Gary Fernandez
Mrs. Woods
Environmental Systems AP
17 August 2009
Gretel Ehrlich
In the story The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich, the author was trying to
tell the reader about her experiences in the countryside of Wyoming. In all twelve
chapters, she recalls all the details of either the ranch life, or the recollection of the time
she was there at the ranch in all of her experiences. The thing the author was trying to
communicate to the readers was that the ranch life, though the work was hard, was really
the place for her and for everyone to consider. Also, she tells her audience that the reality
is totally different than the stereotype all of us believe living on a ranch is like.
The following are some things learned and are noteworthy of recalling while
• “Things happen suddenly in Wyoming the change of seasons and weather; for
• “People hold back their thoughts in what seems to be a dumbfounded silence, then
metaphorical.” (p. 6)
Fernandez
• ‘The land was generous with everything but water. At first there was room
enough, food enough, for everyone. And as with all beginnings, an expansive
• “A ranch offers more than jobs; whole families are taken in, their needs attended
to: housing, food, schools, even a graveyard plot for those who died on the job or
liked the place so much they wanted to be buried there.” (p. 17)
make $300-$500. Herders stay out on the range with their sheep year around;
• “Traditionally, at least, ranch life has gone against materialism and has stood for
the small achievements of the human conjoined with the animal, and the simpler
• “What I’m aching to see is horseflesh, the glint of a spur, a line of distant
mountains, brimming creeks, and a reminder of the ranchers and cowboys I’ve
• “In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are only
• “On the winter solstice it is thirty-four degrees below zero and there is very little
• “But a good irrigator knows this: too little water brings on the weeds while too
much degrades the soil the way too much easy money can trivialize a person’s
The book was a great way in showing how the countryside of Wyoming really
changed the way the author lived and possibly how today’s society will be too. The style
of the author was in first person, which made the reader feel the emotions and thoughts of
the author and how it impacted her. This book impacted me in a very simple way: the
countryside is more than the stereotype we hear about by other people. The things I
learned were the real duties in the country life and the differences between the jobs on the
fields.