Here’s a brief interlude for my new readers. Members of my immediate family have seen this before elsewhere, but what the heck, I may as well share with you all.
Related to my recent posts about this year’s field-trip to Yellowstone National Park, I am reminded of a trip my wife and I took last year to Norris Geyser Basin in the same park.
I’ve heard of “communing with nature”, when the natural world seems to speak to you and put you at ease. Well, on this occasion it didn’t just seem to be speaking to me, and it hardly put me at ease. The conversation between me and the park went something like as follows that day. (Forgive all the scrolling, it WAS a several-hour conversation after all. If it bugs you, feel free to say so in the comments…)
Well, okay, I don’t smoke, I didn’t bring a bicycle, we left the dog at home. And I guess we can hold it until later. It’s a small price to pay to go out to nice, happy, peaceful trails, away from, for example, all the annoying road construction.
Wow! Look at that! Do I spy the Fruiting Body of the rare Yellowstone Giant Orange Holewarning Mushroom?!?!?No, wait…that’s just a traffic cone over a hole in the trail! What the heck? I thought I was getting away from road construction!
Well. Maybe things will get more natural-looking once we get a chance to walk off into the wilderness. Maybe the map’ll show where we can go.
What? I can’t leave the trails?
Can’t I take a mere step or two off? Just a little bit???
Yeah, yeah, whatever. What are you going to do if I don’t – have me arrested?
Oh, come on! Look, there’s a beautiful green pool over there, full of no doubt fascinating little animalcules. Can’t I just go over and take a little look?
“Thermal Area”? What the heck is that supposed to mean? It’s a little windy and chilly today, maybe I want to be warmed up a little. So, why not? What’s so bad about a “Thermal” area?
What’s that supposed to mean?
What the heck? Is Green Dragon Spring actually devouring the ground under that walkway?!?! Oh! I get it – you’re saying the park itself can swallow you up and and cook you?So everything here is flaming hot death, then, right?
Is there no end to the dangers this place threatens innocent visitors with? Can there possibly be anything else this park can do to us?!?!?
Is this a park, or the kitchen at a Chinese restaurant? Is this how “Hot and Sour Soup” is made?!?!? Is there nothing that can stand in this realm of violent burning chemical death without fear!?!?!?
But what of us poor, fragile fleshy people? We aren’t safe here!That does it! I’m getting out of here! No more of these horrible Killer Thermal Death Areas of Doom for me! I think maybe I’ll just go look at the nice cuddly animals that Yellowstone is also famous for.
Oh, what I would give to be gored, dismembered, mauled, cooked, devoured, and digested at Yellowstone…
Ah, thank you for reviving this post here. It’s hysterical. 🙂 What does the sign by Green Dragon Spring actually say? I can see there’s a sign there, but I can’t read it.
The sign by Green Dragon Spring says:
Spring
I know – I had trouble getting that picture to come out with sufficient contrast to make out well. The fact that it’s light-green lettering on a light-gray background doesn’t help…
This (mid-October, that is) IS the best time of year to visit Yellowstone in my opinion. The non-pine-type trees are in full autumn display, there’s a dusting of snow on the mountaintops, most of the tourists are gone for the season, but most of the park is still fully operational.
Highly recommended, whether you want to be gored, dismembered, mauled, cooked, devoured, and digested, or just watch that happen to someone else…
You win purely for making me laugh out loud the entire way through this post. Yay for emails to the Aerie from Interested Parties, without which I would have gone on blissfully ignorant (well, okay, maybe not blissfully) of your blog.
Oh, and good luck with the voting. 🙂