Pineapple HEAVEN!

I am not for sure what it is these days, but...

ALL the friends of our family seem to be going to HAWAII.

Take the Dabling family:

Bart

Janice

Sienna

Tyler

Cody

Chelsea

Gentry

Gee, I hope I didn't forget anyone. Bart and Janice became our friends when we first got started working at none other than The Brass Hearth (now Ruby River) in Provo some 25 years ago. They had kids the same age as us so we traded baby sitting services among other things. They took their family to Hawaii this past couple of weeks as well as caught a couple Rancho Cucamonga Quakes games. (Thank you for the pic of Andrew Gentry!) In return for really doing absolutely nothing...They brought me back a PINEAPPLE. YUM! Oh, did I mention they also brought me back some D.I.R.T. / beach S.A.N.D. Yup, and it is BEAutiful! In addition to the pineapple and the sand, I also got a really cool bracelet. WOW! Glad I got remembered on their journey. Thank you Dablings! Hey, isn't time for a road trip to Idaho Falls?

Sand from the following locations:

Kamaole Beach, Maui Lahaina Beach, Maui Waikiki Beach, Oahu

New Happy Place?

So quite some time ago, I did a google search of the word dirt. YES, YES, I know, there is a lot of smut out there when you type in the word dirt, dirty, dirtier, dirtiest, blah, blah, blah.

But, this time, when I did the same thing, I found a new happy place to visit! The site is called The State Dirt Company. The cool thing is, should I get closer to the end of my journey here on this earth...(no pun intended) I can now PURCHASE some dirt from lots of different states. Now don't get me wrong, I am in NO HURRY to check out as of yet, however, when my time comes to be in the ground instead of collecting it, I want to know I have dirt from EVERY ONE of the states in the

U S A.

Check them out here: http://www.statedirt.com/ I even have some dirt in one of those little jars they sell the dirt in! Go figure! :) P.S. Not that my birthday is coming up anytime soonly, but YOU did ask what to get me right? Shopping. Simplified. Send Soonly!

Don Pedro Lake, California

Let me just start by saying this...
I found it very funny that the delivery of this soil sample in the mail came to me in UTAH, from CALIFORNIA, in a bag from a guy who is JAPANESE(Yamamoto), with a label that says Made in MEXICO and yes,with a return address of ARIZONA.
Thank you my friend, for sending it my way. There is no confusion as to who YOU are!

JUST GOES TO SHOW YA...DIRT TRAVELS!

Don Pedro Lake is located just west of Sonora in Central California. It was collected from the shore at Flemming Meadows. Another fishing tourney was the purpose in the trip, unfortunately, my dirt sample was the only TROPHY received that day! Better LUCK next time? Thank you for the dirt, and for once again including me on your adventure!

Athens, Greece

Thank you to Janet Grandy! She lives down the street from me and has always been an absolutely wonderful example to my family. She is always the first person to bring in a meal, or write a get well note, or share the wonderful items out of her garden. I am never surprised to hear my family talk about a "random" act of kindness shown by this amazing woman. She recently returned from Athens, Greece and was so kind as to bring me some dirt from her travels. The story she shared with me about the dirt is as follows:

Hi Brenda,

The story about the dirt I scooped up in Athens, Greece goes like this. You know how much I love gardens, so while in Athens, I went to the National Gardens which used to be the Royal Gardens that belonged to the Royal Family. They no longer have a Royal Family however. I scooped it up with a spoon under a Wisteria Bowery. When I came through customs in New York, a cool African American Customs Agent wanted to know how much soil I had and why. I told him around a cup and that I collected it for a friend that collects soil from around the world. I explained to him that the soil was not going to be used outside, but that it was going to be put into a glass jar. His response was, "Well, I don't think that a cup is going to hurt anyone in Utah, so go ahead".

Love the story Janet, and LOVE the soil. Athens Greece is on my list of places to visit someday when I become rich and famous. Right now, I feel pretty RICH for having friends like Janet to share in her journeys with me.

Black Beach Hawaii and Meagen's Beach

A L O H A H A W A I I

Even Steven has been a friend of the family for many years and has come to be one of my favorite people that travel. Mainly because he always brings me back some soil from wherever he goes. His latest trip was no exception.

Black Beach Hawaii. WOW! Was this dirt B L A C K. Now I can honestly say that I have seen some different colored dirt and sand in my time, but this truly was the darkest black sand I have ever seen. He said it was that dark because it was still wet from being in the bottle, however, even after it had dried out the darkness was unchanged. The other dirt he brought me was in contrast, quite light in color. Put them together and they looked like salt and pepper.

The second bottle of sand was from a location known as Meagen's Beach. OBVIOUSLY I am going to L.O.V.E. this place because that's my oldest daughter's name. Both of these locations were vacation spots for Steven. He has traveled more and more over the last few years and I look forward to him bringing me a little part of his journey. THANK YOU and on a side note...Steven, see you at the park!

The strangest thing...

The strangest thing happens when I request dirt from folks all around the world...THEY SEND IT! One of my favorite "dirty" stories is about a gentlemen whose wife I was associated with when I worked in the scrapbooking industry. She owned 2 stores in Salt Lake City and she was a very good owner, manager, and scrapbooker. She and I were discussing the value of scrapbooking when she mentioned that she did a lot of her layouts based on the travels of her husband. He was a businessman and traveled not only in the US, but throughout the world. I told her of my collection of dirt, and from then on out, I was always receiving dirt samples from wherever it was he traveled. He, had a collection of sorts himself. He was a collector of Samurai swords... and I thought dirt collecting was unique!

Fast forward to his trip to Singapore....He is checking his personal belongings at the gate preparing for a flight home from the capitol. They find a small plastic bag containing my dirt sample, some traditional items, his Samurai sword he had collected while there, etc. As the security guy is checking through all of his bags, he asks, "what is this strange substance in the plastic bag sir?". Of course, the answer is dirt. IMMEDIATELY, the red flags go up and the Security guard begins to become more scrutinizing of EVERY item he has with him. He makes it very clear that dirt is not aloud to be removed from the country and that he needs to dispose of it immediately. The consequences if he didn't weren't discussed, however, he told me that Turkish prisons were mild in comparison to what happens to felons in Singapore.

The STRANGEST THING IS...

NOTHING was said about the Samurai SWORD! Unreal. So, he takes the baggy, and proceeds to the nearest restroom where he SAYS he is going to dispose of the dirt. He goes in to the restroom, takes off his shoe, removes his sock, pours the dirt in the sock, replaces it on his foot, and then the shoe, and returns to the line where they promptly check himself, his Samurai sword, and MY SINGAPORE dirt in for his flight. The sock-o-dirt and other strange ways dirt has been saved for me is pictured in this post.

For me, I don't care how it is delivered...In a water bottle, in a zip-lock baggie, in a coffee can, or even in a sock...I just APPRECIATE that it is saved and given to me! So, collect it, send it, and I will enjoy it! (Just don't risk a prison term to do it!)

CCC Martinez, California

Here it is...Not only did I get some WAY cool dirt from Martinez, California located in Contra Costa County, but I got something even cooler! A new little grandson named Kelvin Kyler Love. This is the pic of the baby, and the dirt...and yes, every time there is a new place that baby Kelvin will visit, the tradition will continue. New baby. New dirt.

The dirt is from the hospital that Kelvin was born in. Kelvin was welcomed into the world on Monday, April 27th at 4:17 in the morning. Read more about the whole story at www.ridleyclan.blogspot.com. P.S. The little brown spot on the Itty Bitty Diaper...isn't what you think...It's the DIRT! Welcome to the world Kelvin!