There were plenty of examples from the past year of Asian tourists in Jackson Hole finding trouble as a result of cross-cultural misunderstandings.

A lack of true wildlife in heavily populated Asian countries led to some visitors getting too close the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s not-always-so-docile megafauna.

There were tales of foreign visitors who didn’t know English filling their gasoline-powered rental cars with diesel fuel.

The scornful looks line-cutting Chinese tourists sometimes drew undoubtedly were a result of Westerners not understanding how things work when crowds gather a hemisphere away.

But perhaps the most unexpected consequence of the lingual and cultural barriers for Chinese and other Asian visitors who flocked to northwest Wyoming this year played out in the pit toilets around Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

“Our maintenance staff was seeing basically broken toilet seats, especially in the vault toilets,” Teton park spokesman Andrew White said.

In all, about a dozen of the 42 vault toilets in Grand Teton park wound up broken this summer, he said.

What was happening, park officials discovered, is that tourists from Asian countries were squatting, with their feet on the lids, and the shuffling of legs bearing a body’s full weight was causing toilets to snap where the hinges connect the lid to the bowl.

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Angela Jamison is a native Montanan and she grew up in beautiful Bozeman. I'm the mother of two girls and write a blog about our life here and taking in the simple pleasures of family and food.

Somehow we have found ourselves right in the middle of November. One day we are marveling at the color of the valley as the leaves turn brilliant shades of orange and gold, the next day we are under a blanket of snow and scrambling to make sure everyone’s snow boots still fit. Winter, as always, making an abrupt appearance while fall was still in the middle of its performance. It happens each year, yet every time I am startled at the first snow storm. As a non-skier-summer-lover you think this would bring me down, but it’s just the opposite. I am taken away by the beauty of the white flakes falling down. I fall in love with the contrast of the snow covered mountains and the bright blue sky. I am instantly filled with holiday spirit and have to make myself wait patiently until after Thanksgiving to pull out the Christmas decorations.

November.

The quiet month after the sugar high of Halloween and the wonderful chaos of Christmas.

In November I am appropriately filled with gratitude. When the weekends are calm. When there is no feeling guilty for staying inside all weekend watching movies because it’s too cold to go outside. Yes, we have a very important holiday in November, but it is one that needs little preparation. There are no decorations, no gifts…simply being with family, friends and eating. Taking time to slow down and remind ourselves of all we are grateful for.

Finding gratitude in those around you….

Whether your family is near or far, knowing how lucky you are to have them. Reminding yourself that family can be loosely defined and those friends that you chose to be your family are also something to be grateful for. You know the friends I’m talking about….the ones that are always there for you, know your history, that are easy to be around, that treat your kids like their own. Always find gratitude in those you love, even when often they are the easiest to take for granted.

Finding gratitude in your community…

How lucky we are to call Montana home. Bozeman in particular for me, which in my opinion makes me even luckier. Not everyone gets to wake up to the beauty we get to see everyday. As our community changes there are growing pains, not everyone always sees eye to eye on this. I think one thing we can all agree on is the reason we’re so passionate about it is because it’s so darn great here. I have grown up here and have seen the changes and for this town that has nurtured me and now welcomes my children, I am grateful. For the happiness I see in most people around and those reaching out to help their neighbors, I am grateful. For the mountains that surround us and the neighborhoods tucked inside, I am grateful.

Finding gratitude in the snow…

For November I will embrace the snow. I will enjoy it’s charm throughout the holiday season…for baking, for sledding and snowmen, for extra blankets on the bed and the coziness of scarves each day. I will try to be grateful for it for as long as I can. If I make it until February I will consider it a success.

Finding gratitude in the calm…

Next month things will speed up. As we inch towards Christmas it will be hard to not get caught up in it…the wanting stuff, the shopping for everyone on your list, the holiday parties, the cramming in all the traditions. It will be wonderful and exhausting as it always is. Right now I will be grateful for the quiet, the calm, the peace of November.

This month I hope you will find what you are grateful for. “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” -Melody Beattie

Kristen Berube lives a crazy, laugh-filled life with her outdoorsman husband Remi and their three camo-clad children in Missoula, Montana. A graduate of Montana State University and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, she loves being a mom and enjoys hiking, fishing, and camping. “Confessions of a Camo Queen: Living with an Outdoorsman” is her first book.

I am clearly married, yet I sleep alone for half of the year. My husband sleeps with someone every night, however. He’s been like this for years. He has “dated” others who didn't quite pan out, I guess. They hike too slow, whine too much, drink too much or have different seasonal goals. Who knew "outdoorsman hunting partner dating" was so difficult?

