Link: New Country by Walt Gasson
December 16, 2017
WREN Magazine
Here it is December and I am just getting around to reading past issues of the WREN Magazine. I enjoyed reading Walt Gasson’s article in the September WREN magazine, ENLIGHTEN US page. I can identify with his passion as we also are “learning the places that speak to our hearts.”
I spent thirteen years of my life living in northern Minnesota. My friends and I knew where every swamp in our area was, where you could find fields of daisies, every abandoned ore mine that we were trespassing on, where the best sledding hills were and what penny candy was available in our local store/post office.
Moving to Wyoming was a new adventure – mountains instead of hills, frigid mountain lakes instead of close-by swamps, ponds and local lakes. And cowboys – real cowboys.
My husband and I have taken on the challenge of seeing new places by seeking out our national parks. Make sure you have your raincoat if you visit Olympic National Park’s rain forest – even if it isn’t raining, it’s wet! If you close and reopen your eyes while visiting White Sands National Monument, you would swear you are viewing miles of snow-covered ground, including hills you can climb and come down on a saucer. You will never forget the giant cacti at Saguaro National Park or the granite cliffs of Acadia National Park.
When visiting a new Park, my senses come alive. I get to see new sites, smell new smells, see my first finback whale arching through the rough Atlantic waters, watch a grizzly bear eat on an elk carcass, view a horned puffin riding waves in the waters of the Kenai Fjords.
We have been blessed to watch the birth of a bison calf in Yellowstone National Park. She was with other cows, across the river from where we stood, camera poised. Those present silently cheering on the bison cow as she gave birth. She seems exhausted beyond belief but slowly she lifts her head, then her body to care for her new calf.
Mr. Gasson speaks of “learning the places that speak to our hearts.” I understand exactly what he means. It is worth the search, the time, and the energy to find places that speak to us. Thank you Mr. Gasson, for sharing.
Respectfully submitted,
Barb (Jerry) Rogers
Riverton