Spring Snow Day - Near Livingston, Montana

Ahhh, the glorious vagaries of western Montana springtime! 

Lift Your Eyes - Absaroka Range, Livingston, Montana

Over the river (and Interstate-90, and miscellaneous mountains…) and through the woods …and you’ll eventually arrive at Yellowstone National Park. (In its early 1900’s heyday, you could gray trip to the Park on the tourist train direct from the Livingston, Montana depot.)

Getting Closer to Yellowstone…& Spring - Near Livingston, Montana

“…Adieu to disappointment and spleen. What are men to rocks and mountains? Oh! what hours of transport we shall spend! And when we do return, it shall not be like other travellers, without being able to give one accurate idea of anything. We will know where we have gone - we will recollect what we have seen. Lakes, mountains, and rivers shall not be jumbled together in our imaginations; nor, when we attempt to describe any particular scene, will we begin quarrelling about its relative situation.…' “

-Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Ch 27

River’s Influence - Yellowstone River, Livingston, Montana

“Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things? Throw a stone into the stream, and the circles that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence.”  — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Nature

Morning Sunshine - Yellowstone River, Livingston, Montana

“Rivers are the primal highways of life. From the crack of time, they had borne men's dreams, and in their lovely rush to elsewhere, fed our wanderlust, mimicked our arteries, and charmed our imaginations in a way the static pond or vast and savage ocean never could. “ — Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids from Hot Climates

Source: https://www.rivers.gov/quotations.phpa

Bridger Mountain Peaks - Near Livingston, Montana

“In God's wildness lies the hope of the world -- the great fresh, unblighted, unredeemed wilderness.” 

-- John Muir (1838-1914)

Big Sky Country Waiting - Livingston, Montana

“Supposed to be no snow for two days. Hah. This country, it sat out there, breathing, waiting for the winter, like a big white cat and you the mouse.”

-from Coyote Wind, A Gabriel Du Pré Mystery by Peter Bowen (1945-2020), page 124

On Sunset And Friendship - Livingston, Montana

“Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.”  
-Washington Irving (1763-1859)

Looking Left - Livingston, Montana

Today, I have good news! Well, at least within a very small proverbial sphere...of me, myself, and I...but I sincerely wish this same news upon you (and you, and you-ou!) also, which is: This morning, I pulled on a pair of tweedy winter trousers that I haven’t worn since last winter...AND THEY FIT JUST FINE!!! Those of you who have worked from home for any stretch within the past 10 months understand why this is cause for all-caps and exclamation points. So, take heart (plus nap, walk in the snow, and eat more good protein and salad) and be nice to yourself!

Friday 13th Regroup - Near Livingston, Montana

Spooky Friday the 13th Thought:

After working so hard and continuously to root out passive aggressive behaviours gleaned from various childhood influencers, I (literally) laughed out loud today upon realizing that - ironically - the ability to speak this language is now a useful item in my very own corporate toolbox. Spooky but true that people i like will sometimes just not respond to a clearly worded message yet will digest the same message carefully couched in the most obtusely apologetic phrases you wish you did not have to craft.

But all is not lost! At least these days I know when I tilt that direction, and its a last resort to attain a worthwhile goal! Plus, these things propel you out into wide open, soul-saving, deep-breathing spaces.

Long-legged Morning Shadows - Livingston, Montana

“A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon 

without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.”

  -Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)

Hilltop Cattle - Near Livingston, Montana

“The money in politics is a cash cow for the media.”  - Noam Chomsky 

(Nothing AT ALL to do with these black cattle just enjoying the big sky view...)

On Essentialism - Livingston, Montana

“You cannot overestimate the un-importance of practically everything.”  - Greg McKeown

 

Cattle Guard - Livingston, Montana

"Over the cattle-guard's rusted-pipe parallel lines
weeds growing through, gatepost designs
geometrical triangle forms
and I'm almost home..."

- from Cattle Guard by Tony Parsons

Click the above text links to read the full text of this poem - and many others - featured at The Starlite Cafe.

Enduring Design - Livingston, Montana

"The more you overdesign something, the quicker it dates. 

When you're dealing with high-value assets, they can't afford to be fashion projects."

 - Ian Dryburgh

(And isn't the definition of 'high-value asset' all a matter of perspective? To some viewpoints, this obviously refers to a private jet or superyacht. But in rural ranchland, the assumption could right fully be made that we're talking about miles and miles of fencing - definitely an asset AND high-value!)

Vast Secrets - Livingston, Montana

"...Father John had come to love the quiet vastness and the way the plains revealed their secrets when you happened upon them unexpectedly - the swell of a bluff, the cut of an arroyo, the patches of sagebrush and pink, blue, and yellow wildflowers."

- from Shadow Dancer by Margaret Coel, page 2

(Minor disclosure: Regretfully, this photo is not from a weekend jaunt to Livingston, but delightfully left over from an earlier trip. Because it's almost the season for delightful leftovers...)

Vintage Video - Livingston, Montana

"...Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car, 

we can't rewind we've gone too far..."

- from lyrics to Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles

This shapely taping setup can be seen up close and in person at the Livingston, Montana, Depot Museum's Film In Montana display. Good times.

Forest Fire After - Livingston, Montana

"...But clouds bellied out in the sultry heat, the sky cracked open with a crimson gash, spewed flame-and the ancient forest began to smoke. By morning there was a mass of booming, fiery tongues, a hissing, crashing, howling all around, half the sky black with smoke, and the bloodied sun just barely visible...."

 - Yevgeny Zamyatin, The Dragon: Fifteen Stories

Telegraph - Livingston Depot - Livingston, Montana

"The major advances in speed of communication and ability to interact took place more than a century ago. The shift from sailing ships to telegraph was far more radical than that from telephone to email!"

- Noam Chomsky

Elevated - Livingston, Montana

"What is a staircase, but a corridor improved by elevation?"

- Catherine Gilbert Murdock, Princess Ben