Salt Lake City: Part I

A page, a palimpsest, a text written again and again over the previous text. The story is old and grows out of context as the author ages. It’s one of disappearance. Disappearance of youth and of love. I spend my minutes watching videos of how to configure a thermostat. The rest is all about the end… how every country is ending, the world is ending, how we will all die in chains in a dystopian nightmare. This is what they tell us. 

In the meantime, old photos are like a haunting portrait from the Picture of Dorian Gray but, in real life, it is in reverse, of course, the portrait remains the same as we grow older, lose our youth and, if we ever had it, beauty. 

                  I took a bus out to the Natural History Museum at the foot of the mountains in Salt Lake City, Utah. I accidentally got off the bus too early and had a fair distance to walk in the heat and direct sun. Nevertheless, the museum was beautiful. I learned a trick from the Dallas Museum of Natural history; that is to start at the top and work your way down, that is how it is designed. I tend to think that even the youthful staff working at the museum are uncertain of that. In Dallas, one is forced to start at the top because the entry is an elevator to the 5th floor. In Salt Lake City, one can start where they wish. This worked out well for me, I had the museum to myself until I got down to the 2nd floor and was thrust into the masses making their way up. They were somewhat puzzled by my walking in the opposite direction to everyone else. 

                  On the walk back to the bus station I got lost. I ended up drifting through the University of Utah, through a frat house, to find my bus stop at last. I was thirsty and hungry, and it was 35 degrees Celsius. No shade at the bus stop. I waited 25 minutes only to be told I’d missed the bus. I called an Uber and went directly to the Hong Kong Tea House. A wonderful oasis in a quiet part of SLC, a family-owned business, with amazing food and service. When I paid my bill, I was shocked at how little my meal and beer cost. Thank you HKTH, I survived thanks to your beauty and kindness. 




 

 


 

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