Date Night!

I went on a date last night!



My date and I went to a concert in Bonner Park in Missoula.

We got ice cream. It was yummy and sticky.



My date sang along with the music. It was sweet.



I am so in love! I had a great date!

HBK

Skalkaho Highway

Skalkaho Pass

Highway 38, a primative seasonal road three miles south of Hamilton also known as the Skalkaho Highway, links Hamilton and Philipsburg. This drive into the Sapphire Mountains takes you on some of Montana's least traveled mountain roads. The road was once a heavily used trail for Indians. A road was built over the route in 1924 to link the mining areas in the mountains with the agricultural communities of the Bitterroot Valley. This is a narrow winding drive that offers some excellent views and takes you past Skalkaho Falls. Trailers are not recommended as there are narrow curves with limited pull-outs.

There are two campgrounds along Highway 38, Black Bear Campground with 6 camping sites in the Darby Ranger District of the Bitterroot National Forest and Crystal Creek Campground with 3 camping sites in the Pintlar Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Skalkaho Pass sits at 7,260 feet above sea level.

This isolated, mountainous 23,000-acre wildlife area is forested with dense spruce and subalpine fir, amid beautiful lush meadows. The area is closed to hunting. In the spring and summer, look for Gray and Steller jays, dark-eyed juncos, Brewer's sparrows, olive-sided Flycatchers, and Hairy woodpeckers.

Visitors in the fall may see large concentrations of elk and hear bull elk bugle from the high basins in early morning or late evening, especially east of Fool Hen and Kneaves Lakes. Hikers can see mountain goats around Dome Shaped Mountain, near the junction of trails 313 and 86, which follow the ridge around Skalkaho Basin. Watch for moose along trail 321 in the Burnt Fork drainage. Mule deer, badgers, coyotes, and black bears are common throughout the area. Mountain biking is a good way to see wildlife, especially during the fall road closure period, October 15 through December 1. Trail 313 offers prime opportunities for overnight cross-country ski trips.

Since only the first 10 miles of Montana Highway 38 are plowed and this area becomes a popular snowmobile destination during the winter months. Skalkaho Pass Area offers 26 miles of groomed trails.

From Hamilton, travel 3 miles south on US Highway 93, then turn east on Montana Highway 38 (Skalkaho Highway) and proceed 26 miles east to the top of the pass (20 miles of gravel). Turn north on Forest Road 1352 (closed to all motorized vehicles October 15 through December 1) and drive for 5 miles into the Skalkaho Basin (past Dam Lake). A wildlife interpretive sign and orientation map is on FR 1352 right after turning off MT 38.

From this site.

We drove over Skalkaho today to Gem Mountain. It was a nice drive but I'm tired.

HBK

Monka

We're going to see Monka tomorrow! Luken is very excited. We'll get up and leave by 9:30 and drive to Hamilton and over Skalkaho Pass to Gem Mountain where we'll meet Monka, Christine, Kanon, Larkin and Mac. Luken is excited to see both Monka and Mac. I'll try to take lots of pictures.

HBK

Pony!

Today



Luken



Rode a Pony!



Over the Bridge



And through the woods.



He had a great time!



His pony was named Sassy. She was gentle and nice.



At the end of the ride, Luken said, "Thank you, Tha-thee."

HBK

The Long Way Around Again

This is a hard situation. Not that would ever be anything but hard. My family does not understand the connection that Renee and I share. I wouldn't expect them to. Anyway . . . Kerry's funeral is next Thursday. It's a 4 hour drive from my home. My youngest sister, Holli, desperately wants to attend. I don't know if she'll be able to or not. She's in Pre Release right now but her time is up. She's just waiting on paperwork. I've offered to escort her to the funeral. (Renee is her birth mother and she knew Kerry. Holli and Renee have not really been very close but I'm guessing that Holli is feeling close kinship to Renee right now because Holli recently lost her children to the state, just as Renee did when Holli was an infant.) I hope that Holli does not need me to escort her because I really do not want to go to the funeral. I already had other plans for that day, fun plans with my dad and his wife and another sister, her kids, and Luken. Now it's all up in the air. I'd rather to see Renee after the funeral, after everybody else has gone, when it begins to sink in that Kerry is not coming back, when people have left her alone. Then I will go for sure.

This grief thing - it's hard. Although I didn't know Kerry much at all, her death touches my own grief. It makes me realize how deep the hurt is. How primal, how raw still, how vast. And that scares me in a way. I don't think I'm making much sense. I'm just writing, not editing as I go. My head hurts and so does my heart. I'm holding Renee in the Light.

As tender as I feel for Renee right now, I'm not forgetting Chrystal. She was also there when Kerry died. What happened was terribly traumatic for both of them. I think that Chrystal will be okay. I think that she'll lie about it though on the days that she isn't okay.

I'm writing in circles. I need to either erase this or stop writing.

HBK

The Long Way Around

When I was a kid, my folks adopted several other children. Four of them are siblings. Their birth mom is Renee.

