Cody Environs | Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

Fixing fence and wildlife

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Leslie

Its been snowing wet spring snows every day. But this morning there was a nice break and blue sky interspersed with strange light and dark clouds over an immensely beautiful white landscape.

Gorgeous till it started snowing again around 2pm

I’ve been learning a lot about what it is to go ‘ster crazy’, ‘cabin fever’. Its been a new experience for me being a native Californian. So I took this opportunity to get outside, and not wanting to try my hand anymore this winter at hiking in the snow, especially wet snow, I decided to fix my fence instead.

I need a fence because I border National Forest where permittees seasonally run cattle. In Wyoming, the law requires you to fence out. In fact, you have to have a fence built to Wyoming state specs if you are to have any rights or say about cattle being in your yard. If a cow is hurt while on your property, if it wasn’t fenced correctly, then you, the homeowner, are liable for that cow.

My fence in 2005. I have a smooth bottom wire now but the top 2 strands are even funkier

Frankly, I hate barbed wire. We all know that it was the invention of barbed wire that was the final death knell of the West; what partitioned off the free range. Besides, it tears up my pants and my hands.

Last year I removed the lowest string of wire and replaced it with a smooth wire. Its easier on the wildlife, although the deer and elk prefer to jump the fence anyways. I don’t have pronghorn where I live. Pronghorn never jump fences but prefer to go under and so often die not knowing where or how to get under a tight fence.

But I have seen elk get caught up jumping a fence. When they can’t see the top wire and they’re stressed, they might not make the leap. This winter I watched an older elk, frightened by a car, run back and forth trying to decide where to jump a fenceline, then judge it incorrectly and break her leg. A few days later she was a meal for the coyotes. Last year an elk died with its leg in the top wire of a fence line.

My own fence I inherited. The previous owners sometimes brought their mules, but they didn’t maintain the fence. Although I’ve replaced the bottom with a smooth wire, to keep cattle out and stay legal, I need to have the middle and top wire be barbed (ugh!). But my top wire was saggy and I’ve been wanting to stretch. Probably one of the most dangerous things for wildlife are saggy wires. They are easy to get caught in. My ultimate desire would be for a post and rail fence, but, sorry, I just can’t afford that.

The super wildlife friendly fence. Costly though and I have such rocky ground

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks publishes on their webpage a great booklet entitled How to Build Fence with Wildlife in Mind. Its got tons of handy tips and describes lots of different styles and types of fences. In there, for a 3 strand fence for Low or Seasonal Livestock Use, they recommend posts placed at 16.5′ apart, Top wire 40″ preferred (42″ maximum), mid wire 28-30″ from the ground, and the bottom wire at 18″.

Instructions for a 3 strand smooth wire in light stock areas

But I’m substituting from the above barbed top and middle to be Wyoming compliant, but here is one that has a smooth wire on the bottom for wildlife, but is legal and good for heavy stock use.

For heavy stock use and wildlife friendly

I’m finally starting to get pretty good at fence work. Its taken me several years and lots of mistakes since I’ve had no fence guru to instruct me. I unleashed the top wire for about 1/3 of the fence line and began, in shorter sections, using a stretcher. After about 2 hours, I’d re-stretched about 1/2 the fence line to the south. I regrouped at the cabin for lunch and supplies, then headed back to start the next section. The weather was beginning to shift, getting cloudier and colder.

I began undoing the top wire, moving along the fence westward. All morning I’d noticed crows cawing around the mountains. When I returned from lunch, a golden eagle soared above. I wondered about something dead higher up. But the surprise was on me. There, on the inside of my fence, right next to the fence in fact, was a fresh dead deer. Had it misjudged or not seen the fence? Its eyes were already poked out, eaten by the crows.

This is the second dead deer in two weeks I’ve run into. The last one I showed a photo on my post. This one rigor mortis hadn’t even set in. It had been eaten on just a little from its back hind quarters. Either it just died there and had been scavenged or possibly a coyote might have brought it down. I was certain that bear would be back soon for another meal.

It is the toughest time of year right now for deer and elk. They’ve had a long winter, are bony and weak. The new grass is showing its greenery, but not much yet and certainly not much higher than a 1/2″ tall. These deer hang around here all winter long. I’m sure I’ve seen this one many times in my yard.

