Antelope Island... Tabernacle... New Zealand

Arrived in Auckland November 30th. Loving each and every breath I take in this wonderful place. Still getting the house set up with groceries, digging belongings out of storage that need to be placed in drawers, on walls, in cupboards... gardens look great.
Our Land Lady set up a veggie garden for me! Russian Red Tomatoes, Blood Beets, herbs, all kinds of lettuces. Roses are in bloom and the pansies are grinning from ear to ear. My studio is up and running so lots of music, practicing, reading and messing around on my computer. I do love my MacBook Pro. The ONLY way to GO!

I grew up near the shores of the Great Salt Lake which is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River. The lake is a remnant of pre-historic Lake Bonneville, which covered more than 20,000 square miles during the Ice Age. Four distint shorelines from the lake may be seen from Antelope Island and include Bonneville, Provo, Stnsbury and Gilbert. Great Salt Lake is currently 75 miles long by 28 miles wide covering 1,700 square miles. At this level, maximum depth is about 33 feet. Size and depth vary greatly with seasonal evaporation and precipitation. Salinity level ranges between four and 28 percent compared to the ocean at three percent.

When I was a little kid in grade school we were taught to observe the LINES the lake had made upon the Wasatch Range. There were actual horizontal lines along the face of the mountains east of the lake. Recorded depths of the lake on the mountains as it evaporated, altered it's levels beginning in the ice age.

One of my favorite natural events of every day life are SUNSETS. They haunt me like mountains. As a child and later young man I never missed a sunset over the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island. Antelope Island is in the middle of the lake. I've seen lightening strike the island and set it into flames! The Island comprises 28,022 acres, and is 15 miles long and 4.5 miles across at it's widest point. Frary Peak is the highest point on the island at, (get this) 6,596 feet above sea level. Get high up there without the help of drugs!

The oldest rocks on Antelope Isaland are some of the oldest found anywhere on earth! The Farmington Canyon comples, at 2.7 billion years old, is older than rocks found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. These rocks, which are banded and controrted, comprise the sounthern two-thirds of the island. Antelope Isaland has 40 major freshwater springs found primarily on the east side of the island. These springs produce 36 million gallons ofr water each year that support the wildlife and vegetation on the island. Birds, Bison, Coyotes, Pronghorn fawns and bighorn sheep and yes, Antelope call this island HOME!

When the state of Utah built the first road from Syracuse Ut to the Island it was a gravel road. Often washed out. When the water erupts into white caps, the water is so heavy it can CRUSH, SMASH AND DESTROY anything in it's path! There were times I slept on the island and spent days alone hiking from end to end. Oolitic sand is unique to the island. These are round grains of sand that are formed when mineral grains of brine shrimp fecal pellets are coated by concentric layers of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate. This is similar to how perals are formed. In the yearly 70's I hiked to the west side of the island. I was stunned at the sugar white beaches... glistening white diamonds of light. It was Oolitic sand!

My afternoon on the island was very emotional. Seeing how it has evolved into a State Park and yet the austire, aloof beauty and peace this island emmits is awesome! There are 8 magor islands in the lake, but Antelope is the diamond of islands.

Moving along, I and a friend drove to SLC to hear and see the Tabernacle Organ on Temple Square. I studied with Dr. Alexander Schriner when I was 11-12 years old. He taught in the Asembly Hall early on Saturday mornings I took a Lake Shore Bus from Sunset Utah into SLC. Walked over to Temple Square and had a hour lesson with the Greatest Tabernacle Organist ever to touch a keyboard!

The Tabernacle is an acoustic wonder of the world. It was also built with leather tongs holding many things in place and of course it was not built to withstand earth quakes. Thus, the Mormon Church has restored it and made it beautiful. I remember sitting inside this musical wonder of a building listening to the USO, daily recitals, and other events such as when President JFK came to UTAH!!!!!!! I used to place my feet on the floor, sqweeze my butt to the bench and revel in the vibrations the organ made, most of all when the organist would place his feet on the Bombard Pedals. OMG, my entire soul soared to heaven and I promised myself that I would one day be a Tabernacle Organist! They are doing the daily organ recitals again!

After a day of so many exciting and hauting events I crawled into bed and thanked God for my past life! Then to think I am so blest as to be able to come NZ. This is my 21st year!

Will write more later...