Step Away From The Stairway With Your Perfume On My Clothes, Well I Kinda Loved Two Girls But Now I've Kinda Lost Them Both

The title is from Distraction #74 by The Avett  Brothers. It has little relevance to my life.

So, let's talk. I have this friend, a really, really nice girl, named Rachel. A few weeks ago she got in a very rough accident and I didn't write about it at the time because of the sensitivity of the subject. It was a really scary thing for everyone...but she has great family. And she's really tough, and she pulled through; not only did she make it but already she's flying around on her crutches and driving and everything! She took so much good from the experience, too...I very much am proud of her and admiring of her. I don't really know why I'm talking about it now...maybe because I never got the chance when it was more recent. But it was a very significant event, and there was a side to it that is very personal and close to my heart, that I don't feel right sharing at this time. Bottom line, Rachel, I'm glad you're ok. More than I could say with something as silly as words.

In my last post I kind of bagged on Halloween but this year was actually pretty fun. Anyway, I said there was something that made me happy, and I feel you're ready to hear about that. You lucky, you.

They're doing construction on I-15 right now so there's tons and TONS of traffic. I wanted to drive back home to Sandy, so I thought it would be interesting to try a different route. I got on Geneva Road going North. It went pretty far, far enough that when it ended, I had no idea where I was. I looked to my left.
Farms.
I looked to my right.
Goats.
I drove a little further and the road ended. There was left and right. And now, instead of a big multi-lane street, it was a little tiny strip going through some rural farmlands. Where the heck am I? I went left. The people were all so friendly. As I toured through the neighborhood, strangers waved and smiled at me, and I did back. Already I was feeling warm. It was cloudy, just enough that everything was cool and calm. I had my window open and the air was fresh on my face. I rolled slowly through the town and I became happier and happier. But nothing could have prepared me for what came next.
I was already thinking to myself that I was loving the drive. But the road bean to incline. There were trees blocking my view to the right, but as I moved uphill I could see past them slowly. Finally, I got high enough and the trees broke and--

Incredible. I had blindly driven right to one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen. I mean right to it. I turned into the parking lot and stared. It's light was engulfing and it's aura was etifying. I drove around it, promised myself to do baptisms at it, and headed down the country road.
Bonus points to anyone who knows what temple it was.
Now I was in peak mood. Nothing could stop me. Ether 6: 9-10. As if this post isn't positive enough, just when I was starting to think I was too lost and needed to be getting home, the little country road pooped me out onto the Alpine Highway. Not only did I have new directive, but I was sort of aware of where I was...Alpine! But I'd never been there before, and geographically, I still didn't know where I was. So I did what I knew to do.
I headed North.
But eventually as I got farther, I noticed the mountain wasn't ahead of me anymore...had I gone too far? What do I do? But the Highway turned into another country road, and after a little bit, I saw a sign.

DRAPER  ----->

I realized then, I wasn't past the mountain...I was on it! Ha. I followed the road, and then I was on Suncrest.
The winding road was the finest drive of my life, and the view...spectacular. I could see the whole valley, the whole landscape, and the clouds wafting overhead, spraying distant bursts of rain, cleansing the air into clarity. Stopped my breath, it did. So i wound down that road until I got home. I hope I get to do that drive again soon.

We live in a beautiful world. And any person is lucky if they even get to see a fraction of it in their lifetime. Me, I've been lucky. I've gotten to see a lot of it at such a young age, but there's still so much more to experience.
That was my journey.
I have some literature I think you should read.

"The words "I" and "Love" and "You" are the watermark of humanity. Strung together, they convey our deepest sense of humility, of power, of truth. It is our most common sentiment, even as the feeling of it is so infinitely uncommon: each to proclaim these three words with his or her very own heart and mindset of reason (or lack thereof); a proclamation completely and perfectly new each time it is offered. Uttered daily and nightly by millions, the words are said in an unending array of circumstances : whispered to a newborn in a mothers arms; shared between best friends on the playground; in the form of sympathy - said by a girl to a boy, as the respect continues but the relationship does not. It is said too loudly by parents to embarassed children in the company of their friends, and by grown children - to their fading parents in hospital beds. The words are thought in the company of the photograph and said in the company of the gravestone. It is how we end our phone calls and our letters... the words at the bottom of the page that trump all those above it, a way to gracefully finish a message, however important or trivial, with the most meaningful gifl of all : the communication of love. And yet the words themselves have been the victims of triviality, a ready replacement for lesser salutations among near strangers, burst forth casually as "love ya." Truly? To what degree? Why, how much, and for how long? These are questions befitting of the stature of love, though not the everyday banter of vague acquaintance. The words have also been twisted by the dark nature of deceit : To say "I love you" with a dramatic measure of synthetic emotion; a snare set by those who prey upon fellow humanity, driven to whatever selfish end, to gain access to another's body, or their money, or their opportunity. In this realm, the proclamation is disgraced by one seeking to gain rather than to give. In any case, and by whatever inspiration, these words are woven deeply in to the fibers of our existence. Our longing to hear them from the right place is maddeningly and simultaneously our finest strength and our most gentle weakness...As living people, we are bound by this unavoidable parallel. We are powerful yet weak, capable yet temporary. Inevitably, an attempt to place honesty within an artistic avenue will follow suit...In the midst of all this, there are allusions to the less-than-ideal conditions of life : the loss of memory, the inability to control temper, insecurity, indecision, jaded indifference, and the general plague of former and current weakness...Emotional imperfection is a reality...the words "I love you" have become "hard to say". And perhaps that difficulty is as common as it's counterpart. Perhaps the inability to say these heaviest of words is as much a part of life as the lighthearted candor of those who say them without any difficulty at all. And so it ends with the phrase whispered to and by those of us most defeated and most elated... I and love and you."

I and Love and You Mission Statement, by Seth Avett.

And so, in the most meaningful of ways, intending only to give, to express, to proclaim, with the deepest truth, to those of you reading whom I have been privileged to become close, not to, but with, with hope that I have impacted you so strongly and positively as you have me, I love you.

Goodnight.