well Utah is a place of extremes. i live in a small town in central Utah. i am retired. i had a business in the big city for years. that rat race shortens lives. in this town everyone waves to everyone else.

we have a greenhouse and we give away plants. a local dairy farmer spreads our fields with three year old cow dung and sawdust.

in a word we share. we work together. we play together. we live at the foot of the mountains and we go fishing instead of out to eat or to the movies.

our excess garden food gets left on the post office steps and those who want or need it take it.

we take food to the old and shut in people.

this just does not happen in the big cities.

so it depends on where you live.

there is one other thing. the locals will consider you an outsider/city flok for a long time and the warming is very gradual.

our town has maybe 500 people and most of them can trace there roots to this town.

the last resident in the house i live in was 101 when she died.

their new people of course. the people here are friendly enough.

an other thing about this town. there are between 30 and 50 gardens. almost ever home has a garden or farm of some kind.

don't ask my why it is but if you are from somewhere in Utah you are an outsider. if you are from outside of Utah you are a double outsider and if you are from California you are a triple outsider.

yes Utah is different but it has it extremes that go from isolation to full cooperation. go figure.

every cloud has a silver lining.

WM