We met bison today grazing along the road. They are so big and quiet. Michael’s totem animal, I think. Quietly doing his own thing in a big way…strong, determined, stubborn.  Transplanted. Endangered (celluloid filmmaker). And that wild fire in his eye.

We take lots of pictures. The best are Michael’s, viewed from the cabin, looking out through the cab at Bison. Stranger Than Paradise.

With the buffalo come the Northern Rockies. Stacked and layered rocky peaks. The size of home – Kenai Mountains, but clearly older, compressed and sandy instead of undulating and rippling rock. Hard to imagine what the trees hold onto. Maybe that’s why they’re meager.

Michael and Jake are in the cockpit. Jake is telling a joke. Michael smiles gently and holds the wheel. “C’mon Mike!” says Jake, “You look like one of those guys who has no self-confidence in the group. You know, at the Old Guys Meeting at Save-U-More on Wednesdays? You’re like one of those guys in the upper left who is afraid to chime in. You just sit there and smile and nod your head.”