Big Sky Beauty and Lessons

I’m Back! I have missed you, my friends. I have been mildly distracted by our annual pilgrimage to Red Lodge, Montana, and haven’t posted in awhile. So, I thought I’d share some of my recent experiences with you via a little photo essay. It will provide a vicarious journey for you to the landscape my father has said is “God’s Country.” And, as my husband said of me recently, “She thinks a lot!” so I will share a few things that pop into my consciousness as I travel these highways and byways.

Our first visitors this year were my Dad, two of his dear friends from Miles City, and my sister Margaret, who hails from the tiny hamlet of Chester, MT. We took our first trip over the Beartooth Pass, which is part of the Beartooth Highway, designated by Charles Kuralt as “America’s most beautiful road.” Here’s a shot of my wonderful Dad, Bill Mathers, and my daughter, Mary Charlotte at a view point on the pass.

A few days later, I traversed the pass to Cooke City, MT and the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park with Mary Charlotte and her friend Michele who visited from Phoenix. The Beartooth Highway provided sights Michele definitely wouldn’t see driving through the Valley of the Sun. It makes me realize how just slight variations in latitude and longitude change the climate; the landscape; and even the seasons. We sometimes are so caught up in our narrow scope of vision that we fail to remember this is the beginning of winter in other parts of the world. Climatic differences are miracles of life on this planet I often fail to appreciate. I take them for granted and don’t fully understand their significance…hmmm…that’s often the way I treat differences in perspective, as well.

Here’s a Yellowstone buffalo (Tatonka, as they’re called by the Sioux in Dances With Wolves and by the Meredith children) who is acknowledging the change in seasons and “what not to wear” in the summer by gradually losing his thick winter coat.

While the Yellowstone Fires were a tragedy in many respects, I never tire of driving through the fire-ravaged areas and seeing how quickly nature has adapted. This photo captures a beautiful new vista apparent now because of the loss of the dense tree growth. Can you think of times in your own life that incredible pain or challenge has revealed a lesson or beauty you would otherwise have missed?

Experiencing the Park with two delightful 13-year-olds reminds me of how much richer an experience becomes when we share it with a friend…

someone with whom you can share life’s joy!

Here’s another nature lesson we can apply to business…if you develop a reliable reputation, customers will follow…

This landscape renews me. My spirit seems stronger here. There are fewer distractions to my personal practice of peace. And I am reminded that even sometimes in spite of humankind, goodness grows. The key is to carry these lessons and these visual reminders with me. I hope you will find a way to do the same.

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