Between the Shore and the Shelf!

I find myself living on the Wasatch Front right now.  It is a beautiful part of the Country that I had never seen until this past June.  Fortunately, I have had the time to travel around quite a bit and enjoy the beauty of this land.  Amazing vistas surround me, and now as the snow begins to fall in the Mountains, and the colorful leaves are abundant in the Valley, I have developed a love of the wilderness that surrounds us here.

I live in the "Valley" in Ogden.  If you are a little higher up on the mountain (not actually on the mountaintop, but at the higher elevations of the bases) it is said you live on the "bench" or the "shelf."  Interesting terminology.  The Mountaintops and the Benches have already had snow and many of the tops are already allowing skiing!  I will probably remain a valley dweller, as the snow doesn't fall as often or as deeply in the valleys, and it tends to be quite a bit warmer.
I sometimes find myself torn between this gorgeous place, and my first love...the shore.

In particular, the gorgeous Emerald Coast of Florida.  Sometimes I long for the salty air and the sounds of sea birds.  I miss my friends the dolphins playing along the shore.  I miss the sugar sand of Okaloosa.  A part of me will always be the Okaloosagirl, and so I hold on to my condo at Island Echos.  I hope I can visit there this Spring. 

For now, I will continue to enjoy the beauty of the land here and the time I have with my granddaughters while they are growing up.  Thanksgiving is coming up rapidly and we have made plans with family to have dinner atop the mountain at Snowbasin.  It should be beautiful, and the menu looks absolutely amazing.  In the park across the street from the hotel (we will be in the hotel for about 10 more days before moving to an apartment) they are already wrapping the trees in lights, moving in 40 - yes 40 - little houses that will turn the entire city block into a magical Christmas Card like village!  They seem to do everything in a BIG Way here!   

I love the people here as well as the beautiful scenery.  We haven't had the time to explore the southern part of the state yet, and I am looking forward to seeing more of this amazing State of Utah.  We have a cruise planned to Alaska in May, and that should be yet another bucket list experience.  I have never seen whales in the wild, and am excited about that as well as seeing glaciers.  What an amazing and beautiful country and world we have.  Make sure that if you have the opportunity to step outside the box and see some of it, that you take the opportunity. 

I grew up in a tiny town called Marbury in Maryland.  Two churches, two country stores and not even a stop sign!  I always loved to read, and those books took me places I never dreamed I would see.  But somehow, deep inside me, there was always that desire to travel and to see what was outside that small town.  I have really been extremely fortunate and have traveled in Europe and Asia as well as South America.  I still haven't seen all of North America, but I'm working on it now!  There is such beauty the world over. 

But for now, as I sit here in my hotel in Utah, my heart is somewhere between the Shore and the Shelf.  Part of me loves it here, but a large piece of my heart will always be in Okaloosa. 

Where is YOUR heart?   Where would YOU live if you had a choice? 

PEACE, LOVE & JOY

Linda