No Barrier at All - The Teller Trail, Corvallis Montana

"What have we to do this day, more pressing than the call to wander. " Pat R

"Dear old world', she murmured, 'you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you."

- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1

Thanks to guest blogger Pat Richards for sharing views and thoughts from her Montana wanderings!

To see other far-flung paths Pat's feet have trod, take a peek at JourneysWithGod.com.

Ponderosa Pine, Teller Wildlife Refuge, Corvallis, Montana

Did you know that ponderosa pines can smell like really good vanilla? Get your nose right up to the cracks in the bark - ignore odd looks from passing hikers - & take a big sniff.  I always think the bigger trees will have a better aroma, but the youngsters often surprise me. Persevere 'til you find a good tree, & you may acquire a new nature habit.

Eggs and Cosmology

The asymmetry of time, the arrow that points from past to future, plays an unmistakable role in our everyday lives: it accounts for why we cannot turn an omelet into an egg, why ice cubes never spontaneously unmelt in a glass of water, and why we remember the past but not the future. And the origin of the asymmetry we experience can be traced all the way back to the orderliness of the universe near the big bang. Every time you break an egg, you are doing observational cosmology.

SEAN M. CARROLL, Scientific American, June 2008

(Thanks to K.'s chickens in Corvallis, Montana, for the beautiful eggs!)

Seasonal Seeds, Corvallis, Montana

You never know what you'll find walking in the forest - or down the main street of Corvallis, Montana.

Mill Creek, Bitterroot Valley, Montana

Whenever I hike the trail along Mill Creek, it never fails that I tell myself, "Self, you should do this more often."  Firstly, because it's pretty easy for the first 20-30 minutes, which gets you back to the horse bridge, which I consider a slightly fascinating destination. And secondly, because you walk along the creek most of the way and the sound & sight of it never fail to calm me & put things into clear perspective.

Beetling Down the Deadwood

Anyone know what kind of beetle we have here?
My niece, M., noticed it while we hiked earlier this fall along Mill Creek, east of Corvallis, MT.

NW of Corvallis MT, Looking South

In case you've forgotten, Montana's also known as Big Sky Country.  I remember Dr. C.M.Ward saying the only other place he'd seen such endless sky was in Africa.