I have a confession to make: my name is Michael and I love to write. Browse through my posts and you’ll see that I write about anything and everything: one week, I might talk about the flood that devastated my university’s town; the next week, I might tell you about my great-great-grandpa jumping off a train. You’ll see both serious and humorous posts. I believe that some days call for a deep laugh and others call for a deep thought.

Are you wondering “How did this guy come up with ‘Coughing Bison’?” Well, the Coughing Bison name originates from a road trip my friend and I took in the summer of 2004. It was an epic drive out west that included eight states, plus a late-night jaunt to British Columbia that got our vehicle thoroughly searched when we came back to the border.

The trip included a day-long journey through the majestic Yellowstone National Park. At one point, my friend put the car in park and we waited while a herd of bison meandered across the road in front of us. I was captivated by those creatures; I kept snapping photos over and over with my trusty $15 camera (yes, I was still using a camera with actual film in it). Out of the blue, my friend tapped me on the shoulder and said something along the lines of “Hey, look at this.” Directly to the left, a big, scraggly bison was repeatedly coughing, which created a projectile shooting effect (I’ll let you guess which end of the bison I’m talking about).

At that exact moment, the Coughing Bison name was born. The photo in this website’s masthead was taken mere minutes after we saw the original “Coughing Bison.”

Thanks for taking the time to visit my website.

– Michael Becker