Rampant Autumn Gold On Grant Creek - Missoula, Montana

Montana's mining history - and present - is rife with tales of dedicated creekside miners investing their toil and time into a passionate belief of striking it rich on a  particular claim. Thank goodness for me, our fair state boasts another variety of golden riches, available every autumn by the rampant eyeful - without breaking a sweat, or even leaving the cozy confines of your vehicle.

Fallen Leaves Floating - Near Drummond, Montana

"Reverie is when ideas float in our mind without reflection or regard of the understanding." - John Locke (1632-1704)

Winding Glade At Greenough Park - Missoula,Montana

"The heart has a yearning for the unknown, a longing to penetrate the deep shadow and the winding glade, where, as it seems, no human foot has been." - Richard Jefferies (1848-1887)

Poppies For Remembrance Day - Hamilton, Montana

"...To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high..." - from In Flanders Fields by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

On this day, we pause to recognize how much we prize living amidst such dearly won freedom, and also how thankful we are to those who serve in our military forces.

Slow Traveling Snail - Missoula, Montana

“…James gave a huffle of a snail in danger

And nobody heard him at all…” 

– from The Four Friends by A.A. Milne

Click here to read the whole poem about James' travels and his three friends, plus a bonus Christmas poem by A. A. Milne.

Wattle Fence Winding - Rattlesnake Creek, Missoula, Montana

"...And long, winding fences, and gray, rimy stone,

Like living things gleamed; 'til the light faintly thrown,

Died far off in the distance away..."

- from Poems (22.Uncle Enoch) by Elizabeth Fawcett Townsend

The title page notes that the book includes "Poems by the late Elizabeth Fawcett Townsend, Printed at the Request of Personal Friends". The printing was in 1862, a few months after the author's death, according to the lovely and personal preface.

As this work is in the public domain, you can read the full text of this and Townsend's other generously printed poems here, and see the scanned pages here. Should you prefer a first edition hard copy,  John Taylor Books will carefully ship this lovely one to you.

Golden Glow - Missoula, Montana

Thursday night, snow flurried amidst the headlight crossfire during my evening homeward commute. 

By Friday lunchtime, we were again ensconced in this sunny - albeit intermittently so - golden glow. 

Such are the varied and fickle delights of autumn in western Montana. 

Bare Or Full - Missoula, Montana

"Oh, to be free of myself, 

With nothing left to remember, 
To have my heart as bare 
As a tree in December; 
Resting, as a tree rests 
After its leaves are gone...
But still, oh so still 
While the winds come and go...
And heedless, heedless 
If anyone pass and see 
On the white page of the sky 
Its thin black tracery." 

From The Tree by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

Read the full text of this poignant  poem here.