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Rainy nights. Sunny days. Moderate temperatures. “I could live in this season forever,” I said to a friend this morning. If only. Right? Nope, we get to experience all things. We got to experience a mountain-storm almost-tsunami the other night. A right whopper. A few days prior, during a lighter storm, I lay in bed thinking about geography. I’m at the foot of mountains. If a phenomenal rainstorm, something much more than the ordinary, were to burst forth, we could be flood...
Biodiversity is simply the web of life that includes us. Montana lists over 300 species at risk or potentially at risk. That is evidence that the global biodiversity crisis is a Montana crisis as well. This crisis calls for a national biodiversity strategy. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon introduced in the Senate a resolution to create a national biodiversity strategy, S. Res. 494: “A resolution expressing the need for the Federal Government to establish a national biodiversity strategy for protecting biodiversity for current a...
There are 33 million reasons to protect Medicare Advantage. That’s how many American seniors and persons with disabilities rely on the program for affordable health care with more benefits and better health outcomes at a lower cost than fee-for-service Medicare. I should know — as a senior living with tight margins every month, the cost of my health care is very important to me given the increase in costs of just about everything these days. Thankfully, Sen. Jon Tester has long been a supporter of Medicare Advantage, a pro...
I am packing the long packing. I am saying the long good bye. I am readying myself for the big move, the great distance of ten kilometers, all the way to far off, exotic Oconahua, a move which is months away. I love where I am living now, this place, this small house, all my plants. Nobody would ever question my love for this place. And this place has loved me back, big loves. Everybody’s financial and personal situations are different. We who live on the rancho are a v...
Last night, my husband, Peter, and I went to see the play “Come From Away.” I read about it last year, waited for the day tickets were available, and bought the very best cheap seats I could buy. I love going to the theater more than almost anything, so you might be surprised to learn my husband is not much of a theatergoer. I’ve learned, over the years, if I ask him months in advance, he imagines the date will never come and agrees to go with me — and that’s what he did when...
Having proudly served as former secretaries of state in Montana, we understand how important democracy is to the people of our state. It’s not a matter of what side of the aisle you stand on — it’s a matter of what you value. Recently our state’s Supreme Court reaffirmed that Montanan’s right to cast a ballot is not a mere privilege — it is a right guaranteed by our Constitution. A coalition of lawmakers in Congress, including Montana’s Sen. Jon Tester, are working to uphold the integrity of our democracy through the F...
I never learned my multiplication tables. Not really. To this day, if you ask me, “What is six times nine?” out of the blue, with some urgency, I will panic. (Please don’t do this.) The troubles started when I was transferred from one math class to another in the third grade. I now understand that this was some sort of promotion from lower math to higher math, but it did not feel like that at the time. Almost immediately, I realized everyone around me was privy to some secret...
I’m not going into a lot of detail. There was a death, not unexpected, in the family who own this rancho. It’s a big family, a lot of history here. For the past few days, it’s felt like, humor me here, spirits wandering, a lot of back and forth, disconnected and disconcerted. I’m talking about a lot of restless spirits. I’m sensitive to these things, to an extent. Aware, that’s all. This morning I woke up angry, for no discernable reason and with no object for my anger. This...
When it comes to hunter crowding and the state of mule deer, non-resident hunting pressure and harvests aren’t the only culprits, but mounting evidence shows they’re a big one. According to an FWP Interoffice Memorandum dated 5/6/2024, the “total Region 6 mule deer harvest in 2023 was estimated at 9,986, 28% above the 26-year average” and — for the first time ever — non-residents harvested more antlered mule deer than Montana residents in Region 6. The memo added that “antlerless harvest in 2023 was 35% above the 26-year a...
Having lost an election, I know it hurts to lose. I know, too, that there is a good life beyond losing because I’ve been living it for the past 20 years. I know that the people’s will in a democracy can only be determined by a process of elections; American democracy has successfully functioned on that model since George Washington. When the people lose their faith in elections, democracy is finished. There have been as many losers as winners in our legacy of elections extending back over 230 years. By their respect for the...
Out of nowhere, no foretaste, foretelling, forewarning, it dropped from the sky, swooning, gobsmacked us in the best way. Rain, glorious, wondrous, wet, rain. Before the sun settled, the rain swung low like a sweet chariot, and dropped love from the sky. The trees, the grasses, the flowers, the chili peppers, the weeds, me; we all lifted our arms in glad welcome. Lola The Dog scurried into her wee casita and hovered against the back wall. Lola is not a water dog. She cools...
My dad doesn’t like asking for help. He told me this recently when he asked if I could help him put out the dock. His knee was bothering him, and the dock was pulled up on shore at a steep incline. The dock frame was rolled into the water and then the boards of the dock were laid into place. It was a good job for two people and two sets of hands, especially since my dad’s knee is bothering him and he’s been legally blind for a number of years. My dad doesn’t like asking...
The dangers of lead exposure for children are well known and many schools across Montana have made great strides to protect students and staff from lead in drinking water. But a number of Montana schools have not yet taken action and the possibility of lead in school drinking water continues to be a serious concern. Children are particularly at risk because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults and the risks from lead include anemia, kidney and brain damage, as well as learning disabilities and decreased growth. B...
