Thought for Wednesday....It's just one of those days.

"Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands and then eat just one of those pieces" ~ Judith Viorst~

..... Oh well.

Post Collection

What a lovely thing it is to have a small gift arrive in the mail...  the snail mail. You know... the metal box that you have been receiving all the bills and political hogwash in lately. We have a rural box out on the highway, a mile and a quarter from the house. I worry about people taking things in the middle of the night but I guess there are more honest folks in the world that I give credit for. We have only had a theft once in 13 years.
So, on Monday, the prospector made a run to get the mail in the afternoon and , low and behold, I got a small gift and a REAL letter from my friend in Michigan. This would be the childhood friend that I lost for almost 50 years. The one who was cute and blond.... and made crop tops out of her sweaters before they were in the stores. Her name is Dawn. A post about her and her early fashion statements here.
So, she sent me a little package with a LETTER and a really wonderful gift that she found at a farm/orchard market where they buy fresh apple cider.....

Happy Goat  goat milk soap with a "lovely lilac" fragrance. Oooou!, does it smell good.
The letter is filled with stories of a trip that she and her husband took in their camper for a weekend.... two old mansions in Muskegon, the market where they got the apple cider and the goat soap, and a casino  at Manistee. What fun! Then she had to tell me about a big antiques mall in Lidington and the wonderful cranberry glass that she bought; the Lake Michigan shoreline and a little village called Pentwater with MORE antique shops. Then she came home and sauteed some sea scallops for dinner. I was ready to get on a plane and fly to Michigan right then and there. This girl needs a blog. She's always doing trips like this. She needs a "travelblog".It was like I took the trip with her.
Are you reading this girlfriend. TRAVELBLOG???? You could do it.
So,write someone a letter.... a real letter. It's so nice to receive one. Even if Dawn hadn't sent the soap with the letter it would have been a wonderful surprise. There's something about getting something in the mail that is personal and just for you. It makes you feel special. Try just one. It's a guaranteed "feel good" for both parties.

OK! New magazine on the supermarket rack. It's from Hobby Farms and it's all about CHICKENS.

Someone really loves chickens. This is not only an interesting magazine with great articles but the titles are wonderful. The "Coop Corner", "A Nest of Her Own" and "Surviving Fowl Weather". How about "eggs-cellent" winter tips? Makes you want to read the articles doesn't it?. Pulls you right in.
And then.... "The Incredible Edible Egg", the recipe section by (and I have to believe she gave herself this name) September Morn. Honestly.... she's a farmer and dog trainer in Shelton, Washington. I just love that  name. This is the Recipe Roundup section and the article is called The Eggs and I. You have to buy the magazine to get the recipes but I'll tell you that they are "eggstraordinary" recipes that are worth the $5.99 price of the magazine. Try to find it . I found it at Raleys.

And I leave you with this discovery as I drove up our road to the house a few days ago.

Isn't this amazing? There it was, growing right out of an oak tree. If I looked it up right it's called a Sulfur Shelf or Chicken of the Woods ( free ranging on a tree). It says that it's edible when young but causes gastrointestinal distress and can be poisonous depending on what tree it's attached to. Good grief. Why take a chance. They have "safe" ones at the grocery store. That's why I don't pick and cook mushrooms around here. I just don't trust them or myself. I have an uncle who picks them and cooks them all the time. I trust him.... kind of.

Funny line in my mushroom book....All That the Rain Promises and More.... A hip pocket guide to western mushrooms by David Arora.
"Conclusion: If you eat and enjoy this mushroom, always cook it thoroughly and do not serve it to lawyers, landlords, employers, policemen, pitbull owners, or others whose good will you cherish."
I think I will leave this  pretty fungi right were it is.....

Storm's a comin', so I'm baking cookies

It rained , off and on, all night. Nothing ominous or foreboding , just a reminder that the seasons change and life keeps going forward. I woke up a couple of times listening to the soft, wonderful sound of the dry earth passionately embracing and accepting the life-giving moisture. There are few sounds so wonderful as rain here in the foothills. Summer is finally over...
In the morning I took the dogs out for their first run of the day. They love to go outside early in the morning and make the rounds of the front yard, smelling everything and leaving their own liquid scent everywhere.
The rain magnifies all the aromas of 3 Dog Farm. It's a combination of trees, bushes, someones wood fire, and the leaves that cover the walkway. It's the familiar and welcome breath of Autumn.
After breakfast I baked Snickerdoodles...

