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Prairie Smoke #5
Bozeman, Montana
2020

If you aren’t familiar with the prairie smoke flower, this photo of some going to seed shows how they got their name.

Prairie Smoke #4
Bozeman, Montana
2020

Based on the first wildflower book we bought when we moved to Montana almost 40 years ago, we learned to call this flower species, genum triflorum, by the common name hooded avens. We also learned that they are also referred to as prairie smoke. It turns out that prairie smoke is by far the most commonly used common name for the species and that no one else, even various internet sources calls them hooded avens. They’re called purple avens at times but never hooded avens. I need to dig out that old flower book and see if we were just imagining the name.

The Grand Finale
American Prairie Preserve, Montana
2020

Just like in The Wizard of Oz, when the storm passed, the world turned full color!

Sky View #2
American Prairie Preserve, Montana
2020

It was a nice feeling to know I was experiencing this storm on a prairie in Montana rather than one back in Kansas where I grew up as tornadoes are rare here so there was not much worry about getting carried away (literally) by this storm. Hailstorms on the other hand do occur with frequency in the summer here, so there is that to worry about. But fortunately we had to deal with neither during this storm and could just enjoy the show.

Sky View #1
American Prairie Reserve, Montana
2020

We spent four days camping on the American Prairie Reserve. While the nearby Missouri Breaks contained a lot of topographic variety. The prairie campground we stayed in was in what Tom Petty would call “The Great Wide Open.” While there was lots of interest to look at up close on the prairie (plants, flowers, prairie dogs, etc.) , the far view could look pretty uniform. So we looked to the sky for our entertainment and it was more than accommodating while we were there.

Prairie Firewood
American Prairie Preserve, Montana
2020

Trees can be found in some abundance in many the coulees in the Missouri Breaks, but it can be far from a homesteader’s cabin or a modern campground for that matter. That makes generations old fenceposts that are no longer suitable or necessary for holding barbed wire worth collecting for firewood. Besides the convenience of using what’s at hand, these posts–being mostly pine and juniper–smell a lot better in a fire than cow chips or buffalo chips do.

Summer Camp
American Prairie Reserve, Montana
2020

The homesteaders who built this cabin on the edge of the Missouri Breaks used it in the summer to monitor their herd of 80 cattle. I believe it’s the first log cabin I’ve ever seen from such an early time in Montana’s history that had been stuccoed on the outside.

Getting the Evil Eye
Camp Creek, Montana
2020

Enjoying a nice lunch under a pavilion at a picnic area along Camp Creek, it felt like we were being watched. Looking up, I saw this wasp nest staring down at me.

Polar Opposites
Malta, Montana
2020

Words of Warning
Malta, Montana
2020