Friends, another gray stallion from the badlands as he surveys me from a hill top.  He came  from 100 yards away to give me a closer view of his beautiful form.  This is a different gray from the one shown yesterday, as he has a pink nose.     He is still a spirit horse to me and represents what i cannot put into words:  freedom, wildness and that ache within that strives to be outside with my face in the wind.  My connection to past generations who struggled to raise children in a sometimes hostile land.  Who rose every morning to endless chores and strong sunshine to warm their souls and bodies.  They are my heritage and the National Park was their legacy to me and all future generations of those who love the arid hills and the ever-changing river that still carves the North Dakota badlands. So with this post we leave the badlands (temporarily) and return to spring in Northwestern Wisconsin. I promise to return to the badlands soon as i am visiting there in late May.  til Tomorrow MJ