Last week I returned home from Mott, North Dakota where I travel each year to see my extended family. As always it was a joy to see them all again and they were all glad to see me as well. But while just before Christmas day a blizzard swept through and buried most of the state. The fine powder covering everything in sight combined with a brisk wind made for a landscape that reminded me of old photographs of the dust bowl during the 1930s, only colder. As I watched the small town of Mott disappearing under the white wasteland I wondered how it could be that we could celebrate a holiday of merriment and generosity during the harshest of seasons. Then it occurred to me that that is just what humans do, conquering the unforgiving wilderness and domesticating the earth itself so that our civilization can continue to grow. It is an art form of sorts to rule the world, our success is a testament to our indomitable power to expand our race to its limits and then expand those limits. But during my drive home, over the highways of America that had been so conveniently plowed free of snow for me, I passed many acres of empty fields where the layers of snow lay just as naturally as they had fallen, without a single footprint to blemish its smooth its natural surface. There are places that mankind will never be able to reach, places where the snow will always remain untrodden, and perhaps that's the way that it should remain.
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I tried to take some pictures to post along with this story while in Mott but none of them came out very well. anyways I hope you all like this.


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