Light Bright Leaf - Missoula, Montana

“Innovation is not born from the dream; innovation is born from the struggle.

 Innovation, at its core, is not simply about building the future; innovation is about solving problems in the present.”

-Simon Sinek, from blog post How To Innovate Like a Shark

 

School of Life - Rattlesnake Creek, Missoula, Montana

"If the earth is forgiveness school, family is your postdoctoral fellowship." 
-Anne Lamott, p.203 of Almost Everything

Great Expectations - Rattlesnake Creek, Missoula, Montana

"Families are hard partly because of expectations, that the people in them are supposed to mesh, and expectations are resentments under construction…
You can’t hide much within the cell membrane of a house…It shocks me how hurtful and annoying we can be to the people in our families. The weight of the family makes us helpless, and in trying to make sure the helplessness doesn’t utterly flatten us, we may throw the dart at someone else." 
-Anne Lamott, p. 212 of Almost Everything

Survivor, Missoula, Montana

 

Perhaps it's the people whose lives have taken sudden new twists - people who have learned to embrace the creative possibilities of change - who stand the best chance of penetrating life's mysteries. -
Hugh Mackay

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.  - Willa Cather, 1913

Bridle Party, Missoula, Montana

Barns have an honest smell. Clean, but real. The smell of work and time well spent. No attempts to pretty it up with Spring Rain or Crisp Linen aerosol. Entering a barn provokes you to be in the moment, to ignore your cell phone and anything or anyone else not immediately present. Even if you're just visiting, the effect is there. So, if you get invited to a hayride or some such, R.S.V.P. with a definitive "yes", and be sure to fully participate - and try to visit the barn.

U of M Bridge View, Missoula, Montana

If you lived on campus at the U of M & walked to Albertson’s for groceries, here’s a view you’d see every time you went shopping.

Wilma Theatre at Night, Missoula, Montana

The Wilma Theatre in Missoula, Montana, lays claim to varied performers, from Mahalia Jackson to Lyle Lovett (with an honourable mention to Patrolled by Radar, who opened for Taj Mahal in 2011) & everything in between or beyond.
If you make it inside for a movie or live performance, be sure to head upstairs to the balcony & take a closer look at the gloriously hand-painted ceiling.
An interesting fact from the building’s history is that it originally had a swimming pool in the lowest level, now home to the tasteful Scotty’s Table.

Yarn Shop Ladies of Style - Downtown Missoula, MT

Downtown Missoula shopkeepers display not just their wares but also some fabulous imaginations. A city stroll provides mental inspiration along with the exercise.
If you're yarn-ing (ha ha) for new knitting inspiration, it doesn't get any better than Loopy Knit/Crochet.

Missoula Barbershop At Rest for the Night

This closed barbershop caught my eye during an evening stroll in downtown Missoula, Montana.  I appreciate the directness of the chairs & sink fixtures, the tidy white smock hung up, signalling a day's work done.