Maine girl moves West

I was born and raised on the coast of Maine. The ocean was a given. We swam in it, sailed on it, clammed it, fished it, even hopped its icebergs during the coldest winters.

Then I left home.

When I came back years later, I was stunned by the beauty I’d taken for granted:

The thick evergreen woods practically pushing themselves off seaside cliffs. The craggy shorelines, full of coves and inlets. Those coves and inlets revealing eddies and tide pools. Eddies and tide pools rich with life.

I saw those things back then. I’m sure. But the beauty and details were newly captivating.

Now, I live in Utah and wake up every day, staring at the mountains:

The ridges and draws marked with scrub oak, junipers, and cactus. The canyons’ spectacular dirt and rock rainbows. The quiet spiked with calls of ravens and coyotes. The morass of life squeezed from this high, dry climate.

Do Utahns grow accustomed to these natural wonders, like I did back home? Do natives know how good they have it? While exploring the state with non-native eyes and ears, UtahOutsider may introduce fellow travelers to these discoveries and may remind Utahns of the glory all around.