A Walk in the Rain

Kalispell, Montana -- Woodland Park, June 9, 2012 -- Started out a raining/sleet pelting day. Ended up beautiful, wet, and memorable. Hope you enjoy these pictures. I find this place enchanting. A place of love. The tile gazebo is something new to me. One of the tiles had 2003 on it. I moved from the area in 1994. Glad to see it only gets better every visit.

Fall Colors Are Flying By

I started taking pictures of the gigantic tree in our front yard. It acts as an umbrella to us during the summer months keeping the hot sun off our house and picture window. The tree is also a haven for us to sit under in a two seater swing or at the picnic table (not once did I use our colorful umbrella this year).



I have fallen in love with the branches and how intricate and woven they appear to be. So standing underneath with my digital camera, I started snapping photos. My husband thought I was a little on the crazy side of life at the time, but let me have my whim.



Then I started taking photos when the leaves changed and also noticed that this year in Great Falls, Montana we seem to have been blessed with a real season of Fall. Last year, it just blew through the neighbor hood and weather beat upon the leaves making them crash to the ground and become a swamp we could not even wade through.



I felt I had an angel appear from out of no where with a contraption I had never seen before and he vacuumed my leaves and I helped him empty into big yard sacks -- only asking for a donation -- "Any small amount will do," he said.

This year, the leaves have fallen a few at a time and been more manageable in raking and removing. I look at the tree and see it bare but am not depressed for winter will come and hopefully go quick enough that I can begin to enjoy the green and shade once again. Don't get me wrong, I do love all the seasons but will admit to being more partial to some than others.



Hope you are enjoying your colors, cooler temperatures, and the changing of the seasons.

A Tree With Character

I had to take a picture of this tree. I love it!!! I think it is absolutely beautiful and has character.

It also reminds me of the Robert Brown poem: The Road Not Taken (with forks in the road).

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20

Nature Walks - Beautiful Scenery

My family and I have been blessed to return to Montana. I am not writing or saying that Tennessee was not a lovely and colorful place with plenty of nature to see all around us, but we have been enjoying outings and taking more pictures here recently of things we are seeing and appreciating.

This picture is of the kids walking across a little bridge at Lewis & Clark State Park and Fish Hatchery.



These pictures of trees were taken at the Goat Lick in Glacier National Park.




The kids played in the water at Whitefish, MT where the scenery is gorgeous. A good time was had by all, including the ducks that visited me for some potato chips.


Here are Avery with his new found rock and Wynston all smiles in the water.



The scenery back behind them was as breath-taking as ever -- The Big Mountain, a busy ski site in the winters.




This picture was taken outside my aunt and uncle's house. I years ago stepped outside during the winter to take a picture of the snow covered scenery and the trees, only to get locked out and no one else was home. I had to travel and visit a neighbor for short while during that mishap.

On the way home from our Labor Day weekend travels to the Kalispell area, we decided to take a little bit different route. We drove through smaller towns like Choteau, Valier, Bynum, and Fairfield. Here are a few photos while driving that my boys took from the van. Also, thrown in is a little humor -- Wynston said the shadow reflection our van was casting off looked like SHREK . . . so we were following him on our way back home to Great Falls, MT.