Friday, September 30, 2005

Longing for the Promised Land

Boredom and fatigue overcame me last night. Deciding to watch TV, I found myself glued to a pretty bad movie on WGN. Putting aside the poor script, weak plot, and Meg Ryan playing the role of a drugged out slut (it broke my heart), I was mesmerized by the scenery in "Promised Land." Vignettes showing a car driving across the salt flats and racing a Southern Pacific train through the desert, distant mountains dusted with snow, remote hot springs enjoyed on a winter evening, small towns gas stations, bars and grills, all made me nostalgic for the West. Later, I looked up the movie and found it was filmed around Reno, Nevada and in Utah. Having spent a year in a small town in the mountains of Northern Nevada and over a decade in a small city in Southern Utah, I miss that country. There’s something about sagebrush and the openness of the Intermountain West that gets into one’s soul. Or, at least, it’s embedded in mine, I’m not sure everyone appreciates it.

10 comments:

  1. I have always wanted to visit the Midwest.I've never seen sagebrush.
    Hi, here via Michele's

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  2. Wow, one post at Michelles nets three post. S, hate to disappoint you, but you'll not find any sagebrush in the midwest--except at my house. I jokingly tell folks in exile here! But go to Reno and drive toward Salt Lake and you'll see more sage than you thought possible. If you can catch it after a rain, the smell is heavenly

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  3. Beautiful post. Thanks for stoping by my blog!! Have a super weekend!!

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  4. I've not seen the movie nor been out there.

    Michele sent me. :)

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  5. I love the smell of sage and sweet grass. My Aunt will rub sage into all of her blankets... keeps them smelling great!

    Here from Michele... nice to meet you Sage!

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  6. i've never seen that movie because i knew i wouldn't like meg ryan in that role. speaking of meg ryan, what the heck ever happened to her?

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  7. there are Sagebrush Steakhouses in the Southeast (or at least in North Carolina), but there's no sagebrush there either... And I'm not much of a steak lover (I prefer lamb and mutton which are also raised out in sagebrush country--sheep will even eat certain types of sage)

    As for Meg Ryan, don't know what happened to her. She didn't leave a forwarding address with me.

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