My commitment is to my husband and our children; his commitment is to me, our children, and his other wife. Say what!? Yep, he comes home weekly, after rolling around in fields, tents and mountain sides covered in filth and his other wife's perfume. She must be a nasty ho to want to get down and dirty in all of the places that they rendezvous. And why does she smell so damn musky... gross. I know I am second in line for the outdoorsman’s attentions for about half of the year; his other wife is his undying priority. Ugh, it is heartbreaking, but I have come to accept it.

I know you are beginning to wonder the following...Why don't you leave him for cheating on you? Can you say alimony? Why aren't you in the man cave shop snapping his fly rods in half and spray painting his camouflage boat hot pink? Well, that's because my outdoorsman is not technically cheating. No, I'm not one of those people who make excuses for their cheating significant other. No, my outdoorsman does not bat for the other team but his other wife is a man...

Wife #2 generally hides in the background of our lives until about mid-August. You know, they keep their fires burning with little rendezvous of "going fishing,” "practicing shooting,” and "planning trips"... They think that I do not notice all of the hushed conversations, all of the midnight texting, all the whispering into the phone and giggling. Oh, the giggling, it is positively sickening. Their creepy sweet talking consists of words like “new camo,” “antlers,” and “secret spots.” Those turds don't think that I know what they are up to, but I do. I am very aware that September is near and that means it is soon time to take the spot at the back of the line and let the hairy, stinky, foul-mouthed Wife #2 just have my outdoorsman. I cannot compete. I do not want to compete. Trying to compete with my husband’s other wife is futile September through December. During this time of year all of my good qualities and skills are moot. His other wife can gut and bone out a deer in 6 minutes flat without breaking a sweat. His other wife thoroughly enjoys farting in the sunset together. His other wife enjoys romantic Mountain House dinners. His other wife thinks it's simply wonderful to hike for days, “sniff test” deer shit for freshness, to take a poop behind a sage brush, and drink warm, purified mud puddle water... no thank you! His other wife doesn't mind not showering for a week at a time or that he doesn’t either. Oh, and before I forget, his other wife has a beard. Definitely can't, and won't compete there.

Who is this gorilla? This is the outdoorsman’s hunting partner. His partner in hikin’, glassin’ (also known as using the spotting scope to look at animals on the hill), shootin’, fartin’, chasin’ down animals, beer drinkin’, and card playin’. This partner is his true mirror-self for several months. Once the hunting season has begun, these two are as inseparable as a couple of high school love birds. For God’s sakes, they even notice if one of them gets a haircut. They have matching camouflage. They have matching bows and guns. And they both sweet talk their simply wonderful FIRST wives into cooking them smorgasbord of food every weekend for their camo-infused little weekend getaways. You know those campouts where they supposedly snuggle “butt to butt” for safety and warmth. They sleep under the stars and talk about life. They snore in unison after they have exhausted themselves hiking to check out every fricking wild animal within a 20 mile radius. There is no whining, just more hiking, more searching, and more hunting.

Before the sun comes up they wake up, look into each other’s eyes and take turns building the fire to warm each other up, then make each other coffee. Wow... Sounds awfully romantic, boys… Ooooalala! Instead of a good morning kiss, they give each other an aggressive chest bump, pour their plain black boiling coffee down their throats, engulf a few granola bars and set their sights on the mountain side. One could never say that they do not have the same life goals. They are united. They are one. They are there to hunt.

In all honestly, I am so, so grateful for my outdoorsman’s other wife. I want him to be as tough as nails, smarter than a whip and able to handle shit. I want him to be able to drag out my outdoorsman if he breaks his leg, I want him to shoot straight if a bear decides to attack, and I want him to be a downright badass. I can guarantee my outdoorsman will look out for his other wife in the same protective caveman-like fashion, and I am grateful he's looking out for him in return.

Kyle Ploehn is an artist, illustrator and writer living in Billings Montana. He likes to spend the few hours he isn't painting hiking the mountains of Montana.

This painting was a commission project for a wonderful local nurse. As an artist, having someone fall in love with a painting is a particularly special experience, however there is something exceptionally fun about finally showing someone a finished project they helped craft. After spending many hours discussing sketches and layouts she had to sit patiently by while I painted for a number of months. The way her eyes lit up when she finally saw the finished painting really reminds me why I like to do what I do.

While a dragon is a fantastical creature and I’m typically known as a wildlife painter, it can be good creatively to stretch beyond what is normal. A painting like this poses new interesting problems to be solved. For one, a creature like this doesn’t exist so how would it work? What would it look like? How would a wing work if it also has a shoulder? While being a challenge, it also provides exploration and a sense of creation working on real animals can’t evoke.

The original is sold. Visit me at http://kyleploehnart.blogspot.com