There's a reason why people came to Utah and stopped, rather than continuing on to other potential locations. The mountain soil was arid and hard. The summers were brutally hot and dry, the winters long and chill. The early pioneers looked to the sky in vain for rain, thirsty and fearful.
Yet, there is something here. Something in the way the mountains sweep the sky to the heavens. Something about the way the sunset turns the arching sky into a tapestry of glory. Something about the very gritty and hard nature of the bones of the land from which one must scrape one's living. Something that creeps into the soul and sinew of a person and fundamentally changes who that person is. For some it takes a lifetime. Others it may never happen to. And still others, the grand, sweeping skies framed by the mighty fortress-like mountains touch the spirit in unforgettable and indelible ways. Truly they say that you can take someone out of the mountains, but you can never take the mountains out of the person.
I love it here. I am so grateful to be back. It feels like home.
I am so excited to share with my children some of the places I've come to just love.
Arches.
Bryce.
Zion.
Timpanogos.
Park City.
And there's nothing to compare with living close enough to family to have them be a meaningful part of your life again. I've missed that. More than I like to admit.
Yet, there is something here. Something in the way the mountains sweep the sky to the heavens. Something about the way the sunset turns the arching sky into a tapestry of glory. Something about the very gritty and hard nature of the bones of the land from which one must scrape one's living. Something that creeps into the soul and sinew of a person and fundamentally changes who that person is. For some it takes a lifetime. Others it may never happen to. And still others, the grand, sweeping skies framed by the mighty fortress-like mountains touch the spirit in unforgettable and indelible ways. Truly they say that you can take someone out of the mountains, but you can never take the mountains out of the person.
I love it here. I am so grateful to be back. It feels like home.
I am so excited to share with my children some of the places I've come to just love.
Arches.
Bryce.
Zion.
Timpanogos.
Park City.
And there's nothing to compare with living close enough to family to have them be a meaningful part of your life again. I've missed that. More than I like to admit.
1. O ye mountains high, where the clear blue sky
Arches over the vales of the free,
Where the pure breezes blow and the clear streamlets flow,
How I've longed to your bosom to flee!
O Zion! dear Zion! land of the free,
Now my own mountain home, unto thee I have come;
All my fond hopes are centered in thee.
2. Tho the great and the wise all thy beauties despise,
To the humble and pure thou art dear;
Tho the haughty may smile and the wicked revile,
Yet we love thy glad tidings to hear.
O Zion! dear Zion! home of the free,
Tho thou wert forced to fly to thy chambers on high,
Yet we'll share joy and sorrow with thee.
3. In thy mountain retreat, God will strengthen thy feet;
Without fear of thy foes thou shalt tread;
And their silver and gold, as the prophets have told,
Shall be brought to adorn thy fair head.
O Zion! dear Zion! home of the free,
Soon thy towers shall shine with a splendor divine,
And eternal thy glory shall be.
4. Here our voices we'll raise, and we'll sing to thy
praise,
Sacred home of the prophets of God.
Thy deliv'rance is nigh; thy oppressors shall die;
And thy land shall be freedom's abode.
O Zion! dear Zion! land of the free,
In thy temples we'll bend; all thy rights we'll defend;
And our home shall be ever with thee.
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