Looming
Mount Carter looms through a passing storm above Bowman Lake in northwestern Glacier National Park a couple of weeks ago.
After a wet start, our summer has taken a dramatic turn for the drier. Storms these days may bring only desiccating wind and lightning, further exacerbating an already-dry landscape and bringing us into a very early fire season. Our thoughts and best wishes extend to all of those affected by the extreme forest fires burning around Bozeman and throughout the West.
Pretty Harmless
The brilliant red growth on the tip of this maple leaf is a batch of galls, caused by tiny mites. Initially, they are green, then red, finally black, but according to Penn State University’s entomology department, they’re pretty harmless. We saw this maple while dodging raindrops along the shoreline of Bowman Lake, in western Glacier National Park, last week. It’s good to know something so pretty isn’t going to kill the plant.
To the Caverns
My pal Al Kesselheim and I are giving a talk together Saturday, June 30, at Lewis and Clark Caverns for one of their series of Arts and Activites Events. Our talk begins at 7:30 p.m. and we’ll tell stories and show pictures from our book, Montana: Real Place, Real People — including the story of Elsie Fox, who was 100 years old when we interviewed her in Miles City. Elsie was once on J. Edgar Hoover’s list of Most Dangerous People.
Come out early and take a tour of the caverns. They’re spectacular.
Craftsman with a bicycle
This is August Cary, who was a great model for a commercial shoot I did recently with MercuryCSC celebrating crafts people. August is a bike mechanic for Summit Bikes in Bozeman and not only took time out from his work day to pose, but was very patient with a crew of people trying to get lighting, background and composition just right while he just stood there looking at a bicycle wheel. Great job, August, and thanks.
Montana Pride in Bozeman
While working for a client over the weekend, I found myself at the Montana Pride parade in downtown Bozeman. Montana Pride is an annual gay pride event that is hosted by one of Montana’s larger towns. This year was Bozeman’s turn.
There is something about watching people be accepted for who they are that makes me feel good. It was a very colorful event.
Hey, I’m a speaker!
I had a fantastic time giving a talk last week at the Bozeman Public Library, for their Living Your Passion series.
My talk is titled, “Be Who You Is,” and it’s about the genuine and authentic places and characters I’ve come across here in the True West over the course of my 20-year career.
We share stories and photos from Yellowstone and around the state of Montana over the course of an hour, talking about what’s really important and admiring the sincere beauty of the rural American West. True, the Internet has enabled us to communicate with one another in a way that the world has never seen before. In many ways, it is bringing us closer together, but it is also driving us apart. We talk about the dangers of surrounding ourselves with only those that agree with us. We share inspiring stories of those who have remained true to themselves in spite of our society’s pressures to conform.
I’m always looking for places to present. So if you have any ideas, please send me an email.
Good press
Wonderful Machine has just posted a nice article on their blog about Montana: Real Place, Real People. Thanks, WM!
This Just In
At long last, a pile of books now takes the place of my car inside my garage.
We’re thrilled with the reproduction in these books and those of you who placed pre-orders will soon receive those copies, if you haven’t already.
If you want to know more about what’s in the book, see this post or check this page on my website.
There was a slight glitch in communicating with the printer so we are offering two versions of the book, a soft cover edition and a limited-edition, numbered hard cover. The hard cover was going to include a slip case, but those didn’t arrive so we’ve discounted the hard cover price down to $60 (the soft cover is still $29.95).
The hard cover edition is still really fancy and a great value at $60. It is sized and printed so well, it will work equally well on display on your coffee table or on your bookshelf. And each book is hand numbered and signed by both authors. We are only going to print 200 of these — ever — and they’re only available through Al and I. And probably a quarter of them are already gone, so if you’re interested in this collectable work, don’t wait too long.
Although the soft cover is or will soon be available in bookstores across the country, if you order through me, your book will be signed by both authors and shipped to your door.
You can order here if you want to use Paypal or your credit card. If you want to send me a check instead, let me know through the telephone (406.599.1101) or send me an email.
Thanks!
True West Heads East
We’re headed east this week to visit potential clients in the Midwest. But we had to make time to visit Badlands National Park in South Dakota today as the storm we had been driving through all day caught us yet again.
Lambing
Just minutes old, a lamb finds its first meal in front of the Bridger Mountains at Willow Spring Ranch.
Some of you may remember this post about the Maremma sheep guard dogs at Willow Spring Ranch north of Bozeman. My friend Al Kesselheim were invited back up to the ranch recently to witness their annual lambing. Here’s what we saw:
Katy Harjes bottle-feeds an orphan lamb.
Richard Harjes gives a molasses and mineral mix to a newborn lamb, under the watchful eye of the newborn's mother.
The nursery is a portion of the lambing barn dedicated to solidifying the connections between lambs and their mothers. After 24-36 hours, the pairs are ready for the pasture.
There are about 10 dogs in various roles at the ranch. Richard Harjes puts one of his border collies, Fat Boy, to herding a group of rams.
Maremma sheep dogs like Titus work through the night guarding their flocks. Daytime is a little more relaxed — especially when Katy or Richard come to inspect the health of the sheep.
Richard takes a good look at one of his rams. The Harjeses keep a select group of rams for breeding.
Thomas Lee True West 