I suppose I won’t be finishing fixing fence for a week or so.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Tagged: Fences, free range cattle, Friendly fences for wildlife, Wildlife friendly fences | 1 Comment »

Moose, wolves, and a false spring

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Leslie

Yesterday was another glorious early spring day. Some friends came up and we took a drive north towards Crandall and beyond, as far as the road is plowed. The lonely 11 or so miles between Pilot Creek, a parking pull-out for snowmobilers, and the NE entrance to the Park won’t be open for another 5 weeks yet, but they’ll have a lot of plowing to do. There is still an incredible amount of snow everywhere. It will be a while before you can hike the backcountry.

As the snowmobilers raced past us to begin their expensive thrills, we idled along looking for wildlife. The banks by the side of the road have melted but still an easy 4′ high. This gave good cover for a moose and her calf just on the other side of the highway along the Clark’s Fork River.

Mama with yearling

Because we could barely see over the snow bank, we quietly got out of the car to take photos. Mama and baby kept browsing but mama moved between us and her calf. What a good mother.

Mama Moose moves between us and her calf

On the way back I shot a photo of Crazy Creek, still solidly covered with snow and ice. This creek, in a few months, will be an awesome volume of water.

Crazy Creek March 2011

Almost back to Sunlight, I asked my friends, who come up regularly on weekends, if they’d seen any wolves this winter. They are avid photographers and would like a good shot. They told me they hadn’t. Not more than two minutes passed when we spotted 2 wolves by the side of the highway. This was a most unusual sighting. Almost 11:00, I’ve almost never seen wolves hanging so near the main road. There were elk up on the hillside, along with deer, not too far away who didn’t seem too perturbed. Two wolves would be hard-pressed to bring down an elk, so I suspected there was a kill higher up on the hillside, or possibly down below where they were wanting to cross to. A big grey sauntered quickly up the hill and out of sight. But a beautiful black loitered long enough to take some good photos. Wolves I’ve met always seem intelligently curious. This one certainly was.

After I came home and my friends were gone, I noticed a yearling moose walking back and forth along the fenceline across the road where the horses are. The fence has a wooden top post and is very wildlife friendly, but this yearling wasn’t that tall and was very uncertain as to whether she could make the jump. She moved back and forth for over 15 minutes, trying to find a spot she felt comfortable to cross. Finally, a car drove up the road, spooked her, and forced her into making the leap. She did clear, but not without her back leg stuck for a moment. She ran up my driveway, because its the open line in the fence and stood in front of the house for a while, seemingly perplexed. Where was her mom, I wondered.

Yearling moose will get kicked out before the mother gives birth again, but it did seem a little soon, but what do I know. I thought maybe she was already on her own. She made her way through the front meadow, where I’ve taken down some posts for a winter opening in a buck and rail fence of my neighbors. It was then I saw her mom, who’d been watching the whole thing patiently. She was standing in the tree line. Soon mama and baby were united again. I had to wonder if mother was, as I would be, gnawing worriedly and wondering if her baby could make the jump successfully, or if mom was treating her offspring to just another new lesson preparing her daughter for the big wide world.

Koda bored because he couldn't get out and play with the wolves!

Filed under: Cody Environs, Moose, Wolf | Tagged: Clarks Fork, Moose, Wolf, Wolf pictures, Wolves | 2 Comments »

The Road

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Leslie

After a brief hiatus working in CA, I got back to Sunlight in time for the arrival of the elk from the Lamar in Yellowstone. In the early mornings I drive up the dirt road hoping to catch whatever might be out there.

Most days I’ve seen 2 moose calves eating amongst the willows up near the ranger station.

Young moose

In the evenings several hundred elk come to graze in the open.

Elk feeding at dusk

Bunnies run to the brush. Two bald eagles play overhead. The Sunlight wolves patrol the road, side trotting up and down.

Running down the road 2 blacks and a grey

Today I took a hike along a closed winter road by the river. Tons of wolf, moose, coyote, elk, deer, rabbit and mouse tracks. I could hear a few howls across the valley, and then a pack of coyotes yelping. I stopped, listened hard, and found their direction. Somewhere by the ranger station across the river the coyotes were singing, along with the crows. I suspected there was a kill there.

Driving back, I looked for the kill. I found it about 50 yards off the road, mostly picked over, probably from a few days ago. I climbed down the steep incline and over to investigate. Was it one of those young moose?

Although pretty badly chewed, the skull definitely looked like a moose, not an elk. There aren’t too many moose around here, between the long drought and the ’88 fires. Besides, moose aren’t native to these parts of WY. But I do mourn any moose that’s gone as there are so few.

