Years ago, the city of Logan cut deep grooves in some of the sidewalks on the east side to help people walk up the hills. The grooves were in sets of five. They made the sidewalk look like giant pieces of sheet music.

So, my friend Cindy Howard and I got some paint and painted the notes and words to the song "On the Street Where You Live" on the sidewalk in front of her place.

It was a whimsical and irresponsible thing to do.

But, looking back, I think it was one of the my favorite moments in college.

I think we lightened the steps of the folks who trudged east on those icy sidewalks.

I thought of our "sheet music" today when I read that Utah painter V. Douglas Snow had died.

Snow, too, splashed a lot of paint around town to brighten the lives of others. In Salt Lake City, his public murals grace the walls of The Leonardo, the Matheson Courthouse, the Salt Lake International Airport, Pioneer Theatre, Snowbird and other well-traveled places.

His murals not only help to take the edge off city life, but they give people who pass by a moment or two to relax the muscles of their hearts and take a deep, slow breath.

They are like rest stops for the soul along life's busy freeway.

Even before I became a Cache Valley "tagger," I loved the idea of public murals. They reminded me of the paintings that explorers find on the walls of chilly caves. Public artwork — even back then — is a testimony, a witness that says, "We were part of it all. We loved the world and wanted to leave behind a love letter for future generations."

That's how I look at Doug Snow's murals.

It is also how I look at all the other murals that can be found around Salt Lake City today.

Like many people, I go out of my way to see many them.

Whenever I'm out by 900 East and 900 South, I always dip down to the little street just west of the Tower Theater and check out the mural on the house there. Just seeing it puts a daisy in my day.

The same goes for the mural by Ruby Chacon on the side of the Quetzal Imports store on 500 North and 600 West. I'll drive an extra mile just to see it. Ditto for Chacon's mural on the facade of the Catholic Community Service Building on 300 South just above 700 East.

Life can be a marathon, but public murals are like those volunteers who stand by the route smiling and holding a cup of cold water.

Doug Snow is gone now, but like those cave painters from thousands of years ago, his little "weigh stations" for the weary will remain.

I suggest anyone who loves good art — and who feels a need to unwind during the day — check out his paintings.

Who knows? You may leave humming some old tune from "May Fair Lady."

e-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com