The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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Do you ever have those people who you know you can just be you with? You know, the ones you talk over plans and dreams and kick around ideas you’ve been mulling over in your own mind. I like to call these folks “my tribe.” This past weekend, I went to Eureka for a fiber festival and show. I particularly like this event be-cause it’s one of those hidden treasures, and I usually consider it my weekend getaway in the middle of my festival circuit. I also like this event because...
Some of you may have noticed the absence of a column from me last week. I was finally traveling with family and close friends (after a year’s postponement) to Alaska to fulfill my dad’s final wishes. He had two, actually. One was to be able to die at home, which he did, and the second was to have his ashes spread at a fishing hole he and my stepmom visited for the last 25 years before he passed away. More than having his ashes spread, I think his wish was to have us all togeth...
The recent death of Leah Lokan from a grizzly bear mauling while camping in Ovando, Mont. on July 6 has reinforced the need to maintain and enhance efforts to protect human safety and to reduce conflicts with grizzly bears in our communities. We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and the Blackfoot Challenge Board of Directors and staff offer our sincerest condolences to Leah Lokan's family, friends, and loved ones. We also want to thank the first responders and the community...
I’m just returning from two back-to-back weekend shows where I taught and had a booth selling my fiber-wares. I’d forgotten how much work these shows are; in the preparing for them, traveling to them, setting up, breaking down, loading vehicles, unloading vehicles, reloading vehicles. What I didn’t forget, and what I was looking forward to more than anything, was connecting with people I hadn’t seen in over a year. Lincoln also had a very busy couple of weekends with the 4th-o...
Believe it or not, there are occasionally times that I sit down to write this column, and I have no idea what I’m going to write about. It’s usually after a very long and crazy week, which was the exact definition of last week. There was a lot to do before my first in-person show of the year, where - in more than a year - I would be able to teach in person again. There also seemed to be something going on every night last week. Usually, I keep my schedule to a meeting or fun...
This past weekend we celebrated America’s 245th birthday. For some, this meant having a three day weekend, barbecues, and family gatherings. For others, it meant road trips and camping, setting off or watching 4th of July fireworks, parades, and festivities. It has been all of those things for me at one point or another, but this year there was something in my heart and soul that wanted me to look back and remember why we celebrate this specific holiday. According to the H...
Over the last several years we seem to have gone from being a society of people, as a whole, working together and working hard for what we have, to having a larger part of society who feels they are entitled or even owed things they have never worked for. Theft is on the rise, violence is on the rise, and all-around good people and good things seem to be on the decline. Some people have their own theories as to why this is happening. I have mine as well. In my opinion, what...
We all have a family. Some we are born into, and others we find along the way. Sometimes the family we’re born into isn’t the family we spend the most of our time with. For some, the family we choose to spend time with are those people who make us feel the most at home, the most comfortable, the most accepted. I like to refer to these people as my tribe, and they tend to be the people who show the most love and support and who I feel I can confide in and trust. The def...
In recent weeks I’ve had a lot of people ask me where I come up with the ideas for this column. Usually, my response is something to the effect of “just things I think about,” or “the things in my head.” Some are perplexed that there could be that many things I things I think about on a regular basis. Others, like my other half and those who know me pretty well, will often joke that they would never want to be in my head, and regard it as a bit of a scary place. Fortunately fo...
Well, the garden season is suddenly upon us. It's already June and our soil is finally dried out a bit from the rain and warmed up a bit from the snow. However, since we live in the mountains, we know that the temperatures drop quickly due to fluctuating air currents and clear nights. Gardeners often have a stash of old sheets and miscellaneous plastic to throw over our tender crops. But there's a product called Row Cover that is lightweight, allows sunlight and water through...
This past week I had to say goodbye to my canine companion and best shotgun road trip partner. It was a tough few days, especially those leading up to her appointment. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to call and cancel that appointment, but that would have been selfish and no way to honor the companion who had given me so much of herself over the last 13 years. I met Baby in 2008. She was three. I was an overnight vet tech in an animal ER. By day, I worked at the a...
Sometimes, circumstances, differing opinions, actions from others and even our own actions, call for conversations in order to clear the air, make things better, and convey our thoughts. Sometimes we have those conversations with ease. Other times, those conversations can be difficult… very difficult. I feel like this past year there have been a lot of difficult conversations, mostly because there have been a lot of difficult circumstances, serious differing opinions, and a d...
