I spent the better part of this last week in Montana-it was an unexpected journey but I have to say, in many ways, it was just what I needed.
I had visited in April, bringing along my fiancé who had 1) never been to Big Sky Country and 2) never met my maternal grandparents. That was two whirlwind days of seeing the open bits of Yellowstone (really, just the hot springs) and taking him to my favorite burger place. He got to pet some horses, hear from my grandfather about basically anything and everything, and sit next to my grandmother while she regaled old age. It was a short-lived mini retreat. I miss it, the open space and the clean air. I miss my grandparents, in small ways and in cavernous ones too…that is why this last minute trip was so incredibly important.
“It is an odd-sort of funny that brings life full circle.”
The view from my grandparents home.
- It is an odd-sort of funny that brings life full circle. I flew through Salt Lake and into Bozeman, driving to my grandparents place to watch their unattended animals (two dogs and a cat). And all they wanted to do was sleep and cuddle. I left my two dogs and a cat and momentarily replaced them with animals that needed me more. Sometimes I think there is an unending amount of love we have to give, love we have to feel and sometimes it boils itself down to sharing a nap.
Jue, you can barely see on the far left, Pip due center, and Soopey far right.
Pip (Piparooni) and Soopey (SuperDog) are rural dogs-they love to roam free and have the land to do so. Jue, the cat, is a hunter and being a rural cat with endless possibilities for prey, brought me not one but five mice over the course of my stay (yes, that was totally fun). These animals know a freedom my city dogs never will (I visited with Barnaby and Wes a couple summers ago, driving from San Francisco to Livingston, and they were in hog heaven, chasing gofers and running through green pastures). But my grandparent’s animals are made from the same cloth that my San Francisco pups are, in the end. Love and a full belly is really all any living things need.
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