Thick Description

This holy house in the hills comfortably sits between tall trees that create a boundary – protecting everything inside it. It is common for the temples of God to sit high in the hills or on the mountains. It was on Mount Sinai that Moses spoke with God, and on the Mount of Transfiguration where Peter, James, and John saw and received amazing things. This place in the hills that has such value and is like a temple - is my grandmother’s house.

            Up in the hill sits this house that is holy to me – and specifically inside this house is a living room situated between an antique dining room and a well-used and lively kitchen. This room has square windows – higher up on the wall that you can only see out of when you stand. Looking out the windows is an incredible vast view of Provo with Utah Lake spanning across the land in the distance like a broad paint stroke that’s cuddled in by the mountains behind it. The evening sun shines through brilliantly - illuminating everything with a golden hue. As my grandmother sits near the windows reading with her unsteady hands, she – herself seems to be transfigured – glorified – illuminated by the evening light that causes her pure white hair to glow. This is a place of peace.

            This is a place of peace, and rest. Pretenses have no place here. You are who you are here, and it is a beautiful respite from the pressures to be something more than you are – whether you try to be or not. The people that live here are humble enough to know they don’t know everything, but they are intelligent, educated, extremely experienced in global issues because they are so well traveled and read and so give meaningful thought and advice on many topics. They are in large part what make this place so beautiful.

            This place seems almost a world apart in contrast to the BYU Provo lifestyle. People in the valley are at the genesis of their lives filled with energy and optimism, but as I “ascend” the hill, it’s like moving through a century over the course of a few minutes. In this home I’m confronted with the realities of life – of age, experience and wisdom where although I am in the presence of someone who’s experienced time, they seem to live outside it. And although they seem to live outside of time, they know the inevitable awaits them and they are not afraid. Rather - ready to embrace their next phase of life – even death. Here, I can ask questions and receive an honest answer.

            This place and the people here are old enough and experienced enough to take delight in the simplicities of the world. Life is not a mystery here, it is subtle and has significant purpose, and it is slow, methodical, constant and enduring. It is not the center of attention, but a quiet reality set in the hills. This place and these people have been exposed to so much of the world that new things aren’t really new – or at least that’s my perspective of them. Rather, things are just different as time goes on. The magic of technology is bewildering, but not overbearing as the valuable things in life are always kept in perspective. It is a place of quiet significance that always sits at the feet of a grandeur mountain as a constant reminder to be still, and know that God is God.

            Sometimes I can go there, and not have to say a word to anybody – because slow silence is beautiful. The couch I lay on for a nap isn’t long enough for me, so I have to drape both legs off to one side in an unexpectedly comfortable position. My grandmother quietly sits in her chair and reads. The silence is comfortable. To me - this is holy ground.



Artist's Statement:

It was a great joy to do this assignment – primarily because I had to put myself both physically in this special place, and mentally when I wasn’t to accurately describe it. By writing this description, I would put myself in that place, which would inevitably bring back memories and feelings from which I would draw to express this location. So it was enjoyable putting myself either physically or mentally in this place to relive – and then articulate my feelings. I go to my grandmother’s house at least once a week – usually for Sunday dinner. By being there it helped the detailed and accurate descriptions come to me as I wrote the description. Because I am there so often, I didn’t have to plan a special time to go – in part because I go there every week, and also in part because it has such a vivid and powerful impact on me that I only needed to think about the place – and specifically the living room to bring back the memories and feelings I needed to create the description.

            In the description I describe the place as my grandmother’s house but later on refer to what seems to be like other people that live there. I understand that this may be somewhat confusing but I don’t feel like it detracted from the description and so left it how it is – but I feel I should clarify here. My grandmother does live there, but I have an aunt and uncle that live there too who take care of her and are a large part as to why this place is so special. My grandmother is very well traveled, but my aunt and uncle are currently still traveling a great deal – and so I feel they bring a living feed of information to the house that is in part what makes them so valuable to me. They are a current source of information regarding humanitarian work all around the world and are what I feel people who contribute to my education and understanding of the world.