When I was about 18, just out of high school, Renee came to visit. It was during the summer and I was home for the event. I was an angst filled undone teenager. My life sucked. I was cutting. I wanted to die.

One night, while Renee was visiting, we stayed up all night and talked. I told her things I'd never told anybody else. And she talked to me. We made a connection. I was upset and undone and she wasn't afraid of that. I remember that she held me for hours. It felt safe. It felt good. It was 5 in the morning by the time we went inside and went to bed.

Since that time, we've talked periodically. Not often. Not even once a year. She lives 4 hours from me.

On Sunday, Renee's partner, Kerry died. She died at home, in Renee's arms. Renee tried to save her but could not. Kerry's passing was not expected. I called Renee tonight. I listened to her for an hour. She trusted me with her rawness. I felt honored.

It's been almost 20 years since we first met. We've spoken less than 20 times. But we made a connection.

I'm sad for her but I know that with support, she will make it through, one breathe at a time.

HBK

Floor

Has anybody ever tried to install hardwood floor by yourself with the help of a toddler? If not, let me just tell you that it's insane. Not one of my brightest ideas.

'Nuf said.

HBK

Smoochin' the Pony

Ya, I'm a dork. Deal.

HBK

Butte

Butte under a stormy sky



HBK

Great Day!

I had such a great day today! I slept in this morning because I was up half the night last night. It felt good to sleep in. After a leisurely morning (not so much leisurely as slow starting), we packed up and drove to Butte. Why Butte? There's not much of interest in Butte but a giant pit of poison. Yes, but this weekend Butte is hosting the National Folk Festival!

We got to Butte just in time to find a parking place, a schedule, and a sliver of grass to sit on to hear Bua, a really fun and lively Celtic band. Loved it! I was especially excited to hear them because I won one of their albums last week on KUFM (LOVE public radio!). After Bua, we wondered around, bought food, found an outback (portable outhouse), ran in to friends, chatted in the street, and found where Bua was playing again. It rained pretty hard and we were unprepared for that but we still had a blast.

Luken was excited about the "big bus!" so we rode the shuttle bus around it's loop. We looked at all sorts of neat art and vendors and heard more music. We finished the day happy and tired and got to follow the most spectacular sunset the entire way home. Yay for a great day!

HBK

Mop-Up

Mop-up sucks.



Especially at night.



Now I am stinky, hungry, and tired.



Time for a shower, a sandwich and bed.

HBK

Ponies

Last month we rode the ponies.



Luken had a pretty good time.



We need to go there more often.

HBK

Fourth

My family enjoyed our 4th of July. We started out the day by going to Fort Missoula.

Luken got to explore all sorts of things.

He sat in the front of a fire engine.



He ran and danced on the lawn.



He looked around the engineer's room in a train and even rang the bell.



He sat on antique farm equipment.



And had his picture taken on an old tractor.



I had fun taking pictures of things too.

Here are some pictures of train parts.







And some cool old tractors on a hill.



I thought this old dolly was kinda neat. I like all the different lines in this picture.



And, last but not least, the fireworks.











It was a really fun day. Poor Luken didn't like the fireworks at all. Kara took him home to the safety of our bed and cuddled until he finally fell asleep. I stayed at the park and worked with the other firefighters.

HBK

What's That?

Driving down the road and . . .



traffic is all backed up. . .



for a long way . . .



Hmm. . . what's this?



Is that the tail of an airplane? No, couldn't be. Really?



Yup, that's an airplane. In the median of the highway. An airplane, folks.



Alright then.

HBK

Storm

A huge and quite terrifying storm moved through the valley last night and this morning, I woke to the sound of chain saws. The wind blew so hard that it uprooted trees and took roofs off homes. The power was out all night and just came back on. The fire department ran 10 calls last night. I'd taken meds for a migraine and could not help. I felt bad about that. The guys were out until 5 this morning.



I've been busy today though. We've had 4 calls already today. I ran 2 of them alone with Luken in my car.

Kara said that on her way to work today, there was a trampoline on the highway in one spot and a shed in the road in another spot.



There is debris everywhere.

My neighbour's house.


This house is on the corner of our block. They had a huge ponderosa pine fall across their van, truck, and onto their garage. They had just finished re-roofing their garage. The tree tangled in a power line which also landed on the garage. It started a fire which burned through the garage roof. Their pick up is ruined. Nobody was hurt.


This tree used to live in my next door neighbour's yard. The wind blew so hard that the tree was ripped out of the ground roots and all.




This house acted as cushion for 2 huge ponderosa pines. What a mess!



The wind blew so hard that Tom's flag pole couldn't take it. The flag is shredded and the pole is bent low.


We are expecting another huge storm tonight. It's quiet now. I'm going to try to get some sleep so I'll be ready to work come evening and the next wind.

HBK

Milestone

Yesterday



I took Luken



for a much needed



haircut.



His first one.



He sat on my lap because he was a little unsure.



He was very serious and very quiet.



He was very good and hardly wiggled a bit.



My baby boy is growing up!



Isn't he handsome?

HBK