Jackson Hole and Road Trip

An hour ago, you were hiking a trail in the Grand Tetons, clicking pictures of Lake Jenny. Back in the car for the drive to Jackson Hole, your sister-in-law begins applying nail polish. You lower the window because there’s little else to do. She’s been argumentative for days, and you’d rather not endure her bluster further.

Jackson Hole has a traffic jam.

The problem with western road trips is the necessity for so many hours in a car between stops. Even the vistas have a hard time luring away your funk. You want to freshen up and then have a cold beer. In that order, without fanfare, and you wish desperately you could do it with earbuds in place because now she is dominating the conversation. She is enthralled with the sound of her own voice.

Has anyone ever divorced their spouse because of a sister-in-law? You’re tempted to google, like most everyone else in this bistro, but that would be another lecture, and your curiosity isn’t insatiable.

“America is full of fat people,” she says.

And here it is. The woman, who has worried over her appearance more than any you know, looks at you when, through clenched teeth, she hisses: “fat.”

end 4/11/2018

Sascha Darlington