Somehow each birthday is a time to look back at the year past, remember good times from childhood, and plan ahead for the coming year.
This year, since I am turning twenty five, somehow the reflecting has been full bore.
I drove up to Bozeman yesterday, battling freezing rain and whiteouts from Pinedale to West Yellowstone. I slid down Teton Pass, drove thirty miles per hour across most of Idaho and more than once was pretty sure the Fire Girl Suby was going to end up in the ditch.
As soon as I passed from the Henry’s Fork to West Yellowstone – there is a gorgeous valley about 10 miles south of West – the skies began to clear and the roads were suddenly unfrozen allowing me to run at full bore.
Crossing into Montana, the sky broke for the first time all day and I was greeted by a full spectrum of pink, soft Montana light. Driving along the Gallatin River and through the northernmost reaches of Yellowstone on the last stretch of the trip I realized how nice it was to be home.
Montana light is like no other light.
Road trips have always been the best thinking time for me. Problem nagging in the back of my subconscious? Big decision to be made? I get in the car and drive. The more open the drive, the better.
The past year has been a hell of a trip. I’ve moved six times, lived in four states and two countries, and met and lost more new friends than ever before. I’m exhausted but at the same time looking for the next adventure and, I admit, a bit restless.
Life is short and I’d like to live it to the full.
I wrote a guest editorial for the Pinedale Roundup a few weeks ago and decided to write about the past year and the people the year has brought. A customer, more at home on the oil rig than in the office, stopped by the office several days ago and raved about the piece, finishing with the following: “Your life’s been an adventure. No one does that anymore. Get out and adventure for those of us who didn’t.”
His words struck a cord with me and I’m excited to see what the coming year brings. While I may well spend it in Pinedale, tucked away in the little corner of the Wild West, photographing fish hatcheries and covering town council meetings, I’ve had several… enticing possibilities pop up.
The call of the road, of new adventure, is always there.
So here’s to a quarter century down. I hope the coming twenty five years are as exciting as these last have been.
Tags: Fire Girl Photography
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