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Where does the name come from? Well, you may not remember it now--even though
you might have been there, you were a part of it too--but as kids growing up in the south
end of the Cache Valley, the rivers, mountains and fields of the area weren't just our
playground, they were our whole world, all we knew, and an incredible world it was. Tom
Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn had nothing on us and our friends. Mark Twain and his pen
would have been right at home. In fact, there are still some tales of that
"paradisiacal" childhood that need to be told some day. (Three titles
I've already thought of include, "Be With Me In Paradise," "Falling to
Grace," and the uncensored and probably not safe for children, "The Original
Todd Toone Tales: Memoirs From Childhood's Rite of Passage.")
Back to the question. Besides the Highline and Paradise Canals, which draw their water
from the same source as the rivers, there are several other waterways that, as the saying
goes, "all flow into one, and a river runs through it." South Creek,
our personal favorite, Sheep Creek and "Some Creek" (no one really knows what
it's called) meet up with the Little Bear River (yep, progeny of the old man), running
down from grand old, steep, deep and crystal clear Porcupine, spring fed from the
surrounding mountains by Big Springs and other tributaries, just southwest of Avon at a
convergence as holy to us as the confluence of the Ganges in India (on a much smaller
scale of course). At one time or another, we've probably fished, hunted, camped, swam,
floated, explored, or walked just about every inch of what we call the "Paradise
Rivers."
Even today, when we go there just to remember who we are and where we came from, those
places are still magical. They help us recall the very best part of who we are, or were,
or will be--especially Pa. They were days of wonder and innocence that we honestly never
considered would literally vanish. Traces of it remain, but we seem to spend all of our
young life anxiously living toward being "grown up," then take the rest of our
life trying to get back to the dreamtime reality of where we came from. Oh, we could never
give up our beloved companions or children to go back, "you can never go home,"
but we continue to seek for the best of both worlds--for everyone's sake. And who knows,
maybe that is "Paradise," once and future, rivers and all, forever and ever,
Amen.
Anyway, that's where the name comes from and why we use it. We think it embodies all the
hopes, dreams and possibilities our potential and legacy endow us with. If nothing else,
it is at least an ensign of lives well-lived--as well as we've been able--and just the
promise of another day, to go explore or learn something new. Quite simply, as inspired by
someone who only ever saw life that way, to carry on and "just be grateful to God for
letting you have the ride." You can kind of see it in the logo, and maybe now you
understand where our salutation, "Live long...and explore ways," comes
from as well. |
