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18 May 2013

Bird Hideaway, Missoula, Montana,

Another hidden smidge of beauty I never before noticed en route to work.

Seeing the bright yellow “bananas” on this caragana hedge sparked happy reminders of a childhood hideaway. Our farm windbreak strategy included a lengthy hedge of this variety as an inner layer. The branches and leaves formed overarching concealment for tea parties and playing with kittens. Turns out caragana is actually in the legume family. Beans, not bananas. Who woulda thunk it?

17 May 2013

Mountains Up Into Sky, Missoula, Montana

Once again, my first morning thought was, “Must go to sleep earlier….“. But with only handful of pages left in my book, how could I turn out the light at a decent time? Barbara Richardson’s novel, “Tributary” bleeds rich with the poetry background alluded to in the dust jacket bio. In this quote, she captures exquisitely the awe-inspiring interaction of mountains and sky.
“In Mississippi, stars were fuzzy with distance, a puzzle work for sailors, fine slow-moving guides. Here, they were a palmful of brilliance, cast like dice just overhead. I’d forgotten to even miss them, the sevens and elevens rolling off the rim of the mountain, never bothering to mark out anything, with no use for gods or bears or pots and pans…. “ - Barbara K. Richardson “Tributary”, p. 170.

16 May 2013

Reflective Notice, Missoula, Montana

So as to not drive two cars to a coffee date yesterday, I started out walking and my husband picked me up on his way from our daughter‘s cheer team practice. Even though my route was the same as my morning drive 5 times a week, it was as if I was walking through totally different neighborhoods. With my daily focus on beating out the 7:48 a.m. dawdlers, I never noticed this irrigation ditch on the left side of the road. Or the tidy yard behind the chain link fence patiently woven with fake Christmas greenery to make it look like a hedge of some sort. At a couple corners I actually checked to be sure I was on the same street.
In today’s lunchtime reading, this quote stood out to me - & only partly because I like the rhythm of the last phrase: “The problem is that when urgency is the dominant factor in our lives, importance isn’t. We’re so caught up in doing, we don’t even stop to ask if what we’re doing really needs to be done. As a result, we exacerbate the gap between the compass and the clock.” - Stephen R. Covey, “First Things First
Beyond stopping and smelling the roses, or paying attention to notice whatever is currently blooming in your life’s backyard, it’s wise to take stock of what is truly important, and give it a balanced place in life you have now. I’m gonna have to chew on that a bit more.

15 May 2013

Half Mast, Missoula, Montana


It seems our flags have been flying at half mast a lot this past year.
Today, they descended in observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week, 2013.
It’s good to remember, and to give thanks for so many who embrace serving and protecting as their daily work.

14 May 2013

Five Feet High and Rising, Missoula, Montana

A photo can be worth a thousand words; this one might even inspire some words for a sing-along : “How high’s the water, Mama? …” And all the while lazily drifting beneath the cottonwood shade, in a flat-bottom boat.
My niece and I capped off our Sunday afternoon date by finding the end of a road labeled “No Outlet”. She’d heard it wound up at the river, looking across to Lolo, Montana, ten highway miles south of Missoula. Lo, and behold, she heard right.

13 May 2013

Two In Bush, Missoula, Montana

“A bird in hand is better than two in a bush…” unless you are taking pictures.

One in hand would then be a nuisance, and prob’ly messy, to boot.
One of my older sisters had a pet cockatiel - soft yellow with the orange cheek spots - until it decided to fly and be free, or so we fervently hope was the outcome. He’d tamely sit on her shoulder, observing the world and occasionally accessorizing her wardrobe with a bird-sized dose of effluent. Ick, said I. To which she replied, Oh, you just brush it off, like this. Oh, said I with much wryness of tone, that makes it better.
I guess you either feel the bird love, or not.