Whittled by a half million years of wind and rain, the haunting claystone hills and buttes of Badlands National Park rise above the surrounding sea of grasslands.
On either side of the footpath, wind-gnarled cottonwoods and stunted pines fall away to reveal a sprawling expanse of mountains, deep river canyons and squat sandstone buttes with their distinctive wide, flat summits.
That's true. And, Jeff, frankly, I have stopped calling it the fiscal cliff. It got so tired. I'm calling it the budgetary butte, with your permission.OK.