POTD: Leather Bell #2

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POTD: Leather BellLeather Bell Bozeman, Montana 2014

Every spring the wildflowers come out in abundance around our mountain house. And every year I remind myself I’ve photographed them so many times I don’t need to do it again. Some years I listen to myself; this year I didn’t.]]>

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POTD: Something Interesting

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POTD: Something InterestingSomething Interesting Lewistown, Montana 2014

Stopped at a rest area outside Lewistown, the Fashion Queen was reading the history signage while I was inside “resting” when she heard a male voice off to the side say “You want to see something really interesting?” Her first reaction was “that’s not the kind of line you want to hear from some guy hanging around the restrooms at a rest area” but she looked over anyway and saw this guy, Dana Kenneth Johnson, and his giant lizard, Slick, sitting there. More formally, Slick is an Australian Sand Monitor. He’s about five years old, with a life expectancy of 18 or more years. Dana had Slick on a harness (made for a cat) and a leash, and like many a pet owner at a rest area, was hanging around waiting for him to poop.]]>

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POTD: Standout

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POTD: StandoutStandout Lewistown, Montana 2014

In a large eastern city, Lewistown’s Montana Building might not be particularly noteworthy, but in a small town out west it’s mixed neoclassical and revival architecture is pretty impressive. The Montana Historical Society plaque on the 1916 building agrees, calling it the architectural anchor of the central business district.

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POTD: Milestones

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LB Yellowstone 62Milestones Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 2014

When you turn 16 you can get your driver’s license, when you turn 18 you can vote and drink (in the old days) and, if you’re a guy, be drafted (also in the old days). When you turn 21 you can drink now, rent a car, gamble in Vegas, and a number of other things. After that there aren’t any major milestones for many years. Retirement is a big one. I took early retirement from my paying job when I turned 55, others will wait until 65 or later. Not much to look forward to after that (Medicare of course). But I hit one other milestone today that I’ve looked forward to for some time. When you turn 62, you qualify to buy a lifetime pass to all national parks and monuments for the small charge of $10. Living so close to Yellowstone Park, it’s a heck of a deal–especially given a day pass is $25 and a yearly pass is $80. So we packed up the car and headed to Yellowstone yesterday where I purchased my pass and we went for a hike up Rescue Creek under beautiful sunny skies.]]>

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POTD: The Good Old Days

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POTD: The Good Old DaysThe Good Old Days Highway 191, Montana 2014

Nothing spectacular about this particular scene, just a shot of a lonely highway (my favorite kind) across some wide open country on a warm spring day in Montana. With nothing else on the agenda over Memorial Day weekend, we took a little day trip to Lewistown, Montana. We didn’t do much of anything except wander around and enjoy the fine day. Sometimes that’s all you need to do to be content. By coincidence yesterday I happened to leaf through a novel I read recently, By the Lake by  John McGahern, and came across a passage I had marked that seemed apropos to this feeling:

The days were quiet. They did not feel particularly quiet or happy but through them ran the sense, like an underground river, that there would come a time when these days would be looked back on as happiness, all that life could give of contentment and peace.

That in turn reminded me of the line from the Carly Simon song Anticipation: “stay right here ’cause these are the good old days.” Here’s a video of her singing that song back in 1971. (I had some good old days back then too–wonder if I thought so then.)

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POTD: Like Kansas With Mountains

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POTD: Like Kansas With MountainsLike Kansas With Mountains Highway 191, Montana 2014

Over Memorial Day weekend Western Montana was teaming with the usual crowds inaugurating the summer season. We avoided the congestion by heading east to the wide open spaces out on the plains. You don’t have to be from Kansas to appreciate eastern Montana, but it certainly helps; miles and miles of treeless pastures and wheat fields are an acquired taste. I see three distinct advantages to recommend eastern Montana over Kansas though–lower humidity, lack of a roads along every section line, and forested mountain ranges sprinkled around for variety.]]>

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