Whigmaleerie Stump - Greenough Park, Missoula, Montana

Today’s splendid found word, courtesy of C.S Lewis: whigmaleerie: 

2. A whim, fanciful notion, a crotchet, fad, vagary (Source: Dictionary of the Scots Language)

“...I’m talking of science, not of Butler and Bergson and Shaw and all those whigmaleeries.”

-p. 49, The Dark Tower story fragment by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

Pebbled Beach - Flathead Lake, Montana

“I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” - Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Flow, Clark Fork River, Missoula, Montana

“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad

Canyon Creek Trailhead, Hamilton, Montana

My mum would sometimes take me to the Canyon Creek Trailhead with friends. Just off the parking lot is a lovely little campfire area, where you can traipse along the creek on deer trails, under overhanging boughs - a dusky, woodsy place that seems to be your very own secret.

Beaver Stumped, Hieronymous Park, Hamilton, Montana

Montana’s beauty is amazingly accessible; I don’t even have to leave town for spectacular views. And taking the same paths never gets old because, if you’re looking, there’s always something you haven’t noticed before.

West Side Fireweed, Hamilton, Montana

If I ever complain about snow, I remind myself that I'll be thankful for it come late summer forest fire season in Montana. I think this wildflower is actually called fireweed, due to its inclination to quickly pop up in recently burned areas.

Stump, Lake Como, Darby, Montana

Weathered stumps show up as the water recedes every fall.  As I climbed a little hill, this one was presented to good advantage.