YELLOWSTONE

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1. dérive | 2. derive 

/dəˈrīv/ - (verb)

1. French - "to drift." Meaning: a spontaneous journey, in which the traveler cuts loose from everyday relations, letting themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain, feeling the spirit of the landscape as it moves them.

2. English - "to stem from." Meaning: to base on an original concept, to have as a root or origin.

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We all have an ability to read those landscapes we move through...
 

Traveling through Yellowstone felt like this: free flowing, following the signals of the land. Steam vents showing me the way through the pine trees. Vivid orange minerals warning me to watch my step. When we stopped for lunch in the forest, I listened instinctively to the twittering of birds, to tell me of any approaching bear. Waking with the sunrise, and sleeping under stars. Gathering firewood: the small, dead chips and fallen branches strewn about under trees, between patches of mushrooms... mushrooms that spoke to me of many underground webs, and of lovely damp soil. I knew to keep a respectful distance at many times, especially when faced with a large bison. I knew from the smell of the pine sap, that it would help heal my scraped leg. I knew the effort it would take to jump from shore to shore on the tiny islands of the lake.

Connecting with the land is like a dance with a partner, it is all about listening to your own body and the movements of the outside world. In the end, you will learn they are so intimately connected, they were never separate.

In the beginning and the end, we are all derived from our surroundings... we stem from the ground just like flowers. Our origins, continuations, and endings are all in the dirt.

Open,
Dissolve,
Meld,
Follow feeling.

TOTAL ECLIPSE

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hazy skies, 
blackberries,
dancing feet and
a sun burnt nose
from the day we climbed the mountain
and I was kissed by the fires above.
.
mother moon and father sun
aligning.

~ the morning before the eclipse I saw the crescent moon setting
haloed in the dawning light of day.

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There are no words that could describe the sight of a total solar eclipse. It is one of the strangest and most beautiful events I have ever witnessed. My dad asked me to describe the event in an email, and although I tried to pour out my feelings into words, I found myself wishing I could gather my loved ones to share this with them, so they could see and feel and know it for themselves.

Here, again, I will try and use words to describe what happened...

An hour before the total eclipse, the sky began to dim, like the exposure of a photograph being slowly lowered. The colours were tinted with grey and black, the hills became silhouetted against a deep blue sky...

Then the birds began to flock from tree to tree, singing loudly as they do at dusk.

From our seat in the mountain's sides, I could hear the river still running far below, and could see the sunlight sparkling across the lake. The sun was still bright, blinding to look at. Then, I understood what the newspapers had been saying about the dangers of looking at a partial eclipse. The sun's rays stayed diamond bright until the very moments before totality...

I could hear crickets in the long grass, and crows calling from the pine forests. The edges of the horizon flared with pink, and yet the sun was nowhere near them. A single star began to shine out in the sky, and the whole picture dimmed very quickly, till I could hardly see my boots in front of me. It grew very cold...

Then, all the world seemed to stop. Silence.

Every single soul in the mountains looked up, bound together in that moment as one...

all in awe.

HAVASUPAI

I use my legs with gratitude everyday,

to walk and run and hike.

But when I came upon this place,

then I felt I could lay aside my weary legs

and take up a tail.

...

dragonflies and moon milk:

a turquoise honey flowing from the crystal caverns

of the inner Earth

pours into a great dusty sand bowl

settling into white baths

that overflow like spilled sunshine.

...

We were the ones who woke at 3

under stars

in the back of the car

to stretch tired bones

undertaking pilgrimage

to this sacred site.

Pockets filled with smiles, seeds and a little

leftover cabbage

we followed the river lines

along the canyon walls.

Breath . Breath . Breath

A sunrise and purple flowers.

Shaded alcoves and

the sound of hooves from far away.

Pink blooming cactus rose

and a lazy afternoon spent sleeping when the sun was out.

Awakening only to find I am still dreaming...