SIGNS OF UTAH

The news of Orrin Hatch's retirement and Mitt Romney's possible run for his seat reminded me that I had taken a bunch of photographs while I was in Utah, mostly Salt Lake City, last November. Whether or not Romney runs, I hope that journalists reporting on the race in Utah will be knowledgeable about the state. Currently it is described, as Alabama was during the election of Doug Jones, as the "reddest of red" states. Sure, it's a red state. But it's more than that, as is any state described by it's crayon political color.

Here's an article about the naming of Harvey Milk Blvd, with quotes from locals that give you a good picture of the variety of opinions on the renaming of the street in an important commercial area. The gelato shop (site of Harvey Milk sign) on Harvey Milk Blvd is in a different part of town from the You Are Safe Here sign, which is downtown near Ken Sanders Rare Books. The Joe Hill mural is on the bookstore.

"Church & State." Explicit statement about the fact (one that infuriates me) that there never has been much separation between the two in this country. And that is, of course, an inescapable fact about the state of Utah and the Mormons--though this sign is not advertising a Mormon church group as far as I could tell. It is near the Central Christian Church building--as the plaque dated 1955 on the red brick notes--but I don't know if it is related to that church either. Or if that building is still even a church. (It was a drive-by shot.)

On the way to the north end of the Great Salt Lake to see the Spiral Jetty, I drove with a friend through the beautiful Logan Valley.

I was surprised, silly me, that people hunt swan, so I did a little research and came across numerous blogs devoted to the dressing and cooking of the swan (tastes like goose! let's have swan for Thanksgiving!). It is the tundra swan that is legal to hunt in the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, but not in this area, which might be the Salt Creek Waterfowl Management Area of that Refuge. (I couldn't find the exact name of the Public Shooting Grounds Waterfowl Management Area.)

I take lots of pictures of signs: they speak for themselves. And others.