Praire Dreams

I've been slowly realizing as I have been packing boxes and making arrangements to make this change of scenery as easy as possibly, that I am already in some ways, missing Wyoming. Sure, there are the things I won't miss. Primarily, the wind that as I type is battering the house with 60mph gusts. Ne seriously, that is the wind gusts today. But there are plenty of things I will miss. Notice I'm not saying, people. They already know I am going to miss them. No, I'm talking about the place itself. The geographic location. Not those that are here that have made the place a home over the last few years.

I realized, the other day that the high scrub prairie with it's "lighter" winds that are scented with sage, was going to be something that I will miss. Most people think of prairie as flat seemingly never ending grasslands, but no, that is the great plains to the east that we will have to travel through. I am speaking of the rolling hills that step up towards the rockies of sandy soil, scrub brush and cactus, with its intermingling grasses and stream bed loving copses of cottonwood. The breath taking views that open up as you bob up over the ridges that snake down from the mountains, and yes, that even includes truncated Casper and Muddy mountains with their lack of peaks yet winding box canyons.

I have long said that every place has it's own beauty. This place called Wyoming is no different. You don't even have to struggle to find most of it. Most days, the sky's themselves are a beautiful expanse of blue and you can watch the clouds of all kinds form, build and dissipate over the gold and browns of the landscape. True, away from the rivers, there is little green, and I do miss green, but the amazing shades the earth has of not only browns, tans, and gold, but vibrant reds, greenish limestones, and in some places vermillion sand stones.

I have so many photos, but waking up and seeing it, smelling it, and hearing the sounds that complete it and scented the airs that perfume it cannot be replaced with a photo. I still miss the salty tang of the waters back home, and occasionally remember the heady scent of mile upon mile of tall sedge grasses in the Yukon Kuskokwim river deltas as the coastal breezes make the grasses mimic the waves of the sea. And nothing ever takes the place of the woods back home after the first frosts and the smell of ripe cranberries and rotting leaves. That is a smell I simply have to think about to recall it in it's glory.

So, back to the note of packing. It's going to be radio silence here for a week or so. Don't worry, I will be back. But I don't foresee the time to blog much as we finish packing, actually make the drive which we have scheduled for 3 days worth of driving, and then unpacking on the other side. As soon as I have internet, and a computer back up and working, I will let you guys know how it went, and will hopefully have a few pictures.

We plan on leaving the morning of the 17th (Monday), hitting a hotel half on the east side of Nebraska that night. The 18th we will be going to Freeport IL where we will stay with an aunt who insisted that we stay with her though I haven't seen her since I was nine years old. Then from there on Wednesday morning, to Grand Rapids where we will unpack a bed and crash until the next morning I am sure. Actually, hopefully with that trip we will be driving a mere 6 hours. Fingers crossed we will have the energy to get the truck unpacked into our apartment so we can start house searching as soon as possible.

With all that said, I will talk to you all later. I need to get back to it. I have to pack the office and computers after all...