Living in a complete ecosystem, with top predators, you see the full cycle of life every day, especially in the winter when the landscape is so clear and visible and the wildlife are not interfered with by atvs, hunters, cattle, campers, and all the others amusements we humans conjure up. I’m constantly confronted by my modern, linear, goal oriented thinking, as if nature were a line from beginning to end.

What is Real?

Nature is a circle of Life, of endless feeding and being fed, unedited beauty, a starkness stripped to naked Reality, though elusive and hidden at the same time. Multi-dimensional, dispassionate, full of the passion and energy of Life. All Paradox and no conclusions.

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Recycling in Cody, WY

Posted on October 9, 2010 by Leslie

It took me a while to figure out where I could recycle in Cody. First I was told “go to Wal-Mart, they have a drop off in the parking lot.” But when I went I saw they only recycle plastic bags. Finally I found the actual recycling center, a steel warehouse structure in back of the Senior Center near the main drag.

I suppose I was spoiled coming from California where I had curbside pick-up. In Marin, we recycled plastics #1 & #2, plus all paper, cardboard, aluminum and glass. If we got it wrong, it was sorted by people at the recycling center. The local garbage company did the pick-up every week and they were making good money at it. So good, that after a while, instead of the public putting out 5 gallon buckets every week with the recyclables, they gave us a nice special garbage can, one side for glass and the other side for everything else.

But I was grateful to at least find a recycling center in Cody. I began taking my recyclables there weekly and sorting them myself, like you’re supposed to. The first week the man who worked there came up and told me “We don’t take that kind of plastic.”

“But it’s number 1” I insisted.

“Doesn’t matter.”

The next week he caught me again, this time with cereal boxes I’d crushed and put in the paper area.

“We don’t take that kind of paper. That’s pressboard, not cardboard.” He was training me.

The following week I threw some bean cans in the metal bin. “No, no.” he ran over. “That’s tin, we don’t take that.”

This went on, every week, for months. I just couldn’t figure out what they recycled and what they didn’t. A few months later I read in the local paper that the recycling center would now be taking all plastics–1 through 7. Even though that made no sense to me as far as what’s recyclable and what’s not, I secretly relished it. Now, finally, I wouldn’t get into trouble, at least over the plastics. I took my load, mostly #1’s, and started pumping them into the large bins.

“Wait, wait wait. Not so fast.” Here came my nemesis. Uh oh, I’m about to be reprimanded again, I thought. “No plastic bags.”

“But Walmart takes plastic bags,” I protested.

“We don’t.”

One day I brought in batteries that I’d been saving up for a year. Of course, batteries have lots of toxins in them, lead being one of them. I was told no one takes those in Cody and I should just throw them in the trash.

Truthfully, this was getting pretty humorous. The capstone of all scoldings came this summer. I finally cleaned out my California storage unit and shipped the rest of my belongings here. The packing company had used those awful plastic peanuts to protect many of my valuables. I carefully put them all into garbage bags, about 10 bags worth, and took them optimistically down to the recycling center.

“Do you take these?” The familiar ‘lion at the gate’ was busy, so I asked a nice woman who works there.

“Yes, just put them in the back. There is a man who comes and picks them up and sells them. You too can sell them at UPS.”

Well I didn’t want to bother, and didn’t need the change, so I began unloading them and putting them in a corner of the warehouse, when along came the Bearer of Bad Recycling News.

“We don’t take that.” he told me. I told him the lady said he did.

“Well, we don’t, but a man does come weekly who takes them. But he’s retiring soon.”

I asked when he was going to retire, hoping it wasn’t this week.

“He’ll probably retire when I do.” I couldn’t resist so I asked “When’s that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe in a few years.”

This summer a friend from California came and accompanied me to town. “Have to stop at the recycling center.” I told her.

“I’ll help you sort” she said. I felt amused. So she started with the plastics. “uh oh, no lids and no plastic bags.” She moved on to the cans. “Nope, those are tin, not aluminum. Can’t recycle.”

“What!” My friend was confused. Finally she was unloading the paper. “Hold on, that’s pressboard. They don’t take those.”

“But that’s paper. They’re boxes. You’re just wrong there.”

“Let’s ask the lady and I’ll show you I’m right.” Was I gloating?

A few months ago, the Cody Enterprise carried an editorial by a local woman encouraging Cody residents to recycle more, do their part. Well, those people better be dedicated and persistent, I thought. I’m pretty dogged about recycling, but most people aren’t. If it ain’t easy, they’ll be quitting after one or two times. The land fill, on the other hand, is easy and usually free.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Tagged: recycling, Recycling in Cody | 2 Comments »

Right as Rain

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Leslie

Its Valentines’ Day and I’m finally home.

