Open windows, the white stuff, and #305

Such a lovely morning, afternoon we were having yesterday. Such warmth coming from the sun, shinning brightly, but, maybe too brightly?? It's almost Thanksgiving in MONTANA! Hey weather, seriously, what's up? Fresh breezes were filling our house. I figured I would be pushing my luck with the weather, but just had to have that window open. Maybe for the last time in the months to come.
But... later in the early evening, the clouds rolled in and the yellow glow of light turned to blue and gray. Temperature dropping fast, the wind picking up even faster. Nothing happened for awhile. For a few hours, a standstill in the weather world.
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After Fritz was in bed, while picking up the days worth of little kiddo fun, a glance outside and magic! Would it last? Would it snow all night long? Would there be a winter wonderland to see the next day?

Yes. And lots of it! It's still snowing actually! Fritz and I will have to make an adventure out of it soon. It would be loads better, if I could teach a 2.5 month old how to shovel. Not too early for chores, is it?

And finally.... somehow I am on post #305. I had no idea I had that many!

A little family time on the river...

A Holiday weekend. Perfect crisp morning weather. Heavy rains in the evening, leaving sleeping in a tent, snuggled in a sleeping bag, all that much more thrilling. Spending a camping trip dirty and happy for one little boy. Finding beautiful rocks (Montana Moss Agates) and enjoying the fresh Yellowstone River air.

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What could be more perfect than that?

Let's Take the View

Our new city, in all its lackluster beauty, does have one thing going for it. Quite the open view from the top of the Rims. At night with the lights twinkling, it can be quite romantic and dreamy. But of course, my favorite is dusk just before day disappears to night. The transition of light to dark can happen so quickly, so it does wonders for a persons' soul to stop... and take a breath.

Enjoy the Light

A cool rainstorm late in the evening.

Glowing light pushing back the darkness of storm clouds.

And of course, the ever awesome peaceful sounds of soft raindrops.


How was your night?

Of The Early Morning Dawn

Fritzy woke me up early one morning. I guess he got too much good sleep and decided it was time for play. Fuzzy darkness was still creeping around my bedroom, but one peek out the back porch window and my breath caught. Luckily for me this is quite unusual to have my son wake so early, and it has been quite some time for me to catch the morning light peeking slowly out. The shades of pink and later, orange, filled the entire sky. Usually it's the sunset that Fritz and I will see, but on this day it was extra special to break our fast at peaceful misty colors.

This Has Been Us

For about a week now. The fog was in the canyon not the city, but it has been rain/snowing on and off and cold temperatures have creeped back into our lives. And here I was complaining about the heat!

Instead of...

...taking our usual hike/walks around town this past weekend, with it being so very hot outside we decided to go for a drive down the Gallatin Canyon. It is the closest road that will take us to Yellowstone Park (about an hour drive from our home) which we plan to do this summer, but we only went less than half way to Big Sky. We wanted to check out the river flow and see how high the water was above the famous "House Rock". This river is a rafter or a kayakers dream as the spring run off can leave the river extremely swift and dangerous. I have floated it many times in my earlier years and passing by House Rock and its awesome rapids can either be fun or boring! All of course, depending on the water.
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This picture is of some rock cliffs high above House Rock. Every time I see them they look different to me and depending on the weather they can be scary or beautiful. In the warming sun with shadows of the trees I can just imagine secret caves and creatures roaming around. At times I have seen them at dusk where the darkness looms above and makes the cliffs jump out and appear to be ready to fall at any given moment.



This is House Rock. I am not sure where or when the name came from but I think it is called this just because the rock is enormous! Of course a picture will never do justice for something seen without a camera lens, but take my word for it. When you are coming fast towards this rock trying to make sure your boat is going to clear it and be on the correct side to get you out safely, you may think "Aw, that itty-bitty thing?" but once you are closer, and then closer, I think most say a few cuss words.
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What is most amazing to me about this rock is the fact that it has been there in that same spot for so long. Did the fur-trappers and discovery people of long ago happen across it? And with the continuous beating of water has it gotten smaller in size over the many, many years?

Ahh, ice cream. 'Nuff said.

In the small resort town where we ate our yummy goodness, we took a small look around the town to see some of the houses that were newly built. One of the reasons I love living in the town that I do is partly because of the architecture. We do have the subdivisions where house after house appear to be the same shape and size, but for the most part we take on a strange future western theme. A lot of the newer houses around town look like the ones below. I love them as they all have their own uniqueness and character but blend so well together. The bad part about these ones? They are just smaller condos but start above 500K! Yep, the price of living near famous people, I guess.

What Happened to Spring?

