“What must I give more death to today, in order to generate more life? What do I know should die, but am hesitant to allow to do so? What must die in me in order for me to love? What not-beauty do I fear? Of what use is the power of the not-beautiful to me today? What should die today? What should live? What life am I afraid to give birth to? If not now, when?”
“Every spring is the only spring – a perpetual astonishment.” -Ellis Peters
“Can words describe the fragrance of the very breath of Spring?” – Neltje Blanchan
“Come with me into the woods where Spring is advancing, as it does, not matter what, not being singular or particular, but one of the forever gifts and certainly visible.” – Mary Oliver
Click into any image to see a full scale version and to start a slideshow…
“You may be the most cynical, born and bred, citified lefty like me — instinctively skeptical of big concepts like “patriotism,” relatively foreign to hunting culture, unused to wide open spaces.
But spend any length of time traveling around Montana, and you will understand what all that “purple mountain majesties” is all about.
You’ll soon be wrapping yourself in the flag and yelling, “America, **** yeah!” with an absolute and nonironic sincerity that will take you by surprise.
You will understand why and what people fought and died for — or at least perceived themselves to be fighting and dying for — either defending Native American hunting grounds against Custer or “defending America” against foreign aggressors. And you will be stunned, stunned and silenced by the breathtaking, magnificent beauty of Montana’s wide open spaces.”
– Anthony Bourdain…
I already deeply miss his unique, intimate, raw, and endearing look at the world.
“And when you look up at the night sky over Montana, it’s hard not to think that we can’t be alone on this rock, that there isn’t something else out there or up there in charge of this crazy-ass enterprise.”
-Anthony Bourdain
Here’s some big Montana night sky for you Anthony, wish you could have come our way again..
“We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. A little parenthesis in eternity.”
As 2017 comes to a close at midnight, my heart is full with memories. I know more with each passing day that the sweetness is in awareness. Awareness of all of the magic, majesty and wonder all around, in every single second. In the trees, the wild ones, the big night sky, the wind, every snow flake, the fragrance of pine, my dog’s intent gaze, the eyes of a stranger, the touch of my beloved… The moments of wonder stitch together in a tapestry of hours, days, weeks, and thus this year was made. Moments of awareness, of being here now, slowly weave together our lives. There is so very much to treasure, absorb, experience, and be with. How beautiful.
It leaves me breathless for all that 2018 may bring… It is a precious thing to be alive in this world.
So…goodbye 2017 and thank you!
And to 2018, sending heartfelt wishes for all of us to write on our hearts, pause in the silence of the forest, visit the area of the soul where words don’t penetrate, be peaceful and wild, and Love, Love, Love, in the wondrous moments that will create our new year!
“Write it on your heart… that every day is the best day of the year.”
-R. W. Emerson
“Pausing to experience the silence of the forest during winter months is a gift of presence.”
-Andrea Fereshteh
“Some events are in the area of the soul where words cannot penetrate.”
-Neil Cassady
“There is peaceful. There is wild. I am both at the same time.”
