The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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We're all just "one away" from something. One day, one choice, one decision, one contact, one drink, one hit, one breath away from something different in our lives. Sometimes our "one-aways" are insignificant, or at least they seem so at the time. And other times, they are life-changing. For an addict or an alcoholic, that one drink or one hit and the decision to take it or not is the difference between sobriety and falling off the wagon. For the procrastinator (and yes, this...
It's always amazing to me the people I meet while I'm traveling and teaching, and the lessons I learn from them along the way. This past weekend I was in Farmington, Utah teaching at the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair. It's my second year teaching at this event, and it seems each year I'm there, I meet some of the most amazing people and reconnect with ones I see only at festivals. Some will say it's the teacher who is supposed to teach, but often I find I can learn as much from...
This week I'll be traveling, and for the first time in a very long time (three years to be exact), I'll be "heading home." I'm excited for the trip and the opportunity to spend some quality time with my mom, and in the sunshine. She says it's been cool there but let's be honest, her cool is Lincoln's spring, heading towards summer. I was going to bring my swimsuit, but instead she said I should bring a sweater. I'll bring both, just in case... This trip will take me back to...
Everyone has a talent, whether they realize it or not, and there are so many different ways to express ourselves. There are those who create art with a paintbrush while others have an amazing voice. Some can make something out of nothing, or have a sense of style people wish they had more of, and yet others can make people feel good just by being in the same room with them. Some people create amazing food, others raise awareness, some raise funds to help those less fortunate....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Has anyone else notices the slight yet growing cost of everything lately, or is it just me? Everything from food prices and gas prices to the ridiculous cost of building materials and more. I’m one of those “track my money” folks because I live on a budget. I know how much money I bring home from my various jobs. I know what should go into savings, what I have to spend on necessities like food, clothing, gas, pet needs, etc., and how much “fun money” I have to do with as I...
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...
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...
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...
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...
