“…mankind will suffer badly from the disease of boredom, a disease spreading more widely each year and growing in intensity. This will have serious mental, emotional and sociological consequences, and I dare say that psychiatry will be far and away the most important medical specialty in 2014. The lucky few who can be involved in creative work of any sort will be the true elite of mankind, for they alone will do more than serve a machine.”

Click the image to read the full story:

c/o Wikipedia

To see all of Paul’s incredible photography, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/12/02/vlachos-views-photos-and-captions-by-paul-vlachos-10/

An excerpt:

Great Basin National Park is a remote, elegant citadel above the flat expanse of Snake Valley lying to its northeast. As Gail and I sailed upward from the quiet hamlet of Baker, along Route 488 West toward the boundary of the park, the expanse of Snake Valley deepened beneath us into a vast tan sea. From an eastward-looking overlook in the pinyon-juniper woodlands we gazed out 70 miles or more, past the Nevada state line, past Snake Valley itself, well into Utah. Out there somewhere are the ruins of Topaz, an internment camp where our government imprisoned Japanese Americans during World War II.

To read more of Scott’s article, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/12/02/saving-solitude-at-great-basin-national-park-a-tale-of-obscurity-and-irony-by-scott-thompson/

An excerpt:

I grew up in Portland Oregon, and when I was in the fourth grade, 9 years old (1957), my Dad sprung me for a week to go to, of all places, Moab, Utah. To this day, I do not know why. Over the years, especially once I started spending time there, he and I talked a lot about that trip. But I never asked why we went there. He worked for a local television station then, so it may have something to do with the post-war uranium craze. I don’t now, nor will I likely ever know.

My teacher, Mrs. Standforth, was the classic matriarchal elementary school teacher, and she wasn’t too keen on me missing a week of school “just to go to some Mormon outpost in the Utah desert.” But my Dad was persuasive, and with the agreement that I would write a report and give a talk to the class about what I learned, she reluctantly let me go.

To read more of Steve’s article, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/12/02/moab-the-toot-n-tellem-glowing-in-the-dark-by-steve-lonie/

An excerpt:

Gaze at a map of Colorado. Even if it’s a run of the mill road atlas, there will be plenty to see. Wide swaths of National Forest and a few National Parks and Monuments show up in various shades of green, a sign of topography and scenery. Blue lines of rivers flow from the center of the state like spokes of a wheel, and their names are well known: Platte, Rio Grande, Arkansas, Colorado. The eastern half appears to be dull, but the straight roads and lack of forest signifies the spartan beauty of the high plains, a fertile part of the state where the buffalo once roamed. The names of historic locales dot the map—Cripple Creek, Leadville, Central City—along with the names of historical personages like Carson, Pike and Cortez.

To read more of Charles’ article, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/12/02/gold-fever-redux-by-charles-clayton/

In the last couple days, I’ve received several emails and messages from readers who saw or read news reports about a recently arrived Moabite named “Sketchy Andy.”  His real name is Andy Lewis and he was the guy who shared the halftime stage with Madonna at the Super Bowl—he was the toga-clad tightrope walker.  Now Sketchy is taking his rope show to the canyons of Southeast Utah.

For those of us who regard these slickrock domes and arches and canyons with reverence and awe and respect, Sketchy Andy’s abuse of them is…well, not really a surprise. But still sickening.  One reader noted,”What’s truly offensive is that the news broadcast (On KSL–see link below) seems to glorify and praise this behavior. Just another self-satisfied, thrill-seeking idiot.”

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=1017&sid=19266026

This email arrived this morning.  In part it said, ” I cannot tell you how upset I am at the Yahoo news report today of the new sport of “ultimate rope swinging” through Corona Arch. Nor only is this a desecration of modern ideals but I know this is a blatant disregard of the ancient ancestors of the Moab Colorado River region. This area is a sacred place. If you have ever been there, and I’m sure you have, I cannot believe what has happened. This would be akin to letting someone build a roller coaster inside Delicate Arch…I have spent countless hours in contemplation and meditation at and under the arch, I have met several people from all over the world and have had engaged in conversations about what we experience at this place and how it has changed our lives.”

The Moab Media reported Sketchy Andy’s exploits in this week’s ‘Times-Independent. About meeting Madonna he said:

“It’s pretty cool to be thrown into the spotlight like that. Madonna is a pretty cool girl,” Lewis said. “She’s shouted me out in the news for being on the tour multiple times, so I’m going over [to New York] to hopefully figure out some kind of deal. I’m excited… It would be pretty fun, I think.”

An excerpt:

We are watching, in effect, the last land rush, and when it’s over, the West will bear little resemblance to what it still is today. The decay of America’s cities and urban areas, the congestion, the pollution, the crime…the stress of urban life, is driving millions to the wide open spaces. And the explosive growth of tourism is creating, for the first time, the climate necessary for that kind of exodus. For the first time, West Coast immigrants can dream of moving to a rural community and making more than a subsistence living. No sacrifice is needed to sell a $500,000 home in California, buy a $100,000 home in a small Western town, invest $200,000 in a business, and put the rest in the bank. A few hope to be modern day Charlie Steens, dreaming of get-rich-quick schemes. But this time, fortunes won’t be made with a second hand drill rig and a thousand dollar grubstake. Speculators buy up land for JB’s and McDonald’s franchises the way miners staked uranium claims in the 50s…

To read more of Jim’s article, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2013/12/02/new-west-blues-by-jim-stiles/