Bert and Pam have sent me some pictures of Lamar Valley from their trip here this summer. With hopes of duplicating where they were taken I'm hoping to get some of the same scene with it being winter. I've had a few requests for taking winter pictures in different areas of Yellowstone so people can see what their favorite area looks like in winter. I'm glad to do this so if you have a particular area you would like me to take a picture of please contact me and I'll see what I can do. At this time they would have to be areas that I can drive to, which basically means from Mammoth to Cooke City.
The weather has really warmed up. The sideways snow has ceased and today it is sunny. The elk have been by the Main Terrace the past few days and they stand there chewing as they watch people drive by. I guess they are people watching. This morning there were a few elk in the Yak. The only paw prints I've seen in the snow are from the rabbits that make their home there.
I'm realizing just how much the media played in my Christmas cheer of previous years. I heard my first Christmas song this morning on the radio at work and without television I'm not bombarded with all the commercials for what people absolutely have to purchase for that perfect Christmas. There is a huge tree strung with lights here in Mammoth, but I only get a glimpse of it when I leave work after dark. I've done my Christmas shopping because the calender says that it is only a week away. It's a very odd and strange feeling to not be surrounded by the songs, lights and smells of Christmas. However, Patty (who was the first to stop in at Canyon to tell me that people actually read this blog) sent me a wonderful holiday package of treats that she made. Thanks Patty! Which goes to show me that in Yellowstone it is the most purest of holiday feelings that I'm experiencing: it's not lights and ornaments, or the songs. It's the people that make Christmas special.
