Adventure Twin Bridges
Meet James and Gayle Real, who own the Blue Anchor restaurant in Twin Bridges, Montana.
A story my friend Al Kesselheim and I did for Montana Quarterly was picked up by Adventure Cycling and it talks about how Twin Bridges, struggling like most small towns in the West, embraced the cycling tourists that were streaming through town and in turn, cycling has provided business owners like the Reals with a small economic boom.
It pays to be adaptable.
Travel
I’m drawn lately to Montana’s Golden Triangle, a fertile yet harsh region of the state with amazing, dramatic scenery. Last week, I headed up through Helena along the Missouri River to Great Falls, then over the Rocky Mountain Front to Lincoln and back home to Bozeman.
I want to be an apple
For an exercise, I was recently asked to make a photograph showing how I see myself in 10 years. I couldn’t really come up with any concrete professional or personal goals, but I do know that I want to become more and more my own person and my own artist. And these past few years, I’ve made some progress toward that end. I’m hoping that continues and I can find myself an apple among oranges. I hope you can, too.
Got My Goat — Not
I read somewhere that goats are popular animals these days and thought of this group I came across in Basin, Montana. It turns out that these are Barbados blackbellies — a type of sheep imported from their namesake country in the Caribbean. I hear lambs are especially lean, tender and tasty, but I just remember them as friendly, curious creatures — like goats.
Cowboy Tiki
My friend and business partner, Doug Loneman, and another friend and I are leaving shortly for a weekend road trip. One of the places we’re going to stop is the Sip N Dip Lounge in Great Falls, complete with mermaids. This is an iconic place in Montana and possible everywhere else as well. How many bars are both Cowboy and Tiki?
Doug is a big fan of Pat the organist, who has played at the Sip N Dip for decades. It should be a fun night.
Heading East
I’m heading east to Lame Deer on Wednesday, near Broadus, where this picture was taken. Hope the weather is a little clearer this time.
Self portrait
I’ve been working with Ian Summers for a couple of years now in an effort to re-direct my career to its next step, wherever that may be. I recently did this self-portrait as an exercise and really got a lot out of it. A good portrait shows who the person is and who do we know better than ourselves?
When I shot the picture, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of the new world I’m exploring. As I write less than a week later, I’m feeling excited about the big blank canvas I have left to paint during my life. To me, the picture works for both feelings because a sense of determination and resolve is always present.
I hope your world is exciting, fresh and filled with good things to come. Let’s all keep working.
Something pretty
Frenchtown, Montana
Fifteen Years
Becca Murphy has taught children to ski for the last 15 years at the local ski area, Bridger Bowl.
Determination
Jim Posewitz
I seem to have reached an age when I know of lots of people battling cancer. Perhaps you do as well.
Here’s Jim Posewitz’s take on life. I found his grit and drive inspiring. I hope all of you will, too, especially those of you powering through a dip in the ups and downs of life.
Thomas Lee True West 