If you take a look around, almost anywhere in the state (and likely the country) you’ll notice something in almost every place of business: a “Help Wanted” sign. They are taped to the windows and doors of almost every business and if you’re a social media person, the pleas on Facebook looking for help are endless. Business owners are struggling to find anyone to fill positions, especially in the areas of retail, food service, hospitality, and the like. Getting anyone to appl... Full story
There are several things in life that are personal in nature. Some remain private forever, while others are private things you talk over with close friends and family. Politics, religion, health issues and the like are some of those things I see as personal and often private. So why in the world does everyone think it’s their business whether any of us choose to get, or not to get, a vaccine for COVID? In the last two weeks alone I have been asked more than a dozen times wheth...
As I was visiting with a young man from Illinois recently, the obvious difference between the open space in Montana vs. Illinois came up. He felt like there's much more opportunity for life here, with all the space. I had to agree. Then when I got home I began thinking about the connection to gardening. I still have a few tomato and pepper plants that need to be divided and put into their own pots. Plants have much more opportunity for abundant life and production when they...
Life is too short to live in a negative state of anything. It’s too short to live in pain, it’s too short to live in fear, and t’s definitely too short to keep wishing for time to go by. Believe me, it goes by quickly enough all on its own without wishing the time away. It’s too short to argue about things that don’t matter, and it’s too short to surround yourself with people who don’t see or appreciate your value. It’s also too short to be stuck doing things that don’t bring you joy, or make a difference in this world someho...
If the last couple of weeks kept me busy preparing and this week has been all about recovery, then I’m here to tell you, moving forward has me really coming to terms with things I’m not very good at. Apparently all of my good, hard effort at developing patience has all but flown out the window, along with something else I’m even worse at… asking for and accepting help. While we’re on the subject of things I’m not very good at, let’s throw in being a person who has great ide...
As humans, it seems we're always preparing for something. As children, we're more being prepared for things than actually preparing for ourselves. We're prepared to crawl, walk, talk, go to school, learn to swim and other activities. As we get older, we prepare for tests in school by studying the content, we prepare for sporting activities by going to practice, and we prepare to get our driver's license. Later, we prepare for college, graduation, careers, marriage, or not...
It’s often said gardening clears a person’s mind, puts them in touch with the land and relieves stress. I’ve gardened pretty much since I moved to Montana, but what if gardening is something different, and what if it’s more than what we’d thought it would be? See, my take is that gardening is more like our minds, our energy, than I’d previously thought of in the past. I’m starting to think of it like this quote I read somewhere… probably on Facebook, but unfortunately I...
One day, I’ll get it all together… I say this every year about the time I get ready to file my taxes. And each year, I do have it a little more together than the previous year, but in my mind, still not together enough. I guess what I mean by “getting it all together” is being organized. In terms of taxes, it means all of my receipts in one spot, all of my expenses, all of my income and special documents needed for this purpose, and maybe a spreadsheet that had all of that in...
From the center of the state at Lewistown, it is 262 miles to Sidney and just a few miles further to the Dakota line. At night you can drive 50 miles or more and never see another vehicle. Fly over it at after dark and you rarely notice a light. This far-flung portion of Hwy 200 traverses Montana's loneliest stretch of geography. But that is this huge swath of landscapes greatest asset. For what it lacks in civilization, it makes up for in the grandeur of the prairie and the...
Welcome to Instant Spring, Montana style. Although the sunny days are far from warming the soil, the snow is gradually sinking into the ground and it’s certainly warming my heart and energizing me for some planting. As I peer daily at the seed trays, waiting for that first peek of a green seedling, I am reminded at the wonder of a seed. I’m amazed at what a seed is, and what it does. Seeds are packages of dormant genetic material with spectacular capabilities - a miraculous design waiting to come alive. Henry David Tho...
People have often said that there are always two sides to a story. In actuality, there really are at least three sides to every story, especially in stories containing two people and some sort of disagreement. In my opinion, there is the side from one person’s perspective, the side from the other person’s perspective, and somewhere in the middle lies the closest version to the actual truth. Sometimes it helps to have this perspective, especially when you’re the one with a side...
At any given time, there could be anywhere from three to twenty books that I’m reading. While most people keep their books neatly stacked on their nightstand, mine are, more often than not, scattered on my bed. Most of mine are usually in the realm of self-help or self-improvement. (Let’s face it, we all could use a little self-help and improvement, whether we know and recognize it, or not). I like to have at least one fictional book or novel to help me leave reality for a whi...
As a country, we've just come through easily the worst election of my lifetime and one where obvious weaknesses in our system were exposed. Most Montanans I talk to are eager to put those passions behind them and get back to normal. Turning down the temperature is going to take work from us all, but one thing that is definitely needed is an election process everyone agrees is fair and transparent. We rely on elections to settle disputes over our most closely-held values. We...
