THE LITTLE PARK on MAIN STREET
Until
the mid-90s, this little patch of green survived on Main Street, next
to the SUBWAY store. Upstairs were (and still are) the offices of the
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Scott Groene's office was just to
the left of that lovely tree and on one of the branches near his
window, hummingbirds built a nest, year after year. Watching the
progress of the young hummers was a tradition that ended abruptly when
the tree was cut down and the green space replaced by yet another
building.
The whereabouts of the hummers is unknown.
A CORNUCOPIA of CHARACTER ACTORS for a VAMPIRE MOVIE?
In
1988, a low budget horror film called, "Sundown: The Vampires in
Retreat," was shot in the Moab area and featured a very young Moabite,
Vanessa Pierson, in one of the lead roles.
Though
the film itself was awful (it never made it to the screen and was
released direct to video), its cast included some of the greatest
character actors of the time....the real actors who never attain
'stardom' but who make films great. You know their faces but you can
never recall their names.
"Sundown"
included John Ireland, M. Emmett Walsh, Dabs Greer, and two of my
favorites (above)...Sunshine Parker and Bert Remsen. I got to know
Sunshine when I spotted him ambling downMain Street and pulled over to
say hello and to compliment his work in "Cannery Row," a film that
starred Nick Nolte.
Just the fact that I knew him by name impressed Sunshine and we shared many meals at the Main St. Broiler.
Both Sunshine and Bert died in 1999.
DUST DEVIL BREEDING GROUND
In
the late 1970s, the north end of Salt Valley was one of several sites
being considered as a nuclear waste respository. The Department of
Energy denuded the landscape and did its drilling, but all that loose
dirt and the neverending wind made a perfecr storm for dust devils.
* "THE TELLIN' TAKES ME HOME" By Utah Phillips
And I'll sing about an emptiness the East has never known,
Where coyotes don't pay taxes and a man can live alone,
And you've got to walk forever just to find a telephone.
It's sad, but the telling takes me home.