Autumn Sunshine Apolied - Missoula, Montana

“I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music.” - Joan Miro, painter, sculptor, ceramicist

Tulip Cuppa Sunshine - Missoula, Montana

Sending out a little tulip cuppa sunshine amidst this gloriously stormy day…

Biking Weather - Missoula, Montana

Beautiful Easter Day to be out under God’s great heaven...and tomorrow’s forecast on my phone app shows a little snowflake with 70% chance of snow - I kid you not!  We’ll wait and see....

Weed Puff Magic - Pattee Canyon Trail, Missoula, Montana

As much as I abhor noxious weedspread, I do love me the magical sight of a giant puffball seedhead, especially so glowingly backlit by Montana evening sunshine. 
(For viewing only, of course! My responsible (aka boooring?!) adult self engaged in a homeground war-on-weeds is not inclined to blow forth an oversize dandelion-ish puff, as my 5-year-old self certainly would have while defiantly hollering, "Bring on the magic wishes, weed torrent be danged!"  Okay, maybe not that last part, but definitely yes on the wish magic. 
Sadly, researching for text links revealed that a truly responsible adult would pull it up by the roots and schlep it to appropriate disposal, as this Western salsify is on Montana's noxious weed list. Who knew hopeful wish-puffs could grow up to be such serious business?!)

On The (Eventual) Return To The Office - Missoula, Montana

"...No Skype chat can replicate what [Thomas] Heatherwick calls the “chemistry of the unexpected” that you get in person. Offices may not fill the pages of poetry anthologies but, says [Lucy] Kellaway, they “can be as moving as anywhere on Earth. Because what moves us is not sitting at our computer, it’s the relationship that we have with people.”
...When Wordsworth seems to have grown a trifle too smug about the sublime joys of the natural world, [Charles] Lamb snapped back. “I don’t much care if I never see a mountain in my life.” But he did care for the city and he certainly loved offices. All his complaints were, he wrote, mere “lovers’ quarrels”...-Catherine Nixey, in her online article "Death of the Office", The Economist, June/July 2020

Treat yourself to the entire delightfully history-spattered article here. 
And be fully present, wherever you are, in this very minute.

 

Imagination Station - near Rogers Pass, Montana

I learned today (thanks to Montana author/editor/blogger Amber Holcomb) that, in the language of flowers, the lupine symbolizes imagination.
So, imagine yourself with me & Sis #3, beaming back at the Montana sun, surrounded by purples of mountain majesty and lupines both.

7 Degrees Below - On Grant Creek, Missoula, Montana

Nothing like below-freezing temps to brisk up the walking pace! But with the sun beaming bright, illusory warmth, who am I to wimp out on a day like today?
 
BONUS: Today's quick-time stride generated a wee, wint'ry poem, to boot: 

winter walk
at nineteen degrees,
 snow squeaks under sole
(and in Celcius
 that's seven below!)
 -ch

Marmalade Cat Negotiations - Missoula, Montana

"The cat does not offer services. The cat offers itself. 
Of course, he wants care and shelter. 
You don't buy love for nothing."

- William S. Burroughs (1914-1997)

Of Light And Believing - Missoula, Montana

 "When the days were at their darkest, I couldn't imagine believing in light again. 
But as with all natural things, I suppose, my faith is returning, and I find that my heart and my head need to be put to use again."
"I can't imagine being so certain in my belief," Sorrel said. "I'm jealous, I suppose, of yours."...
"Your faith couldn't be much stronger, my little gardener, you just don't give it a name."
-From The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick, p. 271

92% Totality - Missoula, Montana

92% totality is still pretty bright! 

Looking through our NASA-approved glasses, we could safely see the "banana sun", as predicted for our city. Daylight dimmed a bit, and the temperature dropped noticeably. I remember that it got very dark and quiet during the 1979 eclipse, so general expectation was for more darkness, or at least mysterious gloom. Good to know that a mere 8% of our sun's wattage is rather impressive!

Seriously Spring - Missoula, Montana

A fabulous evening for ice cream at Sweet Peaks! 
(Griz Tracks flavour for me - click here to make your mouth water. Their website indicates ice cream ships every Wednesday to anywhere in the lower 48 United States...just sayin'....)

Next up: a calorie off-setting stroll downtown along the Clark Fork River.

And after that, we finally had supper - legendary Mo Club burgers. 
The Best Husband Ever observed that they are cooking on the same grill as decades ago when his dad ate there as a young man, and the long-time seasoning of the grill contributes to the special taste of their burgers.

A veritable best-of-Missoula evening!

Wonder-Land - Missoula, Montana

"Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder."

 - E.B. White (1899-1985)

Unwasted Sunshine - Grant Creek, Missoula, Montana

"I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."

-Nathaniel Hawthorne, (1804-1964) The American Notebooks, [Notebook, Oct. 10, 1842]

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

Downtown Summer Evening Glow - Missoula, Montana

July stays up fairly late in Montana, the evening's golden beams beckoning to bask a while out in the sun's warming rays. My evening stroll took me past the back of the downtown Post Office, its Indiana limestone and granite blocks gilded with the last of the day's light. Constructed from 1911 to 1913, the building is number 13 on Missoula's historic walking tour. Check out the other stops here - and don't forget to stop for ice cream.

Tasteful Advice - Sweet Peaks, Missoula, Montana

"My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate." 

- Thornton Wilder (1897-1975)

(Yes, the taste-full season at Sweet Peaks is again in full swing and fine form. We've already gleefully indulged this summer in Strawberry Fields Forever, all-time fave Orange Cardamom, Coconut Dream, Chocolate-Covered Potato Chip and something, London Fog, DOMO Espresso, several chocolate-laced originals...and a few more...on the generous side of "few"...not counting the multiple new flavours sampled off a taste-testing popsicle stick in search of each visit's perfect flavour. Good thing we now have Pokemon Go to provoke a post-ice cream walk about downtown.

Mason Jar, White Lilacs - Missoula, Montana

"Then I stood for a few moments, breathing in the soft, warm air that was charged with the scent of white lilacs below."

- Angus Wilson (1913-1991)

New Leaves, Sunshine - Missoula, Montana

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new a day with no mistakes in it?" 

- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)

Evening Light At Mount And Russell, Mountain Standard Time - Missoula,Montana

"Life is a web of intersections and choices. Your 1st choice is to recognize an intersection. Your 2nd choice is to be grateful for it." - Ryan Lilly

A Question of Sunshine - Livingston, Montana

"The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson