Postcards from Spring

And an invitation to talk backpacking with me

Here are some of the wild moments giving me joy lately; I wanted to share them with you in a quick photo essay. I’d love to hear what’s giving you beauty and joy right now!

I have been waiting with anticipation for the first lazuli bunting to arrive in the yard, and squealed with delight when I saw the first one yesterday.

One of the things I look forward to the most in spring is the arrival of bright, rusty orange bison calves. I had the chance to hang out with a peaceful herd of cows with several young calves as they lingered, grazed, and frolicked (in the calves’ case) at Floating Island Lake in Yellowstone. I made a little video compilation of the calves here in addition to the image below. (P.S. if you’d like to follow Yellowstone specific stories, you can do so here.)

Much of April was characterized by snow, and more snow. “Winter will arrive in April” I repeated hopefully throughout the uncharacteristically warm winter. Well, be careful what you wish for, as they say.

Even though my brain knows we desperately need the moisture (and I am indeed grateful), my heart longs for signs of spring.

Thank goodness for the return of small plants and creatures that give me a disproportionate amount of delight, like bluebirds, and pasque flowers. They seem to appear right when my soul is starved for color after the seemingly endless winter.

What’s giving you joy and beauty right now? I’d love a glimpse into your world. You can comment with just words below, but if you’d like to share images, you can do that in the chat. Just hop on an existing chat thread, or start a new one!

-Jenny

P.S. HAPPENING THIS WEEK: I wanted to make sure you got the invite to my free live discussion Walking the Wild: Backpacking for Women in Midlife & Beyond. It’s happening this Wednesday at 5:30pm MDT. You can learn more and sign up here.

P.P.S. If you’re ready to say “yes” to stepping into the backcountry on a trip in Yellowstone this summer, I still have a few spaces on my summer women’s journeys. All the details can be found here.

Find a way back to yourself by walking in wild places, slowing down, and weaving nature and creativity into the fabric of daily life.