'Too funny - nobody recognizes me - they think I've had work done because hey! I'm Californian now right?!?!'Tuesday was my favorite day. I got on my bike (for the first time in two weeks :-) and rode all around Cedar visiting people and places.....so many memories, and most of them good; at last, relief from my painful past....
I
stayed with two of my favorite people in the whole world - my Aunt Sara
and Uncle Des. They're a hoot, to say the least. I have some
incredibly funny home-videos of them, but they feared the consequences
of their public distribution and so alas, you can't enjoy them the way I
have......
Views from their home in Cedar
Dinner included tomatoes and basil from their garden and so not-so-gardenly-chocolate with 'inspired-words'
'How
do I know I'm back in the high desert? The last time I shed this much
blood was in a bike crash... Nose bleeds, scratched dry skin....And I thought St George was too hot today... and they're out of their hot season....Let's face it, I've gone soft....'
(Insert the song Smoke Rings in the Dark by Gary Allen)
I
think I'll always be a country girl at heart. Northern californian
boys could learn somethin' from the cowboys here. They're quiet,
unassuming, soft-spoken, hat-tippin', and 'yes-ma'am' leaves their lips
about as often as any other phrase. The heads are tipped down-ward,
they peer up at you from underneath the brim of their cowboy hats, their
shirts are always tucked in - and then pulled out - just enough.
They're always wearing a pair of worn wranglers (and they always *fit*
them just right). They're always leaned up against the wall, or the bed
of their truck or the post of a fence on their farm. Their hands are
worn and calloused from 14 hour days on the farm of real hard labor.The University I graduated from with my Bachelor's degree, Southern Utah University , also runs deep in my heritage. I won't even begin to name the number of my relatives who have graduated from there. And that's just a start. My grandfather, Morris A. Shirts, was the Dean of Education years ago. A degree earned from SUU as a teacher is ranked as the most prestigious in the state. The new college of education was built a few years back and was dedicated to only two people and their families were honored in its' name. My grandpa was one of them. His portrait is in the main hall of that new building.
The library on campus where I spent many an early morning and late night studying chemistry, nutrition and biology
Old Main where my grandfather held the office of Dean of Education - a historical landmark
The new education building where my grandfather's portrait hangs in his honour
The Utah Shakesperean Festival,
a Tony award winning festival, drawing some of the finest stage
performers from places like New York City has, to my knowledge, the only
exact replica of the original Globe theatre in England in which
Shakespeare debuted his plays. I spent many a *midsummer's eve* as a
child watching the greenshow, as a teenager selling tarts and coffee to
the strange tourists from California and New York and then as an adult
when I could finally fully appreciate productions like, Romeo and
Juliet, in the same Globe Theatre with the cool midnight summer breeze
blowing freely through the audience.Some views of the grounds of the Shakespeare Festival
'On
the radio this morn - Utah wants to help Cali out financially -
they're gonna save and share a 'square' of toilet paper each 'time'
;-)'
It was in that same small town that I went to Cedar City high school.
I still remember sitting underneath those *friday night lights*
sitting on those old, wooden bleachers, fingers freezing in the deep
autumn temperatures, and immediately coming to attention, licking my
reed on my clarinet in the pep band so I was ready to play 'Proud Mary'
or 'Nananana' the second my Uncle Steve Shirts jumped up, mouth running
90 miles an hour chewing gum, his knee pulsating to the same rhythm and
his left fingers snapping to the tempo of whatever song he had picked
during the game...it was always the right song. You could hear our pep
band half way across that small town, and we were proud of it. I
honestly don't think anyone living immediately nearby complained once on
those late friday nights. I still remember the night we won the State
Championship in basketball. I went home so hoarse from cheering....we
all did. We had a special mid-day school ceremony to celebrate the
'Odyssey'- like return of our small-town *heroes*. I think I had a
crush on every single one of them. We all did. I still remember the
'Battle of the Bell', a wrestling match between Dixie and Cedar. The
Dixie Flyers in St. George are our biggest rivals. St. George is a town
south of Cedar by about 40-50 miles. I moved there after I graduated
from SUU and then came straight from there to here in Northern
California. The rivalry runs all the way back to the original
settlement of the two towns in the 1800's. As the pioneers came south
from Salt Lake City, some settled in Cedar, and some continued on,
settling other small towns all along the way to St. George - 'Utah's
Dixie'. Those in Cedar City decided to wait (as legend tells) until the
wind to stop blowing. *We're* still there. I paid a surprise visit to
my Uncle Steve and interrupted his guitar class. He didn't seem to
mind much :-)The High School I went to - Cedar High
Venturing a little outside town.....my roots continue to run far out; much like the aspen trees on Cedar mountain. You know they're all one organism don't you? The roots stretch far out, not deep, linking each tree to each other. My roots run south of Cedar to the infamous 'Shirts' Canyon' where the pioneer wagons had to navigate their way down, and then back up a deep ravine. My roots run to the Iron Mission State park. My grandpa wrote a book about that too. Cedar was mined for its' iron deposits in 'them red hills'. My roots run all the way to the memorial that was personally funded by the same Grandpa and Grandma Shirts at the site of the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre. My grandpa wrote about that too. My roots picked up some other heritage in Cedar when my mom married a local boy, now living in Houston Texas. His sister, Sarah Penny, became my Aunt. We already knew who she and her kids were, and then suddenly, we were family. She is one of the most well-known violin teachers in the area with students reaching to towns several hundred miles away to her home for early morning violin lessons. She spear-headed the fund-raising project that helped the Heritage Center come to reality. She is a also a member of the Orchestra of Southern Utah that performs there on a regular basis.
Some other places of my past, my elementary school and the house I grew up in
I
got to see my grandma and my brother too. I miss them dearly. My
grandma is hilarious, and I never walk away without hearing at least one
silly thing that she says....'Oh no, my friend is driving, she's 'only' 80....'
She also showed me the family plaid - I had no idea that I had Scottish heritage, perhaps that's why I like plaid so much!
I got a kick out of his room....if only mom could see this...oops! She just did ;-)
I
also got a kick visiting where it all started for me on the bike -
Cedar Cycle - the owner, Brian, didn't recognize me at first.....
And
last but not least, I had to eat at the world famous Pastry Pub. I
worked there as a line cook while I was going to college and remain
close friends with the owners. They're great people, the food is
great....but if you live there, I don't need to tell you that do I?
Yes,
I am a democrat now, rather than a republican. I am anything but
religious anymore. Yes I am as liberal now as I was once conservative.
However, I can still feel the wind that blows there everyday, smell the
sagebrush and see many of the faces that I grew up with, went to High
school and college with. I will always appreciate and respect where my
roots come from, because they will always be a part of me. I am a
different person now than I once was, but I accept and love all the
*roots* the make up *me*.
