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As soon as I got out on the road today, my tooth (the one under the temporary crown) started hurting … higher blood pressure, perhaps, causing it to throb? In any case, since the air actually seemed fairly clear of particulate matter today, I decided to push on.

Definitely didn’t have the legs to attempt any real climbs, so once I got to the zoo, I headed back along Wasatch to 21st South, then dropped back into Millcreek, instead of taking Wasatch all the way back down. When I hit 45th South, didn’t feel like I had done quite enough, so pushed on down Holladay Blvd a bit further towards Cotton Bottom; flipping around and heading for home when I got to Cottonwood Elementary.

Legs and lungs felt okay, but my tooth was definitely bothering me a bit … 11 more days until the permanent crown.

Gravity, erosion rob Utah park of popular arch - CNN.com

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, Utah (AP) — One of the largest and most photographed arches in Arches National Park has collapsed.

Paul Henderson, the park’s chief of interpretation, said Wall Arch collapsed sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.

The arch is along Devils Garden Trail, one of the most popular in the park. For years, the arch has been a favorite stopping point for photographers.

Henderson said the arch was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy others in the park: gravity and erosion.

“They all let go after a while,” he said Friday.

He said it’s the first collapse of a major arch in the park since nearby Landscape Arch fell in 1991. No one has reported seeing it fall.

I’ve never been a big hiker; primarily because it hurts my knees so much … even when I was fit, I never did well walking any great distances, especially not in the heat.

But knowing that one of Utah’s great natural wonders is no more still kind of hits home, because it means that there is one less thing of beauty in the world that I’ll ever get a chance to see.

When I first say the headline, before clicking through to read the full article, I thought “Oh no! Delicate Arch is gone!” … as anyone who lives in Utah knows, Delicate Arch is one of Utah’s major symbols; featured on one of the two main license plate designs.

There was a great deal of controversy a couple years ago when Dean Potter climbed Delicate Arch, possibly causing irreparable damage to the sandstone formation in the process.

Some day, all of the arches will collapse, as gravity and erosion continue to take their toll, but hopefully no more will go before I get a chance to get out there to see them.

Read more about this story at the Salt Lake Tribune.

The top two stories on the New York Times at the moment:

Georgia and Russia Nearing All-Out War - NYTimes.com

As Russia moved in more forces and continued aerial bombing, it appeared determined to occupy the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

In Phelps’s First Event, Gold Medal and a World Record - NYTimes.com

The American pulled away from the field in the final lap to win the 400-meter individual medley in 4:03.84.

It just goes to show that just because the Olympic Games are going on, it doesn’t mean that the world stops functioning or fighting.

I’m not really sure what I should be writing about … the “uplifting” story of Michael Phelp’s first of a possible 8 gold medals, or the depressing story of yet another war about to explode, especially one involving one of the few military superpowers in the world.

I wonder if I will live to see a day when there is not some sort of armed conflict going on in the world … just one day is all I ask, because one day could lead to two, and two days could lead to a week, and two weeks could lead to a month, and two months could lead to a year, and so on …

But somehow, I just don’t think it will happen in my lifetime.