I missed "The National Parks" when it was on PBS, though Folo managed to Tivo most of them, I didn't get around to watching. I think I was busy getting ready for selling necklaces at CLCU show. Saturday he had deep discount coupon and bought the set at Borders. The last few days I've been slowly watching the first two disks. (It's roughly chronological, so the first shows, with John Muir & Teddy Roosevelt, are the best.)

We've been to Yellowstone twice, off season, just one day each. Old Faithful both times & different other locations. I haven't seen the Yellowstone falls or Mammoth Springs terraces, and I would like to. Now even more so.

In the middle of the second show I had a shudder experience. Yellowstone was the last refuge for the Bison, and its herd was numbered in the low hundreds. The soldiers in the park found a "poacher" killing any bison he could find, to cut off the heads & sell to a taxidermist. At this time (1894) there weren't laws that protected wildlife on public land and the poacher boasted to the soldiers that all they could do was expel him and he'd loose $25 of supplies. Luckily, there was a journalist and a photographer in the park at the time who was on the side of conservation. Immediately, a Scandal was declared and within two months the needed law was passed. (Similar laws had been proposed, but thwarted.) The narrator opined that if that opportunity had not been used to force the issue the bison would have gone the way of the carrier pigeon -- they were that close to gone.

This is personal to me. I've seen Bison up close. Our second trip (early spring) many were walking beside (or on) the roads in the park, getting to favorite meadows, and they looked wearily glad that Winter had passed and they didn't have to forage for grass under snow and life was good again. I can't imagine not being able to have that experience. I think bison are now my second totem animal (after cats).

Of course, Burns used every P.T. Barnum trick to make everything So Emotional and So Significant -- I don't care, it isn't gratuitous. The Parks are worth it. One thing about the Parks (and any kind of tourist Pilgrimage) is that it isn't only the place, it's who you go with, a shared experience. (This is one of the main themes of the show.) People go to the same spots, and if you're talking to a friend ("Have you been to Yellowstone?") it's as if you were both watching Old Faithful erupt at the same time.

The DVDs are highly recommended. I'm going to start watching the 3rd disk now. Since we don't travel for holidays, I'm expecting I'll finish the set this weekend. (Then go back and listen to John Muir again; the voice actor for his quotes is a wonderful voice.) I had good dreams last night. I can't remember what about, but I think there were mountains ... and bison.