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.

Happy Anyways - Missoula, Montana

"Dear life,

  You've been very difficult lately.

  But I'm gonna be happy anyways.

  Because I can be difficult too."

  -Pig, from 07/31/2020 Pearls Before Swine comic strip

  (& you should totally click here to see the last image.)

Summer Grass Shimmer - Missoula, Montana

'tis the season 
of
summer grass shimmer
wayside wafting 
along lazy backroads

Winter Swale - Missoula, Montana

"With windy haste and wild halloo 
 the sheeting snow comes down
And drives itself through bush and swale
 and leagues of stubble brown...."
- From  "Snow-Storm", in the collection "Wind and Weather" by Liberty Hyde Bailey

Seedheads, Missoula, Montana

Seed Heads Bursting Gold Light by Jeff Hardin

"We need to busy ourselves with memorizing autumn
in the puddles down the drive. A single
forgotten reflection makes all the others tremble.

I didn’t think twice as a boy, lying prostrate
to watch a dandelion bend with the breeze.
Amazing! I knew already what to do with my life.

I’d wager Solomon, had he lived nearby,
would have taken long walks in the sage grass field,
just to watch how seed heads burst with gold light..."

Please venture here to read the remaining two verses of Jeff Hardin’s evocative poem.

Golden Almost-Twilight, Missoula, Montana

To gain a pleasing aspect on the waning day’s golden glow, I stepped through grass bunches down the hillside, carefully alert for dog poop. Being shod in Five Fingers Mary Janes, random leftovers were a concern. 
In the quiet focus of framing my shot, l leaned in to calming sounds of urban nature - wind swishing through late leaves, happy dog barks further up the trail, a rhythmic rustling clicking in the grass - wait, what was that clicking thing? Are there snakes up here? Hmmm, these might be the wrong shoes for the terrain. And this trail is in the Rattlesnake Valley …. I really have no idea what a rattlesnake rattle sounds like - except for those stupid trick envelopes labeled “Rattlesnake Eggs“ ….Time to go! 
Swinging my monopod golf-club-style through the grass, I made it safely back to the civilized path and breathed deeply to disperse the paranoia. 
Moral of the story: Nature is not always calming, but the odds are higher if you plan - and stay on the trail.

Chasing the Light, Missoula, Montana

The wide expanse of these golden hills at Missoula’s north end remind me of Wesley’s

great tumbling line from The Princess Bride, “Aaaas… Yoooou….. Wiiiiiish!”.

Looking Eastward, Missoula, Montana

With only a week left before the daylight savings time rollback, I’ve been savouring the after-work sunshine while it lasts. Hiking the hill trails in Missoula’s north end gives a few more minutes of light, and golden views over the valley.