I am back from my trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton (got back late Wednesday night). Survived the bears, though I saw a total of five male grizzlies (from a safe distance). Magnificent! Did a lot of hiking, walking, and enjoying the solitude when I had the chance. Put 1100 miles on a rental car. Took 36 gigs of photographic images in RAW digital format (which should keep me busy for months now). If twenty percent of those turn out well, I'll be very pleased with the effort. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip (lost 12 lbs. without even trying :-). Am I tired? Yes! The first seven days of my trip were spent alone (which I really like). The last 3 days were joined by my son and his family. Actually that was nice too - so great to see my grandchildren learn to enjoy nature, to love it, and to get a sense of the need and the duty to protect it, to revere it.
Was also nice to get away from "politics", cell phones, and the internet. It does one immeasurable good to do that once or twice a year - get's your sanity back in check. That's for sure.
Anyway, back to the grind of life, politics, and the big mess seemingly made, or being made of the American way of life. Democracy is dying a painful death it seems. Don't know what I can do about that, sigh. But, ....... I do care, still.
