Silence is not something we today hear a lot of in our lives. How many times can you just stop everything you are doing and listen. And when you listen, the only answer is silence. In Yellowstone this is a luxury I indulged in quite often. You could be walking around and just stop in the middle of nowhere. All there would be is silence.

I would hold my breath and look around, all you could hear was the sound of falling snow and the world breathing around you. It is something very special to experience. I never really was aware of just how noisy and bustling life was until I escaped to the wilderness for that week. It was actually really hard to come back to Santa Cruz, especially school because there was so much noise that it was almost suffocating.

I miss the silent moments, where it was just me and the living wilderness talking in utter silence. Many people ask if silence can speak and I can answer this for you; yes, it most definitely can. But what is it saying is the real question. When the world falls silent, what will you hear the wind whisper in your ear? Or will you even remember how to listen at that point.

It is important to remember the voice that nature holds, and to never forget how to listen to it. When it speaks, listen because it will tell you the secrets of the world. And that is not something you want to miss, believe me.

This time around we watched an otter hunting in a river. It was at the same place where we had spotted the otter trio except at the first otter lodge. The otter was bobbing up and down in the water trying to get some food.

There was a whole line of photographers trying to get good pictures of it,I was just one of about ten trying to score a shot. I got to talk with a man who took photography trips to Africa. He had photographed, lions, elephants and much more. It was amazing to listen to his adventures while we waited for the otter to catch something.

The funniest part is that whenever the otter would pop up there would be a storm of camera clicks. All you could hear was people frantically pushing the button to take a photo, desperately trying to catch something interesting.

He was teasing us with his presence. He would go under and swim to one end of the river. Wait there until we all picked up our gear and walked over. As soon as we got there he would swim back upstream. We chased him around for quite some time.

We finally got our wish when the little guy popped out of the water with a Cutthroat Trout in his mouth. The whole energy fo the area was abuzz as people tried to get good pictures of it.

He was just chomping away on this fish. He was really enjoying it, for most of the time he had his eyes closed as he was eating. He, unlike the coyote, didn’t play with it, he chewed on it for a tiny bit, then swallowed it.

He almost swallowed the fish whole. It was pretty amazing. As soon as he was done, he went back to his fishing and swimming. He just slinked away in search for his next meal.

When I was in Yellowstone, I saw some of the most beautiful scenery in my whole life. Valleys of snow and brush, trees lit by fading sunlight, and the bluest sky you will ever know. Montana is called big sky country for a reason (yes I know Yellowstone is Wyoming but we stayed in Montana). This tree was so pretty even though it was barren, the sunset hit it in a beautiful light making something dead look beautiful beyond words. I wish this photo could have captured it better but here it is anyway.

This is  a grove of trees we camped out near when we were waiting to see the river otters. It was so cool and a bunch of the trees had been knocked over by beavers or almost gnawed down. Very interesting.

Feeding time is a sacred time in the snowy valleys of Yellowstone in the winter. Here, every chance at a meal is essential to survival. We were lucky enough to watch a coyote hunting around in a small valley.

Just got to say, check out the pink little feet on that vole…

Anyway, we waited around for a long time watching this coyote roaming about when he started to stop and was clearly listening. It was adorable, he would freeze and then cock his head to either side and wait then swivel to the other side. It was amazing to watch this creature hunt.

The take off jump!

It was extremely amusing watching the coyote pouncing in and out of the snow. It reminded me a lot of my dog who does the same exact thing… except to rocks. She has amazing survival skills. Anyways, I digress. I must say I was rooting for the coyote the whole time. It must be so hard just to find a couple of meals a day out here where the snow covers everything. I just wanted him to find some food so he could survive. We all practically cheer when the coyote  snagged something.

He snatched a little vole out of a hole in the snow. He seemed to really be reveling in his victorious catch. He played with it for at least fifteen minutes.

I would also like to mention at this point about how I am getting these shots. Previously I was using a 600 lens, but that was when the coyote was lying down taking a nap. My dad got to use it when the coyote was hunting. …. No I am not jealous But at this time I was using a 400 lens… minus a tripod. This was extremely difficult because that thing gets heavy after holding it for a while. So I resorted to using a rock and my arm at a 90 degree angle as a tripod. Nifty huh? Still when we left my arm was so dead, but it was worth it.

