Historic Parry Lodge in Kanab, Utah was home to film crews and movie stars of the many westerns filmed locally from 1930s to 1970s.

MORE THAN ONE REASON TO VISIT KANAB, UTAH

We just got back from a long and rushed trip to the Northwest. Tired though we were, we decided to stop off in Kanab, Utah since our only other trip through there had been even more rushed than this one.

Kanab is a small town in Southern Utah just above the Arizona border and Lake Powell, and has to be situated in one of the most spectacular spots in the world. This is the setting for many a western film from the 1930s to the 1970s, most of them filmed after color was introduced. And who could blame Hollywood for picking such an area for filming. First of all, it was remote and mostly unsettled, making the movie more realistic and easier to shoot, and next, the technicolor canyons gave film viewers amazing scenery as a backdrop for the westerns. How could they have better showcased the new technology of Technicolor?

The main reason we wanted to stop there was to visit Best Friends® Animal Sanctuary, www.bestfriends.org/, a wonderful place that rescues abused and abandoned animals. They take in all companion animals, including pigs, horses, rabbits, and of course dogs and cats, that would be turned down by any other rescue organization because they’re too old, too sick, or too abused or not socialized. Then they have a dedicated staff of professional veterinarians, trainers, etc. in addition to compassionate volunteers who try to salvage the desperate, hopeless and helpless animals who land on their doorstep.

Best Friends was on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina attempting to save animals that had been left behind during the storm, attempting to feed, provide medical care, and reuniting those that they could with their mostly distraught owners through a website they set up and manned. They took in Michael Vick’s dogs that had been abused and tortured, and tried to socialize and train those that were salvageable so that they could find a loving, forever home with a family of their own. They continually get calls to come rescue dogs from horrible conditions, such as in large, wholesale breeding situations that must live in their own waste while crammed in tiny crates. And they have often rescued cats and dogs from terrible hoarding situations. Sometimes, they find dozens to hundreds of dogs and cats that have had little to no care or attention, even though the hoarder might have started out with good intentions.

Some of you may have seen the TV show, “Dogtown,” on National Geographic channel, which showcases the work of Best Friends with dogs. It only runs intermittently and isn’t on the air right now, but hopefully, it will be back later this summer or fall.

Anyway, we are unabashed animal lovers, and we wanted to visit this little bit of heaven on earth for animals, if only for a short time. The setting is in Angel Canyon five miles north of Kanab, a truly magnificent place. Besides the animal care and training facilities, the sanctuary also has cabins for guests that can be rented overnight as well as two RV sites.

We stayed overnight in town at the historic Parry Lodge. What a pleasant surprise to roll into town tired and dusty to find a little bit of the South in a Colonial style building surrounded by huge shade trees and low bungalow buildings that held the rooms. The Lodge had been established as a home to film crews and stars that came there in the thirties to make movies after the owners had started as a transportation service for a film crew on their first film assignment in the area. The owners built a place for them to stay, and then headed to Hollywood to encourage other production companies to come there.

We stayed in the Ray Milland cottage. A lot of the cottages are named for stars that bunked in them back in the day. I remember Milland’s name, but I’m not sure I ever saw him in a film. Still, it was a beautiful place to stay and had all the usual amenities, even though it is not as modern as new Inns. Many of the famous who stayed there autographed photos for the owners, which hang throughout the main building.

We discovered that the last weekend in August is “Legends of the West” weekend, when many of the older Western stars or their offspring come to town. This would definitely be an event that we would enjoy attending, although everything seems to be booked up far in advance, leaving us unable to plan a visit this time.

The other amazing thing about the Kanab area is the number of National Parks and Monuments located within a short drive, including Lake Mead. I doubt that many of us, as children, ever learned anything about this region, other than what we saw on the screen. I certainly couldn’t have told you where it was located, or the history behind the people who lived there, including the Native Americans who called this area home.

I intend to watch one of my favorite movies, The Electric Horseman, again and make notes about places mentioned in it so the next time we go up, we can try to follow the route taken by Robert Redford as he led the beautiful, exploited horse to freedom. I can remember that the route taken was so spectacular, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was a place I had to visit one day. Assuming it wasn’t a painted backdrop, I’m sure we’ll find its rare and unspoiled scenery somewhere near Kanab, Utah.

TURN SUMMER FUN INTO CASH

Summer is the worst time for most of us who write for a living to do actual, serious, money-making work. Or is it? Of course, there is usually much more going on to consume our time than in the winter, like hosting visiting relatives and friends, attending outdoor functions, holding cookouts, traveling, working in the garden, and numerous other things that we just don’t do during colder months.