The day was clear and beautiful. I awoke to a small bit of fresh snow and a beautiful fiery sunrise.

: Sunrise over Dead Indian

Last night I watched the elk that overwinter in my valley. I heard the recent G&F count was 1460. They come down from the Park when the weather pushes them out. This year, as last year, they were a bit on the ‘late’ side. At dusk and dawn they come out of the tree cover to feed. Here’s a herd of about 700.

: Just a small part of the large elk herd behind my house

: More elk

: Beautiful elk in their winter clothing

The herd is almost exclusively cows and their calves with a few young males, called ‘spikes’ because their antlers are barely branched, if at all.

The whole day the wolves were howling in the valley. Its mating season and I suppose its also Valentines Day for them too.

We felled some beetle infested trees on my property and did a burn that lasted till after dusk. The wolves howled. The air was still and clear. The ash fell like snowflakes. Elk grazed on the flats up above and a lone Great Horned Owl called in the low light of the sky. I’m back and everything is right as rain.

: Brush fire

Filed under: Cody Environs, Fires | Tagged: Elk, Fire, Wolf, Wyoming | 1 Comment »

What is this insect?

Posted on September 19, 2009 by Leslie

Does anyone know what this insect is? They have just appeared in the last month, everywhere. They don’t move too fast. I’d appreciate knowing. Thanks.

Filed under: Cody Environs | 3 Comments »

More Snow Fence talk

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Leslie

When you have a pacemaker, you’re not supposed to use a fence post pounder. At least that’s what JB, my 85 year old neighbor tells me.

“The poundin’ could break one of the wires. But I can drive it with my sledge hammer.”

Fence post pounder with sledge nearby.

I spent the day finishing my snow fence with JB. He’s done just about everything in this country. Fencing large tracts of ranchland is just one of his specialties. Its not a long run–we just had 30′ left of fencing to do, but it took several hours. JB would start the posts with his sledge, and if I didn’t stop him he’d drive them all the way in. Otherwise, I’d finish up with the pounder.

The hill where it drifts onto my driveway

“I can use one hand.” he’d tell me as he pounded along with me with his right hand. I could feel he’s way stronger than I am, even at 85.

After a few posts he’d say “Let’s stop and catch our breaths”. So we’d sit down and he’d tell me stories or jokes.

“You ever seen a sidehill animal?”

“What’s that?”

“Its’ an animal that has legs shorter on one side than the other and goes up the mountains always in the same direction.”

I thought for a moment. I’m pretty gullible but not that gullible!

“I was working on a dude ranch and told that to one of the guest kids. He went and told his dad he’d seen one of those animals. His dad didn’t say nothin’.”

JB showed me a way to stretch wire without a stretcher. Of course, they’ve been making barbed wire fences before wire stretchers were invented. He showed me with a crowbar, and with a hammer–two ways.

Double row. Trial and error. We'll see how it works this winter

We took another rest. “What I know could go in a little book. What I don’t know could go in a big one!” We talked about wild horses. I told him that I thought the wild horses on the Pryors were ‘more wild’ than the ones at McCullough Peaks as they had Spanish blood in them.

“Nah. When I was a kid, everyone here had horses–horsepower. That was all we had. You’d use them in the summer and turn them out in the winter. They’d just run wild and come spring you’d round them up. There was a lady who had lots of horses out there in the Pryors. She paid me $10 for every one of her horses that I rounded up. We’d bring them all in, then she’d look at them and figure which ones were hers. The ones she didn’t keep we’d sell.”

“There was a fellow who was a horse rustler. He’d come over the North Fork down Gravelbar. That’s hard country and he’d drive those horses he stole over those mountains and bring them up north. I think he finally got caught. Horses just got left loose and turned wild.”

“Let’s go stretch another wire on that fence below as long as we’re here. I want this to hold for you. There’s a lot of weight in that snow. And 100 mile an hour winds here are nothin’.”

We put a third wire on the fence we did the other day. JB wrapped another wire around the stabilizer posts as well. When we finished, we sat in the grass, the sun warming us with fall playing in the air. JB’s new Walmart gloves, two for the price of one, made in China, were just no good. After one day they were torn. He told me he’d been to Peking after the war.

