Camera's down : jackson hole, wyoming

One of my favorite authors is the masterful Wallace Stegner. Stegner, was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist and historian often called, "The Dean of Western Writers".

I was introduced to Stegner , after my fellow summer intern, aghast that I had not read Stegner and even more shockingly had not heard Beyonce’s smash hit “Single Ladies”, insisted I speed read the former and put the later on repeat until I mastered turning my left hand in the air and doing the dance with high school enthusiasm.

My first foray into Stegner was via the book “Crossing to Safety”. Before reading Stegner, I hadn’t thought too much about the American West. After, I couldn’t get enough. My friend Tiffany, who I worked with at a lowly post just after law school started speaking to me about her family ties to Wyoming. Wyoming! I could only think of National Parks, Buffalo’s, Theodore Roosevelt and openness. After years of planting seeds, Tiffany introduced me to Wyoming in the flesh. We booked tickets and escaped to Jackson Hole for a few days. It is unequivocally one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

We went trail riding, attended a rodeo with real cowboys, one of whom I swear inspired the Faith Hill lyric from a 90’s favorite “This Kiss “.

All I wanted was a white knight
With a good heart, soft touch, fast horse

But I digress, we visited the Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone (oh yes I saw Old Faithful!) and enjoyed the culinary delights in town (namely Persephone). I’ll be doing an entire post dedicated to this GEORGOUS bakery soon!

The breathtaking beauty of Wyoming. The wildness of the place. It struck me right in the heart. The only point of frustration in the whole journey was that I couldn’t quite capture the beauty with a camera. Every image when compared to seeing it with my eyes was so inferior. It forced me to do something that we lose with each passing year tethered to our devices and platforms. I gave up taking pictures. The definitive moment of “Florence just give up already” was when I saw the Tetons and the Snake River (best captured by Ansel Adams c. 1942).

Instead of trying to describe and show you pictures of what I’ve seen I think sometimes its best to invite you to visit these locations with me through the real artists that capture the beauty of a place much better than my inadequate words and pictures can. Think of it this way, why not read the authors and artists who are inspired to create because of these breath taking landscape? Travel is not just where you go physically but where you go emotionally through the mind. Indeed, to this day the best travel adventures I have ever been on transcend time, space through books. A few suggestions that may whet your appetite and see you safely to Wyoming.

Suggestions:

Writings: Letters of a Woman Homesteader by: Elinore Pruitt Stewart - These letters reveal an adventurous, capable, and resourceful woman of lively intelligence, chronicling her account of the American West at the turn of the 20th century. This bold frontier woman perfectly captured the rambunctious spirit of a woman bent on proving she could tame the land and ranch.

Creative: Ben Pease - Mr. Pease is of Crow descent, a tribe of First Nations People who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley—a region that extends from Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota—and have since been relegated to a reservation south of Billings. For the past several years, Pease has worked on a stunning indigenous Madonna series that includes historical images of women from the Crow (Apsáalooke) and Cheyenne (Tsitsistas) tribes.

Film: Lonesome Dove - Now I know that Lonesome Dove isn’t about Wyoming specifically, BUT if you want to laugh cry and feel a bit wretched about how cushy life is n our modern days so much so that you almost want to split logs and build a small cabin while fending off the wilds of nature and seeing your family through the long winter with all the beans you’ve put up, watch Lonesome Dove. An award winning cast and an epic story. You will be transported. You can catch it on the YouTube here.

“Art which has content under its surface, is nothing more or less than a reflective impression of the soul who experiences it.

This is why familiar works change over our lives, and why artistic curiosity can create empathy: because art transforms us, on our own time and in our individual terms, by being fully itself.”

— Patrick Summers

I am beyond fortunate to have spent a few days exploring Jackson Hole, Wyoming with Tiffany and her generous siblings, Hayley and Keith. I hope you will make it a point to travel to Wyoming soon.

Have you ever been unable to capture something you’ve witnessed because its just too beautiful? What do you think of our constant need to capture (and post) everything we see? People always talk about traveling as a hobby/aspiration. Do you think most really travel? What does travel mean to you? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.