! Easter time and all is well

Ah!  Easter time and all is well.  Spring and Easter go hand-in-hand in a good way.  And the good thing is that it happens every year, without fail.  All things are new again, ready to begin another cycle of life.

The thing I like about Easter is the hope of a bodily resurrection for all mankind, as promised by certain religions.  This promise seems to ring true, and becomes more poignant as time passes, at least for me it does! 

Getting older seems to deepen the affect on ones sense of life's purpose.  Is there a new life after this one for each of us, as predicted by many prophets?  To me, the hopeful answer is "yes."  

On Easter Day I ended up driving by perhaps the most impressive building in the south end of the valley.  This statue represents Moroni.  He is blowing a herald trumpet, which is used for an official fanfare to announce something important.  Maybe that something has to do with the possibility of a new future life?

  

• Revelation 14:6

  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I guess someday we will all know for sure; so until then, poor ol' grandpa will keep planting his garden each spring, hoping the seeds will grow into great tasting vegetables.  By the way, this is a great photo, right?
  
  
  

Hey Julie!

BYU students

On our way to Sherry's birthday celebration, we made a stop at the BYU Creamery in happy valley and bought some milk, ranch dressing and a package of cheese curds.  It has been rumored that BYU milk is the best of all milks.  I wonder! We have done it before, but I suppose we ought to run another taste-challenge test to see if that rumor is true.  On the first test several years ago, we put up Walmart milk against BYU milk and it was inconclusive as to which tasted the best.


With our treasured dairy products safely locked in the trunk of the car, we ventured on a little drive around campus.  The students were out in droves.

 "Hey Julie, this is how the kids at BYU dress for class."

 I just thought you might be interested.  Ha Ha.

I am always astounded at the striking beauty of campus, and the scenic beauty of the Wasatch is glorious to behold.  I was able to get some good pics of both mountains and flowering trees.  Enjoy!

Rock Canyon as viewed from the Harris Fine Arts Center.  This is where the students go to get a little bolder.

The bell tower is hiding behind the tree.

Flowering trees in front of the art museum. 

We made our way to the Provo Towne Center mall.  This is one of my favorites to walk.  I particularly was impressed by the inside lighting.   This is really cool, yes?

When I reached the food court on the second level, I just had to stop and take pics of the mountains through the massive glass panes.

As a student in the mid 60's, I hiked to the very top of this mountain.  It was an organized hike with perhaps thousands of people winding up the trail starting at Aspen Grove on the backside of the mountain.  At the top was a little shed, and a couple of people passed out a little lapel button you could proudly pin on your shirt.  It took 6 hours to climb the mountain, and only 4 hours to get down.  There was a glacier on the backside that you could slid on.  I don't think the glacier is still there, but I may be wrong.  It is said, "The hike caused environmental damage to the mountain, and was finally canceled to help preserve the delicate mountain ecosystem." (Wikipedia)  This happened in 1970, and in 1984 it was given a wilderness designation by the U.S. Congress.
 

Mount Timpanogos

Rock Canyon is at the north of Y Mountain.  Just to the south is a little canyon that I don't know the name of, but it is really cool to hike from the block Y on the little trail, up to a little meadow, with a spring of wonderful, fresh, pure, cool etc water flowing into it.  Now that I am older, I will probably never drink of that water again; and definitely I will never hike Mount Timp again, as once was enough for me. 

Y Mountain

Upon finishing my walk in the mall, I met Grandma Zucc at the south door of Dillards.  Our 2000 Camry looked pretty good so I got a pic of it.  I believe this was a good year for Camry, evidenced by the number of them still being in use.  I would really like to drive this car to my grave, as it has been trouble free, and I do like to keep it looking good.

2000 Camry

"Ya'll be good now, ya hear?  And have a nice day!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHERRY!"

To celebrate Sherry' birthday, we made the treacherous trip down I-15.  One spot in the road, just south of American Fork, particularly was hard to navigate.  It appeared as though there were several lanes, as the lines were hard to follow.  I wonder if this is how the road appears to drunken drivers?  Anyway we made it!

We took Sherry to lunch at one of our favorite places, the Art City Trolley, in Springville, where we met Jeff.  Sherry was surprised, as we drove into the parking lot, to see Jeff's car, and she thought it  coincidental that he was there.  She even gave him a quick cell call to tease him a little; but as we entered the door, he met her with a bouquet of roses, and a kiss. 

While at the Art City Trolley, I couldn't help but take pics of the two motorcycles on display, as they are soooooo impressive.  I know I have posted them before, but I think these photos are better.






Anyway, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHERRY!"

When will the planets align again?

Picture from NASA website

Well, the simple answer to this seemingly simple question is:

September 8, 2040 at around 7:30-7:40pm.










Unfortunately the link to a disaster countdown timer originally displayed on this post is no longer available. But the following link may be of interest to you.

https://universavvy.com/things-you-need-to-know-about-planetary-alignment

I suppose I will be observing this future event from another realm, hopefully the higher one; however I hope the powers that be will have the heat turned up enough to keep my feet warm.  Ha ha.

The above question arose as myself, Mike, and a friend left Crown Burger last Saturday evening, stuffed to the gills with fast food.  Venus and Jupiter were showing their stuff in all their glory, in the western sky; so Mike asked the question.

After a little bit of internet search, I discovered that "the planets never truly align like they do in movies, because they rotate on different planes and at different degrees. And if they did, it wouldn't make a difference because the gravitational effects are so minute considering the distances between the planets."

"The only type of planetary situation of interest occurred in 1984, when you could see the most planets possible at one time with the naked eye from earth, but they were nowhere near alignment.
However, they came the closest they could to alignment around 500 BC, and may come close sometime in the late 29th century. Not in your lifetime though."

The following link is to the NASA website.  It answers several questions that have to do with the end of the world as far as natural disaster is concerned.  If this topic interests you at all, I think you will enjoy this page.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html

So, what are my thoughts on when the end of the world will occur?   I tend to agree with the statement in the Bible that says no one knows the time, not even the angels in heaven.  So, with tongue in cheek, while I'm waiting, I fully intend to enjoy the good bounties of  this life.  I fully expect to visit Crown Burger next year at this time.  Ha.