Summer Whites - Missoula, Montana

"I used to be Snow White, 
but I drifted."

- Mae West (1893-1980)

Townie Poppies Blooming - Missoula, Montana

"I remember taking my stabilisers off my bike with my dad in the back garden. It was a small little bike, and it was called Poppy, had balloons on it, and was purple."

- Lizzie Armitstead

Wild Rose Season - Stevensville, Montana

Meadowlarks provide 
the quintessential birdsong 
of spring;
wild roses supply 
its fragrance. 

Brilliant Success - Missoula, Montana

"If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time." 

- Steve Jobs (1951-2011)

Neighbourly Hyacinths - Missoula, Montana

Sharing is a thing in our neighbourhood. 
Among other things, we share fences, conversation, snow shovelling, the company of cats, and - this week - the  fragrant blooms of hyacinths, while they last.

Easter Light - Missoula, Montana

"And on the day that You arose,

darkness ran for cover..."

- from lyrics to "Worthy Of Your Name" written by Brenton Brown, Brett Younker, Sean Curran


Happy Easter. 

Join us for church here in East Missoula via livestream (or come back later to jump in at your leisure!)

Shadow Study - Missoula, Montana

Similarly interesting shadow thoughts to ponder from two beloved authors (because I couldn't decide on just one!): 

"So don't be frightened, dear friend, if a sadness confronts you larger than any you have ever known, casting its shadow over all you do. You must think that something is happening within you, and remember that life has not forgotten you; it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall. Why would you want to exclude from your life any uneasiness, any pain, any depression, since you don't know what work they are accomplishing within you."

 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

"I am quite likely to re-act to the opposite extreme - to feel rapturously that the world is beautiful and mere existence something to thank God for. I suppose our 'blues' are the price we have to pay for our temperament. 'The gods don't allow us to be in their debt.' They give us sensitiveness to beauty in all its forms but the shadow of the gift goes with it."

 - L.M. Montgomery, My Dear Mr. M: Letters to G.B. Macmillan from L.M. Montgomery

Quiet Riot Of Colour - Missoula, Montana

"I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds."

- Robert Bridges (1844-1930)

Flags And Flowers - Missoula, Montana

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing; it was here first."

- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

On this Independence Day, it's good to remember and to be thankful for the countless many who contribute(d) to freedom.

Daisies At The Jack Saloon - Lolo, Montana

"Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them.  In fact, I'd try to have nothing else...If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds 

and I would pick more daisies." - Nadine Stair (allegedly)

(While we didn't pick any daisies yesterday, we certainly enjoyed their bright-eyed abundance on the gorgeous grounds of The Jack Saloon, up Highway 12 from Lolo, Montana.)

Perspective On Pinks - Missoula, Montana

"The task is...not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.”

- Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961)

Bursting Pinks - Missoula, Montana

Happy, thankful day to all who nurture and love unreservedly and listen with great attention to the smallest concerns. 

May you be refreshed and recharged to continue in the good work that is entrusted to you.

Tulips: Modest Grace - Missoula, Montana

" I love tulips better than any other spring flower; they are the embodiment of alert cheerfulness and tidy grace, and next to a hyacinth, they look like a wholesome, freshly tubbed young girl beside a stout lady whose every movement weighs down the air with patchouli. Their faint, delicate scent is refinement itself; and is there anything in the world more charming than the sprightly way they hold up their little faces to the sun. I have heard them called bold and flaunting, but to me they seem modest grace itself, only always on the alert to enjoy life as much as they can and not be afraid of looking the sun or anything else above them in the face." 

- Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941), Elizabeth and Her German Garden

Tulip Promise - Missoula, Montana

"This I saw on an April day:
Warm rain spilt from a sun-lined cloud...
A flash of blue in a cool moss bank,
And tips of tulips promising flowers
To a blue-winged loon."
-  James Hearst (1900-1983)

(Sorry - bursting tulips won't wait for me to hold this poem for an April post!)

Downtown Flowers - Missoula, Montana

More evening strolling found me admiring downtown Missoula's most gorgeous flower display. Created in a blah boulevard by the entirely volunteer efforts of a local street vendor, this curbside garden continues to flourish, and has also inspired floral improvements on other corners. Hurrah for such a vibrant reminder that the positive actions of one person can change the view for so many others!

Fair To Middlin' - Missoula, Montana

"I've been to the highest of highs and lowest of lows, so one day I'm going to find my middle ground and be happy." - Cheryl Cole 

Bright And Shadow - Missoula, Montana

"I am quite likely to re-act to the opposite extreme - to feel rapturously that the world is beautiful and mere existence something to thank God for. I suppose our 'blues' are the price we have to pay for our temperament. 'The gods don't allow us to be in their debt.' They give us sensitiveness to beauty in all its forms but  the shadow of the gift goes with it." - L.M. Montgomery, My Dear Mr. M: Letters to G.B. Macmillan from L.M. Montgomery

Spring Pinks - Missoula, Montana

"A profusion of pink roses
bending ragged in the rain
speaks to me
of all gentleness and its enduring."
 - from The Collected Later Poems of William Carlos Williams 

Angling for a close in view of ornamental fruit blossoms, I anticipate this year's yet-to-come blowsy peonys and luscious summer roses - in the height of their glories, fragrantly beckoning from half a block away. It's hard to believe it's already June - but all of summer is yet to arrive, ours for the daily taking in. Tis a soul-restoring thing to be out under the vast sky, even just to sit on the front doorstep, reading in a Saturday sunbeam.

Bee & Blossoms - Missoula, Montana

Sunday's flash hailstorm shut down May and decimated any remaining spring blossoms, so I figured I may as well extend the bloom time via a few days' worth of petal homage.

Artist's Palette - Missoula, Montana

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul..." - Henry Ward Beecher (1814-1887)

It seems to me that The Artist dipped into His great well of joy to get just the right hue for these reaching blooms.