Thursday, September 24, 2009

Florence and Stanley: Two "Places of a Lifetime"

The National Geographic Traveler October 2009 issue celebrated its 29th anniversary by listing 50 “Places of a Lifetime.”

Included among the “Urban Spaces” was, not surprisingly, Florence, Italy.
In the “Country Unbound” section was the Sawtooth Mountains.

Writing about Florence was Lamberto Frescobaldi, identified as “a member of the 30th generation of the Frescobaldi family.”

Writing about the Sawtooth Mountains was Hannah Stauts, identified as “the mayor of Stanley, Idaho which lies at the northeast end of the Sawtooth Valley, beneath 10,000-foot-high peaks. At 24, she is one of the youngest female mayors in the United States.”

The population of Florence is 367,000. One hundred people live in Stanley.

What could these two places have in common? The answer is their people – each writer describes a passionate, possessive attitude that characterizes the people who inhabit the place.

Regarding Florence, Frescobaldi writes: “Its inhabitants are pleased with – and protective of – what they see as their uniqueness. Florentines are not quick to embrace novelty, but slowly, slowly we usually fall in love with it.”

Regarding Stanley, Stauts writes: “For those of us who live in Stanley (population 100), in the valley below Galena Summit, the Sawtooths preside over us. They are the reason we came here. They are the reason we stay. The Sawtooths are the connection we all share.”

About the future?

Frescobaldi writes, “Florence’s future is filled with its past, which I jealously guard in the hope that my children will someday inherit the elegance, history, culture, and wonderful simplicity of this extraordinary city.”

Stauts adds, “It takes a passion for the area and the life it offers. Our payoff: wide-open views, made possible by . . . easements (that) have guaranteed that the majority of our open, undeveloped land will remain that way for generations to come.”

It’s a remarkable thing – vast differences, but a same kind of passion of the people for their places, for a lifetime.

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