…passed Echo Reservoir, and the sandstone cliffs…
…spotted sheep and antelope, and remains of deer…
…and crossed the rolling hills and shrubbed plains…
…under the glowing, creamy sky that Friday…
As we stopped to eat at Wendy’s…
…met and chatted with Dave’s old friend…
…drove again, coming to the long, straight road…
…and went through that new forest of windmills…
As we came by the old buildings at Fort Bridger…
…saw fields and herds of cows and horses…
…and got our milkshakes at Mountain View…
As we came around the moon hills…
…up the wooded river valley…
…then down upon the meadows of Manila…
As we arrived at the homestead…
…readied the house…
…carried in our goods…
…and sat for a retelling of the history of the property…
As we spotted the herd of deer hopping the fence into the field…
…visited the store, then cooked and ate…
…laughed over "Napoleon Dynamite"…
…and had another show…
As we woke from a restful sleep…
…brokefast, and visited the neighbours…
…set out for the forest…
…and searched long for the perfect tree…
…
…She was there by my side, in my mind.
I knew she we would have liked to have been there. Probably we would have enjoyed each other’s company, too.
At that point, tromping up and down that forest, I started to remember Tugsuu, who had actually come to Manila once or twice or more.
I also remembered how I’d told her — her — that we’d be "hunting" trees. She was consternated that we’d be "treating them with guns"… ha ha. So cute. "Why not living creatures?" And then, figuring it out… she hadn’t thought "Americans were so dumb".
It was the "dumb" part that rang in my ears. They weren’t "Americans"; they were my family. No more of that dripping politeness that I posted on my other page, that letter of hers.
Oh well.
As we decided on, cut, and dragged back the tree…
…munched goodies on our way to the dam…
…snapped some pictures, and came home…
…took a light lunch…
…watched "The Manchurian Candidate"…
…had dinner, and enjoyed "Last of the Dogmen"…
As I stayed up to watch "Meet Joe Black", despising only the rape scene…
…went to bed and overslept splendidly…
…got up and packed up my things…
As we prepared the house…
…loaded the truck and lifted Dozer in…
…made our way through the gathering fog…
…ascended from the valley, and drove homeward…
…passing the same cattle, horses…
…sheep, llamas, ranches, and wildlife…
…coming around the moon hills and through the windmills, and on to Evanston…
…then back through rambling wilderness…
…past the little rock wall and the red fortress cliffs…
…up over Echo, back through Park City…
…and finally emerging into the Great Salt Lake Valley…
…
…I was just kind of there, by myself.
…I, and my parents, and Dozer, our dog.
…
…And a lovely little Christmas tree.
Steve's journal 