Yellowstone has greened up. The heavy snows of winter have eased the past several years of drought and the meadows look healthier. Ponds and marshes that were dry last spring are filled with snowmelt. Tall grasses reach through the water towards the sun and sway in the breeze.
    At Floating Island Lake a swan dives into the muddy water, white tail straight up in the air, legs flapping wildly to keep its balance. The sand hill crane looks on, sitting on the same nest she has used for the past few years on an island in the middle of the tiny lake. Every spring she is there faithfully tending the next generation.
   In the woods just past Yellowstone picnic area, a black bear sow forages with her cinnamon cub of the year. Small and energetic, it is not unlike a child's teddy bear. How many of these babies will we see this year? The bison began calving in April and are everywhere. They surround their calves to keep them from the wolves and bears.
   Not far from our cabin a moose grazes along the road. We watch out the window, checkered curtains drawn back, as the low light of evening falls. She is almost on the porch of the lodge that sits on the road. Behind the cow and the lodge, the mountains tower over us.

Author - Christine Baleshta
Photography - Tim Springer