Unstumped
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2022

Stumped
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2022

Context is Everything
Lincoln, Montana
2022

This is a sculpture by Steven Siegel titled Hill and Valley. Siegel is a well-known artist and I’ve seen his similar works in a number of places from Sun Valley, Idaho to Kansas City, but this one appears against the most fitting background of any off them I think. Context might not actually be everything, but it’s a lot!

Slow Burn #2
Bozeman, Montana
2022

O.K. raise your hand if you didn’t flash on a cow skull, complete with horn, when you first glanced at this photo.

Slow Burn
Bozeman, Montana
2022

One of the other processes besides growth that occurs more slowly in arid country compared to wet country is decay. I’ve taken any number of photographs of this log up the mountain behind our house over the last 40 years and will continue to do so I suppose. It changes over time due to rot, but slowly, and more importantly (to me anyway) very interestingly.

I’ve taken a bit of liberty in the naming of this photograph. Rot is a form of oxidation, as is fire. The two processes differ in terms of speed of course but also the causes of the oxidation. But I think, if you (figuratively) squint your eyes properly while considering the issue, thinking of rot as a form of burning can come to make sense. After all, if you can burn calories…

Slow Beauty
Bozeman, Montana
2022

These rolls of used field fence have been stacked up for years down in the coulee behind our garage where such things tend to end up, stored for potential future use. In some parts of the country, this kind of “junk” would be very quickly covered with vegetation. (I’m thinking in particular of kudzu here.) But in our arid Montana climate, this growth process spans years rather than months. So I appreciate the local foliage finally starting to beautify the place. Now I will be reluctant to move the fencing even if I find a need for it.

Escape Pod #1
Bozeman, Montana
2022

My latest composite image effort. Lots of smaller details in this one (it was designed to print large) so it might be worth your while to zoom in and pan around a little.

Puff
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2022

When it dries out enough, the Red Spouter mud pots become a simple fumarole.

Drip Dry
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2022

Red Spouter is of my favorite thermal features at the Fountain Paintpots in Yellowstone. I’ve seen it a number of times over the years, but never bone dry like this to the point that the drips of mud it spouts up have all dried up and the usually muddy ground nearby is parched and cracked. That was quite a shocker to me even though information posted nearby explains that this happens seasonally as the water table dries up. I guess I’ve never visited the feature during this dry of a time, nor have I previously paid attention to the signage explaining all that.

Walking the Plank(s)
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2022