Racoon Duo - Missoula, Montana

Recently, our neighbor called asking if we could see the cause of her rooftop ruckus, it being  rambunctious enough to make her usually fearless self hesitate to venture out into the dark night. All were relieved to find nothing more sinister than this neighbourhood racoon comedy duo paused in The Best Husband Ever's spotlight!

Fall Throwback - Haystacked - W. US Hwy 12 Near Helena, Montana

"People who think it’s so hard to find a needle in a haystack are probably not quilters. Needles find you. Just walk on the haystack for a second. You’ll find the needle." -Jenny Lawson in Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

New Year Blessing - West of Helena, Montana

"May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back. 

May the sun shine warm upon your face, 

the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, 

may God hold you in the palm of His hand." - Traditional Irish blessing

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. 

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

Light Shine From Above - Autumn - Missoula, Montana

“God knows I was due a little Light Shining on me from Above, whether I believed in such things or not. Like most people, denying it never got in the way of relying on it. “ 

-Woody Nickel in West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge, p 75 

Looking Up - Autumn - Leaves - Missoula, Montana

“She looked up. The sky was without cloud, a dome of lightest blue filled with air, great swirls and eddies of it, which you could see — just about — if you stared long enough. She breathed in deeply, and felt the fine dry air fill her with a buoyant optimism.”

-Mma Ramotswe, p. 85 in large type edition, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, a No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novel by Alexander McCall Smith

Sun Up, Shore Bright - Peterson Lake, near Big Fork, Montana

“ …Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me 

keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be 
astonished.…”

— Mary Oliver (1935-2019), from “Messenger,” found in Mary Oliver’s collection Thirst

Autumn Sunshine Apolied - Missoula, Montana

“I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music.” - Joan Miro, painter, sculptor, ceramicist

See Change - Missoula, Montana

“We've also grown to believe in the theory: when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”  -Bob Arrington, in his article Accept & Adapt, POWER & MOTORYACHT / NOVEMBER 2023

Faithful Fall Geranium - Missoula, Montana

My little porch geranium,  still faithfully blooming bright in Missoula, Montana’s cooler fall sunshine.

Autumn Urban Grasses - Helena, Montana

In front of someone else’s home, it was easy to focus on the fall beauty of these sidewalk invaders on this gorgeous blustery autumn day in Helena, Montana.

Still-green Autumn Vines - East Missoula, Montana

Marvel-worthy vine curlicues stand out against Missoula’s mountains and a first-fall-day stormy sky.

Magnificent Lowering Sky - Missoula, Montana

Before exiting Natural Grocers’ parking lot yesterday evening, I texted The Best Husband Ever to go look at the magnificent cloud forms  (right now!). This big Montana sky never ceases to amaze.

Sunlight Falling - Rattlesnake Creek, Missoula, Montana

“The second day in Oxford arrived, luminescent, the honey hues of sunlight falling from the leaves to settle on the grass like spilled paint. The air was as clear as glass and soft as cotton.”  - from Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan, Chapter 12 

Full-Fed - Big Hole River, Near Wisdom, Montana

“ ….as he meandered aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river...this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All as a-shake and a-shiver—glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. “  -Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), The Wind in the Willows
(Thanks again to Sissie 3 for sharing meander views!)

Tamarack Display - Near St. Ignatius,, Montana

“ THE WISHES on this child’s mouth
Came like snow on marsh cranberries;
The tamarack kept something for her;
The wind is ready to help her shoes.….”
- from Helga by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

Just Pay Attention - Missoula, Montana

“It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”
— Praying by Mary Oliver (1935-2019)

Common Things - Missoula, Montana

“One should use common words to say uncommon things.”

-Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)