JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Just off the bike path, where Moose-Wilson Road meets Wild Rose Lane, a multi-level wooden display greets passersby.
Pinwheels and flowers made from old beer cans are planted in a pot on the top shelf, wild turkey tail feathers rest in another pot on the bottom shelf, and a Mary Oliver quote is painted on a wooden sign.
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” it reads.
Outdoor displays are often erected for wildlife, like feeders put out for hungry birds and the occasional squirrel. But during the COVID-19 crisis more outdoor displays - art, really - have been left to lift the spirits of the humans who see them.
One display decorates windows and a tree in the yard of a Kelly home. Sheila Tintera, a landscape painter, made a drawing of a heart in hand, a motif that represents generosity in Amish folk art.
Then she enlisted her son, Carey Roberts, who owns Print Shop 22, to make weatherproof prints of the image to hang, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reports.
“I just wanted to make people smile,” Tintera said.
In East Jackson a house of roommates who have come to be known as “The Goose Boys” have been creating scenes in their yard with a flock of geese figurines and a single turtle sculpture. According to Josh Eavis, raft guide and one of the three scene stagers, the birds were in the house when they moved in and were relocated to the yard to serve as “powder meters.”
“We would just stick them in the snow, and when it got up to their necks, we knew it was going to be a powder day,” Eavis said.
Now the geese serve a higher purpose, playing scenes. The Goose Boys created the display when they noticed how many people walked the neighborhood.
The geese started out at a dinner party but have become more adventurous. They had a beach day, played poker and have been in a rock band. For that scene the Goose Boys could remotely trigger a Bluetooth speaker when pedestrians passed.
As of Tuesday, the geese were BASE jumping off of the roof. Being figurines unable to open their wings, the Goose Boys fitted them with parachutes.
“We wanted to bring a little light in,” Eavis said. “One family comes by every night now.”
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