Golden & Glorious - Missoula, Montana

With the forecast pushing close 100 degrees F again this week, we're bound to have plenty of golden mornings like this one!

Summertime Morning - Missoula, Montana

...& the living is easy!

(Especially when there is thank-you pie for breakfast!)

Gotta say that one of my chief summer delights is morning coffee on the porch. It's hard to replicate in the winter - indoors on a freezing day has its own cozy charm, but just doesn't evoke the same  languid warmth and serendipitous neighbourly chitchat - so I indulge on as many warm weekend mornings as possible. Kind of my own sweatless take on that timeless admonition to "make hay while the sun shines".

Anybody out there have a semi-guilty (G-rated, please) summer indulgence to share? 

(Note: Comments left as 'Anonymous' spare you some log-in hassle.)

New Green - Missoula,Montana

I'm always amazed at fresh green sprouts among the matured purple leaves on one specific tree behind our office.
I'm sure it's a normal condition for this tree variety, but I can't help the delight at such an unexpected contrast - zesty brights of spring appearing long after that season has run its course. It begets the same brand of wonder as Montana snowfall in May or September when the previous day boasted 60 degrees F. 

Unexpected, but enthralling because of the surprise. 

If we pay attention, we see micro-wonders of contrast on a daily basis - the complex geometry of a dandelion puff in the weed jungle of an empty lot, miniature bright-hued gravel gems rimming a puddle at the park, the smell of summer rain bursting through mid-July's oppressive heat canopy...Tell me your favourite eyes-wide-open glimpsed glory.

Colours Of Summer - Missoula, Montana

Ahh, the colours of summer brightening my kitchen sink! (Not to be confused with the more stately colours flying from our porch to honour this Independence Day.)

This rainbow chard spurred memories of our mother's sink full of greens picked from our garden. Funny how that sink seemed so huge packed with enough lettuce or chard for our family of 9, when it was probably just the standard double bowl stainless steel variety. (Insert your own tangential musings of childhood perspective and plenty.) Anyway, it was explained to me that it's important to fill the sink with enough cold water to float off any dirt and/or wiggly travelers. Wiggly travelers are NOT on my list of preferred proteins. 

I am thankful for other people's gardens that provide seasonal bounty for our table. Sautéed with sliced onion in a little olive oil (okay, a LOT of olive oil, because it just makes things yummy!) with a hearty splash of lemon juice, a scant dash of Chinese 5 spice, and a sprinkle of sugar (a secret from my mother - raw & organic these days, of course), we had ourselves a gorgeous summer mess of greens!

Bitterroot Ripples - Tucker Crossing, Stevensville, Montana

"Each time a [hu]man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

-Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)

Puff - MIssoula, Montana

"The honors of this world, what are they but puff, and emptiness, and peril of falling?"

- Saint Augustine (354-430)

Future Focused - Tucker Crossing, Stevensville, Montana

"We are called to be the architects of the future, not its victims."

-Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), Quoted in Ch. 66 Heading of The Last Days Of Night by Graham Moore

Tucker Crossing Calming View - Stevensville, Montana

"If there is magic on this planet,
 it is contained in water."

 -- Loren Eiseley (1907-1977)