Island Moon
A8
July 29, 2011
Under The Padre Palms
From Salt Air to Salt Lake
When the Magic Went Away
The City Mormons Built
By Arlan Andrews, Sr. The Final Chapter
It was with a touch of sadness that I watched the final episode of an adventure that had gone on for many years. In an epic climax, courageous humans finally overcame unbelievable obstacles in a world far different than ours, coming back to a place of mere mortals to live among those who would never know the scope of their adventures, the depth of that darkness from which they had returned.
In that magical world so close to our own, yet so far away for those of us with mundane lives, these seemingly ordinary people had performed acts of a special kind. Using implements of incredible power, performing feats impossible in our part of the Universe, these intrepid souls had levitated in mid-air, traveled at fantastic speeds, and viewed the whole Earth as a magic carpet beneath their feet.
Borne by a giant white bird named after a civilization lost in the mists of time, braving blasts hotter than a dragon’s breath, they escaped that place of darkness and danger, stepping out into a flowered wonderland of warm and gentle breezes.
I speak of course of the final flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis, and of her crew. What were you thinking of? Metal and Magic and Muggles, Oh My!
That same week, I also watched the final movie of the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Once again I was transported into the magical world of J. K. Rowling, where specially-trained young people, wielding implements of unbelievable power, overcame incredible obstacles, finally returning to the mundane world of muggles, there to live their lives among others who would never know the darkness and delights of their magical world.
These two great adventures deserve comparison; they have touched the souls of millions. Each carried with it the promise of new experiences and a longing for life beyond the reach of routine reality. The Space Shuttle and Harry Potter both brought pleasure and knowledge to millions, one through scientific fact and engineering achievement, the other solely through imagination. By joining the sense of wonder of these two worlds, we may yet stimulate further fantastic adventures. Back to the Future
Ten years ago I wrote an article for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times about the first Harry Potter books and movies. There I complained that Harry’s pure fantasy and magic could not be achieved in real life. That the hard science fiction of my youth, some 50 years before, showed us youngsters rockets and robots and space trav-
Story by Mary Craft, O.D. el – goals that we teenage dreamers could actually accomplish. And we did! Millions of scientists and engineers followed the visions of Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and others, and built those rockets and robots and space ships. Some of those teens later landed on the Moon, others built probes that have explored all of the planets. Still others built computers and high tech companies and the Internet and gave us the daily cornucopia of electronic marvels. I worried back then that Harry Potter fans would never be able to bring about their favorite futures like we had. But another writer told me that Harry Potter actually represented the fantastic new sciences of the new Millennium. He claimed that imaginations stimulated by the wonders of Hogwarts and Diagon Alley would one day invent 21st century technologies that exceed even the wands and amulets and potions used by Harry and his friends. Even Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge! Childhood’s End So in the same week, Harry Potter’s adventures ended and the Space Shuttle flew its final flight. To multitudes of children (and many adults), Harry’s last story marks the end of his childhood -- and of theirs. To those of us who have seen the magnificent spectacle of Space Shuttle launches, watched the International Space Station course the night sky, or appreciated the wonders discovered by the Hubble Telescope, the end of the Shuttle program represents a finality all its own. For millions around the world, both the believers in magic and the practitioners of technology, our shared childhoods are over. Hopefully Harry’s inspiration will carry today’s young into worlds of the future where we all can ride antigravity brooms and play Qidditch, where we can travel instantly to anywhere, where walking through walls is commonplace, and invisibility cloaks hang on Wal Mart racks. And we can hope as well that American entrepreneurs and others will shortly provide access to Space not only for astronauts, but for anyone who can buy a ticket. As the great Russian space pioneer Tsiolkovsky said, “The Earth is the cradle of Mankind. But one cannot stay in the cradle forever.” It is time for us all to grow up, each in our own way. The future waits for no one. Meanwhile, in that very same week, with the arrival of an orbiting NASA probe, the asteroid Vesta saw a new Dawn. Arlan Andrews, Sr., is an environmental engineer and science fiction writer living on Padre Island. Some of his works are available on Amazon.com.
