A great adventure
Unfortunately, the Mormons have such a stronghold on the culture and history of Utah that most people wrinkle their noses at the mention of this particular state. As in “Utah? Who would want to go there?”
This is really too bad because, after traveling the length and width of Utah the past week, I’ve found that it is a spectacular place. I’ve never seen anything like it- the shape, color, and size of the landscape changes so often that I didn’t dare stop looking out the window of the car. Just when I thought the land couldn’t possibly produce another unusual or fascinating formation or geological process, it did just that.
The landscape of Utah reminded me of the Aborigines of Australia, which I studied as an anthropology minor in college. The Aborigines do not experience linear time as we do, and see the past, present, and furture occuring simultaneously in the timeless landscape. They also saw a mystical force at work in the land, carving and creating formations that interact and portray beings, gods, stories about the world. This made sense to me as I looked at the vast variety of shape and formation that bore resemblances to castles, fortresses, animals, humans, beings from another world. The power of the landscape implies the presence of a living force with an artist’s mind, surely having more intent and purpose than the meanderings of wind and water.
Oct 7th 2003Uncategorized