As you may or may not know, I just spent a week in Yellowstone National Park.  I learned a lot about geothermal features while I was there.  I’m sure you are aware there are several such features in the park including Old Faithful and a lot of other features that aren’t Old Faithful.  Nobody ever talks about those other features.

Another prominent feature of Yellowstone National Park is the bison.  There are, at last count, somewhere around twelve billion bison within the boundaries of the park.  After five days, you get a little blasé about them.

On our first day, we stopped for a picture whenever we saw a black lump in a field that might be a bison.  By the time we left, we wouldn’t even slow down unless there were playing hopscotch or whist or something else that went beyond the typical behavior of standing in a field and chewing on grass while surrounded by two hundred other bison.

I’m not saying I never grew tired of seeing bison.  Because I didn’t.  At some point, however, seeing bison became the equivalent of watching Adrian Peterson play for the Vikings.  Sure, it’s impressive.  But is it really making much of a difference?

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