Finally, I get to do the update I've been wanting to write for weeks. Can you see why I waited for Misha to give me the pictures?Misha almost made me nervous the first time I met him. His boundless, puppy-like energy gave him some crazy ideas, but boy, was he fun to be around. Misha's the first person to say "let's do it!" to anything exploratory - new music, artists collaborations, exploring Dumpsters and beaches and cities and food. He drives everywhere in a beat-up hatchback with a psychedelically painted ceiling and a built-in bed that he designed for long road trips.
Misha is part of the heart and soul of the Salt Lake arts scene, which emphasizes collaboration and community over competition and profit. His dream is to own houses collectively with other artists, and use those houses as living and performance spaces. He knows of a community in California that has done this successfully already, and he thinks it's only a matter of years before Salt Lake becomes the Place To Be for up-and-coming artists. Listening to him talk, I have to agree. If Misha ran for office, I'd vote for him.
On my third day in Salt Lake, he calls me up and asks if I want to go for a hike. Longtime friends will know that I hate hiking, but I don't want to be a total putz, so I ask him what kind of hike.
"Oh," he says, "It's really more of a rock climb up a waterfall I love in the mountains."
That changes the picture - I love rock climbing and waterfalls. We visit the Saturday farmer's market before heading out of town and pick up fresh foccacia, pesto, peaches and coffee-cured cheddar cheese that makes my eyes roll back in my head. This picture is me about 3/4 of the way up the falls. Once up there, we have a picnic and enjoy the view. I think: this is the kind of thing I had hoped would happen on this trip, something unpredictable and unexpected and spontaneous that I will remember for a long, long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment