Old Patience

6-12-12 0700 Cody, WY. An auspicious date in terms of dozens. I can't remember how that particular enumerating method developed..but like 'ounce's and the 'pud' (an old Russian weight) to say nothing of 'stones' , which is alive and well in Britain, I hope its engraved on those tablets we are including in all the soon-to-be space junk we are launching. I mean, the future of humankind had better be in the stars, because what it's looking like here ain't so pretty, However, Old Patience, which Sala feels is a better name, is definitely worth the trip. We pulled into the parking spaces in front of the store (although Yellowstone has a bodaciously few stores) in the oldest national park in the world about 10:30. This isnt the old Lodge, with its art deco sconces and beautifully appointed writing spaces NOT suitable for computers but wonderful for pen and paper after a day of walking amongst the fumaroles, this is the new space with its cash registers and bar coded plastic wrapped made (ahem, well lets just say, 'Elsewhere') gifties. Fuji could smell the western chipmunks immediately, although they keep a pretty low profile. Lots of people sitting around on the porch, so we figured we had some time. But by the time we had settled in a bit, people were trending towards the geyser site, so we joined them. As you know, the entire exclusion zone around Old Faithful is about 4 football fields in size. A crowd 2 or 3 deep had already gathered around most of the perimeter boardwalk, many sitting on the benches provided for that purpose. Afterwards I learned that dogs are not allowed on the boardwalks, but no one objected and there were actually no Smokies in sight The area itself, to bring back your memory,is kind of a blasted heath (or what I always imagined the witches skulking around in before they started in on the eye of toad culinary work), and in themiddle, in a kind of pile of mineral made by herself, is the mildly fuming opening that will, faithfully, be host to a huge outporing of superheated water and steam. The crowd is worth watching too. For one thing, its a pean to the reality of reality...of experiencing the real thing. Dammit, I will SEE Old Faithful in action, mit meine augen selbst; no the channel cannot be changed, and if I were to be in the wrong space at that time, I would be boiled, not just electronically inconvenienced. Large, small, thin, fat, speaking many languages. Polite, pushy, stuffing their faces, chatting, quiet, even reverent. From one side of the perimeter, looking back along, the peoples features fade into strategic dabs of paint. And the vapors..are they getting a little more dense? Yes, and then the first bubbling upheavals start...not to different that watching a coffee percolator start up (when was the last perked Folgers coffee with chicory I had?), but quickly getting larger and larger. And then, great clouds of steam and white water froth gushing upwards, all against absolutely clear wide blue skies.Huge bolts and rising clouds of whitest white, moving upwards, frothing over and slushing down to cascade across the minerals of previous years...centuries. What aspiration, what image of endeavor, of reaching for the sky, of exceeding expectations. Higher and higher each pulsation, as gorgeous as a water fall but going UP!!. Its exactly...A GEYSER!!! What a great word to be applied to becoming old...from now on, you may address me as 'You old geyser!' anytime you want!! Yes, and then there was the subsiding, the burbling bouncing dimunitiion. ' I'll be right back!', you could almost hear the Geyser muttering. , The absolutely still group of people began to natter and nabob again, and we walked along the boardwalk with our illegal hound looking hopefully over the edge, not for the Geyser, but for chipmunks who live under the boards. The rest of the trip, around the Grand Loop, by mudpots and paintpots and an absolutely spectacular Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, was all amazing and beautiful and studded with bison (who also make the landscape more beautiful, thanks again A.W. ) and (imagined) elk and antelope. And now its a beautiful morning in Cody. Last night we checked into our Super 8 (average price of motels here is about $150) and then went back downtown to catch the staged gunfight bringing together an improbable group of characters (including, without explanation, Dick Chaney, the pheasant hunting law breaker, playing the part of the black hat heavy...yes, here in Cody Wy, go figure!). Maybe some more on that, and not going to a rodeo, but Old Patience is plenty for one day