Four Seasons

 In 52 questions tradition section the last four questions ask what do you look forward to each season, what are the seasonal foods? places? hobbies? and so forth.

I'm sure I could go into more detail but this is what I have thought of so far:

Summer     –     enjoyed pool workouts for the first five years I was here.  The last two years have been more crowded for my taste.  I do enjoy outdoor picnics and barbeques.  I like being in the shade. It’s hot in Utah and equally hot in Oregon.  I don’t recall having fire season each year in Salt Lake.  There were parades and activities all summer long in Utah.  I don’t recall any of them being as hot as Summerfest.  I enjoyed taking the kids to the park for free lunch.  Seems a thing of the past. I prefer Utah summers to Oregon summers overall.

Winter     –     I like the winters in Oregon better than Utah winters where the snow and cold seem to make the season longer.  And the darkness.  Winters are always dark.  I look forward to the lights and decorations and music of Christmas.  I enjoyed sledding and tobogganing in my youth.  I like having green grass in Oregon.  I like Oregon’s moisture as opposed to Salt Lake’s dryness.

Spring     –     I like seeing blossoms on trees and daffodils.  Earlier I had said that Marigolds were my favorite flower but I think I prefer daffodils.  Irises are quite pretty also. I have memories of ham and potato salad that my mom made each spring. I was always grateful that the end of the school year was approaching.

Fall    -         autumn leaves in brilliant colors, the coolness after summer heat, I don’t know that I really have any hobbies.  I like apple cider and watching Jaime’s enthusiasm as it nears Halloween.  No food stands out that I don’t have access to every other season

Mother and Daughter Growing

 

          I am so grateful that Jaime has always had it together moreso than I.  I have been so much happier living in Oregon than I was in Salt Lake.  I have grown more in the last eight years than my entire lifetime in Salt Lake.

          Jaime was apprehensive with starting at Coffenbury Middle School after the summer we moved here, but she loved it.  I think of all her schooling she was happiest at Coffenberry.  I don’t know that she would have endured that same love at Eisenhower Junior High – which is where she would have continued her education if we had stayed.  She has also loved the small town life overall.

          She hasn’t been exposed to many active youth – even in Salt Lake.  I know there are more active youth in our current ward than there had been in our last ward.  Currently she has a boyfriend.  They have talked about marriage and are planning on moving out of state – which has made her apprehensive.  She doesn’t wish to leave us but at the same time she needs to live her life.

          She said she will be moving to a state where he will be closer to his family.  She has two sisters who reside in the same state.  Of course I am aware that the state is larger than Oregon and chances of running into her sisters might be slim.  But there’s the possibility.  I hope that they do make a connection.

          I know she will get growth there living in a larger city.  There are some aspects which she has missed.  I hope she finds it.

          I do know Jai is more comfortable with herself than I had ever been.  I’m fine now, but it has taken so long.  We have been so blessed with her.  I’m certain her growth won’t take as long for her as it has for me.

Day 4: Shopping and Sibs

 We checked out of Layton’s Comfort Inn and headed toward Salt Lake City.  Richard had decided that Jaime and I would need to bring some Salt Water Taffy home to our friends.  He decided that we would have to buy from the most expensive place he could think of:  Trolley Square.

Hey, Trolley Square does have its perks – but they are also rather pricey.  Wherever he believed the taffy was no longer exists – but hey, he did find some kitchen equipment that appealed to his eyes.  We made our purchase and headed out to Valley Fair Mall.  I do remember having purchased candy there.  But that was seven years ago.  Before the pandemic. Neither Jaime nor I especially cared about the taffy.  It claims it’s made with the salt from the Great Salt Lake (which by the way has not been that great for a couple of decades now) I wondered if there was any lake left.

 

While at the food court, Richard saw what appeared like a bowling alley.  We discovered an arcade and bowling had been added to the mall.  I took some pictures of Jaime enjoying herself along with some of the machines. 

From there we went to the West Valley Library.  Richard was happy to be in a real library again.  Jaime and I walked around to look at Fairbourne station.  She was disappointed that the water was not on.  I had not expected it to be. We did take a few pictures.  Mostly to compare then and now. 

