Gretchen: Here's my story. I have spent forever... Well, I worked in the park when Yellowstone Park used to have a hospital, and I worked there one summer and had the thrill of seeing a loon on Yellowstone Lake.

And I've been haunted by that memory from 1990. So ever since then, I've wanted to see and hear another loon, and I had intended to go up to Northwest Montana, drive all the way up there just on the off chance I might see one, like at Seeley Lake.

And then I was gardening and was a mess, 'cause it was early in the season, and I just wiped off two of my fingers and was checking my phone looking for something specific, and saw a posting by somebody saying, "I just saw loons on Diva Reservoir," which was only like 20 minutes from my house.

So I grabbed my new spotting scope and went out there. And it wasn't till I got there that I realized, good Lord, I never even washed my hands. They're a mess. And it was very windy, so I saw two, and it was hard to even use my scope.

So the next morning at the break of day, I went back out and was blessed to see four loons this time, and the small reservoir was like glass. It was so still. And I watched them for about an hour and a half, and there were other species as well.

But boy, oh boy, if I see nothing else this summer, that made my whole summer.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.