I just realized, sitting here alone at 10 pm while Derrick is climbing up heaven-knows-where, that today is Pioneer Day. Gotta admit it: this "holiday" never held alot of interest for me, except for when I was ten years old and my mom sewed me an apron and bonnet so I could walk around Keewaydin Park nineteen times singing, "Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked, and walked...and (high note here) waaalked." It was a hundred degrees and despite my sweat and tears, I unjustly lost the costume contest. Determined to win something, I decided next to brave the watermelon eating contest and promptly threw up afterwards. (Do you remember any of this, Sarah? I'm sure you were suffering right by my side.)

At any rate, July 24th usually comes and goes and I am none the wiser for it. Perhaps it's because I live outside of Utah, or that I am pitifully ignorant of any pioneer heritage I may posses (how long can I use the "it's not my season" excuse?), or that July is always a whirlwind of crazybusy in our family, so this peculiar holiday gets quickly squeezed out. Regardless of the reason, I don't think much about Pioneer Day, and I probably should. Tonight, however, I came across an essay (in the form of a devotional address) that made me do so. It was written for people like me who just don't get into the whole Pioneer Day Thing, and the author just happens to be Tessa Santiago, who was my favorite English professor at BYU. So in the interest of having nothing interesting to write today, I think I'll gracefully bow out of my blog and let Dr. Santiago do the work, since she is such a better writer than I, and, let's face it, its no skin off her back. The talk can be found here, and don't be fooled by its dry title. I guarantee a totally satisfying experience.

Happy 24th of July!