There has been snow on the ground for 136 days. That's more than 1/3 of the year. The continued snowfall has resulted in 22 feet of fallen snow, with a snow pack depth of 60 inches. Even as I write this entry there are tiny snowflakes slowly falling from the sky. They are seemingly suspended in time as they float around like bubbles being blown down by a playful child in heaven.
Every other location in Yellowstone National Park, except Grant has been plowed out. Parked outside the employee houses at Old Faithful, Lake and Canyon are automobiles. Parked outside my house is a snowmobile. Plowing out the roads is by no means an easy task due to the amount of snow build up and ice formation. In other snowy places across the lower 48 the temperatures are warming which lends to melting the snow, but here in the interior of Yellowstone the below freezing temperatures remind us that it is still very much winter.
The employees of the interior all handle to persistent snow in there own special way. Some folks at Old Faithful spent every minute of the day tracking the plows, silently praying that the crew would make it to their house sooner than later. As soon as the plows arrived they were outta there! Fleeing from the park, I am sure they are currently vacationing in some faraway sunny land! I, on the other hand, refuse to look at the daily "plow updates" for fear of self induced depression. Rather than focusing on the plow progress report I focus my energy on my work with the understanding that on April 12th I will be in sunny Utah for vacation!
Although I am not in "freak-out winter blues" mode, that doesn't mean I haven't had any side effects from the never ending winter. This week has been food craving week! Obssessively, I pace through the kitchen constantly opening the refrigerator and cabinets in hopes that something new and exciting will magically appear. Disillusioned I return to the living room and tell myself "you're not hungry, just obsessed with food". My food cravings include strawberries, bananas, spinach, and Ruffles potato chips. Although my body is manifesting these food cravings I think the root of the matter is actually that I am craving the idea of being able to go to a grocery store when I want, or even a restaurant for that matter.
But the key to living in the interior is to not allow these obsessions to win. One needs to be mentally strong. In the same manner that an individual works out to stay physically strong, it is important to exercise your mental abilities as well. Living in the interior I exercise my mental strength on a daily basis. When I look outside and see 60 inches of snow on March 25th I just don't let it get to me. Plain and Simple. I find something to do such as writing, listening to music or doing yoga. I just focus on my everyday life as apposed to obsessing over when Spring will actually arrive.
In the meantime, I have also chosen to surround myself with "Spring" inside my house even if it's winter outside! The flannel PJ's are packed and the light pink one's have come out! My pretty "winter scene" coffee mugs are replaced with my brightly colored butterfly mugs and I have retired the dark colored placemats and pulled out the light linen scalloped placemats. A hummingbird lightcatcher hangs from the living room window and every curtain stays wide open till 8:00pm. "Spring-ifying" my house is my way of sticking it to the man...or should I say the Snow-Man! It's my way of saying "You can't beat me" cause in the long run I know that the only one responsible for my actions and behavior is ME! And so rather than having the spring itch be my demise, I embrace it cause after all, Spring really is just around the corner!
The employees of the interior all handle to persistent snow in there own special way. Some folks at Old Faithful spent every minute of the day tracking the plows, silently praying that the crew would make it to their house sooner than later. As soon as the plows arrived they were outta there! Fleeing from the park, I am sure they are currently vacationing in some faraway sunny land! I, on the other hand, refuse to look at the daily "plow updates" for fear of self induced depression. Rather than focusing on the plow progress report I focus my energy on my work with the understanding that on April 12th I will be in sunny Utah for vacation!
Although I am not in "freak-out winter blues" mode, that doesn't mean I haven't had any side effects from the never ending winter. This week has been food craving week! Obssessively, I pace through the kitchen constantly opening the refrigerator and cabinets in hopes that something new and exciting will magically appear. Disillusioned I return to the living room and tell myself "you're not hungry, just obsessed with food". My food cravings include strawberries, bananas, spinach, and Ruffles potato chips. Although my body is manifesting these food cravings I think the root of the matter is actually that I am craving the idea of being able to go to a grocery store when I want, or even a restaurant for that matter.
But the key to living in the interior is to not allow these obsessions to win. One needs to be mentally strong. In the same manner that an individual works out to stay physically strong, it is important to exercise your mental abilities as well. Living in the interior I exercise my mental strength on a daily basis. When I look outside and see 60 inches of snow on March 25th I just don't let it get to me. Plain and Simple. I find something to do such as writing, listening to music or doing yoga. I just focus on my everyday life as apposed to obsessing over when Spring will actually arrive.
In the meantime, I have also chosen to surround myself with "Spring" inside my house even if it's winter outside! The flannel PJ's are packed and the light pink one's have come out! My pretty "winter scene" coffee mugs are replaced with my brightly colored butterfly mugs and I have retired the dark colored placemats and pulled out the light linen scalloped placemats. A hummingbird lightcatcher hangs from the living room window and every curtain stays wide open till 8:00pm. "Spring-ifying" my house is my way of sticking it to the man...or should I say the Snow-Man! It's my way of saying "You can't beat me" cause in the long run I know that the only one responsible for my actions and behavior is ME! And so rather than having the spring itch be my demise, I embrace it cause after all, Spring really is just around the corner!
I always get tickled when I see a job posting for a year-round position based at Lake or Grant. There's always that little paragraph disclaimer in the announcement that tells the prospective applicant that s/he's going to be stuck in the middle of desolation for months at a time during the winter and they're "reminded" to familiarize themselves with the harsh realities of living so far away from everything. I imagine some people do underestimate what it's like living in a place ensconced in snow for almost half the year. Glad to see you made it through to the other side. ;-)
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