I love to bake these sugary, cinnamony cookies on a cold day. It fills the house with a wonderful aroma and the Prospector loves them. He will say..." Are these for us?" and I will say "Yes, just for us." and there will be , smiles all around and a few of them missing from the plate.
The prospector had been down at his Mother's for a couple of days. It was my turn to hold down the "fort". He came home a few hours ago. His Mom is doing much better. She is getting lots of therapy and hopefully, this will all work toward getting her back home soon. A broken hip at 89 years of age is tough. We are hoping for the best recovery. It will be a hard one, but this is a tough woman and if anyone can recover from this, she can. I have to admire this generation that is slowly leaving us. They make no excuses, they do what they have to do and when life gets difficult they persevere. It's a lesson I pay attention to.
Violetta ( that's my mother-in laws lovely name.)  told me something once.  I was pregnant with my first child and getting close to the delivery. I was not ready to have this baby and I was scared. I said something about my fear to Vi and she said...." You don't have a choice my dear. You just have to get through it. It will be OK. You have your Mom and you have me. We will be there to help you.  The baby will come and there is no other choice."  I think we say there are no other "options." now.  I still did a fair amount of whining about all of this, but I did a lot of growing up that year. I was much better prepared five years later.
Now I have two wonderful sons that rarely complain about anything. When they did, as children, and Grandma Vi was around she would give them the "look" and say... " to the moon". They knew what she meant. They had an understanding with her. There was no other "option" but to behave. Maybe we all learned something from her.
Vi was tough and with some things she was right. Sometimes you just have to put one foot in front of the other and move ahead. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and there are no "options". If there are other choices then take one, but don't whine about it. Just do it.
I love this woman for this lesson in life and the kindness she has always showed me. Between my wonderful, loving and giving mother and my practical, no-nonsense mother in law... I was covered. I guess you could say I was blessed.
It's like knitting or following a recipe. If you want good results you have to read the directions, follow all the steps to the end and pay attention.
Enough ... There is a storm moving in. Tomorrow will be a wet day. I need to think about dinner and finish the washcloth I'm knitting.... but first I think I'll go have a cookie....

What will you do when a Mountain Lion chases your kitty into the house?

When I was on my vacation in Montana I picked up a newspaper called the Hungry Horse News. It's " the photo newspaper of Glacier National Park and neighboring communities". (click the picture to enlarge)

There was this article on the front page:  I read it to my friend "D" and we laughed at the idea of a young mountain lion chasing a house cat through the front door of someone's house but this would be a pretty serious situation if that lion panicked and decided to attack. The comical part was that the man threw a glass at the lion and the lion ran back outside. Do you know how lucky it was that the lion choose to leave?  The lion left the house,"subsequently", which is a synonym for PROXIMATELY( which means NEXT TO or VERY NEAR ). That lion left the house.... subsequently. The man probably wet himself as the lion turned and ran back outside.
Now, I'm not saying that everyone should have guns. Some folks wouldn't know what to do with a gun if they had one in their hands..... but if you live in Mountain Lion country and you find yourself in a sticky situation with one of these majestic creatures, it's a good idea to have something a bit more substantial than a glass in your hand.
This is just a heads up for all the people who think that no one needs to own guns. Not everyone lives in a "gated community". Depending on where you live, a gun can come in really handy.
 Our neighbor filmed a pair of mountain lions right in his front yard this summer and has 10 to 15 minutes worth of video tape to prove it. We don't see them very often. They are very solitary and shy of humans. But, we know that they are here. Our farm animals are a red-light food for predators. Our Corgis are an hors d'oeuvre for a mountain lion. So we protect all of our animals. With a watchful eye, predator proof enclosures, fences and GUNS.
Here in California we are seeing more and more mountain lions. Even in populated areas.
This article gave me a chill. This is one of the reasons we have guns....

Redding.com | 2010-10-12

A 2½-year old mountain lion that took off with a 75-pound goat Friday was captured and killed by a Department of Fish and Game trapper Saturday morning.

Don't tell Brownie about this.... Please!

