Sticky pine trees
freshly driven over sage brush
High alpine frost
Thrashed hay in fields around
Sunshine on snow, driven slush
Mud in chunks fly over cars
Wind powerful enough to claim vast open space
Space to expand your breath and take it away
Undulating high elevation deserts
Covered in grass
dotted with snow fence backbones
that fill with blowing snow
Miraculous blizzards
Studded bike tires over ice
Inner city horse pastures and homesteads
Strangers who smile and say hello
Bank tellers honestly say it’s a bad day
Store owners who know your name
Cities three hours apart
Long gaze broken by dramatic peaks
Lands the nation thinks are God Forsaken
Full of treasures rarely explored
Secret badlands below the horizon
Two-track roads that no map knows
Empty rural roads
not on any national tourist guide
the mystery of ancient remnants
respected places
reservations where time stops and
no one calls you back
Modern ghost towns
with grass growing through the streets
Little bars where locals meet
Public lands everywhere
my backyard is ours to share

In October, Tova Woyciechowicz moved on after two years at the Wyoming Outdoor Council as our outreach coordinator. Tova left Wyoming for a year-long odyssey in South and Central America.

We wish her the best of luck!