Not paying attention, evidently.

I have lived in West Jordan since 1981. That's when, a few months after singing son was born, his dad and I moved up to the Salt Lake Valley from Utah Valley, to a little house they like to call a starter home out on the edge of the Oquirrhs. So I know a thing or two about the west side of the south side of this valley, but until today, I had never--never!--visited one of the very best plant nurseries here in Utah, Glover's.

We've been planting our asses off hereabouts, what with the giant landscaping project we undertook (and by we, I mean "singing son and his friend, with me telling them where to dig"). We're totally in the spirit of buying stuff and planting it. So, after the highly successful front yard overhaul (FYO), the historian and I ventured forth today with the agenda being

(1) buy some stepping stones, one of the final parts of the the FYO
(2) buy some shade-loving plants for an area in the back yard known as "under the plum tree"

Our first stop was another nursery, where we bought bleeding heart, some little purple pansies I'm calling violets, polemonium, mint, shamrocks, and some ferns for under the plum tree. Also, a big brawny hollyhock plant to supplement the other hollyhocks in the FYO. They had no stepping stones at this nursery, so on we went to Glovers, where cars were parked for a half a mile down the road on both sides of the street in either direction from the nursery. "What the hell," we said to ourselves. Well, it's Memorial Day weekend, so it's time to plant stuff. High time. Apparently everyone in the greater West Jordan area felt moved to get out and buy stuff to plant it.

I could not believe this place. For years, my friends, I have been buying my plants at Fred Meyer's and also Okubo's, which is all well and good, but at Glovers, there were heirloom tomato plants, gorgeous ones, every kind of tree and shrub you could imagine, herbs--how can I impress upon you the magnitude and magnificence of this place? It's ten acres. As in 10. Acres. Of every kind of plant you could possibly dream up. Oh. My. Gosh!

Not that I need any more plants at the moment: we bought heirloom tomatoes and herbs, 300 pounds of stepping stones (Idaho quartzite, oh yeah), and a lovely iron trellis shaped like stalks of pussy willow. But I might go back there for some lily of the valley, which would probably do very well under the plum tree, unless Bruiser tramples it.

A new human art.

This afternoon, I went over to running son's dad's house to help with the packing. The dad and his wife are very organized and philosophical packers, far more so than I am. They know excellent ways to pack everything, from shoes to socks to dress pants.

For instance, they believe in keeping a photocopy of documents (passport, birth certificate, immunization records) in each separate suitcase. They know how to roll socks and how to roll the garment bag. Shoes? each wrapped in a separate bag (so as not to mark the clothes or scuff each other), but put at the bottom of the bag, because they're weighty, and you don't want them weighing down the clothes, plus they form a base at the base of the bag. I did not pause to reflect how many times I have put shoes any old wherever in my bags. I do not have a philosophy of packing, but I could see how such orderly, considered packing might lead to other forms of order and consideration. So it was good running son had this tutelage and mentorship in the art of leaving this country, his friends and his family, to go to a foreign land.

Running son's dad went on an LDS mission to Argentina, Buenos Aires, back in the 70s. He lived through a coup and the craziness of the post-Peron years. It was a transformative experience for him in nearly every way. Today, I enjoyed watching running son and his dad transform chaos into order, every single thing he would need, just about, for two years into just three bags; seeing the dad teach the son a minor art, preparatory to the major one.

Things you need to pack carefully away when you're going to be gone for 2 years: all Nintendo systems and games. Choice concert and other important tee shirts. Utah Jazz player jerseys. Your various sports medals. Your dvds and cds. Your library card. Your old beat up belt.