“After Iwo Jima and after they dropped the bomb, they sent me there. Only for a short time.” He told me how he’d come back to Cody and there was another kid he’d known. He saw him at a local bar. His leg had been blown off at the Battle of the Bulge. They had a drink together.

“He died just a few years ago. He was a good guy. I helped him do a lot of fencing.” Somehow he spoke about it like it was just yesterday.

Building a snow fence is fun, but its everything in between that really counts.

Another view. The first fence is at least 50' from the driveway.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Tagged: snow fence | Leave a comment »

Don’t recycle, Reuse!

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Leslie

I’ve been busy working on some winter preparations. First I built a wood shed addition and I’m proud of it. I had a little guidance but did all the work myself. I spent a little time thinking about how not to dig post holes and came up with using a railroad timber.I started digging out the area to level it. That was probably the most work of all. When I got to the part where I had to put the railroad tie down, I decided why not just dig only as far as needed.

All the materials came from stuff left at my cabin when I bought it except for the two pressure treated 4×4 posts.

I figure I can get an extra cord and a half packed in there.

Next I worked on a snow fence. There was some old fencing here when I bought the property. At first I thought it was a visual barrier, hiding some junk behind it. But then I was told it was snow fencing. Last winter I had terrible drift near the road, so I brought it to the beginning of my driveway and placed it way high up.

Not knowing about snow fence placement, I had some help from my neighbor.

“Trial and error.” he says.

My son and his friends had put in the posts (also used) and I ran the fence. But when my neighbor came by, he said “You need some stringers in there and bracing at the ends.” Before I knew it, he was over with his buddy and I had two 85-year-old men fixing fence for me. I was learning from the experts, but you should have seen them work. First they decided that the posts weren’t in a straight enough line. So they got their handyman jack from the truck and within minutes had 3 posts pulled, realigned and then repounded in.

The awesome tool- Handyman jack

Next they drove a post at a 45 degree angle, one at both ends, while I hustled up some old barbed wire that another neighbor was about to dump. JB got out his hammer and twisted it around and around till it pulled real tight. Then they set two stringers of barbed wire behind the snow fence, used my fence stretcher (I sure hope the guy who invented that tool is rich!), and tied the snow fence to the stringers with some of the rusty old wire. I was amazed, and I got a real kick out of being helped out by these two old guys.

In fact, just a few weeks ago, I was trying to change a tire and couldn’t for the life of me get a few of the lug nuts off. These wonderful old men came to my rescue and showed up the 20 year olds hanging around. They’re stronger than most guys you’ll meet, good natured, and probably faster.

JB told me that same morning he’d taken an old 50 gallon drum he’d sawed in half, laid down an old hose around the sharp edge securing it with liquid nails, and placed it in his upper pasture for his horses. Then he and his friend helped me with my snow fence, and afterwards they went fishing!

I keep thinking that JB ought to teach a class called ‘Don’t Recycle, Reuse.” If he sees me throwing something away, he wants it. My neighbor had some old twisted metal fence posts I was bringing to the dump. “Don’t toss them” JB said. “I’ll straighten them out and use them.”

Luckily I had saved those rolls of my neighbors barbed wire cause we used some of it on the snow fence. “Use the rest and put two wires as a top wire on your fence. That way the elk can see it better. They were throwing away some cable when the Power Company did work around here. I took it and used it along with the top wire on my fence. I had to stretch it with my ‘come along’. The elk see it and know where to jump. That way my fence never needs fixing.”

I do have to say he’s got the best fence in the valley.

When I was working on fixing my driveway JB told me that several years ago (like 18 now) they were paving the main road and had base rock left over. He took that and paved his driveway. “Just wait until they’re working on the Beartooths and get some of their leftovers.”

When I go over to his house, by the kitchen sink they have a bowl of all those little leftover pieces of soap. You know, the parts when the soap gets too yucky and small and you throw it away. Instead, they put them all in a bowl and use them.

My favorite of all his ‘reuseables’ is one of his hats. “I’ve had this since 1940.” Its not a fancy thing. Its synthetic, but where its all worn through, JB has put duct tape. Now that’s creative reuse.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Tagged: Recycle | 1 Comment »

Early fall?

Posted on August 16, 2009 by Leslie

Oh my God it’s the middle of August and it seems like fall already. We did have summer…it was last week! Apart from that, and a few hot days scattered here and there, its been a rainy pattern like the Pacific Northwest. It is sunny till noon, then cloudy and rainy the rest of the day.

