Today, being Labor Day, was a holiday. I had no appointments. My new motel, where I will reside for the next three days, is in Alpine, Wyoming, which is 35 miles southwest of Jackson, on the Idaho border. (Price, $65 per night, as opposed to $200 in Jackson.) I had a choice: should I spend the day in looking around in Jackson, with all the rest of humanity, or should I strike out for Idaho Falls - a place likely to be less crowded? Since I will be in Jackson for the next two days, when I hope the crowds will have thinned, I decided to go to Idaho Falls. Granted, it's not in Wyoming, but what the heck.
I am very happy with my decision. Idaho is the other side of the mountain. It's looking at the Grand Tetons from the west rather than from the east, And, guess what? They are spectacular from both sides. Idaho's mountains are just as impressive as Wyoming's, and Idaho's countryside is equally beautiful and uncrowded.
Idaho Falls, a city of 50,000 was lovely. Downtown, where I went, was empty - because of the holiday, I suppose - whereas Jackson would have been even more crowded. I was able to walk along the green way on both sides of the Snake River - a significant river, I might add - and to see the falls. Here's a picture. The spire in the background is from the Mormon Temple in Idaho Falls. (Mormons have churches everywhere,which are open to everyone; they have temples in only a few places, which are open only to Mormons in good standing.)
So, the bear went over the mountain to see what he could see. And what did he see? The other side of the mountain. A lovely trip.
You might well ask, what is this thing you have with crowds? I don't fully know, But I do know that Carolyn told me, in her strict voice, on the phone the other day, as I griped about the anticipated crowds in Jackson and the Tetons and Yellowstone:
"Richard, try to like what everyone else likes, for once."
I have meditated on her instructions, but then have realized that, if I liked what everyone else likes, I would not be a Presbyterian.
I attended worship this morning at the Star Valley United Church (Lutheran and Presbyterian). Although Pastor Al Schoonover had told me on Friday that the church was growing, I was nonetheless surprised by its vitality. I would estimate that there were 80 people present - in this Mormon town of 400 people. The congregation, as usual, received me very warmly, and many people were eager to talk in what was a very wonderful coffee hour. (I have observed that the vitality of a church congregation is directly proportional to the quality of refreshments at its coffee hour. This one was superb. Cake, coffee, fruit,and cheese nachos! Deliver me from the coffee hours with tepid coffee and oreos.) - What they wanted to talk about was the weather (cold snap, frost on the windshields this morning), football scores (Alabama beat Wisconsin, to Pastor Schoonover's sorrow; Brigham Young beat Nebraska, to everyone's sorrow; the Broncos won by one point; what happened to Tebow?), people they knew on the east coast, what it is like living in a Mormon town, and, supremely and uniformly, the growth of this church under the leadership of Pastor Schoonover.
The worship service itself was more Lutheran than Presbyterian - that is to say, it was more liturgical. than most Presbyterian services, but it was also extremely warm. Pastor Schoonover's 47 years of pastoral experience showed. The liturgy, while extensive, is folksy and informal. His sermon, preached extempore, managed to turn the difficult passage of Jesus' encounter with the Syrophoenician woman, where it appears that Jesus is equating gentiles with dogs, to an encounter with a persistent woman who was like a bulldog in her concern for her daughter. (Mark 7:24 ff.) The take away was that a crumb of God's mercy is all that is required. Illustrated by stories from his experience, it was a moving sermon. And people ate it up. A warm sermon, folksy hymns, an inclusive and open liturgy, and a great coffee hour: the congregation has doubled, they tell me, in the last year. There's something to learn here.
I mostly have pictures of mountains, now. But here's one of the sunset last night, behind my motel. Blessings.
