A Tale of Two Temples: Part 2

House of Mamon

OK - so I'm really long overdue getting this out. It s been a busy week.

The other side, and the really unexpected side of this place (to me), has to do with the ostentatious display of wealth. The Worker Bee State, around Draper in any event, is wealthy. Mac-Mansions abound - especially in the hillside view-burbs of Draper. This does not extend to most towns we passed through in the south however - Cedar City being a possible exception (although a less showy one)

I gather as well that Utah ( which really means SLC) is the boob-job capital of the US. I'm sure you, like me, would have assumed it to be California. (my sources are fairly reputable - but perhaps not overly scientific in their estimations). Who would have thought plastic surgery would find such a warm welcome here!

The area also attracts those who would be fit (and pretty)- with runners and cyclists appearing along every road and trail. I gather the world class powder and endless sunshine have something to do with this. ( not sure how you exercise when it's 104F out - but I'm assured it's a dry heat that doesn't bother one let alone cause one to sweat)

As with most of the States, vehicles are large here. Escalades dripping in Bling are quite routine. No surprise then that the SLC area is far more about the car than it is about creating great, mixed-use pedestrian Main streets. I will say however that at least in Draper, when they do civic improvements (round-abouts, bridges etc.) they do a world class job. And more, the city has been buying up surrounding land and making an enviable trail -system in areas which would otherwise be lost to sprawling view-burbs.

Gotta like that. 

Next, the Canyons. 

Images of Utah

To better understanding why you may want to visit Utah, Check out Fatali's work. It is truly surreal. And note, these are all on film - not digital.

Fatali

A Tale of Two Temples: Part 1

House of Mormom

From what I'm gathering, Mormonism is all about Christ. And more specifically, that he rose again (the second coming) in these here hills. After the death of the founder, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young led followers west to Utah in 1844 or so. Since then, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints (LDS - not to be confused with LSD) has spread around the world. The FLDS (Fundameltalist Latter Day Saints) claim to be the pure ones and cherish the ability to hoard wives.

Our hosts, who admittedly are not experts in the matter, tell us there are said to be tablets and texts hidden hither and yon in the mountains around us. There are modern prophets, who head things up and are the conduit to god - or possibly Jesus. Apparently, he's still talking (not so much to me mind you). There is something of a shroud of mystery around the whole thing as even honest to goodness Mormons cannot fully answer our host's questions on the how's and why's of the faith. They have gleaned, however, that there is much good in the philosophy. Some not so good as well. 

Mormon philosophy means you give back- and happily: 10% of income goes to the church. Church, in turn, supports the Scouts, they build parks, playgrounds, trails etc.. And temples. They're everywhere around here. Most impressive, set high in the hills (looking over the realm), and with really big parking lots. 

Also interesting, the Bishop has a day job - and can only serve for 5 or so years. No need to go on TV to raise funds. The Bishops, it turns out, carry out a role rather like social workers in the community. Very good - in principle at least.  

Back to these other guys - the prophets. I gather there are 6 or so of them currently. They are shrouded in mystery, can read from the tablets in the unknown language and much, much more - but I am not able to comment further - for obvious reasons. 

Traditional Mormon values hold that women are expected to raise the children while men to go out and provide. A typical church service lasts 3 hours. After church sermon of an hour or so, men and women are broken into two camps for lessons - and kids into a third - presumably custom-tailored to their specific roles in the community. This makes sense - in this context. 

Hard work, chores for children and a general nose to the grindstone ethos are held in high esteem. All good stuff. And no surprise then that Utah is called the Worker Bee state. No surprise either that despite their good will to humanity, the strong work ethic puts them rather firmly in the Republican camp - at least as far as that 47% is concerned. 

Oddly, and so far inexplicably, candy is huge here - particularly in Mormonish grocery stores. This is a non-sequitur. I have nothing else to add on this point. Please feel free to read between the lines. 

I would be remiss if I weren't to mention the best bit: one of the guys, Joseph or Brigham, wrote the tablets in a language that no one else knew. I'm sure this as a consequence of divine intervention, and it had the fortunate side effect of making him grand pooh-bah as only he knew the word. Or words, in the event there were more than one. I'm not clear on this and the prophets aren't telling. 

Discussing all of this internally, it turns out that what does not sit well with the family, is that excess is not tolerated. No coffee, no alcohol etc.. This does not hold for other aspects of life however - wives for example (for the FDLS).  And all that hard work seems to provide for pretty fine incomes and leads to the next blog - so stay tuned. 

And So We Begin - Day 0.25

As with most trips, we got off to a late and somewhat rough start. First, we were supposed to be going into the city the test drive a car for Christine. Wanting to appear of modest means, we took the Echo - car of the proletariat  And so when the small raccoon stepped out of the tall grass and into the line of the front right wheel, it sounded as tho a bomb had gone off in the car. Startled, I looked back into the rear mirror to see something fly up into the air.

Christine thought we'd hit a cat. Damn. Fast U-y and back to the scene of the hit. One very dead raccoon on the road. Phew. He clearly felt nothing. We resumed out trip.

About 20 minutes outside Antigonish - the noise started. Ignoring it only worsened it. Something to do with the cursed right front wheel. Pulling over to the verge, I stepped out into the dusk and faced a brisk wind and spitting rain. Temperatures were falling sharply. Armed with my iPhone as a flashlight - I surveyed the damage. Seemed the coon had taken a certain degree of revenge on the hapless Echo. A piece of under-body shielding had torn loosed and had jammed against the front wheel until the tire tore through it. Now what. Didn't want to tear it off. Didn't want to have it further self destruct. No rope or wire in the car. In a perfect MacIvor moment, I tossed out a half of a cinnamon roll and tied a knot in the plastic bag which I then threaded through a hole in the body work. Good idea - but not long enough. Now what? Next excellent thought - dog poo bag. Knotting the two together, I had just enough to tie the flapping appendage off to the grill. Our car, now held together with two plastic bags, soldiered on.

Hurtling through the darkness past New Glasgow, I saw an apparition. Not wanting to hit the said apparition, I veered sharply to the left - the right wheel again being targeted by - of all things, a large grey owl standing in the road - glaring at me. What the hell? All of this before we even make it to the airport. If the entire trip was going to go this way, we were in for quite a treat!