Yikes! Up to 107 degrees today and 114 by later in the week! I’m in Phoenix dreaming of the cooler weather of Yellowstone National Park. Summers we work as tour guides in Yellowstone and, because of COVID19 restrictions this year, we’ve opted to stay put here at home. That’s good . . . and bad. I love winter and spring in Arizona. Summers . . . not so much.
However, we have truly enjoyed our numerous cactus blooms! They’ve bloomed repeatedly throughout the summer–which, of course, we miss being in Yellowstone.
But I get to enjoy a bit of “winter” in Yellowstone (“winter” enough for me that is). When we first arrive (every summer for almost five years), it’s still pretty cold (at least to this desert flat lander).
Yellowstone Lake is still frozen when we arrive in May. This poor Bald Eagle is trying to figure out how to get to those fish below. 
We say that we’re in Yellowstone from brown to brown. When we first arrive, the grasses are brown and there’s still a bunch of snow. And then, by the time we leave in September, those grasses have browned up again and it is usually snowing (of course there literally can be snow in Yellowstone any month of the year). This last September as we were leaving there was a major snow storm!
The cooler weather of Yellowstone is incredibly beautiful as well.
As I enjoy the Sonoran Desert heat of my Arizona home, I’ll be dreaming of the cooler times yet to be enjoyed when we’re able to return to our “other” home in Yellowstone National Park.
I am so very grateful for God’s presence in my life—especially during these strange days now. To be reminded that life is not about all this drama. It is about the simple pleasures . . . the beauty of nature, the love and connection of wonderful people in my life, and the inspiration of folks doing simple, yet powerful feats on our planet. And . . . I am grateful to the incredible human being I live and share my life with.
I am grateful . . . for Spirit always reminding me of the simple pleasures—the beauty in my life . . . every day.