YELL Day 41

Thursday 08/08/2013

Today was my leaving day and K had to work of course. I decided to not set an alarm last night and just sleep until I woke up so I wouldn't be too tired for the drive back. I woke up at 4:00 a.m.! I stayed in bed for awhile, mind racing, and then started to get up and prepare while trying to not disturb TR. Finally, it was 5:25 a.m. and I decided I should hit the road as it was barely beginning to get light. You really need to be careful in YELL because dark bison on dark roads at night are dangerous. I began to cry and sniffle and woke my husband up. He got out of bed and said goodbye and escorted me out. It never gets easier or usual to leave him. I felt bad for disturbing his sleep at such an early hour, but I had to say goodbye.

I was driving through the park, reflecting on the whole summer, and finding it "a hard place to leave." That's a John Muir quote about his time in Yellowstone. Not only was I leaving my companion, but the park itself has infiltrated my spirit more than I thought it would. I was feeling a little surprised at my emotions as I passed all these spectacular landmarks and memories "for the last time." I was tempted to stop at Mud Volcano "one last time" and to see such-and-such "one more time" but I kept going.

And then...I was driving along between Norris and Madison, more specifically between Artists' Paint Pots and Beryl Spring when off to the right I saw...could it be...WOLVES! I hadn't seen wolves all summer (but I hadn't tried very hard...I'd only gone to Hayden Valley a couple of times early in the morning to look through spotting scopes and binoculars (just another grizzly...). But there they were. Three wolves, all frisk and frolic. There were lots of other people there at 6:26 a.m. observing the show (it was quite a show of happy dog-like behavior) in the morning mist. I was stunned. For me? Seriously? A departure gift such as this? I had to double-check. I asked to make sure they were wolves and not coyotes and someone confirmed there were three. I could see them without binoculars--just my eyes...three wolves. On my leaving day. I hadn't even put in a request about this.

I think I've mentioned this before, but Heavenly Father seems to have a way of treating me to some of the little desires of my heart. I don't know why we don't get to be parents, but sometimes, certain things happen on certain days to let me know He is mindful of me. I guess He knows a girl like me would really appreciate some wolves. I will explain further, the back story if you will. If you can stand all the detail.

When I was a National Park Ranger at Timpanogos Cave National Monument, we often had rattlesnakes on the trail. We would move them, if necessary, to protect them from the visitors. We used a snake stick to do this. Well, I would forever hear on the radio that someone needed the snake stick and I was never in the area, so I never got to do this really cool thing of moving rattlesnakes. One of my evening programs was about the snakes in the monument and I happened to be living next door to a world-famous herpetologist, so as I learned to handle non-venomous snakes and so forth, I was always just a little bummed that the snake moving duty never fell to me. I know, most people don't think this way, but I am not most people. Well, one day, I was giving a cave tour and a volunteer was holding the snake stick at the exit and I was the one that got to move the snake! My whole tour group was snapping pictures of me and I felt so happy that it was finally my turn. Additionally, the snake had already killed a rodent which was dead just inside the exit door because it had run to escape and then gave up the ghost. The rattlesnake was just trying to enjoy its meal. What's more, it was my BIRTHDAY and I just knew that God had sent me a rattlesnake on my birthday. Sounds crazy, I know, but I got to move the predator and the prey! My visitors loved it all.

Fast forward to Mother's Day this year. We had moved K to the park, I had to drive back to teach school, it was my first Mother's Day since my mom died, I was emotional about the fact that we don't have any posterity, and I was driving far away from my dear husband. So Heavenly Father sent a grizzly bear and let it walk up the road, toward me, right past my car so I could take some nifty photographs. No, it wasn't exactly a bouquet of roses, but it was something He knew I would really appreciate because I had never seen a grizzly in the wild. A definite gift.

And then today, my leaving day. He knew I was a little sad once more leaving K and facing the stress of a new school year and all the exhaustion that lies ahead. He let me know it would be okay because on this day, as I was driving out of the park at the end of my summer vacation, He sent three wolves! Some of you will chalk it up to coincidence, but I cannot.

I just hope I can keep looking for and noticing the gifts, counting the blessings, and appreciating all of the special moments.

And I just threw those other pictures in because apparently, my plants don't need anything from me other than a drink of water every three weeks and the opportunity to hang out in a ninety degree home with the blinds closed. They seem to have thrived in my absence! They have never looked so big, so lush, and so healthy to me.