Brownie and the Eeyore Complex

"Hi Brownie. You look a bit grumpy this morning. Everything all right?"
"It was cold last night and the coyotes were being noisy.
" It's a beautiful time of the year. This is when we start getting cold nights but we still have warm days, some rain... some sun. I love this time of the year."
 "Well Farmlady. To be perfectly honest..."
"You always are, Brownie."
 "Well, anyway, I think I'm getting a cold. That rain the other night was awful and I had to lay against Freckle's to keep warm. When is Fall going to be over with?"
"Over with? It just started. The leaves have just started turning color and then they will fall from the trees. Then Winter will come and if we're lucky we might have some snow this year. Wouldn't that be nice?"
(There was no answer. Brownie was walking slowly toward the water bucket.

He stopped and looked at his shadow....) 
 "When are my horns going to be even? One is lower than the other."
"Well, I'm sorry that you don't like the way your horns are growing but it's better than when the left one was growing into your eye. Remember?"
 "Yes, Farmlady, I remember. I just thought that they would grow better and become huge important horns like the deer I see up on the hill."
"Brownie, you're not a deer... and besides, that deer will be in a great deal of trouble when hunting season comes."
 "What's hunting season?"
"It's when the hunters can kill the large bucks with horns and eat them."
 "What! You mean they kill you if you have horns?"
"Well, no, just deer that are wild."
 "But someone might tell them that I'm a deer."
 "No, Brownie. You don't look like a deer."
 "But they might make a mistake."
"I don't think so, and besides, you are in an enclosed place near our house. It's safe here."
 "Oh no it's not. I hear strange noises all night long. I hear gunshots all the time."
"I should know better than to say something that gets you all riled up. You are not going to get shot here on our farm."
 "But, it could happen."
"No it couldn't, Brownie, it's just not possible."
 "Yes it is."
"Brownie. You need to settle down. No one is going to shoot you with those little cut off horns anyway. You just don't look like a buck."
 "What's a buck?"
"Good grief. A buck is a male deer."
 "Oh. Well, do they shoot Coyotes around here too."
"You know what, Brownie? I don't really want to be having this conversation with you. It's not something you understand and I don't think you need to worry about it."
 "Maybe I could sleep in the garage with the cat. Why does she get to sleep in there.... and the dogs.... they get to sleep in the house with you and the prospector. Why is that? I think that I'm being mistreated. I  have rights. I should be protected against being shot."
"BROWNIE!"
 "What?"
"No one is going to shoot you. You're a goat."
 "What does that mean.... 'your a goat'. That sounded a little sarcastic."
"No, it wasn't. I just mean that people don't shoot goats because..., well... they just don't shoot them."
 "How do you know that?"
" You're not the right kind of goat."
 "The right kind of goat?"
"No, I mean you're .... OK, I need to go feed the chickens."
"Well, just walk away in the middle of a conversation...... Hey, Bart, Farmlady is kind of cranky this morning. Can't imagine why. She gets to sleep inside a big, warm house and eat anytime she wants to. She can come and go when she likes. What has she got to be off her feed about?
Hey Freckles, did you know they shoot deer? Did you ever hear of such a thing. Do you think my horns are too long? I know they aren't the same length.... but do they look like that deer we saw the other night? Do you think that I look like  one of them? What about a Coyote. Do I look like a Coyote? WHAT! What do you mean you don't care? What kind of attitude is that? What's the matter with everyone? I need a nap. No one understands me. Do you think we will get fed tonight? No one cares..... and the leaves keep falling into the water bucket. Bart.... Murph', where are you? Do you know they shoot deer?......."        

Mindfulness at the top of the hill

Mindful

Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for -
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world -
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant -
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?  

~ Mary Oliver ~

Trials for the Prospector's Mom

This is my Mother-in-law. She is 89 years old. This photo was taken two Christmas's ago when she was still showing the world how to grow old gracefully. Her name is Violetta.
Last week she fell in her living room and broke her shoulder and her hip. She had surgery to repair her hip. This is a very serious operation for a lady her age. Her shoulder will heal by itself because the breaks are hairline fractures and can't be set.
This has been a very difficult time for her and for her children, but I believe that she will recover because she has the determination of a draft horse in a snow storm and has never let anything get her down.
Please wish her well and send good thoughts her way. She has always been so good to me and I love her a lot.