This morning there was frost on the back of my pick-up. Last weekend I went to the end of my dirt road. It ends just 5 or 7 walking miles from the Yellowstone border. It was 37 degrees at 7:30 am when we started. The road soon became impassable in anything but an ATV. Several years ago I drove to the end in my Jeep, but with all the rain and snow over the last 2 years, the road is overgrown, the streams can be dangerous, and fallen trees have been cut by ATVer’s so only ATVs can get through.

Its so wet this summer it looks like the Northwest

About 70-80% of the conifers back there are dead. All the wet weather and more trees are going to fall, making for good fire material. We drove almost up to the glacier, or at least what’s left of it before it melts completely.

View from near the end of the dirt road in my valley

Last week my son was in town and we went to the Park. On the way home, a hailstorm began that lasted for over an hour. The visibility was so bad, the hail was so hard, that we had to stop the car and sit for 15 minutes. I felt like I was inside a popcorn machine. A motorcyclist stopped with us. I looked at the size of those hailstones and felt sorry for him.

The gathering storm

When we got home, the road was covered with inches of hail. An eerie calm fell over the landscape. A monotone light saturated the air.

The light is eerie

Koda sits in hail

UFO?! Just kidding. Just a strange outside light reflecting the inside lamp

UFO?! Just kidding. The strange ambient light reflecting the inside lamp

I’m not ready for fall just yet. I’m still hoping for a bit of summer to begin.

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The Storm

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Leslie

7pm the day before the morning of the storm

Another view 7pm to the north, clouds roll along a butte

Last night I was witness to a staggering spectacle, an event no man can control, manipulate, make signage for, run through pipeline, or build out of concrete. Maybe it was predicted on the evening weather report, but those are only small thoughts compared to the largesse of this event.

A storm rolled in and in and in, all night, Mostly dry lightning. Even few seconds deep booms filled the air, followed by flashes, sometimes from the eastern sky, other times from the north or west. Sometimes sheet lightning, other times forked. An ancient waning moon played its’ light between large clouds, illuminating the night landscape, then hiding and allowing the flashes of lightning to eerily cast shadows, blindingly, for a few seconds.

Light rain fell, then paused. The lightning, the thunder, the moon, the slow moving clouds continued for hours. It was a massive concert, with many movements, orchestrated by an invisible conductor, hardly any audience to appreciate it since it rolled throughout the late night.

At 11:00 I looked out the window. The sky was fairly clear. The night was silent. The moon played behind the clouds in a beautiful inviting way. Something drew me to sleep outside.

I grabbed my sleeping bag, and an old buffalo hide, and laid out on a couch I have set under a covered porch with a view of the north, eastern and western sky. Wyoming skies are like no other, broad and sweeping, punctuated with fabulous rugged mountains and reef cliffs—this was my view. In the bright moonlight, the colorless landscape was of haunting beauty.

I set up the bag, got comfortable, and began watching the play of Venus, the clouds and the moon. Without me planning it or knowing what was arriving, I became witness to hours of torrential beauty, a shock and awe of natural wonder I’d never witnessed before.

When I was six years old, I went away for the summer to a camp in the mountains, my first exposure to the mountains. I remember my first mountain storm as clearly as the ‘ah ha’ of learning to ride a bike. Sitting inside a cabin, watching from a window for an hour, the storm moved across the sky, vibrating my little body. It was the first of many such experiences. I went to that summer mountain camp, far from home, every year for most of my youth, witnessing many storms, sometimes seeking shelter from their surprise and quickness.

I’ve observed great summer storms in the wide skies of the mid-West. But this storm was a thing of utmost beauty. As I lay outside, sheltered with a wide view, the never-ending play of light, dark, deep resonance, moving in slow rhythm across the sky rivaled any natural wonder I’ve ever witnessed. Like good music, soon I was a participant. The storm lifted me up into it. The dog sat nearby on the lawn, equally awed, sometimes moving out of the brief periods of rain to shelter.

By 4:00 am, having dozed in and out of sleep, Koda and I moved inside for better rest. He let me know his preferences by coming over and nuzzling me as if to say the show was over. I felt like thanking someone–the orchestra’s expertise, the conductor’s skill, the patient audience of this thin lithospheric crust of life. It was only natural.

Thank whoever it is you thank that man has not learned, and never will learn, to control the weather. It is one of the last of wild nature we have before us, to humble, to remember the sacred. Our own wildness, the essence of who we are, is precisely contacted in the midst of events such as these. I bow down. It is only natural.

Filed under: Cody Environs | Tagged: Natural events | 3 Comments »

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