I was thinking I was overdue for a trip when I got the email.
to build, was constructed on that spot. The city grid was then laid out from the Temple and the streets were given numbers not names. For example, 300 South Street is three blocks south of the Temple. the blocks are longer because they were designed to make ten acre lots. This was determined to be enough land to sustain a family with animals and crops.
The annual Optometric convention was being held in Salt Lake City which is a unique town in a part of the country I had never visited. My first glimpse of life there was on the connecting flight from Denver. I have never seen so many children on a flight before. The young families aboard had 3-4 children close in age. The moms for the most part had on no makeup and were plainly dressed. The kids, even teens were demonstrative in their affection to both parents and they portrayed very close knit families.
The streets are quite wide, eight driving lanes to be exact. It is said that Brigham Young wanted to make the streets wide enough to turn around a wagon with oxen without using profanity. The width of the streets makes it necessary to have a system in place for pedestrians. There are the usual stop and go signals but there is a 25 second countdown warning to allow time to cross. Also, there is a realistic chirping sound coming from above on the lamp post while it is safe to cross. When I first heard this I kept trying to find the bird.
I had heard of the Mormon majority and their conservatism so I found it incongruous to have a glass-walled smoking room at the SLC airport. Also, the liquor laws were made more lax in 2009, ironically by the mostly Mormon legislature that has never had a drink. Drinking there is now pretty much like anywhere else. One local brewery named their beer Polygamy Porter, “Why have just one?”
The city that pioneer Mormons built
The city is composed of 62% Mormons. The two non-Mormon natives I met (a taxi driver and bartender) both had their fathers come to work on the Union Pacific Railroad as did many of the Asian community ancestors. It is evident that the city has great pride in the pioneer movement since most citizens have anThere was so much I learned cestors that made the difficult jouron this trip which was easy ney here. Many lost their lives on the since I came in knowing noth- Don is one of the tour guides at way mostly women, children and eldering. There were many surprises, the Temple Square. There are no ly. There are statues and murals depictthe biggest that there is a large tours inside the temple because ing them walking the trail and working gay population there. I thought once it was dedicated, it became the land. This type of artwork is seen in it an unusual destination point “The House of the lord” and only the government buildings, banks and in to go to a conservative town but the old Gateway train station. The state learned that they were most- Mormons are allowed inside. symbol, the beehive, also appears everyly from there. The most recent Marriages performed there are not where on sidewalks, light poles, buildannual Gay Pride Parade there for a lifetime, but an eternity. ings and two four foot high hives are in was the largest with more than front of the Capitol. It represents indus100 entries and Roseanne Barr was the Grand Marshal. triousness and working together to build a community as they did in the beginning. Build it and they will come The city itself is very beautiful and very clean with flowers, trees and greenery everywhere. You need to walk the city streets to really appreciate it. There are unique, ornate buildings from the 1800s amongst the contemporary ones. Many of these old buildings house bars and restaurants with the original interiors. There are plaques outside these buildings that give their history. The city was born in 1847 when Brigham Young and his flock walked there with push carts from Missouri. He declared “This is the Place” and a temple, that took 40 years
The Pioneer Women Museum was especially inspiring to me. There were three stories full of mementos from that era and signs listing the local families that donated them. There were dishes, dolls, parasols, clothing, furniture, hats, jewelry, lace,fans, etc. One display case had items from the last known pioneer who died in 1968 at the age of 108. It had the buckskin mask she made to protect her face from the desert winds. All the walls were covered with hundreds of large framed photographs of pioneers. Next time: Whatever happend to Brigham Young?
Trust Pad re
Islan da
nd P
On Padre Island Since 1994. Locally Owned by Island Resident
Bill Schroeder 15481 SPID Just past Whitecap on Right
ort
A ra
nsa
s’ O ldes t
The Pest Control Professionals Islan OVER 30 YEAR EXPERIENCE dB ase dP est Con trol Com pan y.
949-0208
Residential and Commercial Services Termite * Ants * Rodent * Critter * Roaches * Spiders * Fleas