Freshness Deep - near Drummond, Montana

“And for all this, nature is never spent;

   There lives the dearest freshness deep down things...” - from God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Spring Snowcaps - Bitterroot Valley, Montana

“... 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.”
—from Praying by Mary Oliver (1935-2019)

Musical Time - Near Helena, Montana

“Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.”  -Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)

May your “decorating” on this second spring day be inspired by the Grand Creator of all things bright and beautiful, brave and small.

Weighted Sky - Big Belt Mountains, Near Helena, Montana

“[The Montana sky], it vaulted and one could get crushed under the weight of heaven.”

- Gabriel Du Pré in Specimen Song by Peter Bowen (1945-2020)

Almost-Spring Brings Renewal - Grant Creek, Missoula, Montana

“Rivers have what man most respects and longs for in his own life—a capacity for renewal and replenishment, continual energy, creativity, cleansing.” — John Kauffman (1923-3014), A Look At Our North Atlantic Rivers

Big Sky Country Waiting - Livingston, Montana

“Supposed to be no snow for two days. Hah. This country, it sat out there, breathing, waiting for the winter, like a big white cat and you the mouse.”

-from Coyote Wind, A Gabriel Du Pré Mystery by Peter Bowen (1945-2020), page 124

Winter Fenceline Shadows - Missoula, Montana

“He closed the missal, looked out the window at what was left of the day. Not too far back, it was the shortest day of the year. He was some farther north here, the shadows seemed longer, the blue in them colder.”

-from Coyote Wind, A Gabriel Du Pré Mystery by Peter Bowen (1945-2020), page 135

Simple Focus - Missoula, Montana

“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”
— Herbert Simon (1916-2001)