Shadow Kin - Missoula, Montana

"Hard is hard - there is no measuring stick - 
and sadness too often comes right in as
the shadow kin of joy."
-From The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick, page 78

On Breathing Dust - Roadside in Missoula, Montana

"He knew he was in the presence of two Eldila.... "Look on him , beloved, and love him", said the first. 
"He is indeed but breathing dust and a careless touch would unmake him." "

-from Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis, transition into Ch 16

 Crouched at the edge of the road (&, yes, paying attention so as not to get run over!), I think, "How much more fragile are we, with all our complex internal systems grounded in original dust, than this tiny, intricate winged creature come to rest on the edge of a mud puddle?".

Flying Garden Guests - Missoula, MT

Omigosh - please be distracted with me and go play the June 10, 2018, Google Doodle game!

Airborne garden gnomes and a trebuchet  - what’s not to love?!
(Besides my high score of 811 - & that with the biggest gnome of them all!)
Click here - and kiss the next 20 minutes goodbye....

Now every day can be Gardening Day - and not just in Germany!

Blossoms And Risk - Missoula, Montana

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
― Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)
(Note: Quote source is iffy, according to this Disputed section in WikiQuote.)

Neighborhood Pest - Missoula, Montana

April showers bring May flowers. 

And, apparently, May flowers bring neighborhood pests who interpret “flowers” as “smorgasbord “!

(Side Note: It is slightly embarrassing to notice your neighbor puttering quietly on the other side of the fence - AFTER you’ve been flapping and yakking at a pseudo-forest creature for a good 10 minutes...But I'm guessing, by now, they may have become inured to our odd ways.)

Procaffeinator Thought - Downtown Missoula, Montana

Hmmm...deep thoughts via today's photo...are you perhaps in good company (with me, of course!) as a procaffeinator? 
Do tell about your favourite jump start.... the comments link awaits below. 
(Note: The tea contingent is also abundantly represented in our midst.)

(This pseudo vocabulary word brought to you courtesy of Missoula's very own Liquid Planet and a lovely downtown evening stroll.)
 

Riding High - Clark Fork River, Missoula, Montana

Crazy enough, surfers and kayakers are out riding downtown Missoula's Brennan's Wave during the worst spring flooding on the Clark Fork River since 1908. (But they did provide some entertainment during our evening stroll to savour the latest Sweet Peaks flavours - which will ship to your very door!)

Click here to contrast the above scene across the river to the old Milwaukee rail depot with this similar and more typical view in August 2013. The above photo is conspicuously lacking mid-river islands and the shore-hugging rocks shown in the 2013 foreground - which are underneath a good part of this week's perfect wave.

Leaf Luminescence - Missoula, Montana

“Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore.

There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree,

 the trembling of a leaf.”

 - Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf. Albert Schweitzer
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_schweitzer_399442?src=t_leaf

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf. Albert Schweitzer
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_schweitzer_399442?src=t_leaf