Jaime went on a scavenger hunt leftover from St. Patrick’s Day.  We hung around until almost 3:30 and then drove to Midvale to have dinner with my brother Patrick and his wife Sunny and my sister Kayla and her family.  It was so nice to get to see them.  I should have invited Peggy who is a dear family friend who lives closer to Su Casa than either of my siblings do.  Jai was definitely happy to be at Su Casa as she misses the tradition of having gone there so often with grandma (her grandma; my mom)

After we finished eating and took some family pictures, Richard, Jaime and I continued to drive further south and made it to St. George sometime between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.  

We stopped in Beaver to gas up.  Richard took our photos in front of the famous chair.

Randy greeted us at the door and put us up for the next four nights.

Historic Eagles Lodge: Eagles' to Equitable to Bay to Historic Landmark?

          The first location of Salt Lake's Equitable Life and Casualty was housed in the old Eagle's lodge building on 4th South and West Temple. According to this website Roderick Ross had established the company in said location in 1948.  The building itself did not seem the ideal for the insurance business - at least not with the Eagle's Lodge floor plan. Perhaps in the late 1940's it didn't matter that the building contained skinny stairs and a balcony, but it seemed quite inappropriate in the 1980s.

          My dad had been hired as a computer programmer.  I think he used a different entrance to the building than the majority of workers.  On occasion I had opportunity to visit him at his place of work. As a child I remember seeing parts of what I believed to be the basement.  My dad worked with one those huge wall-to-wall computers  (or maybe several) that may have well taken up the majority of the basement.  It is the break room that I remember most.  I remember tables were set up and at least two different vending machines.  One was quite tiny and offered tiny bottled drinks that cost a dime.  Another machine offered cigarettes.  I don't remember seeing any other part of the building until I was employed there myself.

          Good grief! What a mess! I remember the file cabinets were located on the balcony.  The layout of the office space had not been planned.  File cabinets were added and continued to crowd the already closeted feeling workspace.  I remember looking out over the floor below the balcony thinking how everything seemed disarray and congested.   

The building itself may have been a prime location when it housed the Eagles or even when the Insurance Company took over. However, the neighborhood  itself had seemed to go downhill - even with the Sheraton Hotel owning property just beyond the building on the corner. 

          There was a building sandwiched between the Equitable building and the Sheraton parking lot.  I don't know if it had a name.  Most people unfondly called it "Bum Motel" as there were many residents that seemed to lack ethics and made a habit of getting drunk.  I recall dad coming home from work one time to report that a drunk had fallen out of the window and landed on somebody's car.  The drunk was so intoxicated, he was able to walk away.  The car was severely damaged. I was told that Ross' had tried to buy them out and had speculated that Sheraton had tried to buy out the owner as well, but the owner wouldn't budge.

          I had not worked at said location for long.  The company moved to a much nicer building, nicer location and much bigger parking lot.  The building that had once housed the Eagles and then Equitable was eventually purchased by a company that turned it into a dance hall of sorts.  It was called "The Bay".  I remember having gone there just one time.  It appeared that the structure must have been gutted out an rebuilt. As I recall the interior did not remotely resemble the building I had been familiar with several years before.

          The outside still looks the same.  I don't know if  it is currently occupied or not.  This site says it is a historical landmark. I found this picture on google map

From the outside, the building looks the same as it did in 1948.  The picture I had used in this post didn't appear to have ownership either but contains advertisement to put your name here.  I don't know if it was advertized on the building itself or just the photo that I used.  The Google picture doesn't have a name on the building.  I have noticed at least two other vacant buildings during my search.

          I also learned that 400 South is now called University Boulevard - which I guess could have been its name for the last twenty years.  I didn't realize it had been given that name until I started doing research for my assignment. It was probably named so after UTA started using the trains.  The building seems like it would be a good location as it is  next to TRAX (Utah's extended public transportation) but still may not be the greatest part of town.  I don't know this for sure. I'm not there anymore.