Complex Topography

You can imagine why this part of the United States has never been heavily settled. The available farm and homesites are extremely limited. Additionally, this is a marginal 11 inches a year. The cutoff for an "official" desert is usually 10 inches a year. However, you also need to take into consideration that the elevation of this part of Utah is over 5000 feet above sea level and the hills and mountains in the area rise to over 12,000 feet high. The average low temperature in January is about 14 degrees. The benefit of all of this is that the beauty and solitude of this area have been preserved and we can enjoy both.

50 Year Old Tree Cut

This tree grew for 50 years. Unfortunately, it was planted about 3 feet from a house and the roots and branches were damaging the foundation, walls, and roof of the house. It had to come down. It was quite spectacular when it landed in the front yard. Great time to be out of the house during distancing.

Spring is Finally Here

We love the beauty of the snow in the Winter but we always look forward to the lovely Spring flowers. These tulips at the Provo, Utah City Center Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were incredible. The largest flowers are from eight to ten inches across. Too bad most of the grounds were closed and we could only see the flowers outside the fence.

Provo City Center Temple Closed for Social Distancing

This is something I have not seen before during my lifetime: all of the Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints closed for an extended period of time. Apparently, the temple grounds are also closed. This is the beautiful Provo, Utah City Center Temple. You can see the closed sign behind the gate. The flowers were still beautiful and we enjoyed the walk. We had no trouble maintaining social distancing from the very few people we saw.

Provo, Utah Historic Courthouse

The downtown area of Provo, Utah is well preserved for a smaller city. This is the Historic Utah County and Provo City Courthouse build beginning in 1920 and completed in 1926. It cost $576,495.30 to build. I wonder what part cost the 30 cents? Quoting from the UtahCounty.gov website:

The building is more than a building; it is a work of art, a monument that has been set up in the county to the men and women whose industry has made it possible. 

It is Neoclassic in design; that is, it follows the classical features of Greek buildings, but is not really a copy of any building. 

The column-caps and the cornice are an adaptation from the temple of Minerva, on the Acropolis at Athens. This adaptation made by the architect has met with very favorable comment from creative architectural artists who have seen it. 

The exterior of the building is classic in design, that is, it follows the general lines of the master artists and architects of Greece who have been rated as the world's masters in the art of building. 

The lower or ground floor has been treated as the pedestal upon which have been placed the two upper floors which form the interior of the magnificent order. The whole is surmounted with a classic balustrade.

Temple Site for the Orem, Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

We had a brief outing today to escape from our oppressive social distancing. We drove by and walked around on the Temple Site for the Orem, Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is only a few hundred yards from Utah Lake on South Geneva Road. It is a lovely spot and very conveniently located.

An Ocean of Sandstone

Sandstone is ubiquitous on the Colorado Plateau. Most of the iconic photos associated with this part of the United States either feature sandstone or sand dunes. In this image, the white-capped spires are  "pipes" or chimnies of controversial origin. However, the surrounding sandstone has a well-understood origin. Here is an explanation of the origin of sandstone from Wikipedia: Sandstone.

Sandstones are clastic in origin (as opposed to either organic, like chalk and coal, or chemical, like gypsum and jasper). They are formed from cemented grains that may either be fragments of a pre-existing rock or be mono-minerallic crystals. The cements binding these grains together are typically calcite, clays, and silica. Grain sizes in sands are defined (in geology) within the range of 0.0625 mm to 2 mm (0.0025–0.08 inches). Clays and sediments with smaller grain sizes not visible with the naked eye, including siltstones and shales, are typically called argillaceous sediments; rocks with larger grain sizes, including breccias and conglomerates, are termed rudaceous sediments.

The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages. First, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water (as in a stream, lake, or sea) or from air (as in a desert). Typically, sedimentation occurs by the sand settling out from suspension; i.e., ceasing to be rolled or bounced along the bottom of a body of water or ground surface (e.g., in a desert or erg). Finally, once it has accumulated, the sand becomes sandstone when it is compacted by the pressure of overlying deposits and cemented by the precipitation of minerals within the pore spaces between sand grains. 

The most common cementing materials are silica and calcium carbonate, which are often derived either from dissolution or from alteration of the sand after it was buried. Colors will usually be tan or yellow (from a blend of the clear quartz with the dark amber feldspar content of the sand). A predominant additional colourant in the southwestern United States is iron oxide, which imparts reddish tints ranging from pink to dark red (terracotta), with additional manganese imparting a purplish hue. Red sandstones, both Old Red Sandstone and New Red Sandstone, are also seen in the Southwest and West of Britain, as well as central Europe and Mongolia. The regularity of the latter favours use as a source for masonry, either as a primary building material or as a facing stone, over other forms of construction.