Twiggy, Missoula, Montana

I know they fall into the suckers
category (hah! just like the rest of us, at some point in time!), and are destined to be pruned back for the good of the plant (we’ve ended the human comparison, by the way), but these sprightly buds can certainly be admired for their vibrancy and vigor, their silky smoothness emerging unexpectedly from the rugged bark. Too often we focus on efficiency and miss the merits of serendipitous beauty.  Must…stop…smell…roses…or some such in season.

Baby It's Cold Outside, Drummond, Montana

The weather is still holding at cold - single-digit and low teens - with a hope to warm up enough for more snow later this week. Thankfully, Interstate 90 was mostly clear on our drive to and from Bozeman this past weekend. And, also thankfully, my husband was driving, which meant I didn't have to embrace my fear of random icy spots.
On our travels, I like to take photos out the window. I know I'll sacrifice clarity, and might not get any keeper pictures, but it's a habit-stretching experiment (no correlation to nuns and lycra). When you snap shots from a moving vehicle, you give away control and embrace serendipity. And very often are surprised by captured beauty you never could have planned. And that kind of surprise is always a good thing.