Gadi Leshem Loves The River

By Author: Victor Kaiser
Total Articles: 12
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As a kid, Ed lived by the river. He, his parents and his five siblings spent their early family life in a small house made of hollow blocks that stood just a couple of meters from the river current. The picture of it is lovely but the stories that surround it are prettier.

Ed gets a little emotional when recalling that, since they did not have toilets, they used to defecate and clean up in any spot on that river. One morning, when Ed and his younger brother were doing it during a high, dangerously fast-running water, his brother was swept by the water before they were finish. They were horrified, but the story can crack Ed up any good time remembered.

Also, Ed's friends use to tell stories about what seemed to be a loud party going on inside Ed's small house whenever every one was away for school, or whatever. They say there were spirits partying inside that house that Ed's father had to shoo them away from time to time using a sting-ray's tail as a whip. It is easy to tell that Ed had a childhood filled with experiences that kids of today's generation can only hear about.

Until one stormy night, when the ...
... water was too high that they had to evacuate, that little house made of hollow blocks was washed out. Only a small portion of the wall's base survived. Forty years later, when the siblings are living their better yet separated lives, Ed came back to that river to put up a small restaurant. The portion of his family's old house was still there - a sight that creates rubbles of happy-sad emotions.

To study about Gadi Leshem is to remember Ed. Leshem is an interesting man with achievements that can inspire. He headed the Ogden River development project, a 3-phase project that aims to combine modern living with love for nature. It allows men to have all the comforts of a modern world while giving him the luxury to take in Nature's beauty at its finest.

Gadi Leshem envisioned commercial areas, malls, residential buildings, and urban living in Ogden River, Utah. His optimism on the goods that can happen to Ogden is very reflective of his love for the place, and for the river.

The intention is wonderful but what's even better is that kids with parents who choose to live an urban lifestyle can now enjoy the fun that the naked earth can provide - the kind of fun that Ed had, save the defecation. Surely, Gadi Leshem envisioned toilets too.