Quiet Paths » Mission Mountains

Day Trips ~ Kerr Dam

Christine March 28th, 2010

This is spring break week for us here in western Montana. Since the temperature was in the 60’s we decided to take a short drive today out to Kerr Dam on the Flathead River and on the way back we picked up some bark for landscaping in our back yard. Day trips are about all I can manage at the moment but I am out walking quite a bit and feeling pretty well! Thank you again for all the kind and wonderful messages.

Here is a view of the Flathead River from above the dam and the Mission Mountains to the east. Some people were asking how long the snow will last in the mountains. Usually there is snow there well into June but this year I wouldn’t dare to guess given our warm, spring weather. We have a week of blustery, rainy weather ahead (of course we do – given it is spring break!) so hopefully the Missions will get another good layer of snow up there.

Slow Pink ~ SWF

Christine November 19th, 2009

Slow Pink dances with dawn
she is stepping out with her fancy dress on
starting in early on the day
chasing ole’ night clean away.

These are from our front porch this morning quite early. Sky Watch Friday is a gathering of sky photos from all around the world. It’s amazing. Join in on the sky watching!

Environment , Poetry , photography
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SWF ~ silence

Christine October 8th, 2009

Cold and silent on the western front. This photo was taken off our front porch this morning with the zoom lens. Winter is definitely arriving on the mountain tops. I bet Tolkien would have approved of these “Misty Mountains”.

“There upon Celebdil was a lonely window in the snow, and before it lay a narrow space, a dizzy eyrie above the mists of the world….”

Join us at Sky Watch Friday. Thanks to all who contribute to maintenance there.

I’ve had some inquiry as to our Red Raven canoe and if it’s been put away for the winter. The answer is “No.” We are expecting warmer temperatures next week and hope to take her out on one last expedition, but that is always dependent on rain and other such unpredictable factors, such as ~ winter.

Sky Watch Friday ~ North Light

Christine September 10th, 2009

The setting sun in the west gives the north view a special glow. How far does the light reach beyond that horizon? It just depends upon where you are standing!

Thanksgiving time

Christine November 26th, 2008

Many friends, relatives, and blogger friends I know have been practicing or writing gratitude the last month. I have so loved reading (or hearing about) this practice because the descriptions are usually rich with detail; sometimes humorous, often serious, and they contain a quiet humility which I admire. So, right now I want to thank you all for your writings and your observations of the minutia — the emotional gifts you receive and the external as well. I learn so much through your different ways of seeing, and often find myself nodding my head thinking – “Yes, I so get that.”

Gratitude is a dual concept for me. I think we all struggle with taking the good in our lives for granted – the little things as so many of you have pointed out – which truly make us rich. Yet when we are living with these gifts we tend to forget how precious they are. A hot shower, a hot bowl of soup, a good friend’s health, a mother’s recovery, a niece’s (and nephew’s) road to happiness, my husband’s love, a son’s valued education, another son’s artistic ability; these are all things (and so many others) I carry in my heart each day but sometimes forget to stop and acknowledge them in prayer or just with a quiet moment of holding the gifts up and saying: this is good – thank you.

It is rather a delicate dance of living the gift of not worrying….. and being grateful.

Winter is coming and a full supply of wood is in the shed for my friends. Life can mean living gratitude moment by moment; spark to fire.

I am simply thankful that we often have beautiful places to wander and recharge the soul’s batteries.

The sun’s rising and setting sustains us all, no matter where or who we are.

And I am grateful for all of you, known and unknown. A good percentage of my readership are folks I do not know, or have not even a clue of who you might be. In January I will have been blogging for two years. I am nearing my 1,000th post and I can’t tell you how much it means to me to have you visiting my site, whether or not you leave a comment does not matter. I want to express only… thank you. From all of us here – have a very, happy Thanksgiving.

Spirit , photography
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Chase the clouds away

Christine November 2nd, 2008

If we could see straight into tomorrow, where would the joy be of finding oneself transfixed by the moment?

Photo of the Mission Mountains taken from the National Bison Range.

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
Albert Einstein

Missions ~ Sky Watch Friday

Christine October 2nd, 2008

This was taken last week of the Mission Range as we were on our evening walk. I suppose this is what the writer, Katherine Lee Bates, visualized with her phrase of “Purple mountain majesties”. If we could only be more careful stewards, more aware of our country’s many beauties. Please visit other Sky Watchers this week. Thanks so much to our hosts and facilitators: Tom, Imac, Klaus, Sandy & Ivar.

Equinox Sky – SWF

Christine September 25th, 2008

This was taken by my husband, Matthew, from our front porch with the big lens on the first night of Autumn. Tuesday, I posted a similar shot of that same sky but much changed in a matter of seconds from the swiftly moving clouds. Here, the Mission Mountains cleared briefly in the east before the sun went down. See other magnificent sky photos from around the globe at Sky Watch Friday!