With Wild Abandon
WATercolor on paper
11″ x 14″

Pronghorn are the fastest land animals in the country. Watching a Pronghorn run full speed across the land is an experience I could never put into words; the ease, the grace, the ancient story that fuels their movement is quite literally poetry in motion. These animals evolved in an intimate evolutionary dance with an extinct cheetah-like predator, and today they continue to roam the sagebrush seas of our desert regions with wild abandon.

How relatable is that? This animal’s body still perfectly fine-tuned to respond to a threat that has long since vanished. Our bodies have long memories, holding on to both generational and personal experiences. I often feel this in my own nerves, an anxiety constantly pulled taught, ready to snap me away at the first sign of danger even if the danger now is nothing more than a ghost from years and lifetimes past.

Story Time:
Many years ago when I was just a baby naturalist I drove 12 hours to Yellowstone National Park on a whim without having ever properly camped before. I was not raised to love the natural world, so coming home to it has been hard-earned. Yellowstone remains one of the formative experiences that pushed the door open a little wider for me, and when I think back to visiting the park I don’t think of the geysers, the wolves, the bison, or any of the iconic scenery.

I think of Pronghorn.

Early one morning I was driving through the park and noticed a small herd of bodies in front of me on the road. As I got closer I could make out the white bars on their necks and short, dark horns: Pronghorn! I barely knew these animals existed at the time, let alone thought I’d ever see them. As I watched them stride across the road I noticed a straggler left behind. The herd stopped and waited while the lone Pronghorn sidled up to a low patch of sagebrush and used it to get a real deep ear scratch in, leaning deep in with what I can only imagine was pure pleasure. After a moment the Pronghorn shot off across the road to meet its family, giving me my first glimpse of such powerful speed.

I gave this guy a branch of sage so he always has a good scratchin’ stick.