Category Archives: Utah

What drew us here to where we are in life? Going back less than six months ago we had chosen a job and needed a place to live. We chose nature with facilities close by. Why did we choose that when we could have found something five minutes from Jim’s work.

What do you want? After my mother died this month last year I’ve been thinking of reasons my family chose things over the years. My dad definitely chose his first “real” house with acreage for the views but we were daunted by the facts that we had to finish the house, mow the weeds every week, and build a retaining wall choosing stones from a creek not nearby and hauling them in the station wagon. After we were done with painting, plastering and mouldings, we had to build a pool and place brick around it. Year after year.

I chose my post-college lodgings by convenience (not a good idea), money (again, not a good idea to share), compatibility worked for a while then she got a job elsewhere and I was left with someone so insensitive, clueless and faux intelligence that I left my own home after two months because I couldn’t hack it anymore. Moved a block away to my own place and loved it.

Then my dad thought one place in Englewood NJ (near where Springsteen and other stars lived) would be cool. He asked me to drive a few hours to see it and describe it to my mom. It was horrible. Black ceilings, charcoal walls, velvet wallpaper in the closets and bullet holes in the windows. The owner was in jail for drugs. It was dark when I saw it, no electric, and the agent took me everywhere and every step I took I thought, what am I going to say? Why would they have kept it in the dark? This was a horrific existence for my parents and younger kids.

Then she lifted bent mini-blinds off the kitchen dining area and voila! A tennis court and cabana! The court was not in good shape but all my dad could think is that he could play tennis with my brother. And there was a lovely patio out there which they used often in the brief time they were there.

Again, why do you want a place? I wanted this one for its kitchen and its views and it had most everything else on my list. We spent the weekend with in-laws on house tours and it was evident that one person wanted a separate golf room to hit a ball toward a screen. Another wanted a movie room and ski/exercise room with boot warmers and a steam sauna for 12. One wanted a 2,000 bottle wine room and ski-in. ski-out access. Taking some time looking at ideas for other people’s homes can make a difference in designing one’s own home.

Often it shows their passion. I was pleased that one had a Texas A&M logo emblazoned on the desk in his office. Jim’s an Aggie and saw it right away. Cheers, Dee

After a gorgeous home tour throughout the mountainous areas east of Salt Lake City, where much gold, silver, and copper were used in fixtures and plumbing et al, yesterday we went to the largest open pit copper mine in the world.

It’s so large a scar on our mountains and landscape that one can see it and the Great Wall of China, only two man-made structures, from space. The pit is 24 miles wide. I did cry while looking down at the pit because of the dust and wind that swirls around. But I was sad that we ground up mountains from the top down to make a small amount of copper, silver and gold.

It occurs to me that today we could and should go underground with much better conditions than the miners had 100 years ago and not eat up gorgeous mountains to do it. Yes, Park City was once Treasure Mountain, where the miners hoisted themselves up and skied down the mountain, went back in the mine and did it again. Alf Englund has a museum across the road we haven’t seen yet about the history of skiing. That would provide me with more information to tell you.

It broke my heart to see this open pit from the inside. The folks wanted the video so we bought it but I couldn’t wait to get out of there. No matter what environmental mitigation they do (they were forced by one volunteer to do so) as soon as the lode ends they’ll disappear and never level the land or plant trees and we’ll never, ever have our mountains back again. Open pit mining may have been revolutionary in the 1930’s but is not now and I don’t know how this mine keeps operating given its philosophy, which its marketing people say is environmentally friendly.

OK, you have a vegetable garden. Do you weed it periodically by hand? By this process a backhoe would dig up a swath and see if your radishes are ready, then discard all the trash by your water supply.

If I can ever afford it I may buy antique copper pots, lined with tin. Check the mine out for yourself http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=bingham+mine&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8