Looking Further - Ice & Stone 6 on Rattlesnake Creek, Greenough Park, Missoula, Montana

And this is the last of these shoreline dreamy-ice images, hoarded and savoured a bit too long unto myself, like that last perfect bite of your favourite holiday food. But even with furious snow/hail/rain flurries today, spring persistently advances and fresh views await.

True Christmas Spirit - Missoula, Montana

 My son-in-law LOOOVES Ferrero Rocher truffles (or whatever loveliness they’re classified as). So, of course I thought of him when a few came my way amidst other holiday treats. Then I texted these snaps to him, with a little pause in between. Yes, Virginia, the Christmas spirit is alive and well in Montana.  (And yes, I ate  it.)  

Blooming Spring Tuesday - Missoula, Montana

On any Tuesday after a holiday Monday, I must repeatedly remind my self, "Self, today is Tuesday, not Monday..." 
And oh, what a glorious Tuesday it's turned out to be! 
Off I go into the lingering sunshine!

Beginning To Look A Lot Like - The Wilma Theatre, Missoula, Montana

"In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!' "

~Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide"

Spoons - Corvallis, Montana

Who knew that spoons could be dangerous?
Or that what I'd be most thankful for post-holiday dinner was not leftovers but the old world craftsmanship of Thomasville furniture - which solidly held when The Best Husband Ever flung most of the entire 6 feet of himself across the length of the extended dining table to (successfully) snatch the last spoon of the second round?
(Which proves your grandma knew what she was talking about when she admonished you can't go wrong over the long haul by investing in quality furniture and clothes.
And it also proves that we're rather serious about our party games.
There was talk of a Spoons Champion travelling trophy for the next gathering...)

Dreamscape - Garnet Ghost Town, Montana

"These hushed woods once echoed with the rumble of wagons chock full of gold ore. Teamsters urged horses down muddy streets. Mine hoists clanged. Whistles blew. Children raced to school..."

Monday - delightfully, a holiday - dawned bright and dry, with a precocious wind wafting lazy clouds across the wide Montana sky: a perfect day to meander about Garnet Ghost Town, an hour northeast of Missoula, Montana. 

Garnet's historical landscape proved appropriately thought-provoking for a day set aside to remember hard-won freedom, including the freedom to create and benefit from our own opportunity. Each building whispered its own stories of hopeful small-town families who worked diligently toward making their own big strike.

To continue the earlier quote, from an on-site interpretive kiosk and Garnet's website: "...In January of 1898, some 1,000 people knew Garnet as home...There were four stores, four hotels, three livery stables, two barber shops, a union hall, a school with 41 students, a butcher shop, a candy shop, a doctor's office, an assay office, and thirteen saloons...  By 1905, only 150 [people] remained..." 

Despite all the sweat equity and optimism invested, the wealth to be mined from Garnet's surrounding hills was finite, and the town's residents moved on to the next season of their history. 

Truth be told, the freedom we live under does not promise that our best efforts will yield wealth and success, that giving our hearts will lead to true love and happily-ever-after, that eating right and exercising enough will ensure a long and healthy life; need I go on? 

But the self-evident truth still exists that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights that include those of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So I choose to be fully present in this now, knowing my future is ultimately held in the faithful hands of One far stronger and wiser than I am. And somewhere in that Pollyanna-ish simplicity resides a lot of peaceful liberty, and an honestly happy life.

You just never know what you'll come away with when you visit a Montana ghost town, especially on the Fourth of July.

Coffee Smarts - Belgrade, Montana

Wry coffee commentary in small print: "Caution: Hot. But you're smart enough to know that." 

Not only was the Belgrade, Montana, Holiday Inn Express comfy and courteous, apparently the company also has a sense of humour. And the coffee was pretty darn good, too. What's not to love?!

Holiday Cheer....? - Missoula, Montana

Oh, the indignity!

To his credit, Maestro was a very forbearing feline model for varied costumes, under the supervision of my youngest niece, during the pie course of our early Thanksgiving gathering. (Yes, the reindeer was only the beginning....)

Gotta love a good cat!

