More on Law Enforcement

I think I may be on the verge of liking this place.

This story is a little out of sequence, chronologically. But I didn't think to blog about it until this morning.

We visited Salt Lake City for a few weeks about a month ago. But we forgot to tell our neighbor. We also forgot to cancel the daily newspaper delivery. The car, also, was left home. Can you tell where this is going?

When we came back from our vacation, there was a business card in the door. It was from an officer in the local Police Department. They apparently didn't enter the home, but, in my imagination, I can see the door to our home opening. An eerie silence seeps through the iron railing in the dining room. Behind the railing, on the couch, the family sits, cryogenically frozen, in what will prove to be a mixed-genre story: science fiction / fairy tale / Mormon folklore. (Think Dr. Who meets Sleeping Beauty, with the role of Prince Charming / The Doctor played by the Elder's Quorum president.) Who can rescue our family from their freakish sleep? Wouldn't you know it? Of all the luck, the family can only be awakened when the home teachers perform a charitable act of service for them. But it must be a true act of charity, and not just done out of a sense of guilt or a desire to post 100% on their monthly home teaching report.

Anyway, back to reality. So we have some conscientious neighbors who were concerned about an unusual situation. That's always a good thing. Who wouldn't want neighbors like that? Still . . . I can't help but think that, since we've moved, the Police have contacted me and my family more than . . . well, more than our home teachers have!

Fish Themes

Finally, some local excitement. (Oh, and if you've missed the most recent pictures: www.picasaweb.google.com/tempppo)

We, unfortunately, missed the Sardine festival last weekend. That would have been exciting. From what I understand, town residents get together on Friday evening to eat sardines and crackers. Then, if you can stomach it, there are Moonpies for dessert. I'm actually kinda sad that I missed it.

Now that the temperatures have cooled off and the mosquitoes have left us, we see children in the park almost every day. That could be exciting -- for Adara. I need to recover from my disillusionment before I can look at the parks with excitement again.

And Jon -- he went fishing this morning. Broke his fishing pole. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about whether that was exciting.

But today was truly exciting. Dinner. Dinner today was exciting.

Our dining choices in the vicinity, assuming that we will be eating dinner after 3:30 p.m. (because that's when most of the local shops close on Saturdays), are national chains, a smattering of local places in the neighboring town, and 2 restaurants in our own historic downtown. We've already been to the Mexican restaurant here -- excellent salsa and yummy food. But the cafe was never a real option. Until tonight.

Their special tonight was an all-you-can-eat fish fry. It could have been a disaster. Fried food at a local restaurant in a tiny, mostly-dead Southern town. Risky. I steeled my belly and determinedly made my way to a potentially wonderful culinary adventure, and an assuredly rememberable dining experience.

It was delicious. I could have eaten for hours. My 2-year-old liked it. She liked it so much she ate 4 pieces. My husband liked it. The wait staff was friendly but not overbearing. There were Halloween decorations to occupy our toddler's attention while we waited for the food. My joy at finding something that I truly liked, without having to invent it or make it in my own home, was unsurpassed in this season of my life.

Yes indeed. The small pleasures are truly the greatest ones.