utah home, part 1

every time i come back to utah, i am astonished at how home it feels. i remember that particular, potent brand of poignant familiarity from last time, but i am still amazed.

my friend julie picked me up at the airport and we headed straight to ruth’s diner for brunch. it’s an adorable little mom-and-pop place built into an old traincar up emigration canyon, around the corner from the ‘hood i grew up in. and they have these biscuits that are outrageous. julie and i drove up the canyon after we ate, and the bleak beauty was pure splendor for my mountain-missing eyes. i picked up a car at my old house, went to see catherine, bert, and baby sam, and was astonished at how big he grew since i saw him last. i took the long way to get there, through neighborhoods of my youth and neighborhoods of my memories. i met dani downtown and we went to cafe rio – a utah favity fave. all just so home.

then i met my sister and her family at temple square – always glorious temple square. seeing the christmas lights there is a holiday tradition for everyone i know from utah. something about the bitter cold, the nativities, the christus statue, the crowds, the millions and millions of twinkling lights, the floating candles and luminaries, the magnificent temple – it is (yes, here it comes!) magical.

i don’t think salt lake city will ever cease to be authentic home. and you know what they say, “there’s no place like home for the holidays.”