Blackfoot Memories

I didn't finish the last part of my trip. I'm still dreaming of Montana. It's a place of dreams that has been inside of me for a long time. It speaks of wide spaces, freedom and Legends of the Fall (my favorite movie of all times).... and being in country that is bigger than myself.
We said goodbye to the the small creatures of Logan's Pass. the peaks of the Continental Divide and Grinnell Glacier. Coming down the east side of Glacier is different. It's stark, with it's rivers running east; which seems odd for someone who has always lived on the west side of any big mountain range. There was a fire a few years ago which gives the area an almost ghostly appearance. St. Mary's Lake is beautiful and then the land starts to stretch out. The distances become further and the roads longer.
We drove up to Babb and back into the park along the Swiftcurrent Creek (against the current). It was getting late and we were tired. We parked at the Many Glacier Hotel. This was were we had chosen to stay the night. It was so beautiful.
This is where I want to take a moment to tell you that my "friend "D" and I consider ourselves highly intelligent and capable women. As I said before, we decided not to make reservations because we believed that it wouldn't be necessary. The weather, the time of the year, lack of people in the park.... it seems like a reasonable decision. At dinnertime, with a storm moving in from the west and fatigue settling in faster than the storm, we realized that we MIGHT HAVE MADE A MISTAKE. The Many Glacier Hotel didn't have a room available. None. So we drove back out to Babb and back down to St Mary. NO ROOMS ANYWHERE. Someone at the St Mary Hotel said that there might be a room at some "motel" on the way to Browning. Since we didn't have any other choices we drove toward Browning. When we saw the "motel" we drove right on past it and kept going. We preferred a motel that had lights on and looked like someone owned the place. So we drove on into Browning.
Let me tell you a little bit about Browning. It's halfway to Cut Bank in the middle of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. It may have all the conveniences that are needed on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains and is home to the Museum of the Plains Indians but when you pull into town on a rainy, cold weeknight.... hungry and wiped out tired, you fail to see the beauty of a place.
We finally found the WARBONNET MOTEL on Highway 464( recommended by a lady on the cell phone that had recommended the motel on Cut Bank Creek that looked like we might not wake up alive in the morning. The one we drove right on by a few miles back.) and parked in front of a sign that said "OFFICE", next to four other cars. OK.... this is where you really have to put your "big girl panties" on and bite the bullet. We considered sleeping in the truck but what the heck.... we were there and we were tired. We walked into a small "office" surrounded by a big room filled with paintings and a hall way with more paintings. The counter loomed ahead. The place smelled like smoke. It was to say the least.... dreary.
We rang the bell and a man came out of a room behind the desk. We told him we needed a room. Why else would we be there this late at night? We smiled.
He was very nice and said he had a room. Good! Finally, there was a room available. It was only $89. I envisioned what this $89. room would look like and then said to myself....."Don't think. Stop. Take the key. Go back out to the car. Get your bag. Don't think."
We grabbed some things and walked through a glass door that was shattered.... into a hall way that, again, smelled like smoke. Turning left we found our door number. At one end of the hallway a very small dog was barking, ferociously, at us. At the other end a beautiful girl was sitting on the floor with her door open, listening to her itunes. She waved at us.
We opened the door to our room. Now.... you know what we were expecting. What a relief it was to find a clean room with a really nice, clean modern bathroom, comfortable beds, a TV, toilet paper, little wrapped soaps and a Gideon's bible. We almost knelt down and prayed together. Would have been a first since we were kids.
Someone tried to open our door and then said they were sorry. We hoped it was a guest. That's when "D" went back out to the car and got her revolver. Then we propped a chair under the door knob and went to bed. Sometimes you just have to have faith that everything will be OK..... but just to be safe "D" slept with her gun under her pillow and I slept with my wallet inside my pajama top. It was a little uncomfortable but very reassuring. I had strange dreams which I won't go into. Don't remember much else. We left early the next morning and drove to East Glacier where we ate a huge breakfast and then drove back to Columbia Falls along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. Beautiful country.
When "D" husband found out that we had stayed overnight in Browning he almost had a heart attack. I heard him on the other end of the cell phone. Yep! He was upset. But, you know what? I saved at least $200. on the room we would have gotten in Many Glacier. and we learned a valuable lesson about making reservations no matter what time of the year it was.

On our drive back around the park on highway 2,we had to stop for some perilous situations that kind of tied up traffic...

and to take pictures of amazingly beautiful scenery....
But nothing will ever seem as much an adventure as driving into Browning, Montana on a cold and stormy night.... and living to tell about it.

The sun isn't gone.... it's just behind a cloud.

