Earth Smells Good

The weather for the past 2 weeks has been beautiful. We have been able to accomplish several tasks at the museum we weren't really expecting to because the weather has been so great. I know the snow will get here soon enough, so I'm not complaining a bit! Kaitlin, my coworker, told me that by this time last year, they already had 1.5 ft of snow on the ground. I took the opportunity this afternoon to go be outside, and drove out to Hebgen Lake and Earthquake Lake. 

I took a mini-hike for a couple hundred yards up a trail to get a great view of Hebgen Lake and the mountains surrounding it. It was such a nice day, I decided to just sit there for awhile and enjoy the sunshine. I ended up sitting there for almost an hour and didn't want to leave. I will remember this day all winter, especially when the snow reaches my rooftop.

Work will be busy again this week...Kaitlin and I are going to Billings for a meeting about next summer's exhibit commemorating the Yellow Bus, and then we have Executive Committee meetings at the end of the week. Things are never boring around here, that's for sure. 

Sanctuary of Peace

As a millennial, one of the increasing social pressures is to find the perfect caption and hashtag for posting pictures to social media. I usually tweak (briefly) the first thing that pops in my head and then move on to accomplishing other things. I captioned one of my recent pictures "Sanctuary of Peace" to describe a short hike into the backcountry in the park. I was close enough to see the parking lot off in the distance and not worry about getting surprised by any wild animals (I was prepared with my bear spray) but far enough away to go over a rise and turn my back on the cares of the modern world. On the other side of this rise, all I could hear was silence. And yes, it is possible to hear silence. A nice breeze was blowing and off in the distance was a herd of about 60 bison. There was no sound of cars driving on the road or people talking. Absolute stillness and peace. I wish I could have spent all afternoon sitting right there. I will definitely be going back to my accurately named Sanctuary of Peace. 

Needless to say, I am quite pleased with the caption I created. :) 

One of my fellow interns from years ago at the Buffalo Bill came to visit, and we went to Idaho Falls, mostly to get Chickfila, but also to explore and have an adventure. After a long week of cool and wet weather, it was really nice to have a blue sky day.

People tend to forget that mountain ranges have two sides, and that a famous mountain range and vista has a reverse viewpoint to people who live on the other side. While the most famous view of the Tetons is from Jackson and the National Park side in Wyoming, they are just as beautiful looking east from Idaho. Tourism has not made the view such a big deal from this angle, and houses do not cost multi-millions. Farmland has preserved the iconic image and prevented developers from building too close. With far fewer people to compete with looking, it is a great experience to see them from "the back side."

The Light of the World

Last night I met some friends from Cody in the Park for supper and left early enough that I could stop and see things if I wanted to. Fall is definitely out in full force here, with 3 colors being prominent. The grass has turned quite brown by this point in the season. Most trees are lodgepole pine, and stay green. The bright colors come from the aspen trees which turn a brilliant yellow. At their peak, they almost hurt your eyes to look at because they are so bright. On my drive, I noticed a couple places where there was one, solitary aspen tree in the middle of the hillside. Those single trees looked so beautiful and strong and courageous despite their aloneness and lack of forest companions. They fight  against snow, ice, wind, and cold temperatures in the winter time to survive. The struggle for life in their natural habitat is fierce and life is hard. The longer I looked at them, the more poignant the verses became that urge us to let our lights shine. I choose to shine God's light whether I stand alone or have a forest around me. Be the light.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth." Ephesians 5:5-9

Other pictures from my trip through the Park yesterday...

The Next Adventure

Grad school is now over and I have moved on into the real world starting with a membership to Costco. I think that is my sign of true adulthood! I do not have internet set up yet, which is in itself quite the ordeal, so I am saving major updates for later once I can write from the comfort of my couch. I am currently sitting outside my office building (for the wifi) on a concrete block and getting whacked in the face with paper napkins flying around in the wind. I facetime'd Mike, Lesley, and Lily and hoped they didn't see the flying napkins. Mike finally asked me if I got hit in the face with a napkin. Yes. Yes I did. Someone else has my keys to the building, so I'm unable to go inside where it's warm and cozy. So major updates will wait until next time.

On Friday this past week, I took a trip into Yellowstone after work and saw an enormous grizzly bear chowing down on some grubs. I was about 100 yards from it, and mostly saw its backside, but it was one of the biggest grizzlies I've ever seen. I saw a couple elk harems and lots of animal watchers congregating to see them.

The harvest moon was beautiful. In this particular spot, the moon rose over the river and reflected off of the sparkling water and illuminated some of the boulders. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I don't think I'll get back while this moon is full, but hopefully I can catch the next one. 

I have a couple of friends from Cody coming to visit next weekend. I'm pretty excited to see some familiar faces and explore this side of the park or some of the national forest around here with them. Many thanks to all of you who have supported my ongoing adventures, love of the West, and search for a job. For now, those seem to have come together in West Yellowstone, Montana.


This post has been cut short due to swirling napkins and an oncoming rain shower. More to come soon.

The Christmas Jukebox: Dec. 6-10

December 6th: River
                        Sam Palladio

December 7th: Winter Snow
                         Audrey Assad

December 8th: A Baby Changes Everything
                           Faith Hill
I grew up listening to Faith Hill. She is so great. Her Christmas pieces are some of my absolute favorites...in case they don't show up later in the jukebox, here's some of my personal faves....I listen to her Christmas album over and over during the Advent season.
Where Are You Christmas?

