Dreaming of Yellowstone

I enjoy the slower pace and our wonderful Arizona winters when we’re home, but by this time of year I start getting impatient to be in Yellowstone as it pulls on my heart strings.

I’m dreaming of waking each morning, looking out on the Lodgepole Pines, hearing the forest sounds, thinking, “I live here!”

 

Yellowstone is a most amazing spot.

 

 

Even more so because, as a tour guide, I’m blessed to be out and about the Park every day, showing the thermal features, animals, birds, trees and flowers to our visitors.

I’m dreaming of how, when we first arrive in early May, we get to watch the new bison calves chasing around . . .

. . . and the bears fresh from their winter dens wandering in search of food.

If we’re really lucky we might have a chance to watch the wolf pups playing.

By mid-summer we’re watching the bison sparing as they go into their rut season.

Into late summer, the elk begin their rut season and it’s thrilling to hear the males bugling.

I’m dreaming of the antics of the smaller critters.

 

The marmots, chipmunks, pikas, and ground squirrels sunning themselves. Sometimes even otters, pine martens, or a badger make an appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m dreaming of watching and listening to all the many birds as they migrate through. But my greatest joy is seeing the ever-present Osprey near the rivers, sometimes on their nests.

Or the Bluebirds, so incredibly blue the color seems as though it could rub off on your hand.

 

 

 

 

 

And it’s always fun to spot the many different Swallows nesting everywhere.

 

 

I’m dreaming of the many varied wildflowers, from the early spring Glacier Lilies coming up through the snow . . .

. . . to the Arrow-Leaf Balsamroot looking so beautiful everywhere as they form their daisy-like bouquets.

 

 

 

 

As the season changes so do the wildflowers, all the way through to the Asters everywhere by the end of our summer. By then, the fall colors begin and I notice how the Aspen seem to magically appear through the Lodgepole Pines in their fall wardrobe. It is five months of constant change with an ever-changing growing season.

March begins our preparations, and brushing up on our knowledge of a special place. It is when I’m dreaming of returning to my favorite place on the planet—Yellowstone National Park.