Posts from the ‘Front Porch Musings’ category

Early morning

I am a morning person…it doesn’t matter what time zone I’m in or what time I’ve gone to bed, I am up with the chickens…maybe before. This morning it was 4:25 a.m. And this time of year, it is getting light by then. Sunrise is about 5:30 but there is light in the sky, behind the mountains, through the trees.

Karl and I walked down the driveway and across the front property line and back to the house through the front part of the woods – our usual beginning of the day little walk. I carry my first cup of coffee (AND the pepper spray…) and enjoy the morning air, the birds singing and the quiet.

We end up on the front porch where I like to sit for a moment and watch the day grow. This late spring, early summer ritual is a joy to me and I’m grateful for every beautiful morning and also for the circumstances in my life that allow me to start my days in this beautiful place.

Snow Day 2

The evening of June 10…night before last – after the snow event…nearly mid-June, nearly the summer solstice – within 11 days of the longest day of the year – sunset is shortly after 9:30 p.m. The photo below was taken shortly after 9:00 p.m.

Maybe hard to believe, but the temperatures did not go below freezing. Yesterday morning at 5:00 a.m. it was nearly 33 and stayed there until late afternoon when it was almost 40. The snow is still around but melting and slushy and just a damp mess – not a snow that is fun to play in. Still, a dog needs to be walked and so we went…

Sad Lupins… (that’s NOT a lupin below…I realized Thursday afternoon when I walked that I was calling these wrong – they are actually a noxious weed and I’m not sure of the name. Those are lupins in the grass under the tree….)

Above – in the grass – is how they should look now.

the walk path – see the stump to the right?

see how much snow is on the stump???

Towards the end of the walk – the top of the mountains are fogged in, but still – the most of them we have seen in two days.

Headed North

Geese

Geese

Geese

I took these photos last Saturday. I kept hearing geese overhead and when Karl and I were walking our ridge path I heard them again. Although a bit hard to see in that first photo, I have never seen so many “V’s” at one time. The cacophony of honking almost hurt my ears. But it brought to mind “The Goose Story” … I could link to the old post but I think it is one that is worth repeating so here it is:

What science has taught us about why geese fly they way they do:

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following it. By flying in a ‘V formation, the whole flock can fly at least 71% farther than if each bird flew on its own.

Perhaps people who share a common direction can get where they are going quicker and easier if they cooperate.

When a goose falls out of formation, it feels the resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of flying with the flock.

If we have as much sense as a goose, we will work with others who are going the same way as we are.

When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose flies on the point.

It pays to take turns doing hard jobs for our group.

The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. The lead goose (on the point) never honks

The power of praise and recognition is critical to success.

Finally, (get this) when a goose weakens or is wounded and falls out of formation, two geese fall out and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and they then set out on their own or with another formation until they catch up with the group.

If we had the sense of a goose, we would stand by each other like that.

Last night’s walk

This post is a little late for some of my “coffee with From the Front Porch readers”…Yesterday was a little out of whack…it started with no coffee and no breakfast as I had an 8 a.m. appointment for a “fasting” blood test as part of my annual physical. The no breakfast I can do – even though I am a daily breakfast person…the no coffee is another kettle of fish altogether! I have a 35 mile drive to the clinic and all the way there I just wanted to pull over and take a nap. The good news is that I didn’t fall asleep driving and my after blood test treat was a Cowgirl Mocha from my favorite coffee spot AND Lox on an everything bagel. I know that last bit doesn’t exactly sound like Montana, but Whitefish has a superb bagel place where they boil the bagels, then bake in the proper kind of oven – just like New York City!

Because I am trying to think about consolidating trips to save on gas costs, I combined a grocery shopping trip with the run to Whitefish. By the time all of this got done it was 11 a.m. before I got home and got to work and then I was called on to help with bus navigation… The day slipped away without much work getting done. Finally I just called the day, called Karl and we took our evening walk about 7:30. I had something else planned for a quick post for today, but the mountains had a new look that I couldn’t resist.

Back from the walk, I downloaded the photos and took the computer – and a glass of cognac to the front porch. I have to ‘fess to the cognac as it is in one of the photos and looks so pretty that I didn’t want to disappear it. I have sworn off wine for the week – ‘nother story – and really intended no alcohol but the cool evening and the playing with photos…..I succumbed and I’m NOT sorry! But I did run out of steam before getting the blog post finished – hence the late post this morning.

I know a lot of you skipped reading all of the above – that’s ok! Here are the photos.

It was the wispy clouds hanging around the mountain tops that called to me…

Mountain Views

Mountain Views

Mountain Views

Mountain Views

A blue hole above and below, to the west, the clearing sky.

Mountain Views

Mountain Views

Front Porch

From the front porch…

Front Porch

Front Porch

An evening shared after last night’s walk.

a new view

I bought some new chairs for the kitchen table. To call the table in the kitchen, a kitchen table is stretching things a bit. The table that I use in the kitchen and occasionnally eat off of is really a little side table made for holding a lamp in a hallway… But it is what I have and it fit in a corner of the kitchen and I have been hemming and hawing over what to do in the kitchen and not really having the budget to do much of anything.

I had this little table in the corner and one ladderback chair pulled to one end so I could sit there and eat. Most often, though, I take my plate to my desk in the sunroom, the front porch or to the living room in front of the tv or the fire.

Chairs

I had seen these chairs before and thought about getting one for my entry area – I have a corner that it would be nice to sit and put on or take off shoes or boots. Saw them again a week or so ago and decided they would work. Sara had moved the kitchen table at an angle to the corner and I thought – perfect – those chairs would make a bit of a nook and they are a bit larger than a regular ladderback, but still the same style…

Well, things did not fit or look right as I originally thought to arrange them and so I ended up like this:

Chairs

…and the thing is, I really like it…and I had breakfast AT THE TABLE! And I noticed that with the new arrangement, instead of looking at the corner, I have an entirely different view out the windows from both chairs and it is comfortable and serene and I really like it!

Chairs

Chairs

Chairs

The rest of the kitchen from the chair I’ll sit in.

Chairs

From the other side of the table looking out the sunroom window…

A small change and a new view.

The chairs are from Sturbridge Yankee. They came completely assembled (YEAH!), packed well in very large boxes, delivered to my door by UPS.

Some different mountain views

At times, the views in the mountains change from moment to moment…

Living here – in Montana, in the shadow of the Continentel Divide has been my choice for fourteen years. I was thrilled yesterday when I discovered that Mountain Jobs had discovered From the Front Porch. Further, that the summary was so how I hope the writing and the photography is perceived as well as an accurate vision of how I hope I am living my life here. The Mountain Jobs Blog Post titled “Big Sky Country: simple pleasures living in Montana” made my day!

For those readers who hope to someday live in the mountains, Mountain Jobs is an employment network. The company and the site work to bring employers together with people looking for the mountain lifestyle. While the company is based in Jackson, Wyoming, it serves employers and job seekers from the entire mountain west.

From Wednesday through last evening as I write this post that will appear Saturday morning – the mountain views have changed from moment to moment.

Driving home Wednesday afternoon, clouds were starting to build up along the mountains surrounding the valley while all the while the sky was a brilliant blue…

Flathead Lake Sky

Flathead Lake Sky

Flathead Lake Sky

Flathead Lake Sky

The sky and mountain views glowed with the colors of the rainbow that evening… a scene I captured in yesterday morning’s post: Mountain Sunset Alpinglow

Yesterday (Friday) morning the mountain views were VERY different…

Cloudy Mtn

Cloudy Mtn

Cloudy Mtn

Cloudy Mtn

The views in the mountains change from moment to moment…