14 Aug 2008

Read this after the post below.

Well, now, to speak more plainly, our second day in Yellowstone and yesterday in the Grand Tetons were both remarkable, though not quite as distinctive to my memory. Probably because we didn’t talk to too many different people. And descriptions of nature can get rather repetitive.
There are a lot of lodge-pole pines in western Wyoming. If you don’t count tourists, there are more of these trees than there are people.
Yesterday, we spent an hour canoeing on Jenny Lake. It made my arm muscles burn in a welcome way; my brain was just along for the ride.
The nights in northwestern Wyoming were cold, so we slept with our sweatshirts on.
Now, we’re on the road again, driving through Utah. The busy traffic reminds us both of the PA Northeast Extension.
Earlier, we were having a “deep conversation”—our first in a long while, because most of the time, we’re just joking around about butts, buttes, and my apparent inability to make quick decisions—and at some point, we debated whether or not one can really “earn” money and if American culture really revolves around a hard-working, merit-based economic ethic or if that’s just for white males in the Northeast. I, of course, played the impractical skeptic. And nothing was entirely resolved. So what do you think? I imagine none of this is as clear as I’d like, but if you have any comments or questions, please make them. (Part of the beauty of America is the freedom to share your opinion, right?)