However, in most of our lives, much more happens during the summer that provides interesting activities to write about. We’re going places, seeing things, and having experiences that are worth committing to paper. That makes this the perfect time to write down our reflections on those experiences and our memories of good times so that we can remember them later when we need the information and details for an article or book. And what if we’re too busy to research markets for our article ideas at the moment? We surely have time to make a list of ideas as they pop up, and most of us usually have a camera in tow to take pictures of what we’re seeing and doing.

So make notes of what’s happening every day—even if it seems mundane. Who knows—even the least important thing we see or do could become part of an article, or a character’s experience in a novel. A day spent gardening can later reveal some gems that are article worthy, such as: planting a small backyard garden, a backyard cookout, including making homemade ice cream or simply playing a favorite board game around a table set outdoors, or a picnic in the woods, or a day spent at home doing repair work around the house or even really boring jobs (boring to me, at least) such as cooking and ironing. Any one or more of these activities can become either the basis for an article or an essay.

Say you’re cooking for company and everything seems to go wrong: you start preparations a little late and realize you have to run out to buy eggs for one of your recipes; you look for a special pan or dish and can’t locate it, then find it’s in the dishwasher with caked on gunk and the washer hasn’t been run in days. Around our house, any number of calamities can befall me when I start to cook. Still, sometimes everything works out and the meal becomes a special memory. This could become the basis for an article for a women’s magazine on “cooking nightmares and how to avoid them.” A day spent in the backyard could become an article in a parenting magazine on “turning everyday activities into special memories for your kids.”

And be sure to take notes on places you travel. Where did you go and what route did you use to get there? Were there any special problems or circumstances as you made your journey? What costs were involved? What were the exact names and spelling of the places you visited? What were the names and phone numbers of the people you met, or your hosts? What type of weather did you have? What did the scenery look like? Make a list of the places you stay enroute, whether an inn or RV park. What did you learn about the area that was unexpected? Road trips can become articles for a variety of magazines if you keep good notes and take photos to include with the manuscript.

The beauty of keeping a journal or separate notebooks for each of your activities is that in the winter when things have slowed down, you can pull them out and write. Most magazines, in particular, want articles on summer activities while frost still covers the ground. They must plan their magazines about six months in advance for release during the summer months, and will want your summer manuscript ideas or the completed articles submitted while many of their readers are still shoveling snow. If your article won’t appear in the next six months or so, you’ll need to contact your sources to make sure pertinent information is still accurate, or places you visited are still up and running.

If you’re not sure what types of notes to keep, simply read some good articles on various topics and make a list of the information included in each one. Did the writer include small details, such as the shape of clouds in the sky over a famous monument? Was there any mention of costs involved or names of places stayed? What about other small things that might interest readers that you might not ever think to mention, such as the names of shells found on the beach, or how they looked on the sand at sunset with the tide slowly washing over them?

Notes made on tiny details will serve you in many ways in the future. First of all, they’ll make you more aware of your surroundings. Second, you never know when such a detail can be used in a variety of ways, including your own memoir if you ever decide to put your life story on paper.

TRAVEL - THEN WRITE TO EDUCATE THOSE WHO NEVER TRAVEL

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page."

-St. Augustine, quoted in the St. Louis Post - Dispatch

The above quote caught my eye because I often meet people who can’t wait to express their opinions on everything under the sun, but it's obvious that they have absolutely no knowledge about people beyond their family and neighborhood, or any understanding of anything outside their own limited social network and background. In other words, they don’t know diddly, and it shows. They don’t travel and are not at all curious about people or places outside their own realm. We all know someone like that!

But there are also those who are unable to expand their horizons with travel. How are these people to learn about the world if they can’t possibly see the country or the world? That’s where writers come in. We become their eyes, ears and noses. We have the capacity to bring the sights, sounds and smells of the world to their doorsteps. It’s our duty, and luckily, it’s fun.

Unfortunately, there are people who are not only uninterested in traveling; they also don’t care to read. There’s nothing we can do for those unless we can think of some gimmick that will attract their attention—otherwise, they will remain hopelessly ignorant of the world around them except for what they hear from their opinionated peers who are often as uninformed as they.

I often bemoan the fact that many Americans hold strong opinions about any number of subjects, but often lack the objectivity or knowledge to even form an educated opinion. My own lack of objectivity became apparent after I started traveling. I was totally ignorant about people, places, or lifestyles that differed from my own.

Certainly, I had my own strong opinions (on questions like why some can’t seem to rise above their circumstances), but I lacked factual knowledge about what existed beyond my own neighborhood. I knew my family and acquaintances’ ways of thinking and doing things, but knew nothing about abject poverty, discrimination, hatred, why people held extremist political beliefs, and what type of upbringing had led them there. I was ignorant, and only face-to-face contact with the real world could cure me. Even extensive reading couldn’t prepare me to understand what drove other people to think and do as they do, even though it was the next best thing to travel. I can't say I understand them all, even now. But I had to travel so I could explore the complexities that created the differences in views. Until I began to travel, my worldview was extremely limited, as it is for most individuals.

