Below-Zero Entertainment, UM Griz Basketball, Missoula, Montana

Baby, it’s cold outside - thus the perfect time to find entertainment indoors!
And Griz basketball provides great samples of a favourite amusement - people-watching.

A home game assures there will be fans - and coaches - behaving just a little bit badly, upping the "THAT's interesting!" factor.
Tonight‘s game against Eastern Washington starts at 7:00.
Plan to arrive a half hour early to avoid teeth-gritting traffic back-ups and to find a decent parking spot. 
And don’t forget to wear a toque during the walk from the car to the arena - with the wind chill factor, earlobes are endangered!

Between Shadow and Light, Hamilton, Montana

"There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast." - Charles Dickens (February 7, 1812 - June 9, 1870)




Click here for current news of Charles Dickens - still making headlines and inspiring birthday celebrations.

Winter Sun, Hamilton, Montana

January  by John Updike
 
The days are short
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor
And parkas pile up
Near the door.

The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees’ black lace

The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day.

Hardy Moss & Lichen, Alberton, Montana

"Lichen is a hardy plant
hardy hardy 
taking
sustenance from the granite ledge
nouriture from the dead elm bole
icy plant hoar plant
living kin
to rime
the north plant
flower
of death poverty and resolution."
- by Hayden Carruth, #43 from North Winter

Stalwart Stem, Sealy Lake, Montana

The Sound of Snow
by D. G. Vachal

"Lace and flannel fall
on February ground,
like flocks of woolen lambs
huddled
upon the leafless hills—
Tell me,
can you hear the sound of snow,
catch the tranquil meekness
quite unlike
the clamor of rain
or the tumult of sleet,
horse hoofs that trample
the cobblestones - ..."   

Read the full poem at lilies, sparrows and grass.

Winter Waterway, Owl Creek, Sealy Lake, Montana

“Stream that leapt and danced
Down the rocky ledges,
All the summer long,
Past the flowered sedges,
Under the green rafters,
With their leafy laughters,
Murmuring your song:
Strangely still and tranced,
All your singing ended,
Wizardly suspended,
Icily adream;
When the new buds thicken,
Can this crystal quicken,
Now so strangely sleeping,
Once more go a-leaping
Down the rocky ledges,
All the summer long,
Murmuring its song? “
- “The Frozen Stream” by
Richard Le Gallienne

Bushels of Fun, Sealy Lake, Montana

A co-worker semi-gloated all last week about how she'll think of us shivering this week while she basks in the sunny southern USA climes.
Well, more power to the snowbirds, but they're missing out on some of the best winter offerings. It may be snowin' and blowin' but the results make for a pristine variety of beauty available for a limited time.