Whirlwind Yosemite

End of the Summer Party

The food was a delicious and the rain stopped long enough to gift us this double rainbow.

Running Around Montana & Wyoming

Butte Folk Festival 2015

The music was great, the rain poured down, and the crowds danced with abandon.  A great event with its shit together.  The lack of hot weather and added challenge of not getting soaked in the rain enhanced the fun experience.  It helped that we'd all dragged our rain jackets along. 

Good friends and the epitome of crowd watching rounded out the day.  This three sided chalk board is something new.  Quite intriguing to see what folks decide to put down to represent themselves.  And the discovery of the Front Street Market import store, hiding out in plain sight in downtown Butte, loaded to the brim with items you would never imagine (pickled patty pan squash anyone?) was a real gem to discover.  

Seeley Lake June - Maiden Kayak Voyage

It was a gorgeous day for my first outing and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I had forgotten just how much I love the water. 

Fairview Hike June 2015

This 9 mile hike is perhaps the longest hike I've done in one day. The area is north of Helena, with a group doing a "key exchange," half the group starts at each end and drives the other half's vehicles, then returns the owner's key at the half-way lunch stop.  A lively group of speedsters, moderates, and slow poke photographers, the group was spread apart over several miles.  A perfect cooler, slightly overcast day presented perfect hiking conditions.  A narrow rocky cliff trail challenged those of us with slight height issues.  I never did look at the no doubt spectacular view, but rather kept my eyes on my next step ahead of me.  Steady breathing kept me at an even keel.  One false move would induce an unhappy ending for the unlucky hiker.  I did not want to fill that role, and safely made it to the end of the offending trail. Several pooh-poohed those of us who stated a more dicey stretch would certainly have proved problematic.

Bizarre shit  happens, and it is wise to take these circumstances seriously.  Look at those three young bible hikers who launched over the falls at Yosemite a few years back.  Just wading out for a photo op in shallow waters at the edge led to their untimely demise, one after another trying to save each other.  Not the smartest folks, they breached the "do not pass barricade" signs and climbed over the guardrail.  The many onlookers witnessed a disturbing event, their young kids in tow, as they saw the scared eyes of the three realize they were about to meet their end.  

More

How do you interact with someone who sports a razor thin comfort zone? Respecting the boundaries presents challenges I had not encountered prior to this individual.  Discovering how very flexible I am myself also came as a surprise.  

Very rigid types need the fluidity of a go with the flow, turn on a dime companion.  Due to their narrow, narrow focus though, these traits will not only go unappreciated, but totally unrecognized.  This, the flexer must accept, over and over again, like ground hog day.  The restrictive bonds feel tight to wear, the urge to breathe deep and rip the seams strong.  Let's just _____, fill in the blank, keeps popping in my brain.  Accepting the ironclad rules someone you care for deeply places on their being, a lifelong sentence burdening each moment of each day is pain by association.  Nothing I can say or do will ever make a dust speck of a difference.  A hard pill to swallow.

Memorial Day Weekend

Water is very healing and this lake is one of  my favorite Montana places.  The steady rhythm of the waves colliding with the shore induce a calming mood.  

Buzzing around the lake, touristing the small artsy main street shops and sampling the local microbrews doesn't hurt either.  

People watching as a full time sport includes the spectacle of thundering Harleys roaring down the quaint town center, projecting a "you may not care for us, but you will not ignore us" vibe.  The leathered up ladies wearing their "don't fuck with me" scowls, perched up on their elevated thrones behind their men, each sporting an enlarged, jiggling middle section.  I'm not sure the image in their heads matches the impressions of the onlookers.  

Montana winters are long, and spring is a slow motion dance of fits and starts before summer finally arrives.  By then you are faced with cramming the most you can into 10 or so weekends of travel, outdoor activities and the local music festivals.  Packing the summer schedule is an art most Montanans hone out of necessity.  Those of us who are transplants also learn the skill.  Lest you approach the short, autumn days with a downtrodden, sinking feeling that you missed your chance and now face the long, dark winter before the sunshine warms your skin again.

San Francisco 2015

Life is full of adventures.  I like mine full tilt.  Taking risks is a scary proposition, but not taking them is death by apathy.  My whirlwind long weekend to San Francisco was full of surprise encounters, great food and drink, sights, sounds, smells and three days of companionship with the most unique and interesting person I've ever had the fortune to spend time with.  I am forever thankful for these memories emblazoned on my soul.

Artistic Expression - The Lines Are Not So Blurred

Got to Give it Up vs. Blurred Lines

This has nothing to do with evoking a feeling or emotion.  Listen to both songs.  I'm glad the case recognized you cannot simply overlay a new vocal track with different words and call it a different song.  The backing track, complete with hoots and hollers and "cow bell" is very nearly identical.  For Farrell and Thicke to claim they were only inspired or paying tribute to Gaye is a crock.  Rather than put a crimp in creativity, hopefully this case will compel artists to come up with their own ideas, instead of lazily copying the masters in their field.  Imitation may be the purist form of flattery, but plagiarism is just stealing someone else's art and calling it your own.