LONGING

If all goes as planned, two weeks from today I will be waking up at the Montana House and not a moment too soon. Dave and I have spent the winter planning and dreaming and I am eager to see how some of our remodeling projects are turning out. We are blessed that our Realtor put us in contact with a quality contractor in whom we have placed our trust. He's been not only working on projects but he has gone above and beyond to help us with things like removing ice dams from the roof and finding us a guy to do our snowplowing. Living over 1,800 miles away, handling things remotely would have been an even bigger challenge if it weren't for him!

I feel a longing to get back to Montana, something bigger inside of myself that is calling me home and telling me that I've been away too long. I spend my time pouring through the photos that we have taken over the years and although the land is still entombed in ice and snow, I can't wait to get back there and place my feet on that terrain. I want to see that "Big Sky", the sweeping panoramic vistas of majestic mountains and be overwhelmed at night by the vast numbers of stars over my head!

(Hiking to Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park, July 2010.)

In less than two weeks, I will be heading out with my best friend Brenda on the mother of all road trips. Knowing us, it will be quite the adventure. The plan is to make it in two days, hopefully stopping in Nebraska for lunch to see an old friend and neighbor from long ago and then sleeping in Casper, Wyoming that night. The next day, I am hoping to catch a more recent friend in Billings for breakfast. I am also doing research, to see if there are a couple of quality antique stores we can hit along the way. I think we might hit the "Little Bighorn Battlefield" on our way back. Even a one hour stop would be better than just passing it by! Since I am taking the conversion van, I will be taking up a lot of things for the house. I will remove the back bench seat and if possible, the captain's chairs as well. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate with my plans.

(Old Man Lake, Glacier National Park, September, 2008.)

To quote John Muir:

"The mountains are calling and I must go!"