Yellowstone Day 1 5/31/11

Yellowstone Day 1 5/31/11

We headed out the door at 7am and since our route to Lamar Valley was closed due to a rock slide at Blacktail Plateau we decided to go to Hayden Valley and Fishing Bridge. Not our first choice, but, hey what can you do?

We drive through the west upper loop searching for bears that others reported seeing a few days ago but didn't find any. I spent my time enjoying the fresh snow that had blanketed walls of snow still standing from the winter season.

We reached Hayden and marveled at the sparkling white stuff and eventually parked ourselves with others to look at a grizzly sow with two juvenile cubs and a little further off another sow with a cub. I took pics of the three and not of the two. Though I could see her through a scope it certainly wouldn't have been a pretty photo.

We moved on down to Fishing Bridge and visited the gift shop. I had read days earlier of several bear sightings east of Fishing Bridge so we headed there. As promised we joined several other photogs at Sedge Bay.

We got some good pics and since the bear, a sub-adult male, was moving on, we decided to head back home but not before moving down the road and sitting for just a moment. Good thing we did. The bear came our way and within 60 yards or so put on a show!

He found a very old carcass and proceeded to dig, roll over, chew, gnaw and dig some more. He certainly entertained the crowd. After an hour or so we headed back.

Later in the day we went back out again past Fishing Bridge and came up on the grizzly sow with cub. It was kind of a mess so we weren't able to get too close while she nursed. I did take an obligatory pic. (photo cropped)

We thought she was heading into the woods so we packed up planning to go past her and further down the road but she was "right there!" We unloaded again and barely missed her standing. We stayed with her until she started coming towards all of us and we all hightailed it to our cars. She didn't cross the road, and since the light was poor we packed up.

Here is a look of the pond with snow covered Yellowstone Lake and mountains in the background.

Badlands Day 2 – 5/28/11

Badlands Day 2 – 5/28/11

This morning I went to the park without Rick. Not sure why he had problems getting out of bed at 5:30am but oh well. His loss. But really there wasn’t much to see. I got a cool shot of three deer and some nice looking spires.

After breakfast, we headed through the park and into Wall, South Dakota. WE had been here once before. It is a curiosity… shop? No. store? Not quite. Downtown? Yep, the entire downtown is made up of a bunch of Western wannabe gift stores and cafes and bars, and on one side is the largest gift shop/mall/curiosity/shops attraction you’ve seen. They have an old-timey pharmacy, bookstore, of course, gift shops of every kind. They host the largest Jackalope, display Indian and Cowboy photos as well as stuffed animals of every kind.

We thought one visit three years ago was enough, well, I guess not. We walked up one side of the street and down another. We were actually on a mission to find t-shirts. We did not. So we had some lunch, I enjoyed an Indian Taco. Pretty dang good. Imagine a taco salad but instead of a flour shell, it is Indian flat bread.

Later in the day we traveled back into the park to try our hand at more sunset photos. I think we succeeded. The spot we choose is known for its yellow mounds near Dillon Pass. The yellow and reds just pop against the blue sky in the daytime and give off a saturated hue at dusk.

Oh, I almost forgot, I guess because I don’t have a photo of this. It was another day of turkeys, but only this time about a dozen of them. And they weren’t standing around either. Nope. They were FLYING! You heard me right. We headed up a hill, and swooshing fast and furious over head were about a dozen wild turkeys sailing through the air. Completely caught us off guard; a sight we’ll likely never see again. If only I had a photo so people would believe us.

Photos to be added soon.

Badlands Day 1

Badlands Day 1 – 5/27/11

The visit to Badlands actually began the night before. We hoped to get some sunset shots but rain clouds hindered that. However, it did make for some dramatic photos.

The next morning even though the sun woke us at 5:30am, we rolled back over and slept in. We ate a hardy breakfast, petted the cats and took the dog out for a walk and then off to the park. We were greeted with bright sunny skies and a few clouds.

