I work hard at what I do. I sweat, get dirty, and I'm so physically exhausted when I get home, I can hardly move. But I get up the next morning and do it all over again. It's a job for many of them. For me, it keeps me moving, keeps my mind going, and I am surrounded by wonderful ladies that are fun to work with. Not many people can say they love their job. I can...........I don't have to work. I work because I'm not ready to stay at home and collect dust.
I mostly work around the state, but occasionally, the ladies and I are called to pack up our wagons, and make a trail to another state to help out. This past week we headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A place I am familiar with and love to go to. Give me a cowboy with boots, chaps, and a hat, and call me happy....you get that picture when you venture outside a bit more from the tourist area of Jackson Hole though, but where we were working, a fair amount of those dusty fellas ventured in.
During the day we worked hard, but after that..........we played even harder.............it was fun playing tour guide. It is a big touristy area as it's one of the most beautiful places in Wyoming. The Grand Tetons are a hop, skip, and a jump from Jackson. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to head over there. They would have been in awe of the beauty and grandeur of these mountains. They still are a jaw dropper for me. Downtown Jackson Hole is alive with shops, eateries, and the Million Dollar Bar/Cowboy Bar. I can't go to Jackson without moseying in and sittin' my hind end on a nice saddle at the bar. I just can't have too much to drink...I'm not a pretty site falling off the saddle.
I can sit a spell on a saddle at the bar and count all the silver dollars embedded in it. I look around and marvel at the beautiful wood that is used throughout the place from the floors to the banisters...........gorgeous doesn't seem to be the perfect word to describe it. Being the nature lover I am, looking at beautiful wood falls into that category. Put a cowboy on a fence railing, chewing on a hay straw, lookin' mighty fine with dusty boots and his cowboy hat tilted just right to shield out the sun.......hmmmmmmmm......put him on a bucking bronco...........and you have the cake topper at the Cowboy bar...........
I'm a picture taker. Not a photographer. I don't set up shots like photographers do. I aim and shoot. If I see something that catches my eye, I take a picture of it. Sometimes I just have to wing it or better yet, use part of a wing to make a shot................even if it's not from a bird that makes it's natural habitat in the area. This little feather sought freedom and escaped from it's feather duster home. I rescued it from the floor from where it fell and gave it a home in my trusty red solo cup of found objects.
When you have wide open spaces, and where the deer and the antelope roam, you have a lot of these.......
Jackson Square in the heart of Jackson Hole, has arches on all 4 corners that are made of these hood ornaments that are shed by deer, antelope and elk. There might be a moose horn or two also. I don't take the usual tourist shots. I do the different. The unusual...........All I know for sure, is there are a lot of antlers. It's a tourist draw. I love watching people. Watching how they pose in front of the arch way. There was one gentleman who seemed to be following us and was determined to be in every shot I took and the shots the ladies took. We'd move from one corner to another, stand in front of the arch way so someone could take a picture and before it could be snapped, the guy was there, in site, in camera frame. If this dude had been, tall, dark, handsome, or a big, hard ridin' cowboy, I'd have no problem with him sharing frame space. The picture eventually was taken after we decided that we could cut and crop the guy out of it, or photoshop a horses head on to him!.
The mountain air, the scent of pine trees, wild life, rivers....it knocks my socks off each time I head there. Even though I was working, I took time to enjoy my surroundings. Pictures help remind me of what it was, what I saw, and what I can come back to. I'll be back to Jackson.
I did head back to Wyoming this past weekend to another favorite spot of mine..Flaming Gorge. I ventured off and away from the areas that most people gather at. I sought higher ground this time around. I found this.............
and this...........
The sky was alive with color all around me. It helped to be in a place that offers a vast range of open land and so high up that I felt I could reach up and touch the sky and the clouds. Mother Nature painted me a picture that I will never forget.
I have more pictures, some of which I posted on Instagram. Next weeks blog or whenever I choose to put it out, I'm going to add more of what I found in Flaming Gorge. For some reason, my eyes were meant to gaze upon that desolate territory and marvel at what Mother Nature had to offer me. I have never been so in awe of what I saw. I've been to this place a hundred times, but I still see something different.
Follow me and see what I see. Hold on to your memories. Pictures can bring smiles and laughter to those who have forgotten how. Enjoy the moments in your life.
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