Salt Lake City

I have flown twice to Salt Lake City, and I don’t know why I didn’t see it last time. About a half hour before we landed, I stopped the flight attendant as he offered me (and I accepted) another cup of coffee, (You wouldn’t believe how much coffee has fuelled this long trip. Outrageous, crazy, hair tingling amounts.) and I asked him what I was seeing below. “Looks like the moon” I said, “Do you know what it is?”

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“Salt Flats” is what he said. In the photo above, the white flats are giving way to a mountain,

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but they go on forever and ever. In the summertime, they do speed trials for race cars there, just because it’s so flat and big. They are white and weird. In time, the flats start to become the Great Salt Lake, and it is an awesome thing to see from the sky.

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Crazy weird beautiful. I don’t know why I didn’t see it last time, or why people aren’t talking about this all the time.

Dudes, It’s one of the most beautiful things ever. I landed, got in a cab and went straight to the hotel, because I only had a few hours before I had to be at the event, and I know that the lack of oxygen in Salt Lake City totally slows me down. Bath, dress, curse internet that won’t let me send email, and then walk to the Public Library and see this:

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Tons of knitters, especially for Salt Lake City on a Sunday. There were young knitters, like Piper (7) Maya (almost 9) and bike riding Evelyn. (8)

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There were knitters with babies, like Angela and her sweetie (can’t read my handwriting…is it Lira?) and Rachel, who brought pictures of her twin babies. (She pumped for the occasion. I bet that took a little pre-planning.)

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There were first sock knitters, like Emily, Corey and Amanda.

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There were washcloth bringers, like Amber, Karin and Jennifer.

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There were knitters who came a long way, like Casi, Carolyn and Sharon from Boise.

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or Tama (do you read her blog? It’s a good one) Who came by herself on a train for 750 miles, just to have an adventure all on her own.

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Marlene brought me a beer to make sure I didn’t run into any Beer/Utah/Sunday problems.

(I didn’t, but it was very good to have a backup plan.)

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Caitlin brought me a little teapot so I could always get a proper cuppa when I’m on the road,

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and Nancy Bush inspected my knitting,

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teased me about being a needle short (I like a set of four, she prefers five) and she and Vonnie both gave me point protectors off of their own sock knitting, so distressed were they (not really ) about my lack of them.

When the whole thing was over and done, I got to go out with some of my favourite Utah people.

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That’s Miriam (Yup. The designer herself) Margene, Shelly, Cheryl, Susan and Chris. We had pizza and hung out and I got to play with Miriam’s super-cool camera (now I think mine sucks) and to top it all off?

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Margene had a trunk full of fiber and despite my weakened condition (no oxygen, end of tour) I didn’t steal a thing from her. Not a thing.

That’s it. All done and accounted for. Tomorrow, three, count ’em, three pairs of socks I’ve finished since we last really talked about knitting, and maybe some spinning, because I’ve really missed my wheel.

If you’re in the Toronto Area, don’t forget that there is a “discussion” that I’m leading at the North York Public Library tonight at 7, it’s free (of course) but if you want to come you should call the library at 416-395-5639 to register. I will be shlepping my usual post-tour exhausted and weird look, but Rachel H. is going to wear her big girl boots. She promised.