Sometimes we aren't sure what is going to happen and we have insecure moments of doubt... so we find a good lap, tuck our paws under and hope for the best.




It's always good if someone finds the right place to scratch.
It can make all the difference in our day when someone bothers to stop and give us some one on one.


Then we feel the sun and forget the rain....and even though we know that there will always be something waiting to pounce on us....

We will look on it with compassion and without malice because it is what it is... and life needs to be accepted with all it's hidden chaos. It is our life and
we are here.

"The great sea has set me in motion,
set me adrift,
moving me like a weed in a river.

The sky and the strong wind
have moved the spirit inside me
till I am carried away
trembling with joy."
\
Uvavnuk (mid-19th-early 20th century)

Finding Joy

Joy's smile is much closer to tears than laughter."
~Victor Hugo~





"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Teddy Roosevelt~

My Grandson, the Bean, called the other night to tell me that he found a FIVE leaf clover. The excitement in his voice was a joyful noise in my ear. He had been looking for a four leaf clover in the lawn in his backyard. He kept at it and finally found the object of his quest.... even more. Not four but five leaves... for this little five year old. He was seeking, with his steady concentration and childlike hope, the proverbial "needle in the haystack". He found, to his delight, more than he wished for. It seems that effort is something that children understand when they are encouraged to try and that joy is the unexpected gift.

"Joy to the world,
All the boys and girls.
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea,
Joy to you and me."

~hoyt axton~(1938-)

Wordless Wednesday: Logan's Pass in Glacier National Park

Logan's Pass: Glacier National Park

I have had company here on the farm. My sister came to visit. So blogging came to a halt for a few days. We love having her visit. The dogs are delighted too.
The weather is wonderful. Rain and cool weather. Just like Montana.... which is where I took these photos. Logan's pass, in Glacier Nat. Park, is the highest spot on the Going to the Sun road. It straddles the Continental Divide. This is Alpine country and still has wildflowers in September.

When I first sighted these Bighorn sheep I was stunned. They are huge. They can weight from 100 to 300 lbs and are 5 to 6 ft long. This group just sat up on the hillside above the parking lot at Logan's Pass.

Look at this guy. He looked like the leader of the pack. He was majestic! He has such an old and wise face. We were very lucky to have them congregate so close to the parking area. Of course, this is not as close as it looks. "D" let me use her big lens that brought the sheep "up close and personal" and the miracle of cropping photos makes it look like I could have reached out and touched him. I cannot tell you the thrill of seeing these sheep for the first time.

This is me on the "easy" Hidden Lake Trail that is one of the most popular hikes in the park. It goes up 1.5 miles to Hidden Lake. It was very tiring and we make it about 1 mile, saw the next rung of the wooden path ahead of us, decided that we had reach the "65 years and above" level and turned around. Now, anyone that has been there and is in good physical shape will say that we wimped out, but I say that for two 65 year old ladies... we did good. As we came back down I smiled at the thought that some older person would pass me and think..."If she can do it, I can." Little did they know that we turned around before we reached Hidden Lake. I hope that everyone made it. A little later a helicopter came in over us and the thought crossed my mind that they were flying above us to pick up someone who attempted to go the distance and didn't make it. I felt justified in turning around, even though there is still a part of me that wishes I had tried harder and pushed myself further. On the other hand I'm proud of how far I did go. It was a beautiful hike and worth the effort.

( "D" took this picture of me on our downward hike back to the parking lot. Looking up toward the rise is the top of the hill that continued on to the lake. It was still another half mile from there to the lake.)

Angel Wing at McDonald Falls

To continue our trip into Glacier National Park I have to say something about the water. This is glacial water and , like all the lakes and rivers in Northwest Montana, there is something very special about the color of the water. I'm sure that when Lewis and Clark came West they didn't see the difference as much as we do now. The look of unpolluted water is different. It's so pristine that you can see further into it... clear, with a sparkle that stuns you when the sun is reflecting on it and the color.... a turquoise that I have never seen anywhere else. Because it's in a National park and protected... because it's close to it's source (the melting snow and glaciers of the mountain peaks) there is this amazing turquoise color that is so beautiful and intense that you might think, if you swam into it, that you would emerge with a turquoise tint on your skin.

