Wondrous Sky - Livingston, Montana

"I don't think it is enough appreciated how much an outdoor book the Bible is. It is a "hypaethral book," such as Thoreau talked about - a book open to the sky. It is best read and understood outdoors, and the farther outdoors the better. Or that has been my experience of it. Passages that within walls seem improbable or incredible, outdoors seem merely natural. This is because outdoors we are confronted everywhere with wonders; we see that the miraculous is not extraordinary but the common mode of existence. It is our daily bread." - Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays

Snow Fence - Livingston, Montana

"...Not unlike the sad song, long endured of a summer's snow fence

A sounding, laden with its own aired season mired in consequence

When it's an empty autumn wind that rushes through and past its weathered pickets..."


- from The Heart Of A Snow Fence by David Archuletta


Immerse in the full poem's poignancy here, courtesy of PoetrySoup.com.

Prairie Skies - Livingston, Montana

"The prairie skies can always make you see more than what you believe."- Jackson Burnett, The Past Never Ends

Journey Onward - Missoula, Montana

"It is good we cannot see

How far or fair life’s path will be

For then we would not see the sun

Or chase that daydream silver-spun ..." 
- from "Living In The Moment" by Janet Martin

Stop by Another Porch... A Poetry Blog to take in the perpetual loveliness of Janet's writing.

Big Sky Cattle Guard - Livingston, Montana

You know you're in Montana when: the Interstate exit ramp has a cattle guard imbedded just before the stop sign. 

For the unfamiliar, cattle guards are often located at critical roadway junctures amidst wide open grazing lands. 
Click here for slightly more information. 

Please note: Today's photo is not that particular cattle guard - nor is it our Interstate.

Downtown Night Lights - Livingston, Montana

A spectacular sunset faded to moody blues, the perfect contrast to Livingston's night lights. Persisting balmy temps ensured the evening streets were busy with a well-rounded traffic blend - foot, bicycle, and motorized all represented. But no horses parked at the hitching rail.

Sunset Spectacular - Livingston, Montana

The sunset splendour in my rearview mirror increased to the point that I finally turned around just outside of Livingston, Montana, and drove back up to a side road with a clear view to the western mountains. It was a soul-satisfying stop.

View To Mount Jumbo - Missoula, Montana

Hiking with friends atop Missoula's Waterworks Hill trail system, we paused briefly - only to take in the widespread views, of course. Pointing out a route I'd taken last year that popped up along Mount Jumbo's ridge and then down its face, directly around the "L", I suddenly realized how big a hill that is. Plodding along the trail, your vision and concerns are more immediate and close. But stepping back a bit - or maybe a lot, as in this physical instance! - your perspective widens, which can give room to feel a bit proud of how far you've come.

Of course, it's always good to have a balancing factor: one of our little group pointed out a barely smaller hill to the left (out of this photo frame) and recounted his grandpa's telling how, back in the day, his grandma would go over the hill  every day to work in East Missoula - and back (uphill both ways - for real!). We sincerely hoped she had a trusty mule or horse to make that commute.