Clearly - Greenough Park, Missoula, Montana

“Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it there will be a fish.” - Ovid

Wary (Seagull) - Flathead Lake, Polson, Montana

“For one carved instant as they flew,

The language had no simile—

Silver, crystal, ivory

Were tarnished. Etched upon the horizon blue,

The frieze must go unchallenged, for the lift

And carriage of the wings would stain the drift

Of stars against a tropic indigo

Or dull the parable of snow….” 

- From ‘Sea Gulls’ by Edwin John Pratt (1882-1964)

Read the remainder of this poem here, and more of his work at Canadian Poetry Online.

My Little Boat (On Flathead Lake), Polson, Montana

"Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it." - David Lee Roth (Possibly a mis-quote)

And some days, happiness aplenty is found in watching the calm bobbing progress of a wee vessel comprised of a seagull feather mast wedged into a shoredrifted scrap of pine bark.

Tied Tightly, Polson, Montana

"Launching our from the ship--
ha, ha! courtship--
Oh the misty matrimonial sea,
Let the cable hang lightly,
but tie the knot tightly."
So the hoary sailors tell me.”
- Henry Clay Work, from “Tie the Knot Tightly"

Click in the previous text link to enjoy Work’s wordplay in this thoughtful yet jaunty poem, & listen to some of his music compositions here.

Pastille Blues in Greenough Park, Missoula, Montana

If it wasn’t enough that my streamside perch was on the slidey side of iffy, I peripherally noticed a real photographer - telescoping tripod, massive lens, equipment bag - catty corner across the creek, and seemingly with lens pointed at me. This concerned me, not because I'm shy, but rather due to my  very unladylike crouch - in a skirt, albeit with shorts attached beneath. But none else would know about the shorts, now would they? So, as trained by my modest mother, I self-consciously readjusted to a more modest sideways pose, knees together - and successfully managed not to land, rump-over-tea-kettle, in the creek.
Thankfully, the delight of these cunning candy-blue petites quickly distracted back to the task at hand, and I emerged with this happy shot.

Bee Smells, Missoula, Montana

“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don't they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”
- Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine

Sunday Mass, St. Ignatius, Montana

A trip up the Flathead Valley is made extra sweet with a stop at the St. Ignatius Mission. 
It’s like icing on the cake. (Homemade rum cream cheese icing that‘s not too sweet.) 
And if you’re patient, a gap between other visitors allows time to (quietly) play the piano. (That’s dark chocolate sauce on the cake's tippy top.)
On the airy whoosh of the inner chapel doors closing behind you, the words “holy hush” fly to mind. Interior visuals to come this week will help illustrate this, but you really need to experience it in person.