I awoke this morning to a very dramatic thunderstorm, with the wonderful sound of heavy rain on the tin roof covering of my motel walkway. Very nice. Unfortunately, the day remained mostly cloudy, with low dark clouds all day, broken by patches of sunshine. There has also been a dramatic 20 degree drop in temperature, with freezing temperatures in some areas predicted tonight, and snow in the upper terrains of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. More moderate temperatures are predicted mid week- after the Labor Day crowds have left. Since this was a free day, I started off mid-morning to explore the territory, but turned back when it began to rain and hail again. Later, when the sun reappeared, I had more beautiful drives, past the Palisades in Idaho, to Victor and Driggs, over the mountains and into Jackson, (about which I will have much more to say in a couple of days), and back to Thayne. Nothing exciting, except constant beauty marred only by the Labor Day crowds in Jackson.
As I have mentioned, most of the small towns in this area of Wyoming and Idaho are heavily Mormon. The sign below, from a log cabin up the road, in Etna, is intriguing. It seems that the house was built by mother and daughter. Then the husband appears and then there are 12 children. I don't think the sign tells the whole story.
Last night I turned on the television in my small motel room (Snider's Rustic Inn, Thayne, adjacent to Juan's Taco House, which the motel owners also run). The TV gets 100 + channels. Something to do on winter nights, I suppose. Anyway, as I flipped through, I came upon a program, coming from a station in Salt Lake, entitled something like Ex-Mormon Files. It consists, I found out, of an ex-Mormon interviewing another ex-Mormon. I found this surprising. It seems to feature Mormons who have converted to Evangelical Christianity, from what I could tell. This makes me wonder how a program called Ex-Christian Files would be received in the Colorado Springs area, or in Birmingham, Alabama. Or Ex-Catholic Files in Rome. Or ex-Muslim files in Riyadh.- I guess it's pretty good that we can have shows like this broadcast without restriction.
One thing I am pretty sure of: Ex-Presbyterian files would be boring.
As I traveled from Evanston, north on the Scenic Byway that straddles the Wyoming/Utah/ Idaho borders and approaches Jackson and the Grand Tetons, the scenery got more and more spectacular. What is to say, except that these are beautiful mountains, but not all beautiful in the same way? I am now in the little town of Thayne, where I met with the pastor of the Star Valley United Church (Lutheran and Presbyterian). Al Schoonover is a wonderfully experienced pastor, who after retirement from a very active ministry in large Lutheran churches, has become the part-time pastor of this small but vital church. Al is an interesting man, having played on the University of Wisconsin football team in the nineteen-fifties.We noted that Wisconsin and Alabama open their seasons tomorrow night by playing each other for the first time ever. I was so impressed by Al's description of the vitality of this church that I have decided to stay here until Sunday morning, so that I can worship with them.
The football season begins, and, out of loyalty to my Alabama family, I have always followed Alabama football - even as a child - as unlikely as that seems to those of you who know me. I really had no choice. As Al and I talked about this first meeting between Alabama and Wisconsin, I recall watching the Bear Bryant show on television every Monday (I think), where Bear would show a film of the previous game and comment on it. I recall on one occasion he mentioned that, as a member of the Southeastern conference, the University of Alabama was prohibited from playing any opponent which had black team-members. He said this sadly, because it prevented his playing some of the nation's premier teams. Well, that was a long time ago, but not that long. Bear lived to see that rule changed. Indeed, he had a part in changing it. And while watching the display of traditional "beauties" in the cheering section these days shows that the the university still has a way to go, the team now depends on its black players.
This is just an aside - a meditation on change. Which is one of the main things this church tour in Wyoming is all about.
For your enjoyment: a picture of the Bridger Mountains and the Star Valley United Church building.
Today, since I was at leisure with no appointments, after doing my laundry etc, I returned to yesterday's coffee shop, where I had a great lunch, The owner welcomed me back, recalling that I was there yesterday with the Presbyterian minister. At her suggestion, I took a rather long but extremely beautiful ride down a road labelled "Scenic Byway" leading out of Wyoming and into the Wasatch National Forest just across the border in Utah. Stunningly beautiful mountains - all different. I am not tired of seeing them. I returned to Evanston on a section of I-80 that should itself be labelled scenic. Gorgeous is what it was.
