Toward - St Ignatius, Montana

"....But we are all entitled to

And victims of our point of view

Until we take off shoes we wore

In miles we never walked before."

© Janet Martin

Click here to read this full poem - and more!- at Another Porch.

Autumn Streamside - Corvallis, Montana

“What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes, or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness!” – Helen Keller, deaf & blind US lecturer, 1880 - 1968

(Added joy: I managed to not make a splash in today's beauteous scene at the lurching ‘snap!’ of a seemingly sturdy limb wedged into the log jamup!)

Mullein Sunset - Missoula, Montana

The hillside above and below the Sentinel Fire Road in the Pattee Canyon trail system was thick with chin-high stalks of blooming and spent mullein. Then, suddenly, around the next bend, there were none - almost as if the wind and critters conspired to transport these seeds to a limited portion of the grassy, open hills. Since I‘d assumed plenty more of these tall plants would pose for me further down the trail, I trudged back the way I’d come to find a likely subject - and the bonus of cooperative sunset clouds. 
Moral of the story: take your chances while ye may - there be no guarantee of yet to come, or nay.

Winged Window Watcher - East Missoula, Montana

A rare view of the reticent moth, serendipitously seen on a trek upstairs to the church balcony. The daylight through the window detailed its delicate colours and patterns - who knew such perfect fringes edge each wing of these common insects?!

While it's odd for a moth to rest in broad daylight on fully exposed glass, I like to think (fancifully) that our window watcher heard the buzz about goings-on at River of Life and stopped to see it in real time.

Earth Stars Gleaming Bright - East Missoula, Montana

"...Are not flowers the stars of the earth, and are not our stars the flowers of heaven?" Mrs. Clara Lucas Balfour (1808-1878)

Autumn Gully - Missoula, Montana

"...Mountain people are straight and natural, 
minds level though the road is rugged.
Long wind drives pine and cypress trees, 
skims ten thousand gullies and flows out clear...." 
- From "Visiting Zhongnan Mountain" by Liu Changqing (C. 710 - C. 787)

Looking Back the Way We Came - Mount Jumbo,Missoula, Montana

Descending, these hills appear steeper than in this from-below view, and brought to mind a scene from the movie, The Princess Bride: Tumbling tail over tea kettle, The Dread Pirate Roberts (aka Wesley) bellows, “Aaaas….youuu…wiiiish!” Love that movie! But this Wendell Berry poem is a little more inspiring.

“We travelers, walking to the sun, can’t see

Ahead, but looking back the very light

That blinded us shows us the way we came,…”
From
Reading a Sabbath Poem by Wendell Berry

High Water Mark - Glacial Lake Missoula, Missoula, Montana

4200 feet above sea level makes for a great Missoula Valley view. This high water marker for Glacial Lake Missoula was a great excuse to pause and ponder: how many years ago was our present view underwater? did anyone care about lakefront lots back then?  who drew the short straw to schlep this huge stone marker up the mountain?

Thanks to the Ice Age Floods Institute for placing these hefty conversation starters.

Click the text links to get a few answers and perhaps provoke additional pondering.