John Stacy: Snorkel to work

I spent the day snorkeling around the Yellowstone river(on shore) while I collected driftwood for a building project. The river was a subtle musical backdrop to the whole outing - gurgling along over ancient boulders. The rocks were smooth under foot - slippery - with an infinite variety of color, texture, size, shape, and sound (every now and then I would dislodge one as I worked and note the "thud, ping, clunk or crack" sound it made as it came to rest again). Snowflakes flurried around in the sky and made a great backdrop for the bald eagle that occasionally cruised by me. As I collected drift wood I made note of the variety of texture in the individual pieces - some smoothed for years by the water, others checked and cracked from the intense son of Montana, still others with tunnels from long gone bugs that once had there own little ecosystem in that one stick. A nest in the snag of a Juniper tree, a rib cage cleaned white from the river, an old ravens feather sticking straight out of the snow. Ancient juniper trees still struggling for a footing along the shore with their roots washed clean and exposed were dressed with beautiful blue berries - a feast waiting for the birds. I love my job - maybe I'll go back to work again tomorrow!www.elkriverart.com