Suddenly...

Suddenly, a potato!

Perhaps there are some that would not be surprised to find a large potato sitting on a parking strip, but I am not one of them. I was actually overjoyed to find this large tuber and exclaimed "rolling around like a big potato!". Potatoes are always good and I, for one, think that they should be found at random times, for one's collection pleasure. Just thinking about it makes me want to cook up a pot of mashed potatoes.

I wanted to walk down 200 South, between 200 and 300 East, as there used to be a Comics Utah store there. I really enjoyed that location and I have fond memories of going there to buy comic books, Dungeons & Dragons material, and also Magic the Gathering cards. I think that the store location and design were ideal; there was something somewhat moody about the location and I think the best times to visit were in the spring or fall.

Very close by was this fence, which is very evocative.

Spencer and I turned North on our walk and I enjoyed a view of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. I really enjoy looking at this building and someday I want to go inside and tour it. I think that there is so much wonderful architecture on South Temple. I will be taking several pictures there and talking about them in the future.

Finally, there is this wonderful front of the Larkin Mortuary. I like the rock work to the left and right of the doors. One of my friends from work had his funeral here.

A Mural and a Truck

I took a late break from work today to go walk for a snack. I intend to take several pictures of the murals that are on the walls all throughout Salt Lake City. This one is pretty new and I think that they have done a good job with it:

There is something interesting about this large machinery. Spencer was on my walk again with me and asked me what it was drilling for; I said obviously oil, with the spike in prices lately - black gold, Texas tea. 

This truck caught my attention; not much else to say about it. 

This used to be the giving tree; it was a large tree where people would leave items for others to pickup. I have seen apples, clothing, and many other items here as I have walked past over the years. Somewhat recently we walked past and the tree was cut down. I did a little research then and found an article about it, but I couldn't find it again to link to here. It is one of those interesting and odd things that I see and enjoy as I walk around town. 

Construction Time (Again)

I walked to the bus as I do each morning. I thought that the view of the Oquirrh Mountains was beautiful today, so I snapped a shot. I like the cloud formation and it shows the open field area (which will be turned into a highway sometime unfortunately).

I also found another picture of technological urban design that I think is good art. I like the rock design, the metal cage, and the symmetry of the piping. You decide for yourself:

I took a break with my buddy Spencer, at work today. We walked up to Smiths and took a look at the deconstruction of the buildings that are being taken down for the new Public Safety Building. There were several interesting things there. This picture shows the destruction of the trees, to clear the land. I like the view of the City and County Building to the west, with both the old and new Salt Lake Libraries in the foreground.

I thought the boom on the side of the sidewalk is noteworthy here. Also the big wall, cutting off view from the street. 

This picture shows the main destruction of the building. The tree contrasts the urban design and waste with a portrait of life on the verge of spring. 

What a strange looking machine, menacing the living trees:

Finally, a slightly humorous (to me) picture:

For all Starcraft and Starcraft II players, this is where the Zerglings spawn in Salt Lake City; that or it is a leak in the water main, but that just seems so ordinary!

I was non-plussed by this scene in Smiths. I have never seen this product before (I mean, I have seen strange tomatoes, but I have never seen them advertised like this): 

BTW, it says "Ugly Ripe Tomatoes"

Finally, walking away from Smiths, a finale of sorts of the construction theme of this posting. Spencer commented that the large cost to fix pavement issues in parking lots keep most businesses from doing this:

Also, isn't that roller in the picture above cool? I decided to take the picture after we were a bit away from it and thought that you don't see one of those everyday. 

Downtown

I decided to look at the flower beds out front before I walked to the bus today. Here is what I saw:

It looks like the crocuses are coming up fine. There are also tulips coming up, but the flowers are not out yet. 

I walked up to the Salt Lake Temple in the early afternoon and enjoyed the walk, although it wasn't as nice as yesterday. It was overcast but probably about the same temperature. I got a couple pictures on Social Hall Avenue (which is a pretty cool name for a street). I wanted to get some construction in progress pictures of some of the buildings and I also noticed that the Walker Building stuck out a bit. 

I got up to the Temple and found several interesting pictures. The Angel Moroni really stuck out to me in the sky, although I don't think this picture does it justice. Also, the reflecting pool looked really peaceful (the whole place was peaceful, which I think is generally the case). 

I also was a little amused with how they dealt with all of the snow fall that occurred yesterday:

On the way back, I noticed a really peculiar house. This could easily be a nice haunted house, or simply a hidden picture scene. I like how the vines are hanging off the roof area and the whole general feeling of the house. 

There is a tree right by my work building that I find fascinating. Notice the character that this tree has. Then notice that the planting area is all bare dirt. This is right downtown, so I find it a little interesting how desolate that area is; however, I dub it fortune flats, as I found a few pennies there one day. 

Finally, I took note of these interesting pipes coming out of the building. I think that maybe I noticed them particularly because I recently listened to a podcast on EconTalk about how our technology can actually be beautiful and full of art. In fact, the comment is made in the podcast that we didn't start romanticizing the rural until we came to the urban, which is an interesting statement. I quite like listening to EconTalk and I am sure that I will bring up some of the topics again in my other postings. Anyway, enjoy this artful pipe display:

A Beautiful Day

Today started out like most of my days. I waked to the bus in the snow and got into work. I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and rode TRAX up to 9th East and walked to the office on about 100 South. The appointment went well and I received good news about my ear, which has been bothering me.

A little history - my ears have bothered me for years, with echoing and a feeling that fluid has been stuck in them. This happened again a few weeks ago when I was swimming a few times. I had to halt my swimming / exercise for a few weeks when I developed a cold. This exasperated the fluid feeling and I also felt like an infection was building the last couple of days, as my ears were getting sore.

Fortunately, the doctor only saw a little swelling and it looks like they are clearing up. He also verified a method of taking care of "swimmer ear", which I had researched - to put a mixture of rubbing alcohol and vinegar in the ear, to evaporate the water. He put a similar solution in my ear and it feels much better.

I decided to walk all the way back to work and because I was in a good mood, the weather was nice, and the snow was beautiful, I got to thinking. I decided to take a picture or pictures on a walk each day and blog about them. I took the following pictures of the snow in the trees, which I really enjoy to see. I also posted one to Facebook, with the same caption as this title entry. I thought about how it is so easy to complain about the weather, when there really is beauty to see it in every day.

All of the pictures were taken in about the same location on 1st south, about 8th East. It truly was a beautiful day for a walk.