Solitude - Missoula, Montana

“I remember my grandfather telling me how each of us must live with a full measure of loneliness that is inescapable, and we must not destroy ourselves with our passion to escape the aloneness.”
— Jim Harrison (1937-2016)

Be Ready When Opportunity Knocks - Missoula, Montana

The Best Husband Ever noticed this undaunted little ant on the bike trail - and promptly launched into a running commentary which he certainly thought to be amusing. 
(TBHE - not the ant.) 
Suffice it to say, topic range included plank-in-your-eye-Bible-verse corollaries and first-person (er....first-ant?) smart remarks. 
We shall not quote verbatim.

Fast forward to yesterday evening's perfect weather for ice cream. Walking out the door (literally!), I called our friend, Carrie, to say, "Hey, we can pick you up in 5 minutes to go for ice cream - our treat!"  My announcement that we were at her back door cut off her explanation of why she looked like s**t - and off we went to Sweet Peaks!

Long story short, amidst the sublime throes of Strawberry Fields (single scoop on a cake cone), she noted how glad she was that she joined our impromptu outing even though she looked like s**t, and quipped, "I was not prepared, but I'm ready."

Aaaand after my immediate comment of "That line makes me almost wish I was on Twitter!",  thence commenced a slightly prolonged and semi-deep conversation around isn't-that-really-just-a-great-rule-to-live-by. 

And I thought again of the little ant, seizing the unexpected and relatively ginormous pine needle find, and proceeding willy-nilly down the bike path to wherever he thought it was needed.

We can't all be Boy Scouts, be we can be ready to say yes to the unexpected - especially when there's ice cream.

Hollyhock High Hopes, Missoula, Montana

Even the humblest gardens are a wonderful place for inspiration.
This little ant high up (for him) on the tall hollyhock makes me think of the peppy song "High Hopes".
"...Next time you're found, with your chin on the ground
There's a lot to be learned, so look around
Just what makes that little old ant
Think he'll move that rubber tree plant..."