I've been away....playing in the land of cowboys and Indians.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before but Wife Whisperer is from there...Wyoming. It's a rough and beautiful place of extremes....the land, the weather, the animals. A wild place where nature is something to be respected. Which explains WW's love of all things manly. He grew up steeped in it. Hunting, shooting, hiking, snow, hail (tennis ball size...really?) mountains, rivers, forests, grizzlies... I'm in love with it all. Deeply.

spillway of the Buffalo Bill Dam
It feels like home to me, as much as my real home. I never feel so immediately at peace as I do when I cross the Wyoming state line.
This is a place where you don't have to jostle for a little elbow room. A place that hosts "urban deer herds" (doesn't that phrase amuse you?) A place where the air smells so sweet and clear....

Big Horn Mountains
This year, we discovered lots of snow at the top of the world...
...and up there, in our secret spot, we discovered this guy:
I'm usually not afraid of moose but, see that horizontal line in the background? That's a wimpy little wire fence that runs along the dirt road on which we parked our car. In other words, Mr. Yearling was between us and our car...very near the only (very narrow!) opening in said wimpy fence. The only direction for him to go was toward us.
You see how he's looking right at me? He's eyeing my feet and taking notice that I foolishly came to visit with only my flimsy flip flops on my silly feet. Usually, when we stop here, I have something better on my feet...like running shoes. Every year at this place, we see a moose. Last time, we saw a mama and baby. I think this guy might be that baby...grown a little older and wiser. Still, he's not small and he's not slow. In fact, these guys can kick the beejeegums out of you, if they feel like it.

After a pretty ugly mad dash for that itty bitty opening in the wire fence, I was "safe" on the other side with WW snapping a few more quick shots.

This was my favorite. Turns out he wasn't really interested in us at all, of course.
Wyoming gives me a chance to toss a few forkfuls of hay with a very dear bff. She loves me exactly the way I am...an essential quality in bff's. Notice our jewelry. We have sort of a country mouse, city mouse thing going on.
About half of my family lives in Wyo. This is my adorable niece. Love her.
I like hanging out with her because she's majoring in something to do with fashion. I'm hoping some little bit of her fashion mojo rubs off on me.

These monkeys are my nephews. Love them too. They're not majoring in fashion. I think their area of expertise might have something to do with the nuances of beer marketing, production and/or consumption...or some such.

I have to pause, here because my mama's heart is starting to miss my guys...
Of course, they couldn't join us as they're working for the summer. Sheesh...they want to grow up and live their own lives. Imagine that.
The West was amazingly lush and green. Greener than I've ever seen it. And wet...

Shell Creek
...wetter than I've ever seen it. Every river, stream, creek and mud puddle was overflowing. It was a joy to see in a country that's typically pretty dry. And their growing season was way, way late. Although, we did get to see the garden of our master gardener friend and, let me tell you, he has a lot more going on than my pathetic, wilty little salsa garden could ever aspire to:
So, while this photo essay may seem like a mish mash of this-and-that...it's my heart and soul. I can almost smell the tangy scent of sagebrush in the air and feel the evening cool creeping in. It's whispering to me...
Go. West.