To Live 10,000 Years: Inger Seas to Mountains

Danny Goldfield is traveling the country, meeting and photographing centenarians for his project To Live 10,000 Years. His goal: Document one woman and one man age 100 years or older in each of the 50 United States.

Centenarian, Inger Koedt in Jackson, Wyoming, smiles and enjoys the natural beauty that surrounds her on the back patio.

She insists on living life in the moment. And she is able to at her beautiful home shaded along a quiet stream at the foot of the mountains.

Nina is Inger’s niece and they watch out for each other.

As a young married woman, Inger had 3 children while living under Nazi occupation in Denmark, where she was born.

In Copenhagen, with her husband, Inger rescued Jews from Nazis by arranging for fishing boats to take these vulnerable families to safer places. They helped people running for their lives.

After the war, Inger traveled with her young family by ship to California. “We were free to travel. We were lucky, we could take a ship back to Denmark if we wanted.”

Her family moved to southern California beaches and then her husband’s architect work took them to Wyoming. Inger did not think she could live so far from the sea but then she discovered peace in the mountains. She raised her family and was a favorite chef at an alpine lodge above Jackson.

At 100 years old, Inger makes it to the local hootenanny.

Inger and her niece have a relaxing evening watching a lineup of musicians from a signup sheet. Short performances by many area musicians and travelers passing through the area.

Inger describes a very rare magical moment that happened to her and her son in the forest. They were on a hike and they came upon a moose in the process of giving birth. They stayed back, calmly observing. “Even my friend who studied moose never saw this in the wild.”