Rick wasn’t finding his “perfect” shot, but I tried to get in a few of the tall spires and landscapes of these harsh looking surroundings. We stopped at different spots, sometimes I didn’t even bother to get out of the Jeep because what I wanted to shoot wasn’t the location we would end up at. There aren’t many pullouts and narrow shoulders so getting “that” shot was proving difficult.

We did, however, come across our first wildlife sighting: big horn sheep. We knew they were here and we finally got to see them. Babies from last year were prevalent along with their mothers and aunts. We also spotted some bison and pronghorn and the ever growing colonies of prairie dogs. Some of these dogs posed nicely for me while others ran away.

Wild Turkey. No not the drink. The bird. We saw a wild turkey in the park at Badlands and saw four just outside of the park as we were going back in. Just the day before, I saw two near the road as we were driving. And of course there were lots of deer in and outside the park. On the way out of the park this evening we saw a big owl in the tree but it was too dark to get a photo and to tell what kind. Maybe we will see him tomorrow and a bobcat or ferret.

Rick captures the different colors in this landscape as the sun sets.

Circle of Life

Sun. Crisp wind. Soft clouds, Blue sky, Green growth. When you add all these things together it stirs my memory of my days in Yellowstone. And today, Wylie, TX brings this to me. I long for my visit to Yellowstone. My heart literally aches to be there especially when this kind of day triggers those very distinct memories, like watching a mother otter rescue her pups from a quickly rising river. Or watching a three year old grizzly bear that I had met for the first time two years prior when she was one of three cubs hanging close to her momma’s side. This particular year, though, she was on her own. Curious of all the photographers before her, she approached us; coming within feet of me. I can’t explain the exhilaration but it included tears of pure joy.

I also look back on the hard facts of wilderness. Over a few days, we kept an eye on a mother moose tending to her calf even though she had been severally injured by a predator. I have photos of the mangled mom allowing her newborn to milk. We rooted for her to make it. We hoped she would beat inevitable the odds. But she didn’t and both she and the baby succumbed to life’s cruel reality.

Circle of Life, they say.

Circle of life indeed. Today, I was scouting out wildflowers. This nothing new and is one of the circles in my life, taking photographs of wildflowers. I enjoy talking photos of flowers because I respond emotionally to the color and shape of a flower. Not in a drastic sense but I do appreciate the simple or intricate shape of a flower and the color that they produce. For example, my favorite wildflower is the trillium. Three simple leaves, three simple petals. Color ranges from pink, mauve and white. Another favorite is the Lupine, whether it be the stellar Blue Bonnet or the yellow and white cousins.

So, I’m taking photos of the flowers along a field. I am always cautious of where I step and place my hands and today is no different. Except this time as I’m peering into the tall grass to see how I can compose my next shot of a flower, I hear a distinctive hiss! Well, you’ve never seen a fat woman jump back and run to the truck as I did at that moment. I’ve heard this sound before, another circle in my life. It was a snake of some sort, I just can’t decide if it was a hognose or a rattler. Either way, my heart is pounding out of my chest.

When you grow up in Arkansas with a dad and cousins who like to shoot, you end up going to very snakey environments. We have walked miles over the bayous in Central Arkansas. Yes, I have even shot snakes along the creeks and Arkansas River. And there really are only two distinctive sounds, the shot of a gun and the slither of a snake. Trust me when I say the sound of a gunshot piercing the air does not frighten me! There is something about that slither though that will send chills up your spine and to remain for several minutes. You thought you were aware of your surroundings but you now second guess that and become even more aware.

After catching my breath, I got to the OTHER side of the road and continue taking photos. I hear a hawk fly overhead and I see he has a big catch in his mouth. Perhaps it’s a rodent he got from the field I was just standing in. Either way there is another circle of life. From the mouse to the hawk from the flower to the bee, Mother Nature has her way of keeping balance.

And that’s where I get discouraged. You see I’m walking long a field that is next to a busy highway. Earlier that morning I was parked next to a dirt road with a nice green belt leading to a neighboring city. Soon, this field and that green belt will become concrete and metal. It’s not Mother Nature’s plan, it’s man’s decision. I wonder with sadness, where do these creatures go to live? Today I saw tracks of a bobcat and a raccoon. The other evening I saw a live skunk near the green belt. Where will they run to when the fields begin to clear when the road becomes a major thoroughfare? Where will this hawk find his next meal?

