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Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume VI, Issue IV Page 3 June 1, 2002 Guest Commentary A Place Called Eden By Drienie Hattingh It was a typical beautiful sunny, brisk Utah afternoon at the beginning of March. As we drove through the mountains the Valley unfolded beyond us. I inhaled sharply . . . it was awesome. I had been in awe since we got onto the freeway out of Salt Lake City. My husband Johan said it would take us to a place called Eden. It all sounded a bit farfetched to me, listening to his description of this valley surrounded by mountains—and isn’t it a bit much calling a place Eden? “Just wait till you see it!” Johan next said to me. “Yah, sure!” I thought, thinking that my dear husband must have been exaggerating a teeny bit when he described this mystical valley to me. Perhaps the high altitude got to the “flatlander” when he visited the Valley during one of his business trips to Utah. But, I thought, I’ll humor him and go along for the drive. The snowy landscape made me think that a cappuccino would taste really good now, and that when we did arrive in this place called Eden, our first stop would be at the first Star Bucks. I snuggled into my seat thinking how good my favorite hot drink was going to taste. Then I sat up as the scenery started to change from pretty snow-covered hills to magnificent snow covered mountains. Next to me, Johan smiled knowingly as if to say “This is nothing yet.” It was as though Mother Nature was out to prove his point because the scenery became more awesome by the second. The high mountainous rolling plains and the ragged mountain tops edged against a transparent blue Utah sky. I started to think that Johan might be telling the truth. Anticipation grew in the pit of my stomach as the beautiful road wound around and over mountain plains, and then I saw the Valley with the frozen reservoir below us. I inhaled sharply and thought that Johan did not describe it correctly—it was much, much more beautiful than he said it would be. The reason for our visit to the Ogden Valley was because Johan wanted to show me the Valley as a possible place to live in case we would someday think of moving to Utah. This was not as strange as it sounds. Moving to Utah had been a real possibility for several years since this beautiful state became part of Johan’s district with his employment. The vast area that he works includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, The Dakotas, Utah, Montana, and Idaho. His superiors have been suggesting that we move to Utah for some time now because he started spending more time here than in Minnesota where we lived. Though they did leave the choice up to us. I kept saying that I could not possibly move because our youngest child Yolandi, still lived at home. But it all became more probable since our youngest spread her wings and started living on her own, and Johan and I became empty nesters. For the past 15 years, since we— Johan and our three children, Eugene, Brenda and Yolandi—left South Africa and came to live in America, we have been living in Minnesota. We arrived on a cold, blustery, snowy first day of November. It was a big change from sunny Southern Africa to the most northern state in North America! But winter turned out to be my favorite season in Minnesota. I loved everything about it. The frozen 10,000 lakes, the many, many frozen waterfalls and rivers. I loved being out in the snow and ice—ice fishing, cross country skiing, and long walks on a snowy day. To make a long story short, we decided on that beautiful March day in the Valley, that it was time to exercise our newfound freedom as empty nesters. We found a beautiful home in Eden. Every window has a view of the mountains. Even the laundry room! And even though Eden is a bit behind the rest of the world—no Star Bucks, no photo development store, no cable, and even though it is very difficult to get onto the Internet, I love Eden regardless! The mountains, the fresh air, the green valley—what’s not to like? And now that spring has sprung and the valley, slowly but surely, turns to a fluorescent green, I know that there is no other name suitable for this place surrounded by the Wasatch Mountains. I still am shocked when I look out of a window and cannot see the sky for the mountain, and when I wake up in the morning and peer through sleepy eyes out my window, I cannot believe that the beauty out there is where I now live. I am not on vacation, this is my home—my home, in a place called Eden. Note: Drienie is married to Johan Hattingh. Together they have three children—all born in South Africa. Their forefathers were among the first people to settle the remote, vast Southern tip of Africa in the 1600’s, after leaving France and the borders of the Netherlands and Germany. Twenty years ago the Hattinghs decided, just like their forefathers, to experience more of the world. The Hattinghs of this century thought, “What better place to do that, than in the greatest country of them all—America!” Fifteen years ago they arrived in New York on route to Minnesota, where Johan was offered a position in an investment firm. Drienie says that she and her husband can’t wait to become settled in the Valley, become acquainted with their neighbors, and have the opportunity to explore, not only Ogden Valley, but the world beyond in places like Zion and Bryce Canyon. Drienie is a freelance writer, and past columnist and feature writer for a newspaper in Woodbury, Minnesota, from where her family recently moved. Licensed Contractor Delbert Morris P.O. 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