Frosted Glory - East Missoula, Montana

"…the really precious things are thought and sight, not pace. It does … a man, if he be truly a man, no harm to go slow; for his glory is not at all in going, but in being." -John Ruskin (1819–1900), in Modern Painters, Vol. III   1856

Sun-kiss Burns Off the Fog - East Missoula, Montana

As much as I dread driving in it, I love the beauty fog brings - it softens everyday realities, and  graces the trees with an other-worldly reminder .

Glorious Morning- East Missoula, Montana

A wee Montana field weed allegory :

 Even the tiny wild morning glory thrives in opening its weedy little heart to the sun each day, then later wrapping in to its core all that sustaining warmth and life, ready for what’s next to come.

Experience Calm - Big Arm, Flathead Lake, Montana

“It has become my way to dispense with incessant seeking in favor of stumbling upon answers. In the words of Picasso, "I find, I do not seek.” No longer desperate to know every outcome these days I tend to wait and see, a far more satisfying way of being that lacks specificity and instead favors experience over analysis.”

-Joan Anderson, in A Year By The Sea, p. 163-164

Morning Calm - Flathead Lake, Big Arm, Montana

“Now that your worry has proved 

such an unlucrative business
Why not find a better job?”
― Hafiz (1315-1390)

Surrounded - Missoula, Montana

Another traffic-stop-smoke-status shot...

Smoke still ringing our valley brought to mind Glenn Kaiser's bluesy song "We are surrounded...by the witness cloud..."

The good news: The corn & cabbages at Benson's Farm still seem to be growing just fine!

Progress: Same Time, Next Day, Clearer View - Missoula, Montana

Thursday morning - same time, same location - featured noticeably clearer views of the mountains west of Missoula, Montana. 

The promise of rain provided enough humidity shift to damp down some fire activity, and afternoon showers provided a few days of respite from weeks of wildfire smoke.

Smoky Morning View - Missoula, Montana

Last week was particularly distressing on the wildfire front, with many folks above Lolo, Montana, either evacuated from their homes or under alert to leave at a moment's notiice. Due to Missoula's locale at the geographic convergence of five mountain ranges, smoke filters into the Missoula valley from multiple fire sources. 

Wednesday morning's commute traffic stopped at just the right spot to allow this view across Benson's Farm to the hazey outlines of Missoula's westward mountains. 

Morning At Camp Bighorn - Paradise, Montana

Having a great time at big girl camp!
The people at Camp Bighorn are amazing - they provide hot showers - a good thing with a group of 40 women! And you can watch the train running just across the river.
Oh, and coffee is available 24/7. 
Go to the light...!

(& I'm sure it can't hurt to be just down the road from Paradise!)

Guest Post: Morning Comes Early - Corvallis, Montana

One of the benefits to waking up early ... amazing sunrises.   

While staying at Brother #3's Montana home, the dawning day's sky drew me outside. Dressed in a hoodie, brother's shoes, and my PJ'S, I was glad the only other creatures stirring were some quail and deer!  

- Pat R.

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"...Tell me how far the morning leaps—

Tell me what time the weaver sleeps
Who spun the breadth of blue!..."

- from Bring Me The Sunset In A Cup by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Top O' the M-ornin' - Missoula, Montana

Looking directly up from the last leg of Missoula's M trail on a clear day, here's your view; about ten more vertical feet and you've arrived at the popular destination 620 feet above the valley floor. If you are summit minded, you may continue on a side trail up and around the 100 foot wide and 125 foot long letter. If, like me, you are more in it for the company of your hiking buddy, you may wonder briefly what it would take to get a coffee and snow cone stand up there. Or you may just happily head down trail knowing increasing temps equate to high ice cream potential. 

Red Clover Morning, Missoula, Montana

Morning wake-up rambles in Missoula, Montana, often take me down a nearby back alley with a water feature. Even with fall fast encroaching, the red clover is still showing its colours - more purple than red, in this case - as are the reflected sunrise clouds.