I see, you see, we all see.......

I am a free spirit.  I have a soul that flies freely.  I roam the grounds of such beauty that I cannot get enough of it at times.  It makes me happy to be able to share what I see.  There are people out there that will never be able to see the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, the Tetons, the turqouise blue of my favorite lake, Bear Lake (Utah), or the snow capped mountains of the Wasatch Range here in Salt Lake City.  That makes me sad.  What I can do for them, is share what I see and hopefully make them feel as if they are right there, looking, seeing what I am focusing on with a camera lens, or my own eyes.

We all see things differently.  I was made very aware of that recently.  It all had to do with a picture.  I saw something, I guess that I wanted to see so badly, that my mind wouldn't let go of that image.  Someone else, in a different part of the country, viewed the exact same picture, and saw a totally different scene.  Still don't know what the image really is.  We'll never find out.  All we have of that picture is what our brain processed and is allowing us to keep. I'm keeping in my secret compartment , the imagine I want it to be.  I'm sure she's doing the exact same thing.

I may see the images I take as something beautiful where you may focus on them and wonder why I took such a ridiculous shot.  We see things differently and process them through our brains differently.  What's beautiful to me, may be ugly to you.

I have spent a great deal of time in Wyoming lately and took enough pictures to fill several books.  But with the invention of digital cameras, I can and I do, delete 99% of the pictures I take.  I may take 100 shots and only use 2.  Love digital technology. Sometimes I can take 100 pictures and not delete any of them.  This happened to me while in Flaming Gorge and the surrounding town of Manilla, Utah.  I took a grundle of pictures and I don't want to part with any of them.  But, I have to or I will become a hoarder.....a hoarder of pictures.

The town sits on the border of Wyoming/Utah.  You drive down the road, blink your eyes, and you're in Wyoming or vice versa if coming from the opposite direction.  This is a sleepy town for the most part.  Full of farms, cattle, wild life and people who make it their permement home or use the space for a vacation home. And, it's good a stones throw from a gorge known as Flaming Gorge.  It's beautiful.

It's quiet up there.  Very quiet.  Especially at night, where the only sounds that break the silence are the pesky crickets that never quit rubbing their legs together making their own music of the night.  There are no street lamps to shine down and show you the way, well there are a few, but not many.  There are no traffic signals.  Just a two way stop at a cross road.  You can sit on your porch, people drive by and will wave "Hello".  It's a friendly town.  It offers peace, quiet, tranquility, and enough dirt roads and dirt trails to find special places to look out over the valley or the Gorge itself.

I found a place this time out that put me so high up I felt I could touch the sky and grab the clouds, hold them in my hands, and then smother my face in them.  Big clumps of white cotton candy........

Mother Nature paints on a beautiful canvas that changes constantly.  You have to be quick.  You cannot blink or close your eyes for any length of time.  You will miss the wonders of what she paints.

You can be in dusty, barren land, then into farms and valleys of rolling green grass.  This place has it all.  You can perch yourself high upon a mountain top, or venture through it and come across mountain air thick with pine scent and lakes full of fish to catch, and ample room to roam, hike, walk, or just sit in an easy chair and suck it all in.

Spirit Lake

I headed home with a camera full of shots and a brain full of memories.  But I had room to store one more....................

You can go from green fields of hay, cows and sheep grazing lazily, to fields of sage brush, green mineral based mountains, and clouds wanting to gather and become a storm, all in a blink of an eye, or a curve in the road.  These are the badlands of Wyoming.  The colors change constantly with the sun.  It can be beautiful one minute, and ugly the next.  It's windy, barren, and not a friendly place.  It is home to wildlife galore.  If you're lucky to not hit a deer or elk, you can see them occasionally grazing or running in herds in the distance.

Come this Sunday, I'm packing up all the grungy clothes I own and leaving the makeup behind.  I'm filling up several coolers with food and heading out to heaven, my heaven........I'm headed to where my head gets a cleaning and brain cells that have been drained get recharged.  Bear Lake is calling to me.  The lake of beautiful turquoise water that its called the Caribbean of the West.  Too bad the water isn't as warm!  Charlie the dog, her brothers, my sons, my best friend and her family will all convene and gather at our favorite camping spot.  We've talked my next door neighbor into renting a trailer or motorhome and joining us.  This will be a true test for them to see if they want to become part of our trailer trash commune!!! My hubby thinks he's the only smart one.  He stays home, all clean and tidy while we all play in the sand, rinse off in the water, and go to bed smelling like campfire.

A reminder to shut off the brain

It's all worth it for me.........I never get tired of the beautiful sunrises I see......................

I'll gather my thoughts, reflect on what I have seen and have done, and make notes of what I want to do.......I'm headed to the beach to soak up the rays, frolic in the water with my water noodles, and eat food cooked over an open fire....................and then enjoy Smore's over the burning embers.  I'll suck in the fresh mountain air, watch the stars come out at night, and maybe catch a falling star or two.

I'm learning to live in the moment........

SEE INTO LIFE,

DON'T JUST LOOK AT IT.

Anne Baxter

twitter@CotySimon

Instagram - Howunique310