Bitterroot Mountains from Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge - Stevensville, Montana

Perfect pockets of sun and shadow - plus a lovely side of laughter among friends! -  made for a gorgeous fall ramble at the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge. 

(I THINK that may be St. Mary's Peak in the background...  not as simple as I'd hoped to logic 

our this peak's location on a map.... please comment if you can confirm or deny.) 

Fall Game Day Besties - University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

Crisp fall views on a sunny University game day  - life is just better in Montana. 

Sound of Music Trail View - East Missoula, Montana

My advance apologies for the catchy ditty about to be stuck in your head, but this photo view point really IS called The Sound of Music Trail.... 

(And the surrounding Missoula hills were, indeed, alive with the sound of music as hundreds of people of many area churches united to pray and praise over our city at summer's end!) 

Oreo Cows and Mountain Smoke - Missoula, Montana

Stopped on my way home to just bask in delight of oreo cows (actual breed: belted Galloways) and the smokey twilight. So much to see when we pause to look. 

(Not to worry -  this scene is from several weeks ago, and the smoke is long gone.) 

Ref Barn Blue Sky Calm - Near Avon, Montana

“Calm and inner peace…Yes, calm and inner peace were undoubtedly important, but did you need to practise yoga to achieve such things? Or was it enough just to be here….to walk along one of those paths…with the sky above you so wide and so understanding of all it witnessed? …Surely there was enough calm amd peace in this land to bring quiet and healing to every heart that was open to it?? Surely.”

- - The Joy & Light Bus Company by Alexander McCall Smith, p. 57

Tansy At Twilight - Maclay Flat, Missoula, Montana

Pack in a lawn chair and sit awhile, cool your dusty, summer-hot feet in the Bitterroot River, maybe even at this same perfect spot on Maclay Flat just south of Missoula, Montana. 

“The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it. “ — Chinese philosopher

Worry-Free Echinacea - Rocky Mountain Gardens, Missoula, Montana

" 'You're not worried?' 

'Worry's for people who think blowing on the dice will change their luck.' " 

-Mike & Charley in One Last Lie, A Mike Bowditch novel by Paul Doiron, p.412 Lg type

Mountain Wildfire Smoke Plume - Near Bitterroot Valley, Montana

Seasonal wildfire smoke once again filters through myriad mountain canyons near Montana's Bitterroot Valley.