Once I hit the road, I faced reality for the first time. I had been starved for real experiences among people who had nothing in common with me or my background. Suddenly I was face-to-face with people who “hate Californians,” “despise blacks and Mexicans,” “can’t stand politicians,” “dislike farmers who use all the water,” and think, “people whose children get on drugs must be really bad parents,” among many other strong opinions that I couldn’t understand until I talked to them and could see things from their perspectives—which were mostly from restrictive, prejudiced backgrounds. These were typically people who didn’t watch television, especially the news since they were likely to hear something that didn’t agree with their beliefs; they didn’t read newspapers or books, go to movies, etc. Many wouldn’t travel beyond their own preset boundaries, even if offered the opportunity.

Sometimes their closed society existed because of religious beliefs, or simply because their own parents never went anywhere or read anything, or watched TV. If that was good enough for their parents, it was good enough for them, no matter that the world has shrunk since then and what impacts society elsewhere will soon be at their own doorsteps.

I was always curious about the world. It’s the way I was brought up and the way I was educated. There’s a great big world out there and we all need to know what’s going on since it all impacts every one of us in some way. Since I have now traveled throughout the United States and Canada, and met and talked with people from every type of background, geographic influence, and religious and political belief, I’ve received an entirely different type of education from what I learned in school. I’m better informed and have more tolerance for others’ opinions, even though I might still not agree with them.

Now, I firmly believe that anyone who doesn’t travel at all ignores an opportunity to understand society. I question how anyone can hold firm views on any topic without meeting and talking to people with opposing opinions. No one can understand poverty in the United States, or why some can’t seem to rise above their pitiful circumstances, or why some people can’t get a basic education, or how people from different backgrounds and cultures can think so differently, unless they have traveled the United States and talked to people from all over. And if they can’t travel, they have a responsibility to read about a variety of subjects so they can become more understanding and tolerant.

Travel is something that everyone who has the opportunity, should do. And not just cruise through a region with the windows rolled up and the radio turned on high. It should involve stepping out and talking with the Native Americans you see selling jewelry by the side of the road. It should include stopping and talking to the migrant worker that you see in the market or walking alongside the road. And it should be about trying to understand why that person thinks like he or she does, rather than passing judgment. Ignorance about other people breeds intolerance. It’s too easy to think, “Oh, they’re just a poor, dumb nobody.” No! They might be poor, but they’re probably every bit as intelligent as any of us reading this in ways we may not understand until we meet and talk to them. Their only problem may be that they never had the opportunity to learn the things we have been taught. Believe me, everyone has something to teach each and every one of us, no matter how privileged our own lives or how limited theirs.

Like the quote says, the world is a book, and those of us who can travel, but don’t, instead choosing to stay in our own little world and pass judgment rather than make an effort to understand others, have only read one page. One page does not make a book!

The next best thing to travel is reading. And we writers have the privilege of opening up minds when we travel, including our own, and to put what we’ve found and learned in words that paint pictures for those who can’t or don’t travel. Our words may not be read by those who need to read them most, but they will reach some who long to experience our journeys, and who will learn something valuable from them.

Must Read - Eats, Shoots and Leaves

A while ago, I mentioned that I was reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves, a great little book on punctuation. I finally finished it this week, and I must say there was a lot that I didn’t know about a lot of things. One problem is that the author is British, and therefore included lots of British slang. Many times, I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.

It did explain why so many people are now putting their punctuation marks (commas and periods) outside quotation marks. I had wondered if that rule had changed recently, or if writers are being churned out that don’t know punctuation rules. Hey, I had one high school English teacher who operated about four grade levels lower than the dumbest student in the classroom. Most of us could have skipped that class. Luckily, my previous teachers had been very competent, and their training has served me well enough to survive as a freelance writer for a lot of years. And I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not anywhere near perfect.

As for punctuation, the book reveals that putting commas and periods outside the quotation marks is the British way. We Americans put ours inside quotation marks. Aha!

Has the global economy changed the rules for Americans? No, although it might be trending that way—especially if writers produce articles for a magazine or newspaper with an International readership. As you know, the British also spell some words such as color with an ou, as in colour. That’s why it’s necessary to study a copy of the publication you’re writing for, and ask for a copy of their “writer’s guidelines.” For now, the rule still stands that commas and periods should be inside the quotation marks for American markets.

Sometimes, failure to understand little details like those mentioned above can stop a good writer from submitting work to magazines because they’re unsure of the rules. Don’t let it stop you from following your dreams. There are a lot of books in libraries that can provide you with the confidence to submit articles to magazines, and after perusing a copy of your targeted magazine and its guidelines, you can compete with the best of them.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves mentioned a few other instances where the rules differ between Americans and British grammar and punctuation, so you might want to pick up a copy at the library and find out what you may not know about punctuation.