Pat Bean's blog

          “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!” — Jack Kerouac

Back on the Road

American goldfinch wearing yellow feathers to rival the sun ... Photo by Pat Bean

Lake Walcott State Park, adjacent to the Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Idaho, is one of those nature treasures I’m always hoping to discover. While I lived a mere 150 miles away from it for over 20 years, I didn’t find it until I had started RV-ing and began scrutinizing maps.

Since it sat directly along my path on this journey, there was no way I would have passed it by without stopping – even if I hadn’t needed to do so to fill out some paperwork in anticipation of my returning to the park as a volunteer in August.

I arrived at the park in time for a hike with Maggie down to the lake, where I watched Canada geese shepherd half a dozen goslings. They trailed across the water with one parent in front leading the way and one parent in the rear making sure there were no laggards.

Across the way from the lake, where the Snake River ran free of the dam that backed up the water for the lake, white pelicans sat in a row on a line of island rocks.

Bullock’s orioles, meanwhile, clamored for my attention, their bright yellow-orange feathers

White pelican on a rock island in the middle of the Snake River ... Photo by Pat Bean

dancing among the green foliage like twinkling Christmas tree lights. But even their glory was dimmed by the American goldfinch that perched just outside my RV.

Yellow has always been one of my favorites colors, and these small birds wore such sunlight as dazzled the eyes.

Although I knew I would miss the friends I left behind in Ogden, my stop at Lake Walcott made being on the road again feel right.

Copyrighted by Pat Bean