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Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 8 Volume VI, Issue X September 1, 2002 Yummy Brownies, Snakes, Earthquakes and Dangerous Valley Women By Drienie Hattingh Directions for high altitudes (3,500 – 5,500): Add ¼ cup of water to mixture. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I’ve always wanted to bake Betty Crocker Brownies following the “high altitude” directions right at the bottom of the recipe. So far I hadn’t been able to bake anything following the allusive “high altitude” directions because I had never lived in high altitudes. Well now I can! I replaced the three tablespoons of water called for in the regular recipe (meant for those flatlanders) with ¼ cup of water. I mixed it into the sugary, almost black cake mix, then spread it out in the pan with glee. I adjusted the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit instead of the 375 degrees called for, for use by regular people—those flatlanders. While I cleaned the kitchen I reflected on the past week, another week of adjustments in Eden. Every waking day brings feelings of loving this place more. Not even the recordbreaking heat or the scary realizations and discoveries that I made since that first glimpse of Ogden Valley could interfere with my feelings of “this is where I want to live forever!” Last week when Johan and I had dinner in the East Village in New York with my daughter Brenda and her boyfriend Rob, we told them about the draining of the Ogden Dam. Answering Brenda’s question about why the dam wall had to be checked so regularly, even during a drought, Johan answered, “They have to because it would be a disaster if an earthquake hit.” “Oh!” Brenda answered, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. Johan realized his mistake and quickly carried on about how good the curried lamb was. But I was very alert. “What did you say?” I asked. Innocently he replied, “I said that this is just about the best curried lamb I’ve ever had.” “No!” I replied. “Before that—the bit about an earthquake?” Brenda had a look on her face of—now you are in trouble Dad! “Umm . . . well, they are just making sure that the dam wall would be safe in all circumstances.” He then succumbed and told me that Utah is earthquake prone. “But not as bad as California,” he quickly added. Earlier I had promised myself that no way would I live in an earthquake area, ever. And here I was—but the strange thing was, I wasn’t as scared as I thought I would be! Then came another reality about this place we call home now. With all the talk and arguments against and for the proposed development up on Powder Mountain, I learned that the beautiful, scenic Ogden Canyon Road—which follows the rushing, breathtaking Ogden River through the Price reduced to $219,900! Wonderful 4 BR 2.5 BA, 2 Car GA home, built in 1997, great condition, priced well below appraisal, MLS#254513. Call or email for Virtual Tour! Just listed for $289,900! Large 1997 4+BR, 4BA, 3 GA, Walkout, French Colonial w/ Mountain accents in Wolf Creek, logon to 360House.com and input MLS# 306039 for Virtual Tour of property! For these & other properties please visit my website: www.kenturner.org Ken Turner 940-9000 Jeffrey D. Shepherd DMD, MSD Specialist in Orthodontics Children and Adult South Pointe Plaza 5300 S. Adams Ave. #9 Ogden, UT 479-9448 Eden Professional Center 2580 N. Hwy 162 #A 745-2519 Initial Examinations are given at no charge Dr. Shepherd has practiced in Ogden Valley for 4 years and his office is conveniently located just 1 block from Snowcrest Jr. High thus allowing students to walk to their appointments. Canyon—is the most dangerous road in Utah! That threw me! We have to use this road, as do all Valley residents, to get to conveniences that we do not have in the Valley. I told everyone that I do not mind travelling so far to have my film developed, catch a movie, or to go Target, because it is so peaceful following the river with the canyon walls towering high above. Then, last week, I saw my first snake since coming to America—just yards away from my back door. I was surprised at my own reaction. All I could think was, “That’s a snake!” while I stood a couple of feet away from it. I did not know what kind it was, or if it was poisonous. It was about two feet long, about an inch in diameter, and sort of a brownish gray color with a scalloped pattern on its scaly back. Its head was lifted a couple of inches from the ground. My neighbor Dianne asked if it made any sound with its tail, to which I replied negatively. I do know that it wasn’t a rattlesnake. Onto the next daunting phenomenon—the women in the Valley! I’ve befriended three lovely, friendly women since coming to Eden. The first one is Dianne, my neighbor. “I do hope you have snowshoes! And I hope you Cross Country Ski!” I was thrilled. I love cross-country skiing but I had to stress that I ski much like I do everything else in life—I stop and smell the roses. And I told her that I’ve never snow shoed. “Oh! It’s easy! I’ll show you!” The next lady I got to know was Shanna, the editor of this newspaper. I called her one “stay inside, hot Valley day’ to hear about a deadline for my article. I could hear loud rushing water in the background. For the life of me I could have sworn it sounded like a waterfall. It was! It happens that I called Shanna on her cell phone while she was hiking in the mountains. “Drienie! I do hope you have hiking boots! You must come hiking with us!” I hesitantly replied that it sounded like fun, and then mumbled something about smelling roses. Then I received a call from Pam. She said that she really liked my article in the paper, and she would love to get to know me. Then she asked me out to lunch! At last! I thought, a normal, middle aged woman! “Thank you! I would love to!” I responded. “By the way,” Pam asked, “do you have a mountain bike?” At this point I have to stress that I am an enthusiast by nature, and I can see the good and exciting in things that would normally put people off, so I see all of the above as things that just add to the character of this place called Eden. Having stated this, I immediately joined “Curves” in Ogden (to get my stamina worked up for hiking, biking and snow shoeing.). This might prove to be more dangerous than all the aforementioned activities, seeing that an earthquake might strike while I’m crossing the dam wall or, even worse, while I’m driving on the most dangerous road in Utah through Ogden Canyon! But right now, I’m going to forget about earthquakes, snakes, dangerous roads and panting up or down a mountain in boots, or on snowshoes or a bike. Johan and I are going to sit outside on our porch and enjoy my yummy “high altitude” brownies, and watch the humming birds whirring past us while the sun sets behind the mountains . . . right now I’m going to stop and smell the roses. I was scared! What is it with these Valley women? It is not that they are “young and restless.” They are about my age, which I used to think is the age when you sort of slow down and meet for coffee or lunch and chat. No Minimums THE PACKAGER, INC. 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