Don’t get me wrong I’m not a tree hugger. But I do feel genuinely sad about the destruction of the existing green spaces. Our local society does not value these green spaces. The only green this society values is the kind that displays the portrait of Benjamin Franklin.

Is there not a balance we can achieve? I don’t have an answer, shocking, I know. But if I had millions of dollars I could see purchasing this land and keeping it as a greenbelt. I’d be known as the crazy animal lady, but I’ve been called worse over time. How do we find balance between man and Mother Nature? Can it be achieved?

Randomness 2

Why do people promise you one thing and then do another? For example, a person in one of my networks says he wants me to be his graphic designer then a week or two later announces at a meeting he is getting new brochures made by another graphic designer.

Really? So what's the deal? Do I stink? Do I not laugh at your jokes enough? Maybe I laugh too much? I know my work is stellar so that can't be why. But why be just a big ol' fat flake about this? Don't ask me to join your network and then build up these promises and then not deliver. It's bull.

Yea, I'm mad about it. And it's times like these that I honestly HATE networking. I don't make promises I can't keep. I don't give people false hope. But you wouldn't believe how many people say "I'll call you tomorrow about this." Or "Oh my gosh I so totally want to do xyz" and then nothing. DON'T make promises. DON'T tell me one thing and then do nothing. STOP being a flake in business.

Well crap. I really didn't want to vent about my business on this blog but that's just part of life I guess, so whatever. Sometimes I just want to crawl up in a ball and never put myself out there. Sometimes I wish I could just be a beach bum and live in Belize or somewhere. (There's not so many hurricane there, well, actually Costa Rica would be better).

Actually, just the other day Rick and I talked about packing our stuff up and moving to South America somewhere. We even talked about learning Spanish. We are thinking of taking a class. I'm so lucky to have a man who doesn't mind putting up with my crap and my nagging. I don't mean to nag but there are about 5 days out of the month in which I do and we live through it. Rick is a great guy. Love him so much. He's the kind of guy that does not dance but will go to a dance club with friends so that I can dance. Everybody say "awww."

Speaking of friends. Went to a fantastic party at the Hemphill's. Joel cooked up some delicious brisket and sausage and frijoles. Everything was so good I could have ate all night long!! Got to sing karaoke with my singing buddies, Tamo, Mark, Wendy, Jimmy, Nikki, Maria, and dance and laugh. I love partying with these friends. They really know how to raise your spirits!!!

I love karoking. I sing Lady Gaga songs pretty darn well. At our Halloween party last year, I was dressed like Medusa. Half way through the night, I asked Joel to play three Lady Gaga songs in a row. I went upstairs and put on my Lady Gaga outfit. When the first song began playing I came down the stairs singing her song and put on a little show!! Everybody seemed to really enjoy it!! I'd so do it again. Imagine a long haired fat Gaga. LOL Oh here's a pic so you don't have to imagine it. :D

Three Friends Go to a Concert

I have been working on a very long blog about a recent trip to a concert in Oklahoma, with my two friends but honestly, I am growing weary of the story and it's longer than it should be so this is basically what happened:

Jim shared a video of Porn Star Dancing on Facebook.

Julie, Micki, and I "liked" the video Jim posted and thus began a new obsession among two of the three girls.

The video is of a SONG called Porn Star Dancing and, though it does show girls dancing like porn stars, it is R rated for the most part. The beat and sound is fantastic! I like it.

The band is from Canada, probably a huge selling point for Julie. For the life of me I can't remember this band's name and tease the girls with names like Knights of Darkness, Darkest of Ages, whatever, same thing. snicker snicker. They are aptly annoyed.

Julie discovers the band is playing at a casino in Oklahoma. Micki suggest road trip. Planning and purchasing of tickets ensue. I still don't know the name of the band but I knew enough that a girl's road trip would be phenomenal.

