NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1303636
58 Nebraskaland • November 2020 THE LAST STOP By Chris Helzer JAILHOUSE SPIDER I spent a wonderful five years of my childhood in the Nebraska panhandle. My memories of those times are of fresh air, wide-open spaces, fishing, exploring and good friends. I also remember the natural landmarks of the area. I particularly remember driving past Chimney Rock and scrambling around on Courthouse and Jail Rocks. A couple autumns ago, I traveled to Gering for a conference and organized my trip so I'd have time to stop at Courthouse and Jail Rocks on the way. I hadn't been on site since I was about 9 years old. Not surprisingly, when I arrived, there were aspects of the site that matched my memories and others that didn't. I had a strong sense of familiarity as I walked around, but I was also pretty sure the rock formations were a lot bigger back in the late 1970s. This was the first time I'd visited the site as a photographer, and I quickly realized how difficult it was to get both rocks in the same photo. Even with my wide-angle lens, I was having trouble finding locations from which I could see both Courthouse and Jail Rocks. Unhelpfully, the sun was dropping quickly toward the horizon, giving me a very limited time window. As I scrambled around, trying to frame a perfect shot, I had a sudden realization that I was wasting a great personal experience. Rather than enjoying the nostalgia of revisiting a childhood haunt, I was using up all my energy trying to take a photograph that would look just like thousands of others already taken. I stopped and took a breath and re-evaluated. First, I took a few minutes to just look around and soak in the place. I let my mind flow back to my childhood and enjoyed the memories of being there as a kid. One of those includes me standing below Jail Rock and looking up at a golden eagle on its nest. Now to be clear, maybe there was a golden eagle nest and maybe there wasn't, but I remember one being there, so I enjoyed thinking about it. After that very pleasant pause, I came back to the present and decided to spend the rest of my allotted daylight pursuing photos I actually enjoy taking. For me, that tends to be photos of flowers, bugs and other small things. Almost immediately upon making that decision, I started to see spiders. I photographed a great little nearly-translucent spider on its web down in a draw. As I was crawling back up the hill, I spotted a big black-and-yellow garden spider and sighed with happiness. I took a few close-ups of the large spider before realizing that I might still be able to come away from this visit with a photo that represents my own personal take on Courthouse and Jail Rocks. I got my wide-angle lens back out, begged the spider to stay put while I moved very close to it and got my shot. A spider hanging in front of a national landmark is a pretty good representation of how I see the world. Also, because you can't see its web in the photo, it looks a lot like a giant spider is cartwheeling down Courthouse Rock, which makes me giggle a little. Regardless, it was the perfect capstone on a great trip down memory lane. Maybe the next time I visit, I'll be able to find an attractive little grasshopper or tiger beetle! PHOTO BY CHRIS HELZER