Spring Change - Mission Mountains, St. Ignatius, Montana

“Change is like heaven — everybody wants to go there but no one wants to die. “

- Joel Peterson, Chairman, Jet Blue Airways, in article found here

Montana Spring Sky, Afternoon - Near St. Ignatius, Montana

More from the wise tea bag tags:

"In all things of nature,
 there is something of the marvelous."

 - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Wintery Missions - St. Ignatius, Montana

Cresting the last rise just south of St. Ignatius, Montana, usually reveals a breath-catching view of the Mission Mountains. This past Saturday, it was just snow clouds down to the valley floor - but the mountain majesty came out of hiding a bit further up the road. 

It snowed and snowed and snowed all weekend in most of western Montana, making for diffused views and a quietly beautiful drive - if you slowed down a bit to take the edge off the road situation.

Wintery Willows - Near St. Ignatius, Montana

I have it on first-person authority that New York City is enjoying 74 degrees F today.
And Montana waits and wishes for a bit of winter mildness, thinking of spring and wispy willowy greenness to come....

“In a world where thrushes sing and willow trees are golden in the spring, boredom should have been included among the seven deadly sins.”

- From The Rosemary Tree by Elizabeth Goudge (1900-1984)

Mission Mountain Windbreak - St. Ignatius, Montana

"...Where strong land winds are of frequent occurrence, a windbreak is clearly advisable..."

- from The Canadian Horticulturist, Volume 23, February 1900

Mission Mountain Layers - St. Ignatius, Montana

"He unrolled the Bartram and held it to the yellow light and riffled through the pages until his eyes fell on a passage that caught his attention. It was this: 

    The mountainous wilderness which I had lately traversed appeared regularly undulated as the great ocean aftee a tempest; the undulations gradually depressing, yet perfectly regular, as the squama of fish, or imbrications of tile on a roof: the nearest ground to me of a perfect full green; next more glaucous; and lastly almost blue as the ether with which the most distant curve of the horizon seemed to be blended. My imagination thus wholly engaged in the contemplation of this magnificent landscape, infinitely varied, and without bound, I was almost insensible or regardless of the charming objects more within my reach.

A picture of the land Bartram detailed leapt dimensional into Inman's mind. Mountains and valleys on and on forever."  

- From Cold Mountain, P 276, by Charles Frazier

Mountain View-Through - St. Ignatius, Montana

"We see the world through the lens of all our experiences; that is a fundamental part of the human condition." -Madeleine M. Kunin

Red Door Curves, St. Ignatius, Montana

I was drawn to the bold colour and curvy shapes of this doorplate. (Do you see the standing bird facing left? I'm not sure if that's just my fancy, but now I can't NOT see it!)

It turns out there is a fair bit of symbolism to go with red painted church doors.

Here are two of my favourite reasons:

 “Red is the color of the Passion. Red doors say that symbolically we enter the church through the Passion, through death and resurrection in baptism (at an Orthodox baptism, the godparents present the candidate with red shoes as a symbol of walking the way of the cross) and by participating in the passion through the Eucharist.” –Paul Woodrum

“...red doors traditionally mean “sanctuary” — the ground beyond the doors is holy, and anyone who goes through them is safe from physical (and spiritual) harm. In ancient times, no one could pursue an enemy past red doors into a church, and certainly no one could be harmed or captured inside of a church. Today, the red reminds us of the blood of Christ and that we are always safe in God’s care!” –St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church 

Click here for more insight and beautiful photo examples.