It seems we have skipped the nice days where the temperature slowly warms up to the the hot days of Summer. All of a sudden it feels like a heat wave, and being in a house with Fritz and a (still) kinked neck, all I can think about is going for a swim or a nice float on a river somewhere.
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I use to float rivers every summer. Loving it so much when I was younger, I had thought often about being a guide on some of the local rivers around Montana. Until one summer where that goal changed. We were floating on a class 4 that was usually only a 2 or 3 (class is for how big the rapids are, 1 through 5 with 5 being the kind that kicks ass) but there was so much run-off still from the spring thaw that the river was much higher and faster than normal. By the time we had gotten to the last rapids it had been an awesome ride and with sadness, the last few minutes of the trip would soon be over. As we approached the final rapids, our guide got our boat too straight and the people in the back all flipped out. Now falling out of the boat is not usually that big of a deal if you pay attention to safety and know some of the first rules of river rafting. But in some cases, when you are dumped out you can have the unfortunate luck of getting stuck under the boat. Which is what happened to me.
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There is much more to the story but I am cutting out all of the middle stuff. Let's just say that the end was tramatic and scary. The people with our group couldn't find me for a long time. Seconds really, but when you are under water it is an eternity. Everything turned out okay and I did get back on the 'horse' the next summer and raft again, but I have never really gotten over it and still have high anxiety whenever I am floating when even the smallest of rapids come my way. That's why I like the river pictured above, the Upper Madison. It is calm and wide and has an unbeatable scenic beauty. We didn't get to float last summer with me being pregnant for half and having a new born for the second half, but I would like to go this summer. We'll see!

On My Way Home

I am on my way home to my hometown later today. It is only 104 miles away from where I currently live, but I don't go too often. Tomorrow is the town-wide garage sale and my parents are participating, so they asked the Hubs, Fritz and me to come and help. Plus, it is Mother's Day on Sunday (my first official one!).
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On the road home, I pass by some beautiful mountains. The Crazy Mountains still have tons of snow and when the sun sets over the top of them, it is something truly magical and beautiful.

Closer to home it is wide open spaces and blowing grasslands in the breeze. Completely open. But in this vast openness is a peaceful sigh in solitude.

Here is the tiny town. I think the population still hovers around 1,000 people. It use to be quite a bit larger when the railroad was still in operation, but after its closure in 1981 the town has drastically depleted. The surprising part of coming upon this town is when you reach the last hill before its entrance you can't see anything, but one second later 'POP' there it is. There is even a wind farm about ten miles north/east, and when you drive over the hill you can see these monster wind machines turning with the wind that is pretty much an every day occurrence. I don't miss the wind!!

My Hubs and His 3 Pictures

The Hubs is not much of a photog, rarely ever picking up a camera and when he does? He is the type of photographer that cuts peoples heads off! He did however capture three images which I absolutely fell in love with. The first one is my all time favorite. It is maybe a half hour from our house (near Palisade Falls/Hyalite Lake Canyon) and I can't wait to go back there this summer!


These next two are over in The Breaks in Eastern Montana. He goes there for a couple of days each year to look for antler sheds and to hang out with the "guys". Eastern Montana has a completely different look from where we live closer to the Rockies. It still has its beauty though!



There are Elk in the background of this photo. I am positive that when the Hubs went to take this pic he was jumping with excitement. He usually cannot contain himself when he sees these huge, glorious animals. (you might have to click on the image to make it bigger to see them)

A Path Found

On Sunday, the Hubs and I decided to take Fritz on a little walk somewhere that we had not been before. We headed off to a different neighborhood about 10 minutes from our house, parked the car and thought we were just going to be walking around houses on the sidewalk. As we started I noticed a little path leading behind a house. In front of the path was a sign stating that it was an actual path for people to enjoy not just a private one. I was so excited for this. We followed the sometimes muddy trail for about twenty-five minutes and wanted to go more, but we had errands to run and it was getting cold/late. I am sure that we will be back many more times to discover more of our new discovery!
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Pictures along the way... hopefully in the coming weeks when we return there will be green to be seen!

Pretty little birdie.

One of my favorite kinds of tree.

View of the Bridger Mountains.

At the Winter End

The sky is very overcast and gloomy today and although I am excited for spring to come with its beautiful presence, I can't help but love these days of gray.

Is it going to snow? Maybe rain? One never knows when the cold dead of Winter is passing through to its next season. Here in Montana we will sometimes have a snow day in June or July.

But there is something promising about a day like this picture (taken near Phillipsburg, MT) where the unsure of weather can keep you guessing if days of sunny walks in the park are near, or another day curled up with a good book next to a blazing fire.

I think some tea sounds nice to add to the mood of watching the gray curl around white clouds and blue mountains. Maybe a bit of soft music or better yet, just stillness. The quiet before the storm.