Lindon Vs. London

I just spent a week in Lindon, Utah, not to be confused with London, England.

They are very different places.

Lindon’s population is eleven thousand. London’s is 7.5 million.

Lindon is 96% white (since this isn’t for school I can use Wikipedia and not even feel bad about it!) and almost all Mormon. London has much more diversity. And history. And culture.

Now I don’t mean to abuse Lindon. It’s a charming little city. I respect my aunt and uncle so much for the way they run such a beautiful orderly house and family. And there’s no better way to start your morning in Lindon than a nice run along the canal pathway that overlooks the valley. I swear that pathway was made for me.

However, I’m very sorry to say that even cute little places like Lindon sometimes catch Utah I-think-my-yard-is-a-junkyard-itis. See?

Now compare that with a London yard. Buckingham Palace, to be exact.

Also, secret: as much as I love Utah valley’s majestic mountains, sometimes they feel like they’re closing me in. Mammoth rock barriers. Surrounding me. Trapping me in. Like a jail cell (which is a metaphor I would be qualified to make, if only I’d ever been in a jail cell… blast). But you get the point, right?

I fell in love with London when I was twelve and went there. The culture, the art, the beefeaters. I’ve dreamed of going back ever since. In fact, if things were different, I would be going to London for a study abroad this spring. Instead, I went to Lindon...

But then I started thinking. Yes, Lindon is homogenous. And in the middle of a confining desert. And they can’t compete at all with the grandeur of London. And sometimes their yards are filled with junk. But you know what? Utah valley has people like this:

And this:

The people I love the very most are in Utah. I couldn’t have spent two laughter and bruise-filled hours at Soldier Hollow with my family if I were in London. I couldn’t have made forts or played pin the antlers on the moose (“IT’S GONE!!!”) with my friends if I were in London. I couldn’t have gone to luncheons or looked at dream houses or had pineapple chutney or stayed up late cracking up with my roommates if I were in London.

Here’s what it comes down to. Things like topography and demography pale in comparison to things like family. And friends.

Which is why, given the choice, I feel so blessed to have spent my spring break in Lindon, not London.

~B