Southern Utah

Yes, I am a huge fan of southern Utah. I will head down there any chance I get. It seems strange, I know, especially given my penchant for the beach, ocean vistas, and water landscapes in general. So why do I so love the half of this state which is basically desert?

I'm not sure I completely know how to answer that. I know part of the attraction I have for the area, specifically, Zion National Park, lies in the creation of many happy memories there over the past 7 years or so. I have made a point of traveling down there whenever I can, with whomever I can. I find great delight in exploring the park over and over again. Then, last week, I was able to tour four additional parks with my DB and his wife -- Canyonlands, Arches, Captital Reef, and Bryce, with a half-day stop in Zion's before we headed home. Arches and Bryce, especially, did not disappoint, though I'm glad I didn't miss the sweeping, almost overwhelming landscape of Canyonlands, either.






However, I believe part of the attraction lies in the fact that the landscape of southern Utah is so vastly different from anything else I have ever known, shocking my senses into a much-needed, altered state. Basically, my brain turns off when I am there. Well, perhaps not exactly turns off, but the colors and landforms allow my thinking to somehow let go in a way that does not happen at home. And in that sense, I can turn off the many voices that call to me in my daily life and just be. Southern Utah requires nothing else of me than to look and explore at my whim. I realize I am in a a peaceful state there, the foreign having become familiar.







I'd like to learn how to transfer some of this respite in thinking into my daily life. I think another trip to southern Utah might help me get a handle on it ...