Salt Lake
15 Fri, 2010 § 5 Comments
As a child I played in the gaps between buildings…fallow land, abandoned lots, open fields, muddy bogs…& untouched sand mines. Formed through misplanning, they were our empire, the empire of children.
Ours was a dirty, unused place with snakes, lizards, frogs, insects of every category & wild vegetation.
Children instinctively understand the language of nature. They can read it, if only they’re allowed to climb the fence & play undisturbed.
But the city gardeners arrive — the eliminators of mystery, the killers of empty spaces. They move, pave & plant in zones where children & teenagers once played.
They pave the paths people may walk upon & frame the off-limit grass with perfectly composed borders. The flowers live in identical pots of cement.
Naturalness is understood as the annihilation of spontaneity through perfect gardening.
-adapted from Design Anarchy
Salt Lake City is beautiful in many ways & special to me. Coming from a small town, its vast population introduced me to diversity & taught me there exists infinite ways of thinking. I learned tolerance & began to appreciate individual uniqueness that lends to the world’s beauty. I took my first steps here on the road to truly finding myself — rather than selecting from a pre-designed list — & embraced inner searching.
It is here that I met Dave, finally embraced loved activities & discovered many new passions like rock climbing, biking, food, kayaking, knitting & photography. SLC shook me out of my rut & helped me to openly love life & myself.
Now, sometimes it is difficult to still see all the reasons I loved SLC…as it moves farther from nature & a sense of community.
Anymore, even during these beautiful, intimate glimpses nature permits us, there is still the nagging voice of “civilization” [often hummed in form of marketing] lingering in the background or muffling the open spaces that people once strolled…together.
Yes, we do still find some escape & cherish its beauty,
yet even here, we are still smothered by the exhaust-filled canyons.
It is time to move on…maybe for a time…maybe forever…
~
I love Salt Lake, I do. As we come to this crossroad, I say my goodbyes to a place that intimately shaped who I am now, taking with me what I have learned & love. I am ready to create new experiences, continue to search & live.
~
Have you ever said goodbye? Have you ever stayed in a place long enough to watch it move farther from what you loved?
Best of luck in your last day of packing up. I remember vividly saying goodbye to you and Dave as it was my time to move away. And I’m thankful that it was a physical good-bye and that you remain very much a part of my life. Honk for me as you drive away. XOX
Oh I remember that day 😦 boo
But like you, I am grateful it was only physical. Whatever would I do without my best friend remaining a huge part of my life?
1 Honk for you; 1 Honk for me; & a Honk for Eisley I suppose. 😉
Just think of how much different and better the rest of the world can be at times, and all the new possibilities, experiences and people you will encounter outside that insular city. Although I was once sad to leave as well, I’ve never looked back or regretted it for a second. Onward and upward, as they say. 🙂
Onward & Upward indeed 🙂
We’ll see you in about 10 hours! [I hope.]
[…] We left behind what was familiar & safe… […]