I Regret that I Have but 12” to Give…

Yep that’s how much our last winter go around gave us…12 whole inches.  Today the sky is blue and it’s warmer but guess what…we’re under another winter storm warning with another 6-12 inches of snow on the way.  I finished my Yellowstone picture series and hoped to move onto something a little more spring like but apparently that’s not going to happen.  I decided to take some more pictures and see what’s been sitting on my camera’s memory card.  It started with sunsets in warmer weather.  One change winter can’t stop is longer days bringing sunsets such as these.  Seeing this makes my heart lift because there’s promise in it somehow.  Cotton candy skies thrill me to no end.  Sooner or later we’ll have pictures like this where there’s actual leaves on these trees.  It was God’s mighty paint brush that painted this sky.  Now the colors are all about white again…lots of white.  Shoveling our way out over and over again is truly getting old.  The days of drinking a nice coffee at this table a distant memory.  Stepping into the backyard without concern with ice and snow…equally distant.  Planting things to test my black thumb’s curse…not happening…winter is all about white but has a blacker thumb than I.  There is a symmetry that appeals to the minimalist in me though .  Winter grips the hand railing as hard as it grips our state right now.  Sometimes I feel that winter has held us captive.  It’s a good thing Sal has an indoor pool.  Yesterday the wind added to our misery and drifted snow everywhere.  I simply can’t imagine another 6-12 inches of snow on top of this.  We had steps once…I think.  Hey we have a deck…I wonder how you get to it.  It’s like an enormous white desert out there.  I think we’ve used this air conditioner before but I don’t think we’ll be using it again soon.  Look, a snow gutter.  Brown and white are the colors of winter around here…soon the brown will likely be buried.  If wind comes with this next snow dumping I don’t know how we’ll get out.

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

It’s fitting that our final moments in Yellowstone would be seeing such things as another wonderful waterfall.  Our guide was so adept at bringing us to these places when few or no other people were there.  These majestic places always have an impact and fewer people makes the experience all the more powerful.  Here’s all of us in front of  the falls.  The way back took us through some narrow canyons.  Much to our surprise (and not seen in this photo) a bobcat was seen…he’s actually under the log in the picture.  Later on he became more visible but was too far away for my camera.  Next we saw several coyotes.  This was a great experience for us all.  The other side of the river had elk on the bank.  The last glance of the park this year looked like this.  The next day before left town we visited the starting line of dog sled races that were going on.  People brought their dog teams from all over.  The dogs were so excited to get going.  This was their starting pointbut it was our exit…goodbye Yellowstone our old friend.

Paint ‘n Mud Pots

Geysers in Yellowstone always capture my fascination.  Standing next to active volcanic activity is stunning.  You never know what the ground will do.  Bison seem to inherently know where they can stand or not…some of the ground is concrete like while others is thin…just covering superheated water.  The Bison know where to go…for me, I’ll stay on the train.  More than a few have been boiled to death by falling into these geysers or falling through the thin crust.  One of my favorite sights?  Paint and mud pots.  They are a mesmerizing thing to watch.  The still cold air is occasionally disturbed by the wet plop of an exploding bubble.  There’s always a sense of urgency to the geysers…even when they are sullenly quiet.  They can go from nearly silentto active at the drop of a hat.  Near the geysers are trees coated with interesting frost designs.  The steam rolls off the geysers and quickly freezes on nearby trees.  I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else.  The stark majesty of this place always awes me.  I just love this.  God is an artist for sure.  Nearor far…you can see you’re in a giant volcanoe.  The evidence of life’s struggle to hang on is everywhere.  As strong and able to adapt as these trees are they don’t always win the struggle.  This is a land of fire and ice.  Steam can bring up elements to create a deadly gas, eruptions can spontaneously eruptbut the danger reaches out and draws you in.  You cannot look awayand I’m always hesitant to leave.  What if I turn away and miss something?  Time to move on like it or not.  I’m left with the ironic glimpse of green in this place.  Life and death, heat and cold…grass and Bison poop.