St. George, Utah, USA

It's time to save! Please put some of your earnings in a savings account so your local bank has some money to lend (and make money on). To say thank you, many banks perch a clock outside as a public service. That was especially important before the era of inexpensive wrist watches, which essentially privatized times. [2009]

St. George, Utah, USA

According to geographer James Parsons (Landscape 30:1/1988), most hillside letters "can be traced to a single decade, 1905-1915. They have almost always been built and maintained by college or high-school student groups." That's the case here. This D was created by students at Dixie Academy (now College) in 1915. [2019]

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Utah is a landlocked state. So, why is the seagull the state bird? Think about physical geography: The Great Salt Lake is really a gull-enflocked inland sea. Think about human geography: According to LDS myth, seagulls saved the early Mormon pioneers by eradicating a hoard of crickets that were devouring the spring crops. [2020]

Apple Valley, Utah, USA

Cattle Valley might be a more appropriate name than Apple Valley. And, were it not for that water pump windmill (or "wind engine"), even cattle could not live in southern Utah. Scenes like this are seen all over the intermountain West where watering holes must be engineered to keep the ranching economy afloat. [2019]

Hurricane, Utah, USA

It's only a row of storefronts along the town's main street. What sets it apart? A peddler's wagon. It was used to haul sorghum and fruit to communities in the north, and wool to rail stops for shipment back east. Maybe Hurricane should add an historical marker explaining all that. Oh, wait, they already did! Where do you think all this info came from? [2019]

Hurricane, Utah, USA

If you miss the age of dinosaurs, if you want to scare the birds away from you garden, if you want to give all the kids on your block something to talk about, all you have to do is buy a Mesozoic monster from you local metal smith! You may also want to buy a posy or two in case you don't have a green thumb. [2019]

Washington, Utah, USA

Hatchback open.

Music in motion.

Parking lot empty.

Plays he fortemente.

Talent's a wasting,

No listeners chasing

His dotted half notes

Or rhythms that float

Across a wide sea

Of just asphalt and me.

[2019]

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

It's time to celebrate Utah's qasquicentennial! Statehood came 125 years ago, making it the last state of the nineteenth century to join the union. The capitol was finished ten years later. When you see Capitol Hill up close, it looks like the humid East, but when you zoom out you realize it is all an illusion: You are in a desert. [2020 and 2003]

St. George, Utah, USA

 

Biggest Spider:  Here is a monster arachnid who has taken over the whole town. You can do him no harm because he is wearing a coat of armor, one made of Utah license plates (see them?). Alas, he was captured and moved off Main Street to become the front man for a pest control company! [2019]

Tremonton, Utah, USA

The coronavirus era is upon us, but something is going on at the Box Elder County Fairgrounds. The cowboys have arrived, they will soon be on horseback, and they will offer some performance art to lift both our spirits and the spirit of place. What else enlivens the spirit of place? The name of the fairgrounds: Box Elder is so mood-placating. [2020]

Virgin, Utah, USA

Here is the type of covered wagon that served settlers moving westward from the prairies. It amounted to a farm wagon outfitted with a cover. In fact, you wouldn't even call it a covered wagon if you grew up in Pennsylvania. An authentic one had to come from the Conestoga area of Lancaster County; hence, the name Conestoga wagon. [2019]

LaVerkin, Utah, USA

Even before there were satellite dishes to break the shackles of isolation, there were horseless carriages. We know them now as cars. No, don't look at the sales transaction going on at street level, look up to the second story. Why not use your roof as a junk yard? [2019]

St. George, Utah, USA

Where is the largest diamond in the world? On the roof of this Main Street jewelry store. What you are seeing is a heist in real time. That crane is being positioned to lift the behemoth right off its roost. After that it will be flown to Antwerp's Diamond District and turned into a million smaller diamonds. Or, maybe not. [2019]

Hurricane, Utah, USA

It's a good thing that this mountain monogram didn't blow off the hillside. After all, this is Hurricane. But, it's in Utah, which is actually far from the path of any hurricane. Perhaps in Utah any strong wind can be called a hurricane. Perhaps, any strong wind can be brought to a full stop by strategically placed period, too. [2019]

St. George, Utah, USA

Compact urban form and walkability: Here is a small town headed back to mixed use, with a new residential complex and an old row of business right next to each other. Wouldn't you like to live within walking distance of a cafe? (So, take that you zoning czars of the 20th century!) [2019]

Santa Clara, Utah, USA

These are the dog days of summer. It's the hottest and most uncomfortable time of year. How did people survive before air conditioning? Maybe they found some water to cool them off. When the ancient Greeks marked the season, however, what they had in mind was the dog star's reappearance in the heavens just before sunrise. [2019]

La Verkin, Utah, USA

Maybe Utah should be nicknamed Jurassic Park: an idea suggested by his t-shirt. The Beehive State (really?) is right in the middle of that great belt of states, from Texas to Montana, where dinosaur fossils (not to mention dinosaur footprints) are at their most plentiful. [2019]

La Verkin, Utah, USA

Thanks to so much public land, there are large areas of Utah where you can pitch a tent and watch the snow melt. In this case, the meltwater of the Pine Valley Mountains feeds the Virgin River, a tributary of the Colorado, which has formed a spectacular canyon of its own just southwest of here. Not far away is the Grand Canyon. [2019]

Apple Valley, Utah, USA

It doesn't look like crops have grown here for a while. But, when you have flat land along a river (See the line of trees in the background?), you know that agriculture is a distinct possibility. What you will need, though, is a discer to chop us that packed soil. [2019] 

Church Rock, Utah, USA

Remind you of a church? Does every venture into nature's domain remind you of God's glory? Just something to contemplate on this Easter Monday. Just something to inspire you to enjoy the great outdoors this spring. [2013]