The Great Salt Lake

I've never been to the Great Salt Lake in the time I've lived in Utah.  The GSL is the vestige of the ancient lake Bonneville that used to cover the whole region with fresh water.  In fact, there's a high-water mark of that lake on the surrounding mountains that's referred to as "the bench".  Bonneville lake drained about 14,000 years ago.  You can read more about it here if you'd like.

We traveled the causeway to Antelope Island last weekend.  The island felt kind of prehistoric if not other/alternate worldly to me.  It's very quiet, smells bad, and there aren't the predictable signs of life you might find near the ocean like seaweed, crabs, and thriving vegetation.  I guess there are birds, buffalo, and antelope, but you'd have to visit it to understand.  Maybe it's the plague-proportion clouds of brine flies... Turn up your volume to get an idea of the sound.

Tommy insisted on a closer look at the water. We weren't sure if he'd like it, but he sure didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

Clouds of brine flies move around you as you walk.

Some of the wildlife on the island.

Birds sitting on a sand-bar offshore.

In non-related news, Tommy is a funny eater.  A few weeks ago I grilled salmon for dinner and made something more kid-friendly for Tom.  He flatly refused his special meal and proceeded to eat about 4 oz of salmon.  Fast forward to this past week when I made salmon again, Tommy refused to eat salmon or fried zucchini which he's also eaten well on a few occassions.  At least he's eating most of the time.

Not your typical kids meal.  Maybe he would have eaten it better off my plate?

Some good pictures of Mario have surfaced - thanks everybody!  This was Mario in his younger years getting his head-hump groove on.

I normally wouldn't put these up, but little else brought Mario so much happiness as dominating Kirby.

Lastly, I helped Pat take a load of green waste to the dump yesterday and recall reading that old rear-projection TVs had big fresnel lenses.  The West-Bountiful dump usually has a big recycle area full of them so I thought I'd check it out.  Indeed - I took 3 home, one of which is in good shape.

I need to put it in a frame so it doesn't bend, but even flimsy and hand-held it melted steel.  I need to get some welding goggles next because that bugger is bright...