Lofty, East Missoula,Montana

Today is Boxing Day - which, admittedly, is not widely recognized in Montana, save by a nostalgic few transplants from across the northern border. (Sadly, laughter is a consistent response to my repeated suggestion that my office observe the 12/26 holiday to show solidarity with our sister Canadian companies.) Regardless, the lofty intent of the day is celebrated by the big-hearted many who BOX up Christmas bounty and cheer to share with others who need a reminder of the hope that is Christmas.
May our hearts and eyes be open year-round to act on the intent of this day.

Imagined Holiday Travel Conversations, Missoula, Montana

Imagined Holiday Travel Conversation From Our Featured Leaves: 

"Did you not hear me practically shouting, ‘Portage! Portage!’, before that last exit? 
Sigh. 
Well, keep hanging onto that rock until we can safely catch the next eddy out of here. 
Maybe we'll still make it home in time for Downton Abbey."

Brief silence.

"Do we have any leftover pie?"

Little Box of Sunshine, Missoula, Montana

Holiday RePost: 21 December 2011
To tide you over as the daylight hours lessen, here's a little box of sunshine - just what the doctor ordered!
I captured it in my backyard this past summer & saved it for you.... kinda like Bill Cosby's snowball he saved in the freezer for Juniour Barnes... but nicer.

Deer's Eye View, Hamilton, Montana

Holiday RePost: 15 December 2011:
This might be the perspective of a deer as it inclines its neck down to drink the clear water of the Bitterroot River, eyes alert, ears twitching to listen for anything amiss.

Takes A Licking...., East Missoula, Montana

Holiday RePost: 23 January 2013
I’m not sure about this retro clock, but the stove it’s attached to still cooks it up at the East Missoula Fire Hall. This was the epitome of stylish technology back in grandma's day.

Sky Lines of Power, Missoula, Montana

Holiday Repost: 23 May 2013
“Be fit for more than the thing you are now doing. Let everyone know that you have a reserve in yourself; that you have more power than you are now using. If you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are too small for it.”
- James A. Garfield, 20th president of US 1881 (1831 - 1881)

Forsythia on Red Door, Kalispell, Montana

Holiday Repost: 27 April 2012
Forsythia  - which is on my list of "plants to acquire" - adds to the cheery welcome of this red door at Christ Church Episcopal, just down the block from my friend's new home in Kalispell. (Funny enough, even though I took about 20 varied shots, it wasn't until I got home & zoomed in to check photo quality that I clued in that the blooms are silk!)

Lonely Docks, Flathead Lake, Somers, Montana

Holiday Repost: 28 April 2012
I actually turned around & came back to these empty, off-season docks near Somers, Montana, on the upper west shore of Flathead Lake.  They exuded such an elegant starkness, patiently waiting for the return of higher water, optimistic fishermen, & busy boaters.

Orange-Red Tulip, Missoula, Montana

Holiday Repost: 20 May 2012
“I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.”

- Edna St. Vincent Millay

(Note: To aid spring planting dreams, check out happydiyhome.com!)

Eggs and Cosmology

Holiday Repost from 29 January 2012
The asymmetry of time, the arrow that points from past to future, plays an unmistakable role in our everyday lives: it accounts for why we cannot turn an omelet into an egg, why ice cubes never spontaneously unmelt in a glass of water, and why we remember the past but not the future. And the origin of the asymmetry we experience can be traced all the way back to the orderliness of the universe near the big bang. Every time you break an egg, you are doing observational cosmology.

SEAN M. CARROLL, Scientific American, June 2008

(Thanks to K.'s chickens in Corvallis, Montana, for the beautiful eggs!)

Hieronymous Park Canal, Hamilton, Montana

By the time you read this, I will be a fair bit down the road on a holiday that includes 12 hours of driving north to Canada - and the same back at next week's end - with three teenagers. A family reunion and other relative visits en route mean that, realistically, I won’t have any time to myself, so I’ve decided to re-post some old favourites that I hope you’ll enjoy - for the first time or perhaps again. Off we go!

Holiday RePost:  28 January 2012

If you visit Hamilton, Montana, plan a stroll through Hieronymous Park, and bring your lunch - just across the bridge is a picnic table, near the fish pond.