Autumn Urban Grasses - Helena, Montana

In front of someone else’s home, it was easy to focus on the fall beauty of these sidewalk invaders on this gorgeous blustery autumn day in Helena, Montana.

Cookies On Fitbit - Missoula, Montana

 Hmmmm.... cookies or running?....such a difficult choice - - - NOT!

(Here's a tasty thought: Buy cookies from Mary the mountain mama, then hustle around the corner to Sweet Peaks for the most amazing ice cream and - voila! - best ever ice cream sandwiches, with a double scoop of mountain references, no less! That SHOULD dial up some extra Fitbit numbers...)

On Trust and Sparrows - Missoula, Montana

Our little feathered dinner guest seemed to share my tendency to "trust but verify", flitting repeatedly out of camera range until this captured moment. But I am regularly provoked beyond my skeptical comfort zone by intersect with those who have weathered life storms infinitely more perilous than my comparative squalls. And so the following quote reminds me again of the One Who is both deserving of our trust and not afraid of our questions. I hope you too are heartened this day in the midst of so much that is uncertain. (& maybe that line about "His eeeeeye is ooooonnnnn the sparrow...." is stuck in your head, too. Sing it, Mahalia.)

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

- Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)

Leafstrewn Sidewalk - Missoula, Montana

And Grant Creek flows directly underneath this little stretch of golden carpet....

Hatched - Missoula, Montana

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: 
  it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly
   while remaining an egg. 
We are like eggs at present. 
And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. 
We must be hatched or go bad. ” 
- C. S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity, (p. 198-199, or 170-171, depending on edition)

Crisp Sunshine - Missoula, Montana

"As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness -- just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm."

- Laura Ingalls Wilder, Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Wisdom and Virtues (Writings to Young Women on Laura Ingalls Wilder #1)

Cockeyed Optimist - Missoula, Montana

"I am an optimist. 
It does not seem too much use being anything else." 

- Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Corner Perspective - Missoula, Montana

"...Not by appointment do we meet Delight 

And Joy; they heed not our expectancy; But round some corner in the streets of life,

They, on a sudden, clasp us with a smile..."

- from The Bridegroom of Beauty by Gerald Massey (1828-1907)

Shattered - Missoula, Montana

"It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water. " - Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980)

Lamplight Shadows - Missoula, Montana

"Never fear shadows. They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby." ~Ruth E. Renkel

(Note: If anyone has info on who is Ruth E. Renkel, I'd love to hear it - she is a rather elusive character who Is credited with some well-spoken words. But it drives me a little crazy to be stymied in finding out more about her!)

Journey Onward - Missoula, Montana

"It is good we cannot see

How far or fair life’s path will be

For then we would not see the sun

Or chase that daydream silver-spun ..." 
- from "Living In The Moment" by Janet Martin

Stop by Another Porch... A Poetry Blog to take in the perpetual loveliness of Janet's writing.

Leaf View - Missoula, Montana

"Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain." - Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Writer's Temptation - Missoula, Montana

Temptation - aah, the ubiquitous stuff of life! 
It crosses our path in many forms, sometimes of the concrete variety. 

Must. Resist. Just. Say. No.
(Especially in the range of security cameras of your own company. Less potential for awkward conversations.)

Heart Print - Missoula, Montana

As found in the sidewalk, a little heart imprint smaller than the palm of my hand.
(And no, I don't walk around staring ahead of my feet, letting traffic dodge me. Honest!)

“The important people in our lives leave imprints. 

They may stay or go in the physical realm, but they are always there in your heart, because they helped form your heart. 

There's no getting over that.” - David Levithan,  from Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

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.

Flathead Lake-Side-Walk, Sacajawea Park, Polson, Montana

If you’re ever in Polson, Montana, and need to while away part of a day, start at Sacajawea Park, on the west shore of Flathead Lake. After walking through the park, you can continue south along the shoreline on the lake side of town, then climb a little hill to downtown Polson and finish your ramble with a superior meal at the Old World Delicatessen.