Friday afternoon we head out from Wylie, TX to Durant, OK in Julie's SUV. Thanks for driving, Juls!!

I still really have no idea of the name of the band, Darkness something, nor did I realize until this day that it was the first band of three, with the biggest act being at the end.

We stand for an hour and a half waiting for the band to play. This is not a seated auditorium. We complain about knee pain, foot pain and back aches. We are old. But we are HAPPY to be seeing this great band!!!

The band plays and the rocking ensues. They were frikkin fantastic!! Oh my gosh!! And Micki is hot and bothered by the lead guitarist, as is Julie and as am I. He is soooo totally rockin' hawt!!

It's as if 16 year-old energized girls entered our old and tired bodies. Shrill yelps escape from our lips and hands are thrust into the air, and booties shake. We have literally reverted back to the band-groupie-crazed-girls younger selves. Micki fawns over guitar man. Repeatedly.

Julie and Micki decide to stay for the second act. I leave. It's hot, I'm grumpy, I'm parched. I'm going to get something to drink.

Lo and behold. What has been set forth before me? But a mohawk and mascara wearing lead guitar man with tight leopard pants, all by his lonesome? Well, not for long! He obliges me by smiling and posing by my side for a photo and listens to a 44 year old women tell him just how damn sexy he is. Well, it is the truth. He is so hawt and I usually don't go for the mohawk type but there are other things to be considered. ;)

I also learn his name is not Sly, which is what I thought Micki called him, but his name is Sal. He corrected me. I blamed it on dyslexia. He politely smiled. He probably doesn't know what dyslexia is.

Later on, the girls come out of the auditorium sweaty and hot. And with great hesitation, because I know how Micki feels about Sal, I share the photo of the two of us together, cheek touching cheek.

All hell breaks loose. It is as if I took the very last piece of cake from a fat girl's birthday party cake.

They threaten to leave me at the casino and find my own ride back home. Micki offers up strapping me to the roof and then Julie graciously decides I can ride INSIDE the SUV but in the very very very back seat. That's so generous.

What started out as a great evening has come down to me possibly having to call Rick to come get me. It's a good thing this girls were partly joking. :/

They decide to walk around the casino while I'm trying to buy a dang t-shirt with bling that I ultimately didn't get because the lady screwed it up. While they were wandering around waiting on me, they found the lead singer and got their photo with him, but said "It wasn't the same."

So now the 16 year old teens have turned into 12 year old brats, moping around because I got to "touch/talk/feel/photo" Sal and they didn't. I don't know why they are so upset! Something about me not knowing the name of the band. Whatever. I'm a believer now!! Hello!

So, I walk around trying to find the lead singer so he can tell me where Sal is so I can get my girls to Sal. To no avail.

So I come back to this:

They had a really bad attitude as seen here. Yes, folks that's a Canadian extending her middle finger at one of her closest friends!

So while the girls are waiting and hoping to catch Sal and talking smack about me, I see the key board dude. He is cute but not Sal but I get my photo taken with him anyway. And I ask him where Sal is. Again, it is my mission to bring Sal to the girls.

When lo and behold!! There comes the Sal! I toss key board dude aside, call my girls and beg for a photo with Sal and my girls. He once again, politely obliges. He is Canadian, after all. A group photo of the two girls with Sal, the lead singer and key board dude is made as well as a special photo of Micki and Sal.

Micki's smile says it all. Julie even gets to share with the boys that she is from Nova Scotia. The girls are pleased.

Alicia saves the evening and no longer is fearful of not having a ride home.

The three of us, giddy as 16 year old teen girls, drive back home as happy as ever, laughing about the entire evening! Yea, it's funny, now, even the smack talk....

It is then that I look up the name of the band and learn that the band's name is: My Darkest Days. Hey, I had to find them so I could "like" then on Facebook!

It is a night I will never forget.

