Freshness Deep - near Drummond, Montana

“And for all this, nature is never spent;

   There lives the dearest freshness deep down things...” - from God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Fallen Leaves Floating - Near Drummond, Montana

"Reverie is when ideas float in our mind without reflection or regard of the understanding." - John Locke (1632-1704)

Charging Upward - Near Drummond, Montana

"Summit after summit bladed up thousands of feet as if charging into the air to strike first at storm and lightning, valleys and clefts chasmed wide as if split and hollowed by thunderblast upon thunderblast." - Ivan Doig (1939-2015), 'This House of Sky', p. 180

Reaching To Sky - Near Drummond, Montana

"God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars." - Author Unknown, commonly attributed to Martin Luther 

Restful River - Near Drummond, Montana

"What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt - it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else." - Hal Boyle (1911-1974)

Baby It's Cold Outside, Drummond, Montana

The weather is still holding at cold - single-digit and low teens - with a hope to warm up enough for more snow later this week. Thankfully, Interstate 90 was mostly clear on our drive to and from Bozeman this past weekend. And, also thankfully, my husband was driving, which meant I didn't have to embrace my fear of random icy spots.
On our travels, I like to take photos out the window. I know I'll sacrifice clarity, and might not get any keeper pictures, but it's a habit-stretching experiment (no correlation to nuns and lycra). When you snap shots from a moving vehicle, you give away control and embrace serendipity. And very often are surprised by captured beauty you never could have planned. And that kind of surprise is always a good thing.

I-90 Drive, Drummond, Montana

John Denver and EmmyLou Harris recorded a song that pops into my head when I see a sky like this. The lyrics include "Oh, Montana, give this child a home....give him a fire in his heart... a light in his eyes...the wild wind for a brother, and the wiiild Montana sky." At least, that's the way I remember it.