This morning I remembered that today is Earth Day. When I started to think about what that meant to me and how to express it, I thought of all of the places in this amazing world I have been to and which one would express my love of this earth the most. A place that I feel really tells the story of all of our natural resources and what that means to us as a world, country, and just regular people. A place that brings breathtaking beauty, natural resources of water, energy, wildflowers, sun, warmth, and nature in all its forms. Wild animals, blue sky, stars shining at night that you can actually see. Certainly, I would want to save a place that offers my family and me four unique and different seasons. We need the four seasons to make everything that we take for granted work and grow. To feed the wildlife and produce an ecosystem that cares for us all. A place that would do all of that must have peace, beauty, and purpose. Then I knew. What would we ever do if we could never walk or ride in our beautiful National Parks again? A place where you know, without any doubt, that there is a high power. To me, that is God. To you, maybe you call it your spirit. However we refer to it, we know it is beyond our control. It is more than magical; it is breathtaking and beautiful.

I have been privileged to visit many National Parks. Not all of them yet, but hopefully, I still have time. Of the ones I have visited, a special place holds my heart for its beauty and ruggedness. For its power and purpose. For its warmth, comfort, and growth. There is nothing quite like the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. It changed me after spending a week in the backcountry on horseback. There are two ways into this majestic field of ferns, flowers, mountains, streams, lakes and geysers, and hot springs. One is by horseback, and the other is by hiking. Many days, I wished I had chosen hiking, but then I would come across a hiker, and he would say, “I wish I had chosen the horse.” Sometimes the hardest challenges bring the biggest rewards. Lessons about what we are capable of, what we can learn when pushed. How we respond to limits beyond our control. Then, how we learn to trust the beast that we are unfamiliar with. After one week, the beast becomes our best friend, and we are so sad to leave them behind.

My horse, Hawk, stumbled out of the gate. We were not gone fifteen minutes when he stumbled and fell to his knees. I knew I was in trouble and immediately said I couldn’t do this trip. I knew about horses, I had ridden before, but I never had one that fell. The field guild assured me of two things…it was too late to leave the trip, and Hawk was one of their best horses. I started feeling sorry for the other members of this photography tour in the backcountry. If Hawk was the best, I wondered if the rest of them would be tumbling around like tumbleweeds for the rest of the week. They offered me a different horse, and right there, I decided Hawk, and I would make it together. We became a team. So, every once in a while, he would stumble on the level land because he didn’t pay attention, I got used to that, and we would have conversations about it, him and I. He’d shake his head as much to say, “I hear you, now leave me be. Here’s the thing though, when it came time to climb up a steep canyon, and I mean steep, don’t look back steep, or when it came time to get me back down that canyon, heart in my throat, leaning way back, he was as slow and as sure-footed as necessary to lightly and gently get me to the top and then back to the bottom, where I would once again be able to breathe. I learned that about him and talked to him up and down every valley and peak of Yellowstone. We truly became best friends with so many hugs and kisses during our week together. Then tears of sorrow on my last trip out after crossing a deep river on his back, hoping, on this last day, he would not slip on the rocks so slick underneath us and finally dump me as he did on the first day going in. He was magnificent in every way. It took me weeks after getting home to stop my heart from breaking over his loss. It is an awe-inspiring revelation to study nature and animals and to know what they provide for us in the truest sense, what it would mean to lose meadows, wildflowers that bloom in every color of the rainbow, sunrises climbing up behind the pines, dew drops, sunsets dropping into the rivers and streams, the heat of the day and the cold of late night and early morning. I could go on and on about this trip because it was life-changing for me. A city girl visits the backcountry. A city girl learns to love nature and pureness. Light and dark are caused by the sun and the moon. Not by pushing a switch. Quiet that you have never heard before and sounds of mother nature talking all day long and even deep into the night.

Earth Day is a day of celebration for me, but every day is Earth Day to me. I make it a point to spend as much time in nature as possible. I’m still learning lessons of great importance and finding out about all the critters who call our earth home. Please, join me for a few minutes in Yellowstone National Park, but then as you travel through your days, weeks, months, and years, please understand that our earth is already changing, and only by a combined effort can we save the sacred and beautiful. I want my grandsons someday to walk in my footsteps or ride on the back of a big beautiful, surefooted horse out to the backcountry of Yellowstone and visit with all that Mother Nature provides us. Enjoy the views and be amazed at what you can do, how you can change things, and what you can save. But we need to start now, and we need to do it together. We can do this.

I have heard the word meadow many times, but until I got to the backcountry, I had no idea what a meadow really was. It is open flat land with beautiful grass, streams, and wild foliage. It was full sun during the day and hot as blue blazers. Unfortunately, the jeans I brought were black, which is not a good thing. The little teepee’s in the background were our hotel accommodations. We set them up and took them down each time we moved to a new location. The whole world was our bathroom. I took extra precautions with a cool whip container. The horses roamed until bedtime but were tethered at night. A couple of the mules had bells on and were loose in case another animal might want to visit us in the wee hours. If the bells started going, the field guides were flying to chase away any visitors. The reason the mules were free with bells, well, they would follow whatever came by. One day they lined up right behind a group of boy-scouts who were walking by. So funny.

Things always get interesting at the end of the day. The golden light is always delightful when the mules and horses romp while waiting for their dinner. Jim brings the mules in for unpacking for the next few nights. They are very strong beasts but oh so gentle. And, of course, this must have been a mid week. Laundry day. Two trips-pods and some rope.

The next morning we are up with the sun. I always wake up early and run down the hill to the campfire. Although days are hot, nights and early mornings can be frigid. Michelle always has the fire going and the cowboy coffee on. We sit on a log and have long, heartfelt talks about life…it is a sacred time until the others arrive. This morning Michelle encouraged me to hold a snake. I wasn’t crazy about it, but I did it. So many first for me on this path. Jim, again with the mules packing up to leave. I spotted this Damselfly hanging around. I did not know that they freeze on the flower stem until the sun warms them up. Then they can fly again. Makes for great sharp photos of them.

My buddy Hawk was tucked away in the bush, tied to a tree. He faithfully watches over my gear while I’m shooting jaw-dropping waterfalls in the woods. The second photo is of Dundee Falls with the people at the bottom for scale. The horses are never left alone. Two people always stay back with them so they would not run off with our gear if they were to get loose.

So, I hope you take a few minutes on this Earth Day. Maybe grab a notepad and pen, and jot down ways nature has always been your therapy. Make a list of all the things you would truly miss or that your kids or grandkids would miss if we don’t start loving the planet more than we love the materialistic things that will destroy our natural resources and beauty. Think of walks in the woods, fishing, swimming in ponds and oceans, and wild animals joyfully roaming in the mountains. Make that list, and then make another list of everything you and your family can do right now to hold all this beauty sacred. If it’s important to you, you will make time for it. I’ll be right there beside you doing my part, also. I’ve tasted the bittersweet feeling of nature. I know we can surely lose it if we don’t prioritize it. And we don’t have much time to fix things. Your life will be richer if you pick up a bucket and start cleaning up right now…what do you think?