Broad Strokes.

Quickly, as I really should be doing other things but feel I need to dump some things here in order to remember...

My scooter is up and running for the season.  We've had officially 7 warm days, and I've spent 6.5 of them out of doors.  I have a second degree burn and a big smile as a result.  My lilacs are in full bloom as of....now...and a family of big purple irises are showing off in my front garden.  I actually look forward to mowing the lawn.  Note to self:  remember this feeling of overall happiness and fulfillment in mid-November when your house is messy and your birthday is looming and your husband is on a trip for work. 

Mine is pink, though. And her horn sounds like the road-runner.

MEEP!  MEEP!

There is a vintage clothing/antique store uptown, and weekly the two mannequins are re-dressed in another fantastic outfit fitting the time of year.  Christmas ball-gowns, spring sun-dresses, late-summer cocktail dresses.  This is one corner guaranteed to bring a smile to my face, and I regularly divert my regular driving route just to roll by its windows to see what the gentlemen owners have put out for me this week.  For over a year I've wanted to take snapshots of the visual, and have been too shy.  I know, weird.  This week I'll begin.  I hope you like them as much as I do.

I've spent much of the last two weeks in a river valley about 30 minutes from here with no cell service, and some of the untouched beauty that is becoming, sadly, less easy to find in Montana.  This is the valley where I fell in love with my husband, the summer we camped each and every weekend and he taught me to flyfish.  This is the valley I drive to when I can't breathe from the anxiety and self-imposed pressures, and the instant I turn onto the winding two-lane that continues for the next 100 miles, I feel my chest expand and my toes uncurl.  My husband is managing a fly-fishing lodge there this summer, and needs to be on-site at all times.  I'm lucky to be able to join him most nights.

Comments

[Ruth]

Love to see the Montana pictures, too bad I didn't appreciate it more growing up. Your moped is fun! I emailed you about knitting last week. You inspired me to start again. I am working on a tote like the green one you made. So cute. Love you posts, keep it up. (I notice I use the work "fun" a lot. How annoying am I?

[Jessie]

Long time no post...all good?

[ginevra]

and this is why I love Montana above all other states. :)