It's Day 441...it's also July 20 2020....and we are in Spencer Idaho

It's Day 441...it's also July 20 2020....and we are in Spencer Idaho

I may not know a lot…but one thing I can tell you for certain is that if you are in Northwestern Wyoming and find yourself in a Montana sorta mood…with no desire to experience any of the Yellowstone crowds…your going to see a bit of Idaho. We did…in the form of Victor, Driggs, and called it a night in a place called Spencer .... Idaho.... I can also report that this country of ours pays little to no attention to the lines we put on a map to differentiate one state from the other.

Conquering Teton Pass... with it’s 10% grades, and rolling down into the Teton Valley... one would have no idea you had just left Wyoming and entered Idaho…except for the sign telling you so.

The rugged wilderness and high country of the Tetons blend as seamlessly into the ranch and farm lands of Idaho as they had in Wyoming.

The snow fences and sun baked mud on the two tracks look exactly the same…indicating that winter pays little attention to the map in these parts as well.

One thing that does continue to shift as we move northwest are the temperatures. Long behind us are the near triple digit days offered by the high country in Colorado and Utah…

replaced with mornings that tempt one to dawn a hoodie for that first walk of the day on a sub 50 degree morning…and there is relief knowing that the sun will ease up on us at around 80 degree’s.

Summertime temps like this helps the curious sort understand why so many folks might be up to endure the long cold winters…when they have this to look forward to…

And all of this.... against the backdrop of these wide open midwestern plains....framed by those mountains. Feels like a place where if you decided you wanted to spend a day… or even a month somewhere and not run into critters of the two legged sort…I get the feeling...you actually can....

Spencer Idaho was one of those exits off the freeway that states “No Services”. I might challenge that statement given that I saw two separate signs offering to take us mining for opals…after all…Spencer is the self proclaimed Opal Capital of America, and is home to the states largest opal mine.

In non-pandemic times you can even find a cafe if your hungry. For a town with a population of 37 you couldn't as for much more...could ya? We couldn’t have asked for a better night alongside the railroad tracks backed up against a snow fence where Billie and Dougie hunted the tall grasses for creatures big and small. As usual they harvested nothing from their hunt…except fun…sometimes even in the form of each other.

Asking the internet about a place called Spencer.....pretty short read. It was interesting that it started out with....quote "Spencer is a small unincorporated hamlet located in Clark County" close quote....

Hamlet? I asked myself.....in all the places We've been....haven't read of a town or place....referred to as a hamlet. Further reading simply states that the term....more officially used throughout Europe...specifically...the UK.....where based on population Hamlet is an official title...or designation...much like we use the terms town, and city. In the US....usage of the term Hamlet is less frequent....and more based on local tradition...sounded sorta like what we had experienced in Louisianna....where we saw the term parish....being used as opposed to county....anyhoo.....

Sitting just outside the Hamlet of Spencer Idaho....we'd learn that the area was named for a guy named Hiram Spencer....a merchant from Ogden Utah.....and apparently .... a successful one....he had business dealings in the area and built himself a summer home here in the late 1800's. A small community would begin to grow around Hirams summer home....really taking shape in 1879 when the Utah and Northern Railroad arrived.

Doesn't sound like much else happened around here.....until 1948.....when a couple of deer hunters stumbled across some opals in the area...and that discovery led to the establishment of the Spencer Opal Mine, which is now the largest privately owned gemstone producer in the state....and has also led to the area being referred to as the opal capital of America. Reading this....I was curious....where else in the country are opals mined? And it looks like this area pretty much has a lock on opal production in the US....between here...and a region in Nevada.....you'll find a majority of the Opal mining activity in the country....and globally....looks like Australia tops that list.

The Spencer mine produces a variety of opals, including precious white and pink opals, as well as common opals.....it's located just outside the Hamlet....but the mine trucks in Opals...in their raw form....for enthusiasts that want to pick through and mine for themselves.....their very own...one of a kind opal. For those in search of a more finished piece of jewelry....the site is complete with a gift shop and cafe.

And I pretty much thought that was about it....for opals....jewelry......ornamental inlays and stuff....

But it turns out that Opals are studied by geologists and mineralogists to understand the conditions under which they form. Their unique structure and composition provide valuable scientific insights into the geological processes....that have taken place over time.....and are still taking place...today.

Huh...opals.....more than just a mood ring I guess.......

Sitting here for the evening....taking in the wide openness of it all....having the same curiosities I most always do....what's life like for folks out this way. Looks like the 37 folks that call spencer home....do some driving when it's time to grocery shop....not to bad though....around 45 miles south get's em to the 50 thousand or so folks that call Twin Falls Idaho home.....kinda cool I think....that folks here in Spencer get to choose.....when...or even maybe if....they even want to deal with 50 thousand humans ...... all in one place.

Ahhhh.....deep sigh.....looking around at all this....my guess is....just as good....maybe even better to stick around here....and watch it all pass by on that freeway each day.....

It's occuring to me here....in Spencer.....with that snow fence just behind us.....and then wide open....all around it....the tattered remains here and there of what was once....A Fence....not so much today. And I think perhaps even subliminally....I'm drawn to these places.....places where I clearly see remnants of man....and what they did....what they left.....but can only wonder about the details of that life lived here......and why these fences were ever put here....in the first place...if only to be abandoned.

