Buffalo gals won’t you come out tonight
Come out tonight come out tonight
Buffalo gals won’t you come out tonight
And we’ll dance by the light of the moon
The following photograph shows me modeling my brand new buffalo wool socks. Anne knitted them for me, from buffalo wool that she bought last summer while we were on vacation at Yellowstone. The wool is gathered from the buffalo’s soft belly fur. Anne assured me that no buffalos were harmed in the making of this yarn. Hardy young women crawl on the bellies, through the tall damp sweet grass, all the while serenading the dozing buffalos with the melodious lyrics of the song, Buffalo Gals. Rolling on their backs, the women gently snip at the buffalo’s enormous bellies, all the while woolgathering.
The two drawings included with this post come from the National Park Service’s rearview mirror hanger that we were furnished when we first entered the park. On the side of the hanger with the hapless tourist being bounced by a charging buffalo are the following warnings: “Buffalo can run 3 times faster than you can!” “Many visitors have been gored by buffalo.” “Do not approach buffalo. Stay Safe! Stay Away!” Last July, I was able to parley this message into the second of my two viral posts that I have had this year. Both times were precipitated when this blog was promoted by its service provider, WordPress.
The second drawing shows a boy seeming falling into hell. The warnings that accompany this drawing include: “Thermal Areas = Thin Crust” “Boiling water lies beneath” “Dangerous Ground! Stay on the Trail” Although I never hung it on the mirror while we were in the park, it had blocked the view; I had taken to hanging it in my car back here in Saint Louis. It reminded me of what a great vacation that we had had. I’m ready to go back there anytime.
My coworker, Glen, just got back from Yellowstone on Thursday. While there were many similarities between our Yellowstone experience and his, there were also important differences. While we did a fly drive, he just drove. I used five vacation days, he used thirteen. We went at the height of the tourist season; Glen went in the off-season. He was easily able to get into the great lodge at Yellowstone, while we were shutout. In Jackson Hole he got a room rate half of what paid for our cabin which across both the pass and the state line, in Idaho. There was no snow there yet, but there were several hard frosts. He saw wolves, which we missed. The elk and buffalo were much closer to the major tourist sites than when we were there. Rangers were actively managing both the wildlife and the tourist at the Mammoth and Old Faithful hotspots. Maybe our return should be in the off-season?