Breaking Through - Missoula, Montana

"Why are so many holy places dark places? The cross, the tomb, the stable – they are holy because even in the dark of night God is at work, breaking through the husk around our hearts and bringing life from under dead leaves." 

- C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

(Many thanks to GSOT for sharing this lovely Lewis quote in today’s devotional in YouVersion’s daily Story.)

First Light - Missoula, Montana

“After all the false dawns,

who is this who unerringly paints
the first rays in their true colours?
.... the trees tremble.
Is it with a kind of reckless joy
at the gentle light
lapping their leaves
like the very first turn of a tide?
Timid creatures creep out of burrows
sensing kindness
and the old crow on the cattle-shed roof
folds his wings and dreams.“

- from First Light by Richard Bauckham

Last Light - Missoula, Montana

“And the fairy-light is fleeting ...”

-from The Last Light by Ernest Charles Jones

Between Winter and Summer - Missoula, Montana

“The air turned soft. The flowers rioted on the foothills and along the watercourses and clover bloomed. It was the few days between winter and the dusty summer when the earth held water for a moment, People opened the windows of their houses and let air wash through  They looked at the beds of iris and the camas lilies, up and brilliant and gone in a week. “

-from Long Son, A Gabriel Du Pré Mystery by Peter Bowen (1945-2020), page 152

Cottonwood Alley - Missoula, Montana

What a week - Sunday was shorts and t-shirt sunshine, Monday saw enough snow in the Bitterroot Valley that Corvallis, MT, called a snow day and canceled school! 

Springtime in Montana reminds us that change is part of life and there are no regrets when we choose to be fully present.

Spring Football Field - Missoula, Montana

I never really thought about it before, but: Where else in the world can you watch football surrounded by views like this?!  You can check out game day pics and stats here from Montana Grizzly fans, who must be among the most grateful sport enthusiasts...

Morning Walk (aka Adventure) - Missoula, Montana

All of 25 degrees Fahrenheit on this brisk Missoula, Montana, morning - and there are people out running IN SHORTS!!! Guessing (since I have no desire to know from experience) that running provides a whole different personal climate (although that one girl’s legs were pret-ty bright red....).  

Call me a wuss, but for me it’s the  classic toque-gloves-scarf combo until temps are waaayyy above freezing! One less thing to distract from the same goal as when we were kids kicked outdoors to amuse ourselves - stay balanced (on whatever was available) or the (imaginary) alligators will get you!  

(Warning: Walks that turn into flights of fancy may also occur among adults!)

Snow In The Hills - Missoula, Montana

Thankful today (on the incidentals side) that the  little snowflake forecast stayed up in the hills, with just rain in the valley....