Evaporation rate
Surface interface
Flow directions
Ongoing volcanism in abundance, winter reveals the many geothermal characteristics of the first national park established in the world.
“Yellowstone, of all the national parks, is the wildest and most universal in its appeal… Daily new, always strange, ever full of change, it is Nature’s wonder park.” – Susan Rugh
Dark red branches
Damp wetland soil
Dense thickets
In its dormant season, the shrubby twig color of red osier dogwood becomes a dominant landscape feature along certain flowing streams. The white snow background effectively isolates the attractive winter stems.
“Known as cansasa in Lakota, the inner bark was also used by the Lakota and other Native Americans as “traditional tobacco”, either by itself or in a mixture with other plant materials.” – Charles L. Cutler
Group formation
Wind resistance
Flight maneuvers
Crossing over the valley, there is no designated team commander; rather, the birds take turns leading. Every bird is accounted for, making intricate in-formation aerial dances possible. The classic V-formation augments intercommunication and coordination within the flock, affording improved orientation and efficiency.
“Once a decision is made by one bird, it diffuses through the flock like gas.” – Rachel Nuwer
Ice crystal deposit
Direct condensation
Water vapor to ice
Areas of active hydrothermal steam venting provide a continuous source of airborne water vapor that effects all nearby objects. Conditional assessments of such hydrothermal events are especially accessible in the winter.
“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” – John Steinbeck
Terrestrial hot spring
Early evolution
Exterior analogue
Because of numerous active hydrothermal features, Yellowstone is especially magnificent during the cold of winter. Certain heat loving microorganism species reside in these hydrothermal ecosystems and often appear as masses of color. That thermophiles can thrive in such conditions, including alkaline or acidic water of near-boiling temperatures, is extreme only in relation to human requirements.
“At the time when liquid water—a prerequisite for life as we know it—appears in the geological record (3800 billion years ago), Earth was a hot, anoxic environment and under constant bombardment by meteors, many of which could have virtually vaporized the oceans. Early Earth, therefore, would have been an attractive home to heat-loving thermophiles and their extreme cousins, the hyperthermophiles, where thermophily would have offered a great selective advantage.” – Anna-Louise Reysenbach
Delicate hues
Natural habitat
Nicely obvious
The subtle hue variations of the grayish western winter landscape are inexhaustibly satisfying in their infinite richness. With experience dependent upon individual interpretation, imbued through all things conveying themselves willingly, the earth does not withhold.
“Winter is a time of greyness and cold. When it shows, there is stillness and calm that often prompts us to speak in a whisper.” – Sandy Dumont
Textured variability
Vertical crests
Intervening furrows
Dominating the Cherry Springs Nature Area south of Pocatello, this trunk is part of the largest and most interesting tree in the Mink Creek Valley. Paranormal researchers are not sure why so much ghostly activity runs rampant here. Reportedly it is typical for visitors to feel like they’re being watched by a spiritual aura.
“The whole area is full of presence. There’s many things going on there.” – Colleen O’Hara-Epperly
Mystical grace
Potential manifold
Enduring indivisibly
Invoking the irreducible value of being, nature provides a psychological experience of apprehending on a deeper level than that of consciousness.
“Beauty is a form of Genius–is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in the dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has divine right of sovereignty.” – Oscar Wilde
Universal sense
Reconciling itself
Internal coherence
Accustomed to accepting changes with eyes focused on land and sky, a long autumn walk proceeds in vigorous anonymity. Remembering that mental symbols do not reflect or correspond to the immense complexity of the referent, bright trees stand tall.
“Whenever we have any experience which might be called ‘aesthetic,’ that is whenever we are enjoying, contemplating, admiring or appreciating an object, there are plainly different parts of the situation on which emphasis can be laid.” – C. K. Ogden
Completely changed
Material constituents
Rearranging themselves
The present is always a brief window of opportunity blending into an evolving creative future. Situated in time, the surrounding space of experience grows expansively vast.
“Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu