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Show THE ZEPHYR/FEBRUARY-MARCH 2006 “Yast like this one?” I said. It never occurred to me that this convenience stores, and pubs, of course, but everything else had once been open land as well. closed at five. Malls closed. Shopping centers. Even large “But why do they need more houses?” I asked. grocery stores shut their doors. And on Sundays, the mall . “Well, because there are more people who want to move parking lots were free-for-alls for skate boarders and nobody out here, just like us.” _ else. It was wonderful. It wasn’t a very satisfying answer, even then. But naturally, the big corporations hated the law. And in “But what about all those trees? The Big Woods.” other Australian states, their power and influence---and My father shook his head. “I’m afraid most of them will be money—overturned the closing laws. Finally last year, they cut down, but I’m sure they'll leave a few.” turned their attention to the last holdout. Over the next few weeks, I watched the forest get ripped The big companies spent millions of dollars to promote the and torn and scraped and bladed until there was not a hint “Extending Shopping Referendum” in Western Australia. that a great and mysterious forest had ever thrived there. Television and radio was flooded with commercials and it Homes went up, new families moved in who were just as. seemed to me almost inevitable, in the vapid, instant’ oblivious to what had once been under their feet as we had gratification world of 2005, that the measure would pass. Aussies went to the polls on February 8. They kicked the big corporations’ asses all the way back to the East Coast. The referendum was defeated by a 2 to 1 margin. The Big Guys were stunned. The Harvey Norman. corporation, the most active proponent of extended shopping ' OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, released a statement and sniffed, “Clearly the people of 1 WATCHED THE FOREST GET RIPPED Western Australia have different shopping habits from the rest of the country and Harvey Norman will not spend another & TORN & SCRAPED & BLADED cent in the foreseeable future trying to change their minds.” UNTIL THERE WAS NOT A HINT THAT The next day, the voters explained themselves as only A GREAT & MYSTERIOUS FOREST HAD _ EVER THRIVED THERE. Aussies can. SiR IN THIS ISSUE OF THE ZEPHYR VOLUME 17 NUMBER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2006 6 4...CLOUDROCK REVISITED A reminder from its original development plan... 7...Herb Ringer's AMERICAN WEST "Winter Time" 8...LOSING SOLITUDE...By Martin Murie ‘Mountain Rangers at Jackson's Hole" One bloke summed it up, “Oh well, mate, I can always buy me beer on Saturday afternoon...besides . everybody need some time off. What’s the point just working and shopping all the time?” Good on ya, mates. been to the land under ours. It’s been like A few years ago, my old street had a Meade Road Street Reunion. I encountered seen in 30 years. It was incredible and we that ever since. reunion—the Glen old friends I hadn’t all shared the same golden memories, even if Time had enhanced them along the 12... TRANSFORMATIONS way. ie my brother and I walked down to what was left of The Woods. The wildness in them was gone, the cane breaks and grapevines and thickets of poison ivy nowhere to be found. Only a solitary line of trees on a manicured lawn could testify to what had once been there. As we followed the edge of our diminished Woods, my brother looked up, gasped and grabbed my arm. He didn’t say a word, just pointed with his eyes. : A weathered piece of wood still clung to the tree trunk, (Watching the Changes in SE Utah) 14...LOSING OPEN SPACE "It takes a (Rim) Village." 15...FROM THE MILL CREEK PASTURE to the MILL CREEK PUEBLOS secured with a bent and rusty nail. A remnant of what had 16... THREE MOAB LANDMARKS... But who remembers? THE 'BIG TREE’ once been a rung in yet another stairway to heaven. “That Timmy Kremer,” my brother sighed. “When he built a tree ladder, he built it to last.” AGAINST ALL.ODDS: A Slightly Simpler Life in Western Australia Is it possible for us as a country to live a simpler life? Could we ever go back to the way it was? Within the framework of this sprawling and insane American Culture, I still think we can make individual choices to turn our backson the ever-increasing frenzy of 21* Century life. We don’t have to live like this. Yet for many, the frenetic pace here in America is something to brag about. I recently saw an ad on television for a pizza chain. The ad was aimed at Americans whose fastpaced life doesn’t allow them to ever slow down. The ad shows a modern American family, kids, dog and all, crammed ‘into a mini-van, off to get dinner. But they’re so busy, they THE MEADOR HOUSE THE MAIN STREET BROILER THREE TOP AUSSIE BLOKES John Wringe Ted Quick James Wringe “Good on ya, mates." haven’t got time to actually stop the car, so the mother leaps from the van, races into the store, grabs her pizza-to-go and miakes a break for the family car, now pulling away from the curb. The mother lunges through the open door, pizza still THE USUAL FEBRUARY/MARCH DISCLAIMER As many of you know, this issue of The Zephyr is printed intact. - well before Christmas, for February distribution, so that its The father then says, “Now we need to go to the vet.” ' publisher and writers and distributors can go goof off for a The dog goes bug-eyed with fear. while. If local, state, national or world events occur between And we wonder who’s the more intelligent species. press time and distribution day that cause parts or all of this issue to be tasteless, irrelevant or indifferent to those events, When it comes to the contents of Pandora’s Box, it’s easier to keep the evils of mankind in it than try to coax them back it’s only because we didn’t know they’d happened yet. With that confusing disclaimer, we end our 17" year of in. When I think what it would take to reverse the flow of American Culture and its greed-driven economy, I’m publication. And as always, we will be back in two months. We remain... THE THING THAT WILL NOT DIE. overwhelmed with hopelessness. It’s difficult to imagine our Thanks to all of you for your continued support and 300 million citizens having an epiphany one day and saying to themselves collectively, “Damn! This is no way to live! Let’s go back to the simple life!” Not even Democrats like thatidea. But all is not lost everywhere. Most winters, for the last 10 years, I head south to Western Australia. It’s almost like a second home to me there. I have good friends, a 1983 Datsun pickup with 276,000 kms, and a clear-headed view of what’s good and bad about Australia. Since I'll be traveling to Perth soon (hell, Im there already), I’ll only dwell on the positive. When I first experienced Perth, a city of more than a million people, something confused me. Perth is a busy modern city with its own traffic gridlock and crime and urban sprawl. But I noticed something odd about Perth after 5 pm. The traffic almost disappeared. I was puzzled...where did everybody go? I learned that in Western Australia, a state law restricted all retail shopping after 5 pm and all day on Sunday. Restaurants could stay open, and cafes, and petrol stations, and small 18...ROAD IMPROVEMENTS US I91 at DEVILE CANYON -19...A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER! Goodbye Atlas Minerals —20...THE DIMFORMATION AGE notes from the crawispace of history Birmingham, Alabama, January 1972 BY NED MUDD encouragement. WHAT? YOU ADVERTISE? IN THE...ZEPHYR? As The Zephyr enters its 18th year, consider joining us as a regular advertiser in 2006. You don't have to live and work in Moab to care about the future of the Rural West. Email me direct... _ eezephyr@frontiernet.net and let's talk. JS 29...REEL WORDS "The Outlaw Josie Wales" Reviewed by Robyn Slayton-Martin 31... JIMMY CARTER'S ‘Crisis of Confidence’ Speech July 15, 1979 |