We walked down to a bridge that crosses the McDonald River below the falls and, as we took pictures, I saw a movement on the log railing. This little butterfly had come to say hello. This is a Satyr butterfly of the Angel Wing family. They are named for the sharp. angular margins of their wings. The underside resembles dead leaves or bark for camouflage.

"D" took these photos when I reached over and put my hand underneath this little creature. It simply walked onto my fingers and showed off it's pretty wing for us. What a simple act of trust that was for one so small. It posed, walked on my hand for awhile and then flew to the other side of the bridge to meet someone else. I count this as our first, wild welcoming to the park.

Wordless Wednesday: "Last Breath" , Big Fork, MT.

Bear Cub has a Bad Day... and other Glacial thoughts.

updated 7/27/2010 8:06:22 PM ET
COLUMBUS, Ohio — TV host and zookeeper Jack Hanna says he took his own advice and used pepper spray on a grizzly bear headed toward him.
The Columbus Zoo keeper and frequent David Letterman guest said he was with his wife and other hikers in Montana's Glacier National Park on Saturday when a bear cub, weighing about 125 pounds, charged them. Hanna told The Columbus Dispatch that he held up a canister of pepper spray, which he takes routinely on hikes.
"At about 30 feet, I unload my pepper spray, and the wind takes it," he told the newspaper.
But the bear kept coming. Hanna sprayed toward the animal again, but still it kept coming.
"Then the third time I unload that pepper spray right in his face," Hanna said.
The bear turned around and fled.
Hanna said he's been carrying pepper spray on hikes for 15 years, but Saturday was the first time he's used it.
The group was returning from Grinnell Glacier by way of a narrow trail with a cliff on one side and a steep drop-off on the other. They rounded a corner and saw a mother bear and two large cubs about 30-feet away coming toward them, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
"We thought of letting them go by, but the trail was cut into the rock and was too narrow," Hanna said. "So I said, 'Everybody talk loud and we'll back up until we can get off the trail.'"
They moved slowly back up the trail to a clearing.
"I said, 'Crawl up the hill and put your backs against the wall,'" he said.
Then they stood still while the mother and one cub passed by. The other cub, instead, charged toward them.
Hanna had recently filmed a message for the National Park Service encouraging hikers to carry pepper spray. ~associated press story~

The bear CUB attacked them.... the bear CUB. Not the mom, but the baby.
This was only weeks before we drove into the park and if it could happen to Jack Hanna, it could happen to anyone. Obviously, the bear cub didn't know who this man was. Children have no respect for their elders these days.
So.... we decided that we would NOT be going on any long hikes with or without a guide, with or without other people. We also went into a store in Apgar Village, at the west entrance, and these spray cans of what they call Bear Spray were $50.00 a can and it's recommended that you take two of them with you. That was the clincher.
The problem is that something happens to you when you get into this park. I think it's some kind of hypnosis. All of sudden you see this....










...and this.







You forget everything else that made sense before you drove into the park. This is a magical place. The view sweeps you into another world. Lake McDonald's Rorschach like reflections ink-blot impressions on your emotions that eliminate any reservations you had about not being safe.


You stand on the edge of astounding beauty and the Grizzly bear becomes one small part of the wilderness before you. The Black Bear, Elk, Mountain Goats and the Bighorn Sheep exist only as a part of the whole and therefore seem far less ominous.

This is the first psychological test that greets you as you step onto the edge of this great preserve. It is a deceptive loveliness that takes away your safety net and makes you vulnerable.
Standing on the edge of this lake I think I could hear the earth breathing....

Post #2- A Very Special Life

I wonder, now that I'm home and have had time to chew and swallow my whole vacation experience, how many folks really make a conscious choice to live their dreams. I think that my friend "D" and her husband do this more than anyone I know and it's not an easy thing.
You make choices in life. The reality is not always what the dream was. There are all the little things that you don't anticipate... the fact that you have to go where the work is and leave your home a lot. There's the constant effort to live simply and maintain a lifestyle that makes you and your partner happy. There are compromises, fears and that unsettling feeling that life will make things change and that, as you get older, it will be harder to make this lifestyle work.
You start holding onto things but also want to let go. What you say you want to do and the pull of "making a living" start to grate on each other. Then you think about the accumulation of material things that make life more comfortable but become logs caught in the roots of boggy, snagging permanence. Freedom is calling..... the elk of the high country are bugling your name and the quaking Aspen are whispering " come to us". It's not an easy thing when you have always been a free spirit but have a longing for "place"

This is a very special "place". This home reminds me of my grandmother's home in the hills of Napa.... only cleaner and with a flair for creativity. Henny, the chicken, knows. She has made her wishes clear. She wants breakfast every morning and to be tucked in at night. It's what all chickens want in life.

