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9/4/11

Testicles in the Desert - The Tree of Utah

Driving from Salt Lake into Nevada on the I-80, I spotted this odd fellow.  It first looked like a mirage, but never went away.

About 20 miles east of Wendover, shooting up from the ground is a concrete tree dubbed "The Tree of Utah."

According to utah.com, it was made in 1986 by a Swedish sculptor named Karl Momen.  He had a vision of a tree while traveling in the Bonneville Salt Flats, and decided to erect a tree in the middle of nowhere.

There is a plaque on the ball-tree, containing the words from Ode to Joy, made famous by Beethoven's 9th.

To me, none of this makes sense.  Colorful testes, hanging from the air in the middle of the desert.  Ode to Joy.  Barren Utah Desert.

Maybe, if traveling long enough in this flat, white expanse, your mind starts to play tricks on you?  And this Swede decided to up the game and put an actual mirage in the middle of the desert?  I could see the conversation now...

"After 150 miles of nothing, let's fuck with these peoples' minds.  I'm going to make a concrete pillar, and hang some multi-colored balls from it.  Make it look like a tree... but not... And then, to top it off, if people stop they'll find a plaque with Ode to Joy on it.  Why?  WHY NOT?  Let's make it as random as possible!"

And random it is.

13 comments:

  1. Josie9/4/11, 9:46 AM

    That's so great haha. I've lived in Utah my whole life and had no idea that ....this.... existed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sharon Day9/4/11, 9:56 AM

    Having lived in the desert for over 30 years now, I would welcome a tall tree of balls. It beats imagining the scenes from "Hills Have Eyes."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9/4/11, 10:18 AM

    Looks awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lady Estrogen9/4/11, 10:34 AM

    Ode to Joy? That's very presumptuous of him. Artists can be highly narcissistic - I should know ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pickleope9/4/11, 11:14 AM

    And now I have an AC/DC song stuck in my head.
    I wonder if the dude got paid for doing it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. jillsmo9/4/11, 12:57 PM

    You're weird

    ReplyDelete
  7. Tonya9/4/11, 12:59 PM

    Desert Balls. Sounds like an alternate name for a Sting song that he thought of using while doing his tantric sex thing. He must have decided the other title after the cuddling began.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous9/4/11, 1:46 PM

    thems some neat looking balls you posted there. lol

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jazz bazooka9/4/11, 2:50 PM

    randomness makes it more fun :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. Tony Van Helsing9/4/11, 3:05 PM

    We've got The angel of the North which looks like a bit metal bloke with glider wings for arms.

    ReplyDelete
  11. D49/4/11, 4:53 PM

    The funny part is at the time, this probably made a lot of sense to the guy. He might have had some elaborate story to tell that only he ended up understanding.

    Maybe he was high.

    ReplyDelete
  12. klahanie9/4/11, 5:29 PM

    Aha, might of made more sense if there were Swedish meatballs hanging from the tree..
    Have a peaceful and positive Labour (Labor) Day Weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Electric Addict9/4/11, 6:31 PM

    post is full of lol

    ReplyDelete

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