I love being a girl

I never really was a girly girl. I was a tomboy and in junior high a friend made it her mission in life to teach me how to put on makeup and do my hair and dress to impress boys. And thus started the peer pressure to “fit in.” (Lord, what I would give to have not cared about that for those 20 years of my life!) I wanted those Jordache jeans so badly, but dad refused to buy into that higher social status, never desiring to keep up with the Jones. (And just who are the Jones that everyone wants to keep up with?) So I stuck it out with my store brand jeans and made the best of it. Didn’t help that I was the chubby girl, so I was getting teased know matter what.

I never really felt like one of the girls, not until my second run at college when I was 32. In class there were these cool girls, you know, the “cheerleader” types just a little older. Who knew that the sexy and funky girls, Valerie and Rae respectively, didn’t have problems speaking with me and actually acted like they liked me. Then when they asked me to join their study group of cool girls, I thought “Oh my God! I’m a cool kid now! Finally!” And it was grand.

I have carried this “cool kid” attribute with me for some time now. I don’t seek it and I’m not bragging about it, but for the most part, most people seem to include me in the “cool kids” group. It doesn't matter to me, what matters to me is that I have developed relationships with girls whom I think are cool. In these relationships, I can truly be who I am. Even when that 14 year old goofy kid comes out or that divaesque 18 year old brat rears her ugly head, I am still accepted by these cool girls.

And they think I'm a cool girl, too.

Yippee!!

Regardless of how cool I am or how many people think I’m cool, like Christy does, I love being a girl! For example, last weekend, Rick and I had a very pleasurable Valentine’s Day evening with a really fun couple and wonderful friends, Joel and Tammy. We were dressed to the nines. Okay, Rick wasn’t necessarily, but he did have on a pressed bowling shirt and didn't wear sneakers. It’s a start!

The four of us enjoyed a meat-filled dinner at Bailey’s restaurant then we met several other fun couples for a night of dancing at the Glass Cactus in Grapevine. Us girls would round up each other and hold hands as we made our way to the dance floor. We formed a little circle to kind of guard our group from women who have strayed from their group and aren’t familiar with the proper distance that should be maintained between groups of women and we also protect ourselves from the wayward drunk men.

For example, in the past, we’ve had to position ourselves around one of our girls to close out a guy that seemed to be getting “too close” to one of the girls. It’s a FASCINATING process and really should be documented for a PBS show. It might not make the 8pm time slot, but it would be good filler – “The Dancing Rituals of Married Women not Seeking Outside Relationships with Drunk Men Who are Slightly Balding and Think the ‘Have It’ Whatever It Is.” (Might have to shorten that title there a little bit.) So it’s just us girls dancing. This is the one time I do not feel judged while dancing. They don’t realize how much I need them for me to be “cool.”

And as the night was ending, we were getting goofy and Tamo decides to act like she’s strangling me. I make goofy faces until Joel can get the iPhone ready to take photos. We laugh and giggle the whole time. Again, it is only with girls that I can be as goofy and silly without judgment. Here's the proof!

The next night Rick and I visit Mark and Mary, another very fun couple and wonderful friends. We talk and Mary tells me about this amazing new makeup she started using. This is Mary and I from last year:

Before you know it she and I head upstairs to her bedroom where she demonstrates this great new product. I am 44 years old, do you know how long it has been since I’ve “played makeup” with a girlfriend? Maybe 25 years? Something about Mary (no pun intended, really!) sharing her techniques and allowing me to experiment with her new products made me so happy that I am a girl. A girly girl. It was so joyful and I was almost giddy. I can’t seem to find the right word for it. And it almost seemed to cement our bond as girlfriends even further. I didn’t think that was possible because our bond is pretty tight as it is. And she makes me laugh!

Mary makes me laugh.

Tamo makes me laugh.

And it is this laughter I LOVE sharing with all of my girlfriends. And we do, just not often enough, you know? We get so busy that we forget to send a quick email or make a short phone call. It’s a challenge to have get-togethers as frequently as we would like. But I want you to know, yes, I’m talking to YOU, that I think of you, and I smile when I think of you.

And I like being a girly girl. And I like being a tomboy. And I THANK YOU for letting me be my goofy, silly, divaesque, bratty, cool self.