Little Drummer Boy

The First Noel


December 9th: Born on Christmas Day
                       Brad Paisley
I like Brad Paisley for many reasons, which usually include jokes at the CMAs, so when I ran into this song a couple of years ago, I was totally surprised at his maturity at such a young age. I love how he meshes his young performance with today and it really is such a beautiful song....especially for a 13 YEAR OLD BOY to have written! :)


December 10th: Christmas Coming Home
                            Lennon and Maisy
The TV show Nashville is my guilty pleasure....I LOVE the music on the show. Lennon and Maisy play two young daughters of the main character, and whenever they get to sing on the show it always turns out fantastic. Lennon and Maisy are actually sisters in real life, which makes their talent all the more impressive (to me anyway!). Lennon is maybe 14 or 15 and Maisy is around 11 or 12 (I think...I actually have no idea...that's just how old they look to me). This is one of the songs on Nashville's Christmas CD that the cast made. Love it!

The Christmas Jukebox: Dec. 1-5

I wanted to start off this jukebox by thinking about Christmas from the different points of view of those immediately involved. I think I'm going to have a theme of sorts for every 5 days, and then will post my thoughts about those 5 days as a group instead of once a day. That is easier for me in this crazy busy time of writing papers and finals coming up with school! Here are the first 5 days of the Jukebox:


December 1- O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
                               Diamond Rio
                   Version by The Civil Wars
                   Version by Pentatonix
We are calling for the Messiah to come to us while we are in this period of preparation and waiting. We are earnest for him to arrive.

December 2- When Love Was Born
                           Mark Schultz

I love this song because it makes me think about what it was like the night Jesus was born. While the physical representation of God's love for us was born that night through Jesus, I think it's a nice lyric to when we were first created.

Starlight shines, the night is still

Shepherds watch from a hill

I close my eyes, see the night

When love was born

Perfect child gently waits

A mother bends to kiss God's face

I close my eyes, see the night

When love was born

Angels fill the midnight sky, they sing

Hallelujah, He is Christ, our King

Emmanuel, Prince of peace

Loves come down for you and me

Heaven's gift, the holy spark

To let the way inside our hearts

Bethlehem, through your small door

Came the hope we've waited for

The world was changed forevermore

When love was born

I close my eyes, see the night

When love was born

December 3- Mary Did You Know?
                      Pentatonix Version
                      The Gaithers
                     

December 4- Be Born In Me
                       Francesca Battistelli
There is an entire album (Music Inspired By The Story) that includes songs from the points of view of the "all-stars" of the Bible. This song is Mary's viewpoint.

December 5- Joseph's Lullaby
                      MercyMe


Jukebox Junkie:

This is an oldie that I ran across last year or the year before. For some reason, it makes me think about my Dad.....must be the MILK AND COOKIES!! :)

The Christmas Jukebox

We've all had them. Those nights where you try every trick in the book and wish yourself to sleep, but it just doesn't happen. Knowing you really need to sleep because you have a big day that starts early. And it just keeps eluding you.

I'm a great sleeper, usually don't wake up during the night, and feel rested when I wake up. But...I've occasionally had these nights and sometimes have been able to do schoolwork or planning of the next couple days or "catching up" on some reading. A couple of weeks ago, I had one of these sleepless late nights and decided Christmas music was the cure and I would get a jump on planning out my Christmas Jukebox. Well....three hours and many tears later, I had listened to all of my favorites and decided that along with posting the Youtube links, I would write a few comments about what these songs mean to me (in the blog). I'll just post the songs on facebook and have the commentary on here.

Before I start this year's jukebox, I have a couple of comments.

1) I sometimes have trouble finding a youtube version that I want. I mostly listen to music on Spotify and occasionally have trouble finding the version of the Christmas Carol that I want to share, and have to post a backup because the one I want isn't on youtube. If that happens this year, I'll make sure to share exactly whose version makes the cut for the day. :)

2) The best way to listen to these songs is with your eyes closed (IMHO). You may think this is silly, but I get such a greater appreciation for the music if I've blocked out the distractions of the day, just relax, and take it in. Try it at least once...you might like it.

3) Having done both, it is a lot easier to move away to somewhere with built in friends (Cody) than not (Laramie). I have made some friends and found people to go do things with, but it just hasn't been "home" for me yet. I found an okay church, but it just isn't home either. I haven't necessarily been lonely, but I've had more moments of homesickness than I thought I would.
That night I couldn't sleep, I lay in bed listening to wonderful, beautiful music about the birth of our Lord. I felt such peace and love from the Holy Spirit which reassured me that there is more than one way to worship.

4) With just a couple notable exceptions (I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas and Where Are You Christmas?), I really don't like secular Christmas music. Almost every song in this year's jukebox is a religious Christmas Carol and has moved me to tears at some point or another. You won't find many secular songs here.

5) Just as we prepare our hearts for Easter in the period of Lent, we should prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus during the time of Advent. Advent is a season of waiting, waiting, waiting as we joyfully anticipate the coming of our Messiah. While there are plenty of ways to prepare ourselves for the coming baby Jesus, I use these songs, among many, to feel the joy and excitement that Jesus' birth brings.

Praise be to God.