Waiting for Spring Runoff, Missoula, Montana

"Our eyes rake autumn leaves like ore, panning horizons 

before they fade. We hike flat miles toward sundown,
alchemy of oaks, the fleeting shimmer of gold.
Nothing glitters at night but stars..."

- From "Pronghorns Show Us the Way" by Walt McDonald

Read the full poem - plus some other gems - here.

Dusk River View of the Wilma Theatre, Missoula, Montana

Rivertown At Midnight
by Ralph Vaughan

"Dusk settles upon a serpentine river,
Layers of musky gauze,
Mist rising, flowing down rivertown's narrow streets,
A roiling sighing river itself;
Tiny hands rise from the drifting haze,
Tapping faintly, rapping gently
At diamond-paned windows,
Calling a soft siren call to sleepers,
But only dreamers answer,
And, of them, but a special few are fully roused;
Velvet midnight gives slow way to a copper day...."

 Treat yourself to a reading of the remaining few lines of this evocative poem here.

Shore Weeds, Missoula, Montana

“…On meadow and river and wind-wandering weed-winding bank…”
From “Binsey Poplars” by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Read the full poem here - out loud, please, to maximize his sumptuous word choices.

Urban Fly Fishing, Missoula, Montana

"But here I am anyway, casting at dusk, while off in the distance the clink 
of glasses as the bride and groom move between tables. 
Here, the wandering edge of riffle, so close, and the towering cottonwoods,
so close, and the boulders breaking current and the current exposing boulders 
in the wash of white water I can only see out of the corner of my eye..." 
From "Evening Hatch" By Cameron Scott 
Enjoy the full poem here.

Frosted Grass, Blue Sky, Blue Mountain, Missoula, Montana,

Early spring means scraping frost from the windshield, while  admiring frost on the morning grass.  
Before too long, new green shoots will push through these hillside stubble leftovers, seeking big sky beyond.

River Dog, Missoula, Montana

He was a small, fluffy dog, but was undeterred from tearing up the sandbar in the spring-shine.

Skiff of Snow, East Missoula, Montana

Just when you’re lulled into thinking spring is really here, a unexpected skiff of snow reminds you that Montana weather is never boring.