Truly. I’ve nothing to say. My mind is fried, blackened to a carbon crisp beneath the unrelenting heat dome. The way it is today is the way it will be forever and ever, amen. I know that is a big, fat lie, but it is the way I feel. Discouraged. Every morning I scurry to get basic cleaning done before 9:00 because three-digit heat comes with companionable dust. I knock back the most visible dirt and mop the floors because that layer of dust is slick and slick is dangerous to o...
I’m about the only person I know without a tattoo. Well, this is not true. My parents don’t have tattoos, and I don’t think most of their friends do — although I’ve not done a close inspection. That would be hard to do, and probably not very polite. But among people my age and younger, I’ve become something of an oddity, yet I can honestly say I’ve never considered getting one. This isn’t because I have anything against tattoos. I’ve seen some that were beautiful. But I’ve als...
Recently, I joined other National Farmers Union leaders in meetings with the House Ag and Senate Ag committees about each of their versions of the 2024 Farm Bill. Based on those discussions, a tight timeline, and the need for modifications to both versions, I’m not optimistic for the passage of a 2024 Farm Bill but foresee another extension. The Senate version and the House version of the Farm Bill are strikingly different — and, in the current Congress, “compromise” is a dirty word. Nonetheless, Congress will not allow t...
We’ve most of us inadvertently swallowed a bug or two, usually a mosquito. Right? Here the gustatory bugs are most likely Argentine ants. They are taking over the world, by the way. Saw that on a You Tube documentary. Moving north, house by house. It is so. You might not even notice them, they are so tiny, like a speck of dust on legs. Anyway, what happened that busy morning when I was sewing a tunic top, is that I sat my glass of agua fresca, a fruity drink of papaya, p...
“I don’t even know what game we’re supposed to be playing!” my husband, Peter, told me. He and our cat, Felix, have been playing their nightly game of chase and tag. Peter always loses. This might be because Felix makes the rules — and is the referee. “When is the game over?” I asked. “Whenever Felix wins!” Last night, I was already in bed while the game was wrapping up. Felix was nowhere to be seen. Peter was silently creeping around the bed and out the bedroom door. Sud...
If there is one thing every business owner, rancher, and manager agrees on, it’s that if you don’t have good people, you don’t have much. And if there’s one thing Montanans (and, increasingly, outsiders) know, it’s how good our hunting and fishing opportunities generally are. They make life here special. They feed our families and shape our lives. We tend to assume these same opportunities will continue for our kids, regardless of income—but Governor Gianforte and Fish, Wildlife & Parks Director Dustin Temple have shown...
I never learned my multiplication tables. Not really. To this day, if you ask me, “What is six times nine?” out of the blue, with some urgency, I will panic. (Please don’t do this.) The troubles started when I was transferred from one math class to another in the third grade. I now understand that this was some sort of promotion from lower math to higher math, but it did not feel like that at the time. Almost immediately, I realized everyone around me was privy to some secret... Full story
Growing up as a kid in Big Sandy, I learned from a young age about the incredible service and sacrifice of our servicemembers when I played Taps at the funerals of veterans of both World Wars. It’s something that has always stuck with me, and I carry with me every day. Montana is the greatest state in the greatest country in the world. But it didn’t get that way by accident. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have fought to defend our freedom and protect our democracy, with many paying the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free.... Full story
All things being relative, we have water. The drought is not over. I’ve forgotten what a cloud looks like. However, the valve directing water to the ranch property has been fixed, replaced, repaired, and, just like that, we have more than a daily dribble. I still judiciously use water. Mop water, dish water, still get dumped on potted plants, whichever ones look most thirsty at the moment. I still have brown grass and dusty patches and will have until the rains come. If t... Full story
My hen-and-chicks, a succulent in my rock garden, is burned to a crisp. The leaves look like ashes. While April, May and June are our hottest months, here in Jalisco, relieved by a welcome cool-down when the rains begin late June, the old-timers tell me this we experience now is extreme, unusual. A day or two of ultra-high heat followed by a windy reprieve; that is the usual. The old, former usual. We have experienced weeks, multiple weeks, where the daily temperature climbs...
My Aunt Ruthie used to make the best pickles ever. Ruthie was my mom’s sister, and she died a few years back in a car accident that left us all sad and shaken and filled with memories. I remember her dry humor and her sharp intellect and her voracious reading habits. I remember her never-ending kindness and resilience. And I remember her pickles. Ruthie always gave me a jar of pickles whenever she made them. They were a treasure. One year, the glass Mason jar filled with pickl...
New York has been voted the ugliest American city, not because of its architecture, but because of its people. Just kidding. It’s because of its architecture. Probably. Europe does things a little better, but not by much. There’s a building in London called The Walkie-Talkie, presumably due to its resemblance to a refrigerator. So neither of these two major cities is wholly pretty. But I have to be fair. There’s not much to brag about in my home state of New Jersey, unless you count some oddly-shaped potholes. When did we de...
