Cloud Sampler, Missoula, Montana

Samplers historically offered a way to practise and exhibit needlework skill, showcasing a variety of stitches around a theme or wise reminder. What a delight to find a sundry smattering of cloud types hemmed within a single frame of blue Montana sky!

Gravel Bar Hangout, Clark Fork River, Missoula, Montana

There's nothing quite like a sunny Montana winter afternoon for hanging out with like-minded individuals at the local gravel bar.  Here's hoping for a decent karaoke rendition of "Shake A Tail Feather"! 

(Please please please, do yourself a happy favour and click that last link - then stand up sing along!)

Inner Beauty, Missoula, Montana

If the flip-flops (fka thongs) are on sale even in Montana stores, we can hope that spring bulbs will be popping up before too long!  In the meantime, here's another stunning indoor specimen from a recent arrangement from the talented folks at Habitat Floral Studio. I'm speculating they're some variety of green foxglove, or some other tall, bell-laden flower stalk.  Any other ideas?

Birds Eye Mountain View, Missoula, Montana

"Leavin' on a jet plane / don't know when I'll be back again..."  

(John Denver can always be counted on for relevant song lyrics!) 

We all made it home to the crisp air of Big Sky Country. You're looking at the aerial view about 7 minutes from landing at Missoula International Airport.

The best part of time in Vegas - after chill in' with my sis, of course - was meeting and visiting with scads of wonderful people she counts as friends. (A close third place goes to the southern fried catfish at The Hush Puppy - mmm-mmmmm!) 

Wonderful people enlarge the world in all the best ways.  I've come home far richer than if I'd had a typical Vegas vacation - & what happened in Vegas doesn't have to stay there!

Sunny Bridge Walk, Missoula, Montana

A happy hello from sunny Las Vegas! I've crossed over to the warm side of the country, albeit briefly.
But, in case you wonder, the photo is 100% Montana.
For a few days, I get to stock up on:
   1- the organic, original Vitamin D source, and
   2 - lots of sister time!
A long-time friend remarked to my husband, "I know what  she's doing down there: reading!"
Yes, the four books in my bag took up almost as much space as my clothes. And  - bonus! - my sister selected several of her favourite volumes for my guest room side table.
So, after sleeping in and dilly-dallying to recuperate from yesterday's 4:15 a.m. wake-up alarm, I read a sister-selected article by Steven Kalas for today's devotional reading. I was inspired, so am sharing the wealth.
"...If you pull the word "faith" out of its traditional religious confines and place it in a wider, existential view, it's no longer an invitation. It's unavoidable. Non-negotiable. You can't not have faith. That is, it's impossible not to live as if something is true. Every last one of us shapes and chooses a worldview. We decide what's essentially true about this life, and then we live out that truth.
Joseph Campbell (1904-87) said it this way: "Choose your myth, and live it with passion."
....The choice is not whether to have or not have a worldview in which you place faith. The only choice is whether we are willing to be conscious of that worldview. To choose it with intention, clarity, and commitment. When our deepest beliefs about self and life are conscious, then we have choices.
...What do you believe deeply? The next question is, how do those beliefs serve you? And, then, the $24 million question: Is it time to believe something else?"  -Steven Kalas, 10/21/2012
(Click this link to read his full article.)

The "live it with passion" quote provoked a visceral response.
I don't think of true passion as necessarily flamboyant, but I do consider it as abiding, committed, meaningful enough to influence the increments of my every day. And therein lies my dogged prayer, and a great challenge of faith.

Feel the Love, Missoula, Montana

Ahhhh, Valentine’s Day…. the perfect opportunity for a practical joke! Love is in the air and even hardened cynics let down their guard.
The pictured “secret admirer” gift magically appeared at our front desk today - I particularly love the smoochy lipstick kiss on the envelope! It might take a village to raise a child, but a decent prank can be nurtured along by just a few committed individuals and a willing cast of extras to provide ad lib harrassment.
On the positive side, the gift was actually something our victim really, really wanted. But since he has thus far evaded packs of wily women and match-making mamas, it was a perfect opportunity to see his ears turn red.

Winter River Bank, Clark Fork River, Missoula, Montana

“The times are nightfall, look, their light grows less;
The times are winter, watch, a world undone..."
 - Gerard Manley Hopkins, from "The Times Are Nightfall"

Winter Slough, Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge, Stevensville, Montana

Ever act upon a great idea and then wonder, "Why didn't we start doing this months ago?" A recent personal discovery of this kind is that the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge is a great halfway meeting point with my dearest friend, to meet, walk, chat and laugh non-stop.
(A prescription for heart health: Repeat as often as possible, including in the spring when all the red-winged blackbirds will be full-throatedly chirr-chirring in the cattails. Any variation of scenery will suffice, as the key ingredients are friendship, chatting, and laughing.)