Full Moon Mood - Over Missoula, Montana

"I suppose there were moonless nights and dark ones with but a silver shaving and pale stars in the sky, but I remember them all as flooded with the rich indolence of a full moon."

-Willa Cather (1873-1947) “Obscure Destinies - Two Friends”, p.175, U of Nebraska Press

Snow Lady Of The Night - Missoula, Montana

There she was, just standing on the corner...watching traffic go by...

Softly Snowing Evening, Missoula, Montana,

A peaceful scene worth the pause in an evening walk: The alley streetlight focused at center stage, highlighting snow quietly sifting through upper branches, shadows softening the edges of lesser characters waited in the wings.

Honest Game, Missoula, Montana

Bars are a fascinating venue for people watching, especially those featuring the grittier variety of atmosphere. People don't show up there pretending to be something they are not; you head uptown if that's your game. "I am who I am, this is where I'm at tonight, so cue up or shut up." (Note: This is merely my projection, as I would not venture near the pool table, being the kind of, ummm.... inconsistent shooter who might mar the felt or send the cue ball bouncing off the table. Real players get cranky after the first such incident.)  Honesty can be found in all kinds of places, if you keep your eyes open.

Winter Waiting, Bozeman, Montana

Perhaps it’s merely an emotional Doppler effect from handling the first seed catalogue in yesterday’s mail, or maybe there really is so much angst-laden waiting projected from this wintry backyard scene.

Waiting for enough sun to eat al fresco dinners on the sheltered patio.
Waiting for new shoots on the bare little shrub that reminds me of the pirated forsythia branches waiting to root in my milk glass vase - the one my sister secretly covets that features vertically aligned white bumps.
Waiting for new, soft, pale tips to peek shyly from the ends of the pine branches.
Waiting for a fresh coat of fence stain to counteract monts of weathering winter.
Waiting for the snow to fully melt and not blow back in overnight.

Interestingly, my initial view of this night-time courtyard produced feelings of cozy peace. Timing is everything, so they say. I don’t care what paranoid thoughts the groundhog had about his shadow - it’s high time for some early signs of spring.

Window Dressing 2, Downtown Missoula, Montana

This cropped perspective was inspired by Ric Gendron's "Red Apron" painting (to see this image, click here and then scroll to page 13), part of his "Rattlebone" exhibit at the Missoula Art Museum, which will be up through the end of March. I hate to use the same word in successive sentences, but I was inspired on multiple levels by his work. (I am woman - hear me gush.) He is an artist whose work cannot be boxed into a category. If his collection ever travels to a gallery near you, do yourself a favour and block out some time to view his paintings. Expect to be emotionally engaged, to look at a picture with "broken" and "heart" in the title and think, "That's exactly how it feels!"

Back Door Pass, Wilma Theatre, Missoula, Montana

It's easy to imagine this lamplit walkway populated with lavishly gowned and tuxedoed opera goers of an earlier era, leisurely exiting after a performance and headed for a late supper at a downtown club.  Thanks to interior restoration, today's attendees of Missoula's Wilma Theatre enjoy modern music in pretty much the same ornate Louis XIV-style interior as original patrons from the 1920's.

Window Dressing, Downtown Missoula, Montana

This eye-candy window is one of my all-time favourite downtown Missoula walking views. Circle Square 2nd Hand is housed in a multi-story brick building still bearing old advertising for "The Atlantic Hotel" on the alley wall.  Newer but weathered paint proclaims, "We Buy Anything".  It's definitely the place to browse and utter such phrases as, "What the heck does this does?" or "I haven't seen one of these since my great-grandma showed me her childhood toys!".

World-Wide Wovens, Downtown Missoula, Montana

If the weather is decent - "decent" encompassing a wide latitude for someone raised in the varying climes of Alberta and Montana - I like to take a downtown walk after Saturday night church. It's safe, thanks to a comforting level of good folk milling about, and you can get in about a mile by looping up to the old railway station then down across the bridge and back up to your start point. 
Since my last jaunt, the window scenery has altered, partly due to shops closing and new ones opening - statistically, retail is a tough business - but most of the new views are thanks to creative and changing displays. Pictured above is a small segment of tactile delights available at Amira Rug Gallery.

Night Lights, Butte, Montana

“Looking down from the mountain, it’s like
someone threw diamonds all over the floor.
But coming into the valley, the lights illumine
what is true, and real.

That‘s what the city‘s like - surreal & dazzling from afar.
But when you get down to touchstone reality,
It‘s pretty much the same as right here…

Because you can‘t leave yourself behind.”

- from Cubic Zirconia by (ahem) Cyndy Hull






I know, I know - what has it come to that I’m quoting my unpublished journals? But descending into the night lights of Butte, America, will forever remind me of reading words fresh from my pen and realizing, “I think I just wrote a country song…”
Not that I have anything against country music; I just never aspired to write a song in that category. For the record, that’s my listening genre of choice on Montana road trips - it just seems right. Hit the radio’s Seek button to find a clear country station, then sing along once you catch the tune. Absorb a little down-home flavour via local news and commercials. Smile at the live and unfettered elation of caller number four when the DJ announces yes! they’re the winner of county fair concert tickets. And on rolling stretches bereft of any station at all, open your eyes wider, take it all in, and let your soul feed on the quiet.