After some interactions with folk back home, I’m beginning to realize that returning to the ‘stress’ of real life is going to be something of adjustment when I return. Contrary to what some would say, its not the act of going from “no responsibility” to “adult responsibilities”, but rather returning to normality with this new understanding of what is really important. Sometimes, everyday life blows the most trivial things out of proportion. Taking a step back from it all has allowed me to gain perspective. I predict that everyday life of mine will benefit from this.
In related news, I had a conversation with one of the women who was born and raised here about how people come here and then decide not to leave because its so laid back. I ran into a woman the other day at the laundromat who used to live in PA, but moved out here permanently very recently.
I’ve noticed that people seem polite and friendly, if a tad standoffish (which is to be expected…who wants to make friends with every single one of the millions of tourists that come through). They’re mostly laid back and chatty and while there isn’t much in the way of vegetarianism around here, there’s quite a lot of self-sustainable hippie-esque mentality here.
I’ve come across a lot of wonderful people camping up here. Last night I sat around roasting marshmallows (hurray for me bringing vegan marshmallows with me) around the campfire and chatting.
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I photographed another black bear this morning and had a great hike. I ran some errands in town (and have I mentioned how thankful I am that there is a place with showers) and picked up some new hiking socks. Its starting to warm up and all my socks were for winter…
The plan is to leave Yellowstone tomorrow to explore some other areas out here, but… who knows.
Tonight is the first night I’ve been able to sit by my campfire without a jacket. happyhappyhappy