Here are a couple of pictures, very inadequate, but to give you a flavor. Tomorrow I head north, toward Wyoming's treasures - Jackson Hole, The Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone - where things get more crowded and more expensive! The Presbyterian church at Thayne is my first stop.
This morning I spoke with the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Evanston, over coffee in a delightful coffee cafe - bookstore - antique shop on main street. Larry Turpin has been here only a year, having moved here from Chicago where he went to seminary and pastored churches for many years. He is an experienced pastor who has come to a very different environment from Chicago. The congregation here is small, attendance ranging from 18 to 80. Larry has been very active in social justice causes in Chicago. It will be a challenge for him, I think, to bring that same perspective to his ministry here. As so many have told me, Wyomians do not like to talk about conflict. They would rather ignore it. This may be true in most places, but it is noticeably true here: it has been noted in all the conversations I have had so far. Larry also made another interesting observation: he said that, in his experience, theology matters very little to a congregation, but worship style matters a lot. And a very important part of worship style is music. It's no wonder that the earliest Presbyterian controversies were over whether hymns should be sung, or just psalms, and then over whether or not instruments should be used in worship. I think everyone is pretty much ok now with hymns and organs, but there is passionate division about guitars and praise songs. Part of the division is generational, but not all of it.
I spent part of the afternoon in Kemmerer,Wyoming, which boasts the world's largest open-pit coal mine, I was told. They are worried that restrictions on carbon emissions will hurt their economy. No fans of the President there either. But its major attraction is the home of J. C. Penny, and the original "mother store". Really. J. C. Penny started his chain in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Two more interesting tidbits: His father was a Baptist minister. And his full name is James Cash Penney. Really.
Here are the picture; store and house 1902
I am spending a couple of days in Evanston, a town of about 12,000 souls in the extreme southwest corner of Wyoming. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the Evanston pastor.
A couple of interesting things happened today. As is my custom, I parked downtown (no parking meters in Wyoming, and always a parking place!) and just set out, walking the interesting-looking streets. Evanston is the county seat of Uinta county. Right, I did not know how to pronouce it either. So, rather than persisting in ignorance, when I passed the very impressive public library, I went in, found a lady sitting at the desk in the children's room, and asked her (knowing that she had faced dumber questions), how do I pronounce Uinta?. Like a good librarian, she smiled and told me: U-IN-ta - the name of an Indian tribe. Encouraged, I ventured another question: did she know where the local Presbyterian church was. She smiled and said, yes, indeed, she did, since she is an elder in that church. What a good librarian! Remember, this was the only person I spoke to all morning. And she was a Presbyterian elder - people scarcer than hen's teeth in these parts. Doesn't that make you believe in providence or predestination or something?
So then I went to the Uinta County museum, which is in the old Carnegie public library. (Picture attached.)
In their small but interesting historical exhibits, I found two notable things. I will have to illustrate the signs with photos. Maybe you can read them if you enlarge them. Sorry. In an exhbit on the rise of motor vehicles, there was this sign about the first (known) trans-continental autmobile trip, in 1903. Read the sign - and what do you discover. The mechanic on board was a Crocker, no doubt one of my relatives. It's how I got my love of road trips - minus the mechanical ability.
This elation was counterbalanced by another exhibit, on a famous early murder in town.. Read the sign and you will see that the accused but acquitted murderer was also one of my relatives. Had to be.
I asked to check the telephone directory on my way out. There are no Crockers in Evanston now.
And, most astounding, in an exhibit on the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, completed in 1913, there was an old map, compiled later, of all the early national highways. Look closely at this picture, and you will see the map of Alabama, featuring my hometown of Thomaston, a village of at present 400 people. However did it get on the map?
This afternoon I visited a small church in Mountain View, a town of 1900 people, 35 miles away, ninety percent of whom are Mormon. A simple well-kept facility, but not enough money to pay a pastor. All older. The younger people have been drawn to a non-denominational "Gateway Community Church.". So, in the absence of a Presbyterian pastor, the Assembly of God pastor comes over every Sunday to lead their worship. Now, that's ecumenicism.
