"There is nothing so American as our national parks. The scenery and wildlife are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native. It is, in brief, that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us. The parks stand as the outward symbol of this great human principle." Franklin D. Roosevelt

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Face of Yellowstone

After numerous people asking if I've fallen off the face of Yellowstone I thought I better update my blog.  Yellowstone has become what I would consider a 'life reality'.  I live here, work here and socialize here.  My reality is Yellowstone.  I still do laundry, shop for groceries, scrape the  frost off my windshield of my vehicle, etc.  However, I do those things in Yellowstone, which somehow make a mundane task seem a tad bit more exciting.  I may not dance around wild with excitement with the thought of using dryer sheets while amongst bison and elk in Yellowstone but in my subconscious I really do think "Wow, I am putting clothes in the dryer while an elk is grazing right outside the window and I can actually see the Mammoth terraces while I fold them."  My Yellowstone reality is that I can vacuum while watching elk, bison, bears, and coyotes wander around outside my window.  Have I been taking this reality for granted?  Sometimes I wonder but then I think more about it and realize that every time I see something interesting, unusual, and even mundane it puts a smile on my face.  No, I do not take it for granted.  I still love it.

And I still love snow.......which seems to be lacking here.  A storm was to move through the Yellowstone area today but in the end it appears only a few inches fell.  Wheeled vehicles are still able to move through parts of the Park using Admin travel.  I am having my son and daughter come to visit for Christmas and it appears that the snowmobiling adventure to Old Faithful that I had planned for us will not be an option.  But there is still so much to do and I plan to show them what my Yellowstone world consists of.  They will see this world that I do not take for granted.  I will show them the Yellowstone that I love.