Posts from the ‘Front Porch Musings’ category

the last laugh

Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful – bright blue sky, not a cloud to be seen and the temperature which started at a cold 18 had risen to 30 by 10:30. I thought it was a perfect day for another try for a “Karl and Me” photo. I didn’t have the tripod, but spotted a stump that held the camera…and another in a good spot for a focus point.

Karl and Me – Take 1:

My “mark” was about 20 feet from the camera. As I ran for my spot, Karl started following thinking it was a game. But then he stopped. Not quite. Try again – I put Karl in a stay…

Karl and Me – Take 2:

Ok, we are both here – look at the camera Karl! No, I give you a kiss!

Karl and Me – Take 3:

This has to do – I’m done.

Karl’s reaction

I think this is Karl’s version of ROFLMAO…

15 minutes

On the way home from a Friday trip to the dentist AND a walk by the lake with Karl, I noticed a sign in a new Bigfork floral shop that said “SALE”. I had been thinking about getting some flowers to try floral macro photography. I forgot that it was the day before Valentines Day.

The shop owner and her partner were madly assembling red rose arrangements. They looked at me with harried faces and I told them what I had come for, but that I could come back on Monday when things were not so hectic. They laughed and said, “No!”. They said they could use a break from roses and spent 15 minutes helping me pick 4 flowers and yacking with me about flowers, photography, winter and life in general. And regardless of the glut of red roses in the shop, I couldn’t resist buying one – the buds were beautiful.

I had great fun putting two photos of the rose together for the An Abstraction post. And the light was best on the floor so I had the help of Bob and Karl… I love the color of the Gerber Daisy closeup which reminds me of creamsicles. But I won’t be giving up walking outside and capturing those things that I love and that are part of my life and will save the macro mostly for those things that I see and find.

I used to have fresh flowers in the house most of the time. I’m not sure when I stopped doing that, but I will start again. And, it was such fun in the flower shop. They asked me to bring prints to show them. So, although floral macro might not be my thing, I made new friends and rediscovered the pleasure of flowers in the house.

15 minutes.

On whiskey and words

I am a lover of both language and whiskey. Both have been acquired tastes, both continually honed as I get older.

I am re-trying John Steinbeck. “Travels with Charley: In Search of America” led me back. It is the source of the quote:

I am in love with Montana – for other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection but with Montana it is love, and it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.

…an obvious favorite of mine and one I’ve had framed in my home since shortly after moving to Montana in early 1994 and additionally a must read for all rv’rs.

I loved “Ahab’s Wife” despite it being on Oprah’s list… I loved it for the story, for the words, for a richness of words describing simple things in an ordinary and yet extraordinary life – all fiction – spawned from a single line from Moby Dick.

Back to whiskey…

I think my first whiskey was J&B Scotch. I tried it out of a romantic affinity for some character in some book. I was in my mid-20’s. It was the start.

I have never been a mixed drink person. But straight spirits, those I enjoy. It is, though, the whiskeys that I truly love. As my reading evolved, and my budget, so did my exploration of whiskey. A Dick Francis book led me to try Laphroaig Scotch – an Islay single malt. A Patricia Cornwell book led me to Bushmills Black. Fast forward to the blog world and Dooce* and my current favorite, Maker’s Mark bourbon.

Reader, JJNorth commented on “Just a walk in the woods” with this quote:

‘It’s the beauty that fills me with wonder,
it’s the stillness that fills me with peace.’ RS

I was entranced by the words. But who is RS? Thank goodness for Google! RS is Robert Service and those beautiful two lines are excerpts from his poem titled “The Spell of the Yukon”.

My Google search led me to Dennis McCarthy’s site named: “Sippin’ Poems: A Drinker’s Companion to English Verse.” – Perfect!

Dennis suggests Rye with “The Spell of the Yukon”…so yet another whiskey to explore.

The last four lines of the last stanza of “The Spell of the Yukon”:

It’s the great, big, broad land ‘way up yonder,
It’s the forests where silence has lease;
It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.

In reprise…”Just another walk in the woods”

* a disclaimer: I stopped reading Dooce but I am grateful for the introduction to Maker’s Mark.

Road Trip

Five years ago…if you had told me that I would someday own an RV and LOVE rving, I would have said you were nuts.

I own an RV and I LOVE rving!

I even love a 200 mile round trip just to take the beast to a dealer for repair. I don’t love needing the repair, but it was operator error ( Damaging steps ) so I can’t blame the rv. I also didn’t “LOVE” the Jeep hookup yesterday as it was 6 below zero while I was doing it. Don’t let that sunshine fool you – it was cold! And things that normally swivel and extend didn’t want to do that. A hammer and a few choice words convinced them otherwise. The good news was that I wasn’t all hot and sweaty after the hookup…

I packed a lunch, my camera, my laptop – loaded Karl…no steps…I’m glad I’ve kept up with my strength training – and off we went. Destination, Missoula – 100 miles south.

The stop light in Bigfork…too bad about that view, huh?

Although cold, it was clear and sunny and a gorgeous day for the drive which skirts Flathead Lake for 35 miles before going through Polson, Montana and then a beautiful valley with the Mission Mountains to the east and the Bitteroots to the West.

Between Bigfork and Polson, I stopped at a pullout along the lake to allow 2 following cars to pass and to do a safety check.

We continued on. I had planned on a lunch stop south of Ronan, but the pullout there was not plowed. I ended up going all the way to the dealer in Missoula and having lunch in their parking lot. I unhooked the Jeep, checked in with service, transferred computer and camera to the Jeep, took a walk with Karl and then we started back towards home.

The Missions were beautiful – loaded with snow. A thin cloud layer lay about a third of the way between their jutting peaks and the valley floor. I didn’t stop – there are times when I just like to look.

**Added 7:30 a.m. 1/27 – I just visited fellow Montana blogger Montucky – he headed to the city yesterday also, albeit from a different direction. His post in the link is a gorgeous capture of the Missions – worth the click!

I did stop at a scenic lookout just before Polson. It is not somewhere I’ve ever stopped before, although it has the first view of the lake and the entrance to the Flathead Valley.

Home is 39 miles north of Polson. We arrived there in time for a walk before sunset.