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01 March 2013

Back Door Pass, Wilma Theatre, Missoula, Montana

It's easy to imagine this lamplit walkway populated with lavishly gowned and tuxedoed opera goers of an earlier era, leisurely exiting after a performance and headed for a late supper at a downtown club.  Thanks to interior restoration, today's attendees of Missoula's Wilma Theatre enjoy modern music in pretty much the same ornate Louis XIV-style interior as original patrons from the 1920's.

28 February 2013

Peace Texture, Missoula, Montana

Several blooms ago, I noticed the texture imprints on unfurling petals of our office peace lily. It's become one of those quirky things that, once noticed, cannot be passed by unobserved.
This reminds me of difficult truths realized of our selves - once you see something for what it really is, you can't not know it, but can only choose how it will enlarge your life - or not. And perhaps it's the courageous embracing of truth that imprints texture upon our very being, enhancing our character and broadening our conversation?

27 February 2013

Window Dressing, Downtown Missoula, Montana

This eye-candy window is one of my all-time favourite downtown Missoula walking views. Circle Square 2nd Hand is housed in a multi-story brick building still bearing old advertising for "The Atlantic Hotel" on the alley wall.  Newer but weathered paint proclaims, "We Buy Anything".  It's definitely the place to browse and utter such phrases as, "What the heck does this does?" or "I haven't seen one of these since my great-grandma showed me her childhood toys!".

26 February 2013

World-Wide Wovens, Downtown Missoula, Montana

If the weather is decent - "decent" encompassing a wide latitude for someone raised in the varying climes of Alberta and Montana - I like to take a downtown walk after Saturday night church. It's safe, thanks to a comforting level of good folk milling about, and you can get in about a mile by looping up to the old railway station then down across the bridge and back up to your start point. 
Since my last jaunt, the window scenery has altered, partly due to shops closing and new ones opening - statistically, retail is a tough business - but most of the new views are thanks to creative and changing displays. Pictured above is a small segment of tactile delights available at Amira Rug Gallery.

25 February 2013

Gentle Snowfall, Crazy Canyon, Missoula, Montana


One of my favourite Christmas cards ever received features a black and white photo of children, togged out in 60s-era parkas and mittens, arms spread wide, catching snowflakes on their tongues. It seems to be a universal response, regardless your age. Maybe in our era it has something to do with the pace of life racing past - we want to capture something that still exists in its own time and pace, unpushed by demands. Snowflakes fall, float, are gusted about by wind. They simply are, in all their complex crystalline selves. I'll take a double helping of that, please.

24 February 2013

Rail Graffiti, Missoula, Montana


Graffiti always intrigues me, especially when it's rendered with obvious skill. But the element of emotion seems to be evident, no matter how rudimentary the art. Somehow the compulsion to create and display your art in random pnblic view carries the soul cry forward. While typically graffiti is an inconsiderate act to the folks who have to clean it up, I still enjoy the form and lines when they're in front of me, and wonder about the artist's driving force.