Summer Throwback - Paddleboard Pup - Placid Lake, Montana

A peaceful Placid Lake, Montana, moment from this summer. Kind of a nice winter reprieve when longing for sunnier skies. (Also totally vicarious, by the way...not my people, OR our pup...just serendiptous strangers drifted into the hazy view i was sizing up!) 

Close-of-Day Contemplation, Missoula, Montana

Dusk on the Clark Fork River provides the right kind of quiet for contemplation of life - canine or otherwise.

Low Maintenance Pet, Missoula, Montana

When you next - or finally - plan a visit to Missoula, Montana, try to factor a First Friday in among your stay days. The first Friday of each month, art strollers, delighted foodies, and random musicians and dancers energize Missoula's downtown streets. This month, my favourite featured works at the 4 Ravens Gallery were the quirky sculptural creations of Bitterroot artist Dan Towell, especially this Jetson's era dog. He cranks up the happiness factor in every piece - take a look at more on his Flickr photostream. (And make sure you take a peek at his winsome floral blooms, which would add a note of delight to any room.)

Sunny Bridge Walk, Missoula, Montana

A happy hello from sunny Las Vegas! I've crossed over to the warm side of the country, albeit briefly.
But, in case you wonder, the photo is 100% Montana.
For a few days, I get to stock up on:
   1- the organic, original Vitamin D source, and
   2 - lots of sister time!
A long-time friend remarked to my husband, "I know what  she's doing down there: reading!"
Yes, the four books in my bag took up almost as much space as my clothes. And  - bonus! - my sister selected several of her favourite volumes for my guest room side table.
So, after sleeping in and dilly-dallying to recuperate from yesterday's 4:15 a.m. wake-up alarm, I read a sister-selected article by Steven Kalas for today's devotional reading. I was inspired, so am sharing the wealth.
"...If you pull the word "faith" out of its traditional religious confines and place it in a wider, existential view, it's no longer an invitation. It's unavoidable. Non-negotiable. You can't not have faith. That is, it's impossible not to live as if something is true. Every last one of us shapes and chooses a worldview. We decide what's essentially true about this life, and then we live out that truth.
Joseph Campbell (1904-87) said it this way: "Choose your myth, and live it with passion."
....The choice is not whether to have or not have a worldview in which you place faith. The only choice is whether we are willing to be conscious of that worldview. To choose it with intention, clarity, and commitment. When our deepest beliefs about self and life are conscious, then we have choices.
...What do you believe deeply? The next question is, how do those beliefs serve you? And, then, the $24 million question: Is it time to believe something else?"  -Steven Kalas, 10/21/2012
(Click this link to read his full article.)

The "live it with passion" quote provoked a visceral response.
I don't think of true passion as necessarily flamboyant, but I do consider it as abiding, committed, meaningful enough to influence the increments of my every day. And therein lies my dogged prayer, and a great challenge of faith.