The Hills Are Alive

After a bookish jaunt on the Alm with Heidi and company this past week, Jeff and I went to Midway to stay at the Swiss themed Zermatt resort.  We had such fun eating pizza on Main Street; surrounded by a few tipsy customers and hilarious waitresses, driving through the misty hills, giggling at the knickers on the valets and watching the rain torrent down outside our room.  If you love all things swiss, this is definitely a great destination.  In the morning, we took a walk/scoot around the grounds and took pictures of the local wildlife--goats.  Two managed to escape their enclosure, I guess the bark on the outside is tastier.  The hills are still so green, I can hardly believe this is Utah in August.  It is no wonder that the Swiss immigrants settled here, its a small scale Alpine beauty.  On one side of the gazebo, we found the haunt of the "daughters of the terrible thing," a mossy bottomed pool, just as in my favorite story of Fearnot(Check out Jim Henson's Storyteller series, a collection of old folklore and fairy stories brought to life-- the library has it).

We had pastries at the bakery and headed off to Park City in search of some navy blue shoes for Caitlyn's skinny feet and some work shirts for Jeff.  I am not sure why we decided to start at the bottom and work our way up, but I sure got a workout.  It's funny, people treat me so much more normal on the scooter than when I use any other implement to get around.  Maybe it is because I look more athletic and svelte.  Ok. Svelte is a stretch, but at least I am at eye level and that's easier for others.  

In probably at least 25 years, I have missed Swiss Days in Midway only 4 times.  Once, missing Swiss Days as a grown adult, my parents called from the park grounds and I teared up just hearing the yodeling in the background.  My parents took us every year as kiddies and when I got older, I chose it every year as what I wanted to do for my birthday.  I still remember getting my first real purse one year and buying a custom-made button pin with my name on it for the purple bolster shaped tote. That was when I was still eating the giant scones.  This year will add to the total of missed festivals.  Death by the craft-crazed doesn't sound all that appealing for some reason.  I will miss it, but Zermatt and Heidi gave me a good fix for the year.   I usually don't buy anything (call it a case of "I could make that"or "they want how much for that?") but I love to walk around, sample a grilled ham and swiss, visit the Relief Society bakery tent, grin at the Swiss Miss royalty, and hear my favorite yodeler, Kerry Christensen.  Really, if you are there this upcoming weekend, pay attention-- you will be stunned at how a human can make those sounds and melodies, with a male voice no less.  So, for my birthday, I will part with tradition, find my yodeler on YouTube and finish the project I vowed to make on my own from last year's festival.