Boreal Witch

I've been to many stunning places around the world. So far, my favorite place to visit has been the Greek Islands. I hope to go back someday.

But I digress. There are so many lovely places in our own country, too. Really. I lived in different parts of one of the most beautiful states in the U.S. for a very, very long time. Even places like the birch forests around Fairbanks or the flat, treeless tundra of the North Slope - both of which seem rather uninteresting - hold remarkable beauty. I still remember how the snow sparkled in the moonlight or how the Northern Lights danced or how the tip of the teasing winter sun peeked above the horizon before back dipping below. I remember glaciers and mountains and waterfalls. I remember the Kenai and the Chilkoot and the Inside Passage.

But that is only one kind of beauty. Alaska does not boast a slow spring or a colorful fall. There are only two seasons: winter and summer. Autumn colors are reserved for states like Washington or Wisconsin. Alaska has mountains, yes, but they are typically covered in snow - the jagged peaks sticking out from the white drifts.

I have been to Utah several times now and every time I spent most of my trip in Utah Valley. It's suburban, but has grown into a sort of urban jungle, as briefly described in my last post. In the past, visits to Utah meant we stayed close to Robinson's family; however, since we had planned to drive down to Cedar City for a couple of days to say good-bye to the Adams Theatre, Robinson promised to take me to Zion National Park.

I have never been to the Southwestern United States or the Grand Canyon or even the desert. In high school, a friend of mine went to Arizona or New Mexico and brought back some of the local plants in ziplock bags - the Yucca being the only one I can recall. The Native Americans used to make shampoo from the root, my friend had said. There were some tiny delicate flowers, too, but I do not know their names.

Up until now, Utah was the closest I have ever come to the area, so it is the only place from which I could draw my experiences. Even those experiences, however, are limited to northern Utah. The area hills look like a tel I would have excavated in Israel. But again, I digress.

Perhaps my favorite part of this trip to Utah (besides visiting family) was witnessing a different sort of beauty. I could go on and on about the magic of Zion; how the place seemed other-worldly with its red rock and picturesque scenes, but I'll let the pictures prove it to you. I took almost 200; these are my favorites.