Holiday Weekend

I took my granddaughter Ella to the site this morning.  On our way we saw one of Provo's wonderful balloon festivals.

Pigs fly in Provo.

Ella told me she wanted to move here.  I thought that would be grand.  Her parents might be a little surprised to read about this, though.  She was very interested in the history of the tabernacle, which made me happy.

Because of the holiday weekend, the site was very quiet.

Ella spied a lot of pigeons.  I told her that all the bricks will be repaired.  Each of these long, white stones has been numbered and assessed for damage.

The plaster facing on the brick was added after the tabernacle was originally constructed.  The plaster will be replaced with limestone wainscoat. 

All of the mortar between the bricks will be repointed.

Ella and I figured out why the Lego men wear hard hats.

I told Ella that the bride's room will be in the lower level of the annex on the west side.  A beautiful skylight with art glass will light this room.   

Then I pointed to the two west towers, one of which can be seen on the left side of this picture.  I told her that brides and grooms would walk up spiral staircases inside the towers to reach the sealing rooms.  She commented she'd have to love someone a whole lot to want to be married to him for eternity.  Wise child.

I told her the baptismal font would be on this east side, and that maybe when she's about 13, the temple will be finished and she can go into the baptistry.  

As for me, I keep trying to peek into the basement.  My camera lens affects the perspective, so you are not seeing a center wall through the basement, you are seeing the north foundation wall.

At least, that's what I believe to be the case.  If I could get a better look inside, I'd know for sure.  Look carefully and you can see the south foundation wall on the left and the east foundation wall on the right. 

I was surprised to see two concrete forms in the south lot.  Yes, I'll watch this.

Jacobsen has created several observation points along University Avenue and Ella had fun taking pictures.   But again, perspective is way off here.  The two white drains coming from the site are one full city block apart.  The viaduct is at about 6th South, where the train station is for Frontrunner into Salt Lake City.  You're thinking you'd like to move here, too.

We walked over to the west lot.  The new slab on the left of this photo is dry and clean.  The forms around the slab covered with membrane indicate a concrete pump will visit the site again soon.  The tower caps in the north lot have been covered with tarps, perhaps in anticipation of our nice rain storm last night.

On our way home, we made an additional stop to see more fun things in Provo!