Beauty And The Bleak

Ah, yes, we've been away.  Our usual fall trip was shorter this year both in duration and distance.  It's the economy you know.

When we really want to shut out the world we often head to Yellowstone.  It's a great place, especially this time of year, to just absorb the beauty and decompress.  It's what we did.  View the wildlife and do the galleries in Jackson.

The photo made me laugh.  I was waiting for the bison to lift his head from grazing and when he did he lifted his tail too; it just happened to be what I caught.  I love those big lumbering creatures.  There's something serene about them.  Maybe it's because they're so big no one in their right mind is going to mess with them.  Even when they're plodding down the middle of the road, right down the yellow line.

It was interesting to observe the dynamics of life away from our usual routine.  There were more people out and about than I had expected.  Spending money.  Shops were open and relatively busy.  Restaurants were buzzing.  Maybe people are doing what we are.  Scaling back but still doing.  We're eating fancy fewer evenings.  We're not buying in the galleries unless a piece really, really calls out to us. But we're still having fun.  No newspapers, no evening news nor talking heads.

There is always a high point I think.  This trip it came in Red Lodge, MT.  We were about to enter a gallery as two young boys on bikes were approaching.  One stopped in front of the window and said, "Can I tell you something?" "Sure."  "These paintings are my Granddad's." He was so proud.  If you know but one name in the world of Indian art, you probably know of his Grandfather - Kevin Redstar.  "He's got a studio just up the road in Roberts," the lad continued. "Go knock on his door and he'll show you all his paintings!"

I loved it.  The youngster was just bursting with pride.  We told him we just may do that as we all parted company. Just a small happening but I was taken with it.  I haven't been enjoying the small stuff enough lately.

But then we come back to the real world and read of a financially strapped man letting his wild animals loose before commiting suicide.  Maybe there is no fish and wildlife personnel in the Ohio town where it occurred but the last I heard every last animal, 50 of them, were killed.  I was sick.

If only animals could have places like Yellowstone where they can roam free as intended and let nature take it's course.   As for the suicide victim, who knows.  He had a wildlife park.  People are scaling back on their spending and businesses fail.  As unpleasant as it is, maybe it's good to be reminded that it's not just we humans who suffer the consequences of a bad economy.