As mentioned, the coyote was playing with his food like in this picture. He would pick it up, drop it, or spit it out like here. Also in the first picture he was tossing the vole into the air and catching it. It was really amazing to watch, but I did feel bad for the vole.

A moment of silence for the vole.

…. And we’re done. Hey, the coyote deserved to play with his food, even if it was bad manners to play with his food. He worked hard for it. If I worked that hard for my food I would play with it too. Anyways we left the coyote in peace with his prize and moved on with our day. Just another day in a winter wonderland where survival is earned every snow trodden step of the way.

Welcome to a place
where desolation meets
silent tranquility
here is my isolation
amidst the winter’s snow
there is no place
to bury the dead
no time or will
to dig deep
beneath the barren forsaken land
the dead lay as they fall
no ceremony as the wind
claws at your face
when you scream
no one is there to listen
in a place
riddle with unmarked graves
you walk amongst the dead
but do not know it
kill or be killed
at the Gate’s of Desolation

I was explaining my pieces to a group of people at the art show and when they walked away left over was a little girl standing there. I asked her if she wanted to hear my explanation and she said she already had, then she just walked forward and hugged me. I had never met this person before in my life but here she was hugging me. When she let go I asked what it was for and she just said

It was for sharing with me something beautiful

That meant so much to me, not just to hear someone compliment my work but to understand that the meaning behind my pieces were understood. All I ever wanted from my art is to share with people a perspective that they are not used to seeing like I also do here on my blog. This little girl is why I do art, I do this so I can help people see the ordinary things of everyday life in an entirely new and beautiful way.

I don’t care what people think about my work, whether they say it is weird, ugly or just nonsensical. All that matters is that I can share something with people. I just wanted to say thank you to that little girl. I wish I had asked your name, but you helped me. I hope I really did help you too.

Sneak peek of lots more photos of coyotes coming up, because I didn’t get any great wolf photos I am making it up with great coyote shots. I know what people think,

Oh great coyotes, the lesser more whinny wolf.

Yes admit, I too have spent many hours yelling at the coyote out my window to shut up as you all know. This trip however changed that thinking. I always thought coyotes as pests but in Yellowstone they were still just such majestic beasts. They like everyone else there would have to fight for their life and had earned their living out there in Lamar Valley. Yellowstone definitely gave me a whole new light on coyotes.

There will be more to come.

I had never seen a river otter before I went to Yellowstone, and let me say

THEY ARE ADORABLE

We heard that at the confluence of the Lamar River and the Soda Butte River in Lamar Valley, Yellowstone there were some otter lodges. So we all hiked out of the car dragging our giant cameras and all the equipment out of the car and then walked a half mile to the second otter lodge along the river. We set up the tripods and waited for quite some time when we finally spotted one otter. He was bobbing in and out of the water regularly teasing us with his appearance as we tried to catch a good picture of him. We were about to head back in when Mark turned around and saw the three otters playing.

Keep in mind we can’t exactly yell at each other to tell us that the otters were right behind me and I hadn’t noticed; so there was a lot of frantic gestures and quiet yelling. Not to mention as we ran in the snow with our equipment to relocate in a better spot for the magnificent otter trio. It was quiet the mad dash.

They were rolling around on their backs, sliding in and out of the water just having a good time. They were climbing all over each other, this picture captures some of the playful spirit I got to witness from these little creatures. They really look a lot like little Loch Ness monsters as they crane their necks out of the water, it is really funny to watch especially because of their whiskers.

It really was an amazing experience watching these guys play around. We wanted to let them have their fun and not disturb them so after they crawled back into their lodges we left them behind with a very satisfied day behind us.

Here is the site I got to see everyday when I was in Yellowstone. This picture can’t truly describe how beautiful this place really is. I must say it is extremely different than Santa Cruz and this is one of the hardest parts of being back home.

I keep looking outside expecting to see snow and gorgeous mountains but instead I see rain and lots of trees. I am not complaining, it is just such a shock because it is so entirely different. It really reminds me just how lucky I am to get to travel like this because I can experience all the different terrains and lifestyles of the world around me. That is why I believe it is essential to travel because people have to get out of their normal atmosphere and see the world in all of it’s different lights.