Following - Missoula, Montana

 “...to follow God does not often mean traveling with certainty about where God will lead us. Rather, following God propels us to be present to the place where we are, for this is the very place where God shows up.”
― Jan L. Richardson, Through the Advent Door: Entering a Contemplative Christmas

(FYI, today's photo is a little hot-summer-day infusion into a snowy week....) 

 

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.)  

Humble Clarity - Greenough Oark, Missoula, Montana

“That inner voice has both gentleness and clarity. So to get to authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to the honesty, and the inevitability of something.” - Meredith Monk

Restful Moving - Greenough Park, Missoula, Montana

“What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt—it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else.” -Hal Boyle (1911-1974)

 (Despite floating through this blog several times before, this quote still provokes timely thoughts. Maybe even deep thoughts....)

Faerie Cottage, Perhaps... - Greenough Park, Missoula, Montana

“ You and I who still enjoy fairy tales have less reason to wish actual childhood back. We have kept its pleasures and added some grown-up ones as well.” -C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

Whigmaleerie Stump - Greenough Park, Missoula, Montana

Today’s splendid found word, courtesy of C.S Lewis: whigmaleerie: 

2. A whim, fanciful notion, a crotchet, fad, vagary (Source: Dictionary of the Scots Language)

“...I’m talking of science, not of Butler and Bergson and Shaw and all those whigmaleeries.”

-p. 49, The Dark Tower story fragment by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

Sunday Morning’s Quiet Fog - Missoula, Montana

drive through fogged in streets - 
wintry brisk, this quiet town -
to grandness unveiled  

Just Pay Attention - Missoula, Montana

“It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”
— Praying by Mary Oliver (1935-2019)