Name It — A Writing Exercise for Travelers

I’m perched on Elk Rock — or Moonlight Ledge, depending on the position of the sun, circa 2005. We’ve climbed the mountainside behind my dear friend’s hand-built cabin in Evergreen, Colorado, where a bookshelf hugs the ceiling of every room, a wool loom waits expectantly in the corner, and curiosity and caring fill the rest. I’ve just cut my hair and life had no ease except for this beautiful Western sanctuary. Evergreen is a picturesque town in the foothills of the Rockies. The kids feel adventurous running around the “hills” at night, and I? I feel fourteen again. Free. Lighthearted. Loving the hush of the pines. The night air. The winking stars and faint outline of the elk herd in the open field far below our rocky ledge. When I ask my friend’s son, Dawson, what is the name of the rock, he says, “It doesn’t have one.” He is a teenager and our tour guide for the mountainside behind his home. “You can name it,” he says, side-eying me, wise beyond his years. I know it’s a generous offer as I spy the hammock screwed into the rock about fifteen feet below the ledge where we stand; he’s claimed the ledge below the ledge. So, I do. “Moonlight Ledge — or, Elk Rock. Oh, I can’t decide.” Dawson smiles. “So name it both.” And, a breath of fresh air whooshes into my soul. I will never forgot it: the naming, the gloaming, and the elk grazing in the meadow far below Moonlight Ledge.

Still, I go back, and I go back, and I will go back over and over, because the Rockies—that moment—captured me.

[Read Then Write Workshop] Fast-write Writing Exercise: Set a 2–5 minute timer. Naming is important: Who names you; Who you name; the name you give to certain phases or moments in your life that send a thrill up your spine. Naming gives a moment, a place, power, solidifies its significance in your life, or claims a place you’ve traveled to as your own. Write about a moment or place you’ve named. Why did you choose that name? What does it signify about your journey?