I spent a few days shadowing instructors. I came back impressed by their skill as educators and also grateful that in 1872 the United States had the foresight to set aside the land we call Yellowstone to be preserved. It is an incredible place. As I watched the instructors I saw them reach their young students--the youth connected with the place. It's a beautiful thing to love a place. Exupery in
The Little Prince wrote about how loving and knowing a flower makes it different from all the other flowers. Loving and knowing a place gives it a magical quality. It stands out from other places because of what you saw, felt, thought, experienced, or became in that place.
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| View of Gallatin Mountains from Artist Paint Pots |
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| Looking down from the top of the Artist walk |
The days spent with instructors rekindled my love for the place. It renewed my sense of awe for the literally thousands of varied thermal features in the park. It reminded me that I get to do a work that is very important to me.
And, I finally got some great pictures of mudpots. You don't know how hard it is to catch these at the right moment. I must have a hundred pictures of blank pools of mud to get these three good shots.
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This is bison scat with plants growing out of it.
Seed germination in poo in the middle of a geyser basin! |
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| The green is photosynthetic algae living in the runoff channel of a hot spring. |
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| This girl is using a temperature gun, but wasn't such a fan of the rotten-egg smell. |
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| The colors of Grand Prismatic are reflected into the steam |
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This is why I feel my work is important.
What is she thinking and what will it mean when she gets home? |
2 comments:
What a beautiful place! It's truly a blessing to have career you love and one that makes a difference to others.
You have lots of good pictures but I think the last one is a pose I have see myself in.
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