National Bison Day Gratitudes

I’m celebrating National Bison Day with a “gratitude journal” exercise.

I’m grateful for bison because of the positive and beneficial relationship they have with the land – the flowers they leave for bees, the small pools they create that will fill with rainwater for frogs, the small digs they create with their hooves creating spaces for seed to touch soil, the wallows they make to open the ground for insects to burrow, and the fur they shed that warms birds, prairie dogs and ermines in their nests.

I’m grateful for bison for the opportunities they’ve brought into my life: seeing places few people have seen, the friends I’ve made, and the ability to deepen my research and my knowing of the land.

I’m grateful for bison for trusting me and letting me watch them – sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours.

I’m grateful for bison for walking by the van in the middle of the night and waking me up with their breathing, soft bellowing, and every-so-slight grass rustling; I sleep better knowing they’re there – in the small and grand scheme of things.

I’m grateful for bison for encouraging me to need to know everything about them – including the hard and brutal truths of colonial history, it’s easier to look away but it’s essential to take it in and sit with it.

I’m grateful to bison for being the epitome of resilience so we can know it’s possible even when you’re pushed to the brink.

I’m grateful to bison for providing my body with nourishment for the last few years. 

I’m specifically grateful for 440; for keeping me on my toes, reminding me that bison will always be dangerous and wild, for showing me what fierce love and protection looks like, and giving me lessons in trust-building and healthy boundary setting.

And I’m grateful for Mimi, Moritz, Justin, Cody, Matt, Sarah, Pedro, and Manning for letting me step into your worlds and live in your driveways and fields.

And to the High Stakes Foundation, Patagonia, the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, Savannah Bee Co., and Bee Regenerative donors for supporting our work with the bees and the bison.