The Thing About Utah

South end of Utah Lake

When we first decided to move it was purely an economic decision. Houses in Marin start at about $800,000 and we did not choose high paying careers. We decided that Utah would be a good place to own property, because it would fit within our budget. Once we decided to move however there was a definite outpouring of opinion. The general comment was: "Why on earth would you want to live in Utah?" We heard this comment from Mormons and non-Mormons alike. While I don't tend to like defending my decisions I thought it would be worth coming up with an answer. I actually found an answer on a discussion list online that I happened to stumble across. This guy posted something like this, I paraphrase, "Lets see, yeah why would you want to live in a place where the worst crime likely to be perpetrated upon you is that someone will walk off with your pen?"

I laughed when I read that one. I heard from other people things like: "In Utah you live on the same street as your bishop and relief society president and the ward clerk." I grew up in Utah. I don't remember that bothering me. I spent four years in New York City where you could collapse on the street and people will step over you (generalization). For seventeen years I have lived in Marin where everybody lives tucked away behind six foot fences. I have never been inside any of my neighbors homes. I couldn't ask any of them for a ride to the airport. So given the choice between too much intrusion or none at all I would probably lean towards too much at this point in my life.

Today one of Jerry's Utah student's moms brought him a loaf of homemade bread. He said it is the best bread he has ever tasted. That is the kind of thing I appreciate about Utah.