a few picture updates

I really don't understand how so much time can slither by between posts. I'm trying to update more often, but it doesn't seem to be working. I admit, I have more pressing things to do than update my blog . . .















I have been told that pictures are good. So I will cater to those of you who require visual stimulation--you'd better be happy! (Okay, okay, I like pictures, too. I like visual stimulation as much as the next person. Plah.)

This above shot is the view out my window the other evening. We haven't gotten much snow lately, but every once in awhile we get a dusting, and of course the snow stays on the mountains longer. On this particular evening, when I walked home from work it was both snowing and sunny. Montana is a marvelous place to live.

And, back to Christmas break, here's Linds toasting me with her Mountain Dew at her dad's house up in Spirit Lake. Love ya, girl!















Here's my adorable kid sister with a typical expression during one of our riveting games of Global Pursuit. She wasn't winning, AND she was about to do her chicken impression. Beware!
















My girls came to visit me--they drove down on the morning of New Year's Eve through a blizzard, and we had a lovely couple of days together, even though Amos was sick and sniffling the entire time. But Beth and Britta and I took good care of her and made sure she had plenty of time to sleep.















Here's Sarah and I at her wedding! I was her personal attendant (and corsage/boutonniere-pinner), so I got a picture with the radiant bride AND a corsage. It was a gorgeous ceremony, for those of you who weren't there.




















And here's Sarah with her new hubby. (Note how well Josh's boutonniere is pinned! Ahem.)














And now, back to Montana! Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures from my contra dance weekend in Bozeman. Not any dancing pictures, that is. Here's the "backyard" of the place we stayed, out on the edge of town:















And here are Christa, Teresa and I, looking gorgeous, completely stylish, and not at ALL mismatched at the TropiContra dance. (The pants are to ward off the cold as we walk home. We do NOT wear them while we dance. But even if we did, no one would think twice about it!)




















And one final picture, of me (because I'm a complete narcissist) in all my contra-dancing glory. Gotta love the lei!




















Insha'allah this will make happy all of you who have been pining away for pictures. More to come next week, after I spend the weekend with my sister in Washington! We hope to take the ferry out to the San Juan Islands and maybe even up to Vancouver Island if we're feeling ambitious. I LOVE FERRIES. Actually, it's more the fact that ferries travel on water. I LOVE WATER. Mmm. And the water filling the Strait of Juan de Fuca is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Oh, pictures will come! Pictures will most definitely come.

upcoming travels

Now that I have the nice little mapper-dealio on my blog, I feel an increasing obligation to update my blog more often since I can see how many people are actually reading it! So, this is for all of you, from Lynden to San Jose to Minneapolis to Baltimore to Baton Rouge.

Last weekend I went moonlight skiing. There was a full moon on Groundhog Day, and a small group of Missoulians decided to go up to the Lubrecht forest to cross country ski beneath the light of the moon. It was cloudy when we arrived, cloudy and full dark, though the moon's radiance still infused the clouds with luminescence, and we were able to ski without any other lights. Every once in awhile I noticed a patch of starry sky, but the moon remained hidden as we skiied through the forest. But then, as we skiied down a small hill, we came out of the trees and alongside a wide meadow. At that moment the final wisps of cloud blew away and the moon came out, its full brightness beaming down upon the snow-covered meadow, the forest, the mountain peaks surrounding us. The landscape was stark black and white--white snow, white light, black tree, black shadow. My skis squeaked against the snow, but beyond that there was no other sound. The stars shone in the sky, but their light was dimmed by the vivid glow of the moon. I wouldn't have been surprised to see fauns and dryads dancing in the meadow; and the light sparkles sprinkled on the snow must have been due in part to fairy wings . . .


It's been warm this week--too warm for February. Last Monday I had to remove my coat while walking downtown because I was too warm. I am not ready for spring yet! I need a few more weeks of winter, of cold, of snow. None of this 60-degree weather. This is Montana, not California. Plah.

Things I am looking forward to:

1. Contra dance next weekend. It HAS to be better than the one we had last week--which was the most awful dance I've been to. Of course, it didn't help that I was just coming off the high of Wintergreen; how could any regular weekly dance compare with that?

2. Visiting Andrea in Lynden in early March. !! We are hoping to take the ferry to the San Juan Islands and perhaps even to Victoria, BC. I haven't been to this part of the country in three years and it will be wonderful! And wonderful, too, to see my kid sister. Por supuesto.

3. Visiting Rach in Baltimore in early April. Woohoo! Ethiopian food . . . coffee shops . . . maybe visiting DC . . . seeing her and Kara's gorgeous apartment . . . Tricia and Benjamin possibly coming down to spend time with us, too . . . yay.

4. Hee hee. Going to Peru with Janelley in May. It's going to be such a great time--seeing Lake Titicaca, hiking the Inca Trail, prowling around Cusco, exploring Machu Picchu--I can't wait!

Yay, travel. I've not gotten out of Missoula much lately, and it will be good to see friends again, see other parts of the country, of the world--I feel the need to broaden my horizons again. I was thinking today that I've lived in Missoula for almost 2 years. This is remarkable, considering that I've moved to a new location every year for the past five. I've been feeling restless lately, wondering what it means to be committed to a place, wondering how I can do more to plug myself in here. It's not always easy, even in a community as welcoming and friendly as Missoula. Suggestions?