Last Saturday night a series of astronomical events happened.   The stars aligned. Several planets were hither and thither – up and down.  Venus, of course, is our bright “evening star” in the western sky at this time.

   That means that Venus is usually the first “celestial body” visible in the evening.  (No, I’m not going to make any double entendre’ jokes about celestial bodies.)

   Saturn was up.  Jupiter and Mars were visible at certain times.  And, Uranus – if you had a telescope could be seen.  (Again – never mind.)  To be honest, the only planet I saw was Venus.

   The night wasn’t exactly the astrological “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.”  Too bad it wasn’t.  The world could use more peace, love and enlightenment these days. That’s what was supposed to happen back in the sixties  when the band The 5th Dimension recorded the #1 hit song “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In.”  That came out in 1969.

    My high school English class had a star-gazing party during that time.  We had been reading  Greek mythology.  We had learned about stars, planets and constellations being named for Greek and Romanized gods and characters.

   We were in the dark up on a “Lover’s Leap” (maybe kind of  “Lover’s Lane’ish” area – but that’s another story).  It was a cliff type area overlooking the Sevier Valley above Glenwood.

   You might say the venue was a little dangerous.  (I wonder why I don’t hear of schools doing these kinds of outings much anymore?)

  We listened to the song “Aquarius” – turned up loud, on the 8-track stereo of a classmate’s fancy car – a light blue Mercury Cougar.  (By the way, Mercury, of course, is a Roman god and the name of the planet nearest the sun.)

   Our teacher was intellectual, very demanding, and a bit eccentric.  I have a second example of this in addition to the star-gazing party.

  We had another party at his house where we were served chocolate cake and dill pickles.  The object of that menu was to teach us to try new things, to not be bound by conventional norms.  (It tasted fine to me.  In fact, I’m salivating.)

   Okay, once again, I’ve run drastically far afield.  Forgive the tangent.  What does any of this astronomical mish mash have to do with my topic – as stated in the title of this piece?  Actually, in truth – nothing.

   What I wanted to set up was that I was in the right place at the right time last Saturday night.  Saying that the stars were aligned was my way of  saying just that – “right place, right time.”

   Saturday, we were in West Jordan in Salt Lake County watching our 10-year old grandson play baseball for a good part of the day.  It was hotter than the surface of Mercury at the ball fields.  (The planet Mercury’s surface temperature can get up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit – so I might be exaggerating a little.)

   Wait a minute.  I can sense another distraction coming on with what I’m writing here.  The distraction would be me blathering on and on about baseball,  weather and World Cup soccer.

   So, just let me say these things: Luke is a great baseball player. His team took 2nd in the two day tournament.  The weather was… well, you already know.  But it’s a dry heat, right?

   And finally, I got lots of sympathy from people at the ball park because I was wearing a Norway tee-shirt.  Norway lost their World Cup match  Saturday afternoon to England, 2 – 1,  in a bit of a controversial extra-time defeat.  I guess I’ll lay off my “Viking ship rowing gestures” for a while now.

   Anywayyy, on the way home to Sanpete late Saturday night, we stopped in Nephi at the 7-Eleven.  Saturday, regardless of any alignment of stars, was July 11th.  July, of course, is the 7th month of the year, so the date was 7/11.

   In all the years that I’ve heard about what can happen at a 7-Eleven store on 7/11, I’ve never been in one of those convenience stores on that date.  (Of course, those stores don’t exist in Sanpete.)

   I entered the store with confidence.  No customers were at the sales counter.  I boldly approached the clerk and innocently asked, as if I were a spy giving a password,  “Is it a special day here at 7-Eleven?”

   Without a word, he picked up a cup, apparently to indicate the appropriate size serving (not huge),  and pointed to the Slurpee machine area.  He then said, for probably the 1,000th time on his shift, “The cups are over there.”  Yes, It was “Free Slurpee Day!

   My pulse quickened.  The machines were beautiful.  Who knew there were so many varieties of flavors?  Who knew they had Fresca Slurpees? (If I’ve ever had a Slurpee, I don’t remember when it was.) I recommend Fresca flavor with a “glug” of cherry mixed into it.  It was so “yum.”

   Circle the date on your calendar for next year.  As for me, I don’t think I’ll wait a whole year for another Slurpee.   I think their freebie marketing strategy may have been successful with me.  It reminded me of the slush we’d get at the Ideal Dairy in Richfield when I was a kid – sometimes with a plop of ice cream in it.

   Well, there you have it – all that build-up for that.  I’m thinking that some of the soda shacks or shaved ice places in Sanpete may have similar icy treats that will work for us on these Death Valley-like summer days.   Stay cool Sanpete!  And,  stay hydrated!  — Merrill