Bird Man

I saw a guy today who was walking home from the grocery store. He looked like a normal fellow at first, until I noticed the bird sitting on his shoulder. It was a parrot or a cockatoo or something, and it was just perched there, happy as can be! I wonder why it didn't fly away.... Wings clipped? Tied to the man somehow? Just really well trained? Anyway, it was a weird sight to see some dude walking around with his pet bird on his shoulder. Maybe he's a pirate....

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

While riding the Trax today, I overheard a conversation between a middle-aged woman and another woman in her mid-20's. First the middle aged woman asked for directions someplace. Then the conversation continued as follows:

"I just moved here a few months ago. I'm not sure."
"Oh, where are you from?"
"I'm from New Jersey."
"Oh, New Jersey huh? So what do you speak, German?"

-- she was totally serious.

To Market, To Market

The downtown farmers market started last week. HOORAY! I love going and buying local, fresh produce. My sister-in-law and I walked down today with her two kids in the stroller. I didn't get much, just some lettuce, beets, a loaf of bread, and some jam. I decided that next time we go, if I'm feeling brave enough I'm going to buy some of the vegetables I've never heard of and give them a try. They have all kinds of things there I've never eaten before. Right now they have mostly leafy greens and root veggies, but I can't wait for the weeks when the fruit comes! They have some great peaches, raspberries, plums, etc. I LOVE fruit! And you can't beat it when it's fresh and local. It's almost like eating it right off the tree! Someday perhaps I'll have a house with a yard and might try my own garden, but for now the wonderful Farmer's Market will have to do!

ACE, the helpful place

Some of you who live in Utah may have heard about this on the news already, but for those who haven't....Rob went out to run some errands yesterday morning, and shortly thereafter he called me saying, "get the camera and meet me at the bottom of the stairs. You gotta see this!" -- I had no idea what he was talking about. This is what he took me to see.

From looking at this photo, it would appear that this ACE truck made too sharp of a turn and tipped over, but just wait....it gets better.

Seriously, how is this not falling over?

BOOM! No, it wasn't just a sharp turn, this truck was hit by a Trax public transportation train! You can't see it in this photo, but the windshield of the train is shattered. This happened just before 10:00 AM at the intersection of 400 South and 600 East in downtown Salt Lake City, just a few blocks away from our condo.

My favorite part? Check out the road sign in the top-right corner. The truck driver wasn't obeying traffic rules, now was he! He made an illegal left-turn, and the train was right there, coming down the tracks. The train couldn't stop in time, and shouldn't have had to stop because nobody should have been turning left in that intersection!

No Left Turn! The funny part is this happened right in front of an Ace store. The driver was trying to make a delivery, and was probably just too lazy to go around the block.

ACE

The helpful place.

For those who wonder why you sometimes can't turn left when you think you should be able to, this answers your question!

and (p.s.) - no one was seriously injured in this collision, just in case you were wondering.