Secrets of Some Natives

Happy Days
I have known Star for many years now. I have found him to be ever industrious, ambitious, and willing to take a risk. After 9/11/01, when the start-up company he'd been with wilted like so many others at that time, he began a new full time career: job-seeking.

He had full faith when I wavered. He was optimistic when I was not. And eventually, he was offered a job in Loa, Utah. Now I am a native Utahn. My father was raised in Utah, my mother was raised in Utah, but we were not familiar with such a place.

Loa is a town in and the county seat of Wayne County, Utah, along State Route 24. The population is 525. Star became a commuter and a wilderness therapist. He would leave around 4am Monday mornings, and return 9pm or so Friday nights. Zach was in Kindergarten, Abbie was in Joy school, Sam was just over 6 months, and Louisa was on her way.

We lived like this until mid June when we loaded up a U-haul and two green vans to take up residence together in the old Leavitt house off of Main St. It was a wonderful season for us. As renters we had no weekend or evening responsibilities. Since the only grocery store in the county closed at 8pm and offered little, we found we had fewer needs. And since there was no cell phone coverage at that altitude, we had a Dad without distraction.

We sat on the front porch in the evenings and listened to our resident owl friends call to one another. We played store and school, we slid on blankets down the steep staircase, we read stories and played at the Fremont park.

The tree swing

Sam in his new Fish Lake b-day shirt

Millie takes a turn

These legs sure have gotten longer since he first spent time on this swing

When a promising job option became available up north, I tried everything I could to figure and re figure the budget to match the math. We knew we needed to return to our Grandview home that hadn't rented or sold yet. Within days of bringing the U-haul back to Provo, we were told of Louisa's fatal condition, and a whole new challenge surfaced for me.

Our time in Wayne county turned out to be the eye of the storm. We have returned almost every year since. And so even though it may not seem an exciting get-away for some, it has always served as an amazing reprieve for me. I breathe deeper there.

This year's edition:

The new park rangers

Their friendly replacements

So much time spent on the road just wears a fella out

An action shot of an athlete

Millie caught on quickly to the Frisbee concept

Master of the pioneer toys

Popeye?


Sisters

Brothers

Well --what would you do?

With the on-call Sheriff (he gets parked in a different town each day or so)

At the historic Fish Lake Lodge

Are you looking for peace?

Abbie reading in the window seat
Visit Wayne county, just sit and enjoy the breeze and watch the constant sprinklers at work on the acres of farmland. Go for a hike in Capitol Reef and study the petro-glyphs. Call Ted Winder and adopt him as your grandpa for a bit.

Ted Winder

Have a pastry at the Chuck Wagon Hotel in Torrey. Spend a Sunday meeting in the old Loa chapel with it's grand doors, red roof and tall open windows. Take a turn on the tree swing in the large maple guarding the Leavitt home. Breathe deep. These are secrets only a Utah native (who once called Wayne county home) can tell you.

Pictures of past and present