Views across to the Medicine Wheel plateau in the Big Horns, down the Absarokas by Cody, the cut of the Clark's Fork Canyon and west along the Beartooth front past Granite Peak. Less than two hours from home to camp in the southern Pryor foothills, yet no other humans seen for two days. Blissfully quiet nights. Exploring canyons, climbing whimsical outcroppings to find new vistas, brushing against new growth of sage to release its fresh scent, marveling at the tiny plant worlds near tree line in this high desert land and the evidence of massive geologic events. My soul food reward after turning in my grades from an unexpected, but, in itself, very rewarding semester of teaching and gallery directing.
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A 24 hour respite ... snow crystals slowly melt ... my sundry tensions, built up over this long, long winter, release and join the downstream flow... frozen barriers to my favorite mountain waterfalls, creeks, lakes and vistas continue to recede under the longer days of warm, brilliant skies ... I breathe in the spring and light and lightness... I smile and anticipate my sweet reunions with these high altitude havens which feed my soul
On this Spring Equinox, I walk while listening to Louise Erdrich’s “Plague of Doves,” in which she describes, and I experience, the snow giving way, unveiling the blond grasses and black branches under blue skies. I am grateful for the warmth and expansive views and promise of wildflowers.
Finally. A ski day. Powder. Cloud shadows dancing on the flats beyond the Palisades. Bits of sunshine and skiing in clouds making more powder.
Sculpture in the Wild in Lincoln, Montana... All of these works are reactions to the land, the space, the environment, the history of the area. International artists in residency with MFA students from U of M. It was fascinating to see and hear about how the community has been engaged in creating this park, supporting it, sustaining it, interacting with it. Kudos to the board, especially to Becky Garland, its president.
Photos: Ceiling of the teepee burner - one of the largest old structures for getting rid of timber shavings and detritus before the invention of particle board and EPA regulations. Now the gathering place at the park and . . . with surprising acoustics. A Gateway of Change (2014) Jorn Ronnau (Denmark) Materials: Ponderosa Pine, goldleaf, stone Height: 5 meters, Length 30 meters, Width 10 meters Chris Drury (UK) Artist-in-Residence 2016 Funded by Kendeda Fund and Tippet Rise Fund Picture Frame Jaakko Pernu (Finland) Material: Spruce/Pine Height: 6.8 metres (23 feet) Tyler Nansen BPSW/ University of Montana Graduate Emerging Artist September 2016 Bat Beacons House of Sky Alan Counihan (Ireland) Materials: Stainless steel, steel, pine Dimensions: 5' x 2.5' x 29' (1.5M x .75M x 8.5M) East West Passage (2015) Mark Jacobs and Sam Clayton UK) Materials: Lodge Pole Pine, Cobblestone DEPTH: 4’6” ,LENGTH: 100FT, WIDTH: 24FT Hill and Valley (2014) Steven Siegel (USA) Material: 30,000 lbs of newspaper, 28 pine lodge poles, 400 pounds of nails. Casey Schachner's "Stringer". Casey was the U of M MFA resident. Three glorious days and nights at 9000+ feet near the Medicine Wheel in the Big Horns. Thunder & lightning, Porcupine Falls, Bucking Mule Falls, negative ions energizing all my cells, deep blue skies, sunsets, wildflowers bursting with vitality, rich greens, crisp air, vast vistas and deep canyons confounding any sense of scale.
For Bucking Mule Falls, keep going past Porcupine Falls turnoff until the road deadends into a parking lot. Bucking Mules Falls Trail is 2.5 miles to a lookout down across a canyon to the falls. All of these roads are well maintained - I did them in my Volvo XC90 - just a few washboarded areas. The trail down to Porcupine Falls is very steep but perhaps only about 400 yards long? The Bucking Mule Falls trails is more gradual. Both are probably above 8000 feet . . . Robin and I had two different maps for this area - a Gazeteer and the other brand that is like the Gazateer. Neither of them was quite correct, but . . . there were a lot of friendly people on 4 wheelers willing to point out directions! Brothers, bites and beer tour 2017 (+ sister-in-law and her granddaughter + family reunion + tubing + bats...)
@Big Shucks, sweet fried and freshly shucked Gulf Coast oysters, catfish and Shiner Bock @Ten50, smoked chicken over greens @CzechStop, kolaches @WhipIn, beet hummus and Austin made kombucha @Greune Hall, Lone Star, horseshoes and listening to the Bacon Brothers (as in Kevin) do their sound check @Guadalupe riverside, watching the variety of tubing styles and fails over the cascades @PourHouse in New Braunfels, strolling into the middle of an international strong man party/fundraiser, huge, built men, Charlie Robison on stage, Karbach Love Street beer from Houston, chatting up a Comal County deputy wearing a flack jacket. @OldTunnelSP at dusk, Mexican free-tailed bats heading out across south Texas, some to the coast, to eat up nasty mosquitos Two days of ceaselessly jaw-dropping kayaking off Cat Ba Island and Buffalo Head Island in Lan Ha Bay. Cool mist, rare cat Ba langur monkeys (we saw perhaps 12 of the existing 100 doing their huge acrobatics in the flimsy brush tops), golden monkeys, endless carved limestone islets, Pthalo green water, rocked to sleep on a small junk, delicious fresh caught seafood. Grateful to our guide who knew the tide tables well enough to get us through the caves into the hidden lagoons and back out before we were caught inside. Floating permanent fishing villages.
One peaceful night on an islet off of Nam Cat Island. Our small water taxi dropped us off quickly and with no instructions. We had the place to ourselves for a bit - no staff until dinner when they boated over from another island and no other guests. Sleeping over the water with waves gently lapping the limestone cliff behind our bungalow. Fabulous, glorious, stunning day of skiing. Much needed respite, reminder of why I live in Montana, and how much fun can be had with friends, however seldom seen.
Yellowstone Club A New Year's Eve bluebird sky over fresh snow . . . Expansive wonder. My long-time friend Sharon Hall shared her wishes for 2017 and I concur: "May you deepen in truth. May resilience enfold you. May beauty heal your heart. And may our circle of love expand to all beings." Big Sky, Montana
A jaw-dropping weekend of 6-10,000 year old rock art (petroglyphs and pictographs) at Medicine Lodge and Legend Rock in central Wyoming with the last night camping in the BLM hinterlands under the one-night-shy-of-full moon. Magical.
Absent the avenues, as in the major urban centers, to turn my grief and fear of hate into collective action, a two-day solo search recharged my soul, fortitude, drive and purpose in lands eroded by water and wind, exposing eras of fertility and drought, abundant life, abrupt death and life again. My work continues.
Makoshika State Park |
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