Wisdom On The Wind - Near Alberton, Montana

“His wisdom came from deep wells - from the things that had been known to the generations that had gone before him. It was fashionable to put all that knowledge behind us, to think that only our modern understanding counted for something, but that, she thought, was so wrong, so wrong.  We were not the first people to tread where we now trod;  countless ancestors had come exactly this way.  And although their footprints might have been blown away by the wind, we could sense  their presence if only we opened our eyes and ears to it.  And we could hear his voices, too, if we listened hard enough.  We could hear their warnings, their encouragements, their advice - if only we turned our heads to the wind and heard the voices, faint and distant, that the wind carried.  We could hear.”

- The Joy & Light Bus Company by Alexander McCall Smith, p. 40-41

Time’s Convert - Near St. Regis, Montana

“Time makes more converts than reason.” 

–Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

Borderline Mountain View - Near Lookout Pass, Montana

Delight has never failed at the unfolding of this big sky mountain view around the I-90 curve atop Lookout Pass on the Montana-Idaho west border. I wonder if the original road planning crew for this route deliberately engineered the artistry of this sweeping reveal, or if this particular grandeur capture was just unavoidable dumb luck?  While  technically in Idaho at this point, the state border jiggy-jog on a map allows me to hazard you are partly looking across to Montana and thus justify finally posting this longtime fave road trip view. 

Far-sighted - Near Superior, Montana

“Ye can see for as long as your eye holds out, in this country."  -Walter Kyle, in English Creek by Ivan Doig, p. 16

Red Leaf, Intensely Small - Missoula, Montana

“… and if people did not lose the capacity for taking pleasure as intensely in a birch leaf or a peacock’s feather or the wing of a hooded crow as in a mighty mountain or a splendid palace. What is small is not small in itself, just as that which is great is not—great.” 

- Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

Epiphany Light Shine - Missoula, Montana

Epiphany - what a lovely day to celebrate - the very name full of promise of new beginning, of life-light diminishing soul-darkness, of suddenly realizing life-altering simple somethings previously shadowed, just out of reach.

May the Lord’s kindness shine bright upon you and then through you. 

Step Into A New Year - East Missoula, Montana

“…my mother forever tried to tell the other three of us. That the past is a taker, not a giver. It was a warning she felt she had to put out, in that particular tone of voice with punctuation all through it, fairly often in our family. When we could start hearing her commas and capital letters we knew the topic had become Facing Facts, Not Going Around with Our Heads Stuck in Yesterday.” - Jick McCaskill in English Creek by Ivan Doig, pp. 3-4

(BTW, if “Read More Books” made your New Year to-do list, anything by Ivan Doig is a high-yield investment.)