Maybe even....where did the concept of fences....even come from. At what point in human history...did man decide he wanted to draw lines.....but not with a pencil....or ink....but with timber...and stone.

I mean.....it's an invention nearly as old as civilization itself....and I wonder what are fences.... Why did we build em......And what have they come to symbolize?

I thought about this space here...in Spencer...or maybe our time in Daniel Wyoming...on that bluff overlooking the Green River while surrounded by nothing but wide open space and mountains....and I imagined early man standing in the very spot....on the edge of discovery....suddenly consumed with the need to fence it all in......not so much to create a barrier....but more to make a declaration......of ownership maybe....I'll make this mine....and create "my" personal space......The same happening across the globe thru time.....basics structures being built.....whether from the bones of trees.....the sinews of vines...or the stacking of rocks and boulders.....the intent the same.....keep the wild at bay and signaling the dawn of property and territory....making it all mine....starting...with a fence.

And with time, those primitive fences would evolve. From wooden stakes to ornate ironwork, from dry stone walls to barbed wire stretched across these endless plains. Fences became more than just physical boundaries—they were cultural artifacts, each style whispering the secrets....of a long ago era. And over here....in the US....settlers moved westward, so did their fences, knitting a patchwork quilt of claims, dreams, and promises all across...a uniquely American landscape.

Fences penned in livestock, sectioned off farms, and offered sanctuary to homesteads. They shaped communities, defining what was ours and what was theirs. Yet, with every fence raised, a silent question lingers..... Are fences fortresses of security or symbols of our insecurities?

And I looked back over.....at that abandoned fence...here in Spencer...... Rusting iron, collapsing timber—simply relics....left to battle the elements. And as these prairie winds sweep down through a forgotten barrier.....what did they once protect.....and why....doesn't it need protecting anymore.....or....did it ever need to be protected?

We've seen em....starred at em....taken pictures of em ...... all over the country. Abandoned...neglected ... Fences......swallowed by time....and the relentless march of nature.

What I think....is that within each one of those skeletons......is a story. And they all come together like chapters in a novel to tell that story....of progress....change....dreams deferred and landscapes reclaimed. And while they slowly crumble....and remain hundreds of years after the fact....how many more days will pass.....I wondered.....before this story...is erased.....and a new story...begins.

I think maybe....that new story....is already well underway....maybe even old....already......I think about.....the essence of fences, and ask myself....What's their purpose today..... Are they necessary demarcations, or do they create invisible divisions within the human spirit?...in a digital age, the true fences are not built of wood and wire but of code and connection....The internet? Full of fences....fences....that make it clear....what's free for the taking....vs when I have to pay. I have to pay....to even use it in the first place....a fence....a toll road.....pay your toll....and then....travel freely....but along the way....and in each search....thousands of other searches are taking place simultaneously....not by me....but into me.....so the internet can tell me what I should look at next....and more fences.....it's been predetermined....for me....what I should have to pay....either on the merit of a credit card....or allowing a hard look at all my other actions on the internet.....so my activity can be sold across the internet in an effort to make sure I see just the right advertisement....at just the right time. And if you want not....to allow that access.....more fences....pay....to protect yourself. But are you ever really protected by that fence.....doesn't seem so.....in my personal experience.....doesn't really matter how many times you tell the internet it cannot access my personal contacts....it always somehow seems to know exactly who I should be friends with...a list of recommendations....by the way....oddly similar to those folks in my contact file.....that they are not supposed to look at...coincidence....I think....not so much.

Ahh....Fences, like all things, have their time and place. They emerge from our need for order and safety, yet they also reflect our deepest fears and desires. Navigating an ever-changing world....it's tricky....I think maybe the key lies in knowing....that the most important boundaries...or fences....their not the ones we see......but the ones we choose to tear down....abandon... kinda like this one...in Spencer Idaho....someone abandoned it....

And then there's song....music...there's always music isn't there. So why wouldn't there be music and song about fences....and their use....again....not their physical use....but more....how we as humans can take a term....and apply it....or turn it to a mental state.....From Bing Crosby longing for Freedom....and wide open spaces as he sings....."Don't Fence me in....Or Paramore.....and their song fences....in which they write about personal boundaries....and emotional barriers....and whether or not to let the world in...to see the real you....and what you could share...vs. what you do share.....

And Rappers like Brother Ali....in a song called Picket Fence....in which he dives into social expections and the whole concept even....of keeping up appearances.

Ahh...Fences.....or maybe...better yet....for me....No Fences....as Garth Brooks proudly proclaimed in 1990 with the release of the record he would call....No Fences. And with songs like...Friends in Low Places....The Thunder Rolls....and Unanswered Prayers on it....it was pretty clear what No Fences meant to him.

And for us...I guess it means exactly what it does right now....here in Spencer Idaho....as it has all across the country. Each time we sit in the center of what looks like so little.....but a quick shift in perspective....and view.....and I realize....there's so much....waiting for us...and not just what's all around us right here....but what's waiting for us....just over that horizon....

And I wonder what we'll learn there