We returned from four nights and five days up in Bountiful just this afternoon. It was one of those classic bittersweet interludes of life, we will benefit from the experiences and interchanges for a long time.

The Twenty-Fourth festivities were nice in themselves,although each successive year seems to make them a bit more hectic and crowded, a little more impersonal and given to a blind obeisance to celebration for the sake of the celebration instead of the celebrated.

The little bit of the parade that we saw was just that, we didn't get there until very late because of our own disorganization and also because of the somewhat lame Suburban with a malfunctioning fuel pump. My grandpa's house is forlorn, without anyone living in it, with no furnishings and being marketed to the masses by those who market for a living. That's probably the root of my problem with the state of the holiday in all honesty.

All in all, t's a true blessing to be with the clan and the fireworks are amazing from my uncle's inlaw's home. I'm grateful that they put up with the lot of us on their back lawn for the evening.

The carnival on the twenty-fourth itself was as it has been for quite a few years, the incarnation of all that bothers me about the current state of the holiday, moneychangers invading a holiday sacred to the ancestors and people who made this culture and settlement possible. Now the carnival is standardized and ticketized, stacked and given to the overpriced carnival hawkers with their elecricized spin buckets and floaty-boats twirling around for dollars, attended to by bored itinerants unconcerned about the occasion or the attendees.

The best part of the day was a get-together of cousins up Mueller Park Canyon, with much conversation, cool breeze and junkfood for all involved. I really miss my cousins, it's good to know they're there. It's good to have a place where one belongs.

Sunday was grandpa's viewing, my first event of getting down to the gritty of why we were all in town together. After heading down to Springtowne to drop off Moshe at the house for the rest of the weekend, the evening came on all too fast. Herding my group here and there took much out of Drie and I, and although we felt to some extent the gravity and levity of the evening, we felt detached and harried. It was good to get to bed after the evening's activities on Sunday.

It's a bit late and I'm quite tired even now, so I'll continue the account tomorree. Hope all is well with you.