The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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It’s been a busy couple of weeks with travel, in-person shows and getting ready for upcoming holiday shows. Throughout all the hustle and bustle, however, it occurred to me how many connections we create along our journeys. Sometimes these connections are with other people and sometimes these connections happen within ourselves. Regardless of who the connections are with, I find myself being grateful for all of them. Yes, you read that correctly, all of them. We have c...
In this last segment of my repeating history series, I’d like to point out a few things about our recent history, within the last ten years or so, and how all of our history is affecting us today, how it will affect us tomorrow and in the future. In our not-so-distant history there was a time when the right to choose whether a women could have a legal abortion, and whether it would be covered by government funding, was at play. There were women everywhere (not all women, j...
Last week’s column was on history repeating itself as it pertains to World War II and how I see similarities and correlations between events that happened in the 1930’s and 1940’s and today. I appreciate those of you who reached out to me about the column, whether it was something you liked and agreed with, didn’t like or disagreed with, or just felt the topic and information was thought provoking and made you consider things from a different angle. For this second segment...
Our world today has me thinking a lot about our past, and how little we seemed to have learned from it. I see us repeating our history in a couple of different ways and thought I would share my insights and see if it sparks any thoughts of your own on the subject. There will be three segments. The first segment takes us back to the 1930’s and 40’s when the Nazi party came into power and how it relates to things in the world today. Some may think there is no correlation bet...
There is a lot going on in the world right now. Good, bad and otherwise. But the one thing about this time of year, in my opinion, is the time to look at it all, reflect and reset. It’s no secret that Fall/Autumn is my favorite time of year. While I’m appreciative of spring, and the reprieve from winter, fall comes in a little more subtly. The nights generally get colder, the days cooler. The wind blows and there’s a constant rustling of leaves on the trees. I can liter...
Sometimes we forget how much we miss doing something we love - and how good for us it is to do those things. This past week I was reminded of just how good for my soul some of those things are, and that people care. Earlier in the year, I was invited to a birthday party and met someone I just clicked with. She and I have birthdays fairly close to one another - along with several other people in this town. While we don’t see each other very often, when we do, we just chat, p...
I recently overheard a conversation between two people while I was sitting at a machine in the Wheel Inn. I’m not sure if these two individuals, one of whom I care for a lot, knew I was there, didn’t realize they were speaking so loud or didn’t care if I heard they were talking about me. It’s not like I was in extremely close proximity to these individuals either. At any rate, I sat at the machine, pressing the “bet one” and “play” buttons, using my allotted $20 for the eve...
Last week may have been all about giving grace, but this week there’s an apparent need for setting the record straight on a few things… First, when has it become acceptable to call someone at their place of employment to “chew them out” because you didn’t agree with the way they handled an incident outside of the workplace? I’ll tell you when: NEVER. It’s rude, it’s disrespectful and it’s selfish. The case in point I’m referring to is an incident that happened last week....
I’ve been on quite the whirlwind of adventures this last month. I’ve traveled to Idaho, Whitehall, Alaska, Eureka and recently just down the road from my house to this past weekend’s Lincoln Arts and Music Festival. During these travels, I’ve encountered many people and many situations where I was reminded how important it is to not only receive a little grace, but to extend a little grace to others myself. Most encounters with the people I interacted with were positiv...
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...
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...
