In South Dakota I went to see a herd of wild horses with a young Lakota man named David Little Wounded who works with them. It can be dangerous to get too close, so we sat in a pickup truck watching them for about two hours. But I really wanted to get closer to them, so I got out of the truck and started crawling very slowly toward the middle of the field. The young Indian man said, "Well, this is really dangerous. But if you're going to do it, I'd better go with you."
So there we were, crawling on our hands and knees with my cameras banging together. We got out in the field and sat for a while, and little by little, the horses started coming up to us. Eventually we were completely surrounded by them. They were so gentle. Sitting on the ground, we were quite small compared with them. It was a dangerous thing to do because the smallest thing could have spooked them. They could have trampled and even killed us. But it was wonderful to feel a connection with these wild animals. I got some really nice pictures, but this experience meant more to me. It gave me a reverence for these creatures.
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It was the dead of winter, and I was trying to reach my appointment in time by taking a shortcut. Someone suggested I go through South Dakota's Badlands National Park, which is a beautiful, dramatic, and very lonely landscape. I set out in the middle of a blizzard, and I made the mistake of not paying attention to my gas gauge. When I was well into the park, I glanced down and saw that it was on empty.
I started to panic. I wasn't dressed for walking in the snow to a gas station, and only about two cars had passed me. After covering wars, riots, and visiting many strange cultures, I thought, This is how I'm going to die: in a blizzard. And just because I was stupid about gas.
Somehow I made it to a gas station at the very end of the park; I literally rolled in on fumes. The silliest thing was that my rental SUV had a system whereby in case of an emergency I could call the company. They would have come right away and found me. I didn't even remember this until I got to the gas station.
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A high school I visited has an interesting program designed to help teenagers see what it's like to be a parent. The students are given baby dolls with little computer chips inside. When the baby cries, the students have to figure out what's wrong. It's not very clear; sometimes the baby needs a diaper change, and sometimes it's hungry and needs to be fed. There's no way to be sure, just like with a real baby.
Boys as well as girls have to take these dolls home for 48 hours. They take them everywhere. They sleep with them, take them to class, and bring them along on a date. The dolls are monitored so that teachers know if the kids are leaving them alone and just allowing them to cry.
The girls I talked to said that after this experience they would really think twice about getting pregnant. They had no idea of the amount of responsibility. This program has been around for a while and is a great idea. Every high school should have it.
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