Aspen Avenue, Missoula, Montana

"My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,
Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun..."   - Gerard Manley Hopkins, from "Binsey Poplars"

Planting Hope, Hamilton, Montana

Hot tip for any plant-loving procrastinators - er, rather, busy people putting the last minute to effective use: Lowe’s still has spring bulbs for sale. 
Even better: they’re ON sale at fifty percent off.
 
I bought six bags - after putting back three bags, thanks to a wee self-chat about realistic expectations.
 
I’m a little excited. 

Come Saturday - after coffee, of course- , you'll find me bundled up and tenderly placing papery-swathed bulbs of promise: grape hyacinths, alliums, daffodils, fragrant hyacinths, and tulips. 
These will stand out nicely amidst the foliage of the later-blooming lilies and fritillaria I tucked in last weekend. 

Only 124 days until spring!

Aspen Gateway, Missoula, Montana,

All day and night, save winter, every weather,
Above the inn, the smithy and the shop,
The aspens at the cross-roads talk together
Of rain, until their last leaves fall from the top.

From "Aspens" by Edward Thomas
(read the full poem here)

Catch Me, Missoula, Montana

Sometimes life throws us into a free fall, and an unexpected lift reminds us that grace and mercy still exist, and often touch our lives through the hands of strangers. 

If you are looking to help with aid to the Philippines, one of my co-workers launched a collection drive this past weekend. Click here to see the progress of  the "Big Sky Big Heart" relief project, and here to view more relief news from Child United,  the larger organization that’s facilitating the delivery of collected items to the Philippines.

Warm, Missoula, Montana

“A coat? I don’t need a coat - it’s at least 40 degrees (F) outside!”
 
Spoken by a true Montana outdoorsman, in spite of today’s Brooks Brothers shirt and corporate neck tie.

Selah, Missoula, Montana

Selah (pause, and think calmly of this)

Selah is an appropriate word for this day, set aside as Remembrance Day, Veteran’s Day, or Armistice Day, depending on the country.
 
Pause and think calmly of the benefits of freedom that we should hold so dear.
 
Pause and think calmly of the thankfulness we cradle in our hearts for people who gave so much, so generations to come would not have to live under fear.
 
Pause and think calmly on the many still longing to savour liberty’s goodness, and pray.

Higher, St. Helena's Cathedral, Helena, Montana

The Cathedral Builders 
by John Ormond

They climbed on sketchy ladders towards God,
with winch and pulley hoisted hewn rock into heaven,
inhabited the sky with hammers,
defied gravity,
deified stone,
took up God's house to meet him,
and came down to their suppers
and small beer...


(Read the entire poem and view historical photos here.)