Last year when my mother died, "D" was there. She didn't get there in time to be with Mom but sometimes things don't work exactly the way you anticipate and Mom couldn't wait. So it is with life and death. But "D" came and she was present in that great time of need . She helped us so much with so many things. She helped us grieve and wrapped her arms around our sadness. When she was ready to leave I asked her to, please, take something, anything, that she wanted to remember Mom . She took some little bird statues, some glass eggs and a few other small things and then said that if we sold any of the furniture she would like to buy the kitchen table because she remembered so many wonderful times there and that table had always been in that place. It had so many memories for her. We didn't sell it to her. My sister and I gave it to her and helped her load the table into her truck. We gave her the one thing that she really wanted. It seems the most perfect person for it to go to.
She took that oak table home to Montana and during my visit I found the table in the upstairs bedroom, in a quilt making area, close to the bed. Every morning I would wake up and see the table. What a wonderful gift.... to know that this table is in my friend's house. I could hear my mother's voice saying " Yes, this is a good place for this table. It's found a new home. I'm so happy it's here." ...and so it goes. Sometimes we make choices that seem so right. Sometimes happiness is just there in the reflection of an old oak table and life is what it is.

I don't really have a 3rd post now that I condensed the photos into collages. I'm done for the day. Tomorrow "D" and I will be off for Glacier National Park.

Post #1- My Luxurious Accomodations

This is the view from the upstairs room I was sleeping in at "D"s house. I had the penthouse suite with another king size bed and views as far as the eye could see. This is looking west to Lake Koocanusa and the Percell Mountains in the Kootenai National Forest; home of the Yaak. This is where Rick Bass(one of my favorite writers) writes his wonderful books about his life, his dog Colter and the vanishing wilderness. In the days to come we will drive through the Yaak and experienced the isolated area first hand but at the time I took this picture the only things that I could see to the West was a dark range of mountains with a storm coming in our direction....one of the distant vistas of Big Sky country.
Below is the same window as above. I backed away so I could take a picture of "D"s beautiful window coverings. All her curtains are from beautiful quilts that she makes and uses for her windows and interior doors. They are unique and beautifully transparent with the light coming through them. They also insulate from the cold in winter.


(I'm having trouble with the uploading of my photos so bear with me.)

When the sun shines through these quilted curtains they look like stained glass.
Very lovely.






I made myself at home, throwing my shoes on the floor next to the bed and leaving my bags all over the place. They gave me a place to relax and unwind and that I did.
The first day at "D"s home I met her husband, the mountain man himself, and again they slept in their trailer so I could have the comforts of home upstairs.
The mountain man built this house and all the outbuildings by himself. He mills the logs that he harvested from the forest. He and "D" went to the rivers and brought back all the stones that built the foundation. The windows are recycled from other old homes. This house is a labor of love for both of them and still, when I arrived, they slept in their trailer so I could sleep inside the house. Is that not Montana hospitality?
This home is so beautiful. It's a natural and ecologically fitting home that doesn't make a scar on the environment like some of it's neighbors... who brought the "bigger is better" philosophy with them from some other place and even have gardeners to mow their lawns. Yep!

Honest story here..... when "D" and the mountain man arrived on their property a few years ago with their sheep wagon and all their worldly belonging in a truck, they were confronted by this neighbor( with the manicured lawn) and the first thing he asked them was if they were going to build a house or live like a "typical" Montanan. Wow! how's that for neighborly chit chat? Now I don't know what a typical Montana native is suppose to live like but that's just rude and the mountain man took offense. It was not pretty and they haven't talked to each other since. I would imagine that, now, when this "neighbor" sees this beautiful house that was built and the sheep wagon next to the most amazing barn/workshop ever.... and the lovely chicken house... that he is eating his words. But, we'll never know because the mountain man built a new road into their property and avoids the "neighbor" like the plague.
(Because I'm having trouble with the posting of photos I will do three posts today. I'm back to the old blogger photo upload and until I figure out what is wrong with the new one and why it won't let me upload photos from my files, I will have to limit my photos to three per post. I wish they wouldn't change what doesn't need fixing.)