New Neighbor
Bozeman, Montana
2022

This is the first bobcat we’ve ever seen at our mountain house. Along with all the non or smaller predatory species, we’ve seen bears and mountain lions, but not bobcats until this year. This not-too-good photo was taken by a trailcam on a rainy foggy day when we were not there, but a day or so later it walked the length of the porch in front of the house while were watching out the windows. We think it may be stalking the rabbits living under the porch that we frequently see coming out to graze on our lawn.

Solstice Flowers #4
Bozeman, Montana
2022

While the lupine blooms have been declining in recent years, the forget-me-nots are rapidly expanding.

Solstice Flowers #3
Bozeman, Montana
2022

Lupine flowers, the second most prevalent wildflower on our land, although in recent years it has not produced the proliferation of blooms that it used to.

Solstice Flowers #2
Bozeman, Montana
2022

Rocky Mountain iris backed by a field of arrowleaf balsamroot. The balsamroot is by far the most common wildflower on our property, coloring whole hillsides in yellow in a good year.

Solstice Flowers #1
Bozeman, Montana
2022

Being in the middle of an area that’s in the middle of a serious long-term drought, it is odd that a small area in this part of Montana received unusual amounts of precipitation this spring. Bozeman itself has received almost 30% more precipitation so far this year than the long term average. You may well have heard about the downside of this moisture, i.e., the devastating flooding in Yellowstone Park and the surrounding areas last week. But an upside for us is that it has been a gangbuster year for wildflowers at our mountain house (and other areas too of course). The other day I photographed a few in honor of the summer solstice as well as my cousin’s birthday. This particular flower is a Rocky Mountain iris (iris missouriensis).

Lectio #83
Glasgow, Montana
2022

A minimalist library of reading.

Modern Times
Glasgow, Montana
2022

Grab a carryout pizza, your favorite drink and a friend and find a place to sit for lunch and then proceed to ignore each other while to mess with your phone. The modern way to eat lunch, even for good ol’ boys in Glasgow.

Pot Shots
Tubac, Arizona
2022

Strangely, that the left pot is broken makes this a more interesting composition than if both were fully intact.

Bare Tree #88
Little Utah, Montana
2022

A hard life in a hard place, but what’s left of this aged juniper tree provides a bit of welcome shade on a hot afternoon.

The Past Becomes Present
Bridger, Montana
2022

This derelict old homestead reminded me of the Farm Security Administration photographs of farms succumbing to the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Given this area, along with much of the west these days, has been in a long-term drought (recent rains not withstanding), these places are just a few dust dunes away from looking like the places in the photographs. It’s an uncomfortable reminder of a past that hasn’t passed forever.