Little Things Mean a Lot...

I found this picture I took of Angus on the day of my crazy niece's wedding day a year ago.  The lines and light are so good that when I converted it to black and white, it looked timeless, as though it could have been taken in 1920, 1950...anytime.  

A few days ago I got a text out of the wild blue from my cousin Philip who lives in Oklahoma and whom I haven't seen for years. We've been in touch on Facebook, but it was still a surprise to get a little photo of a tricked out 4wheeler and a note that said, "Thinking of you today!".  

When my sweet old Molly-dog died, my friend and sorta-brother Ivan didn't know what to say...he knew it was the most awful time and that there was no comfort....but he sent a picture of a flower every day for a couple weeks to my phone.  The equivilant of a bouquet, really, and it was such a kind thing to do.  

Once when the kids were little, we'd "had a day" in Miles City and finally dragged ourselves to McDonalds with Grandma Banana to have some chicken nuggets before pounding home; we must've looked just run over...I think Maggie was 4 and Angus was 2.  Anyway, we were sitting in a table as far away from other people as we could, waiting for our nuggets, when one of the girls who worked the counter brought over 4 ice cream cones.  I politely told her that they must be for someone else, because we didn't order them, and she smiled and said, "Someone bought them for you.  Enjoy!"   

My friend Elise sends me pictures of tacky mens knitting patterns.  They never fail to crack me up! (We decided to do a calendar, just for the two of us, so we can laugh all year long.)

Every month, I get a Bon Appetit magazine that's a gift subscription from my pal Sara...it's like a big hug, especially since I know she's reading the same magazine at the same time.  

And I can't tell you how wonderful it is to go through Reynold's grocery store and be greeted with big smiles and smashing deals on outdated milk products!  It's like they've been waiting all week, just to see me...

I could go on and on.

Most of you know that I fight a mighty battle with depression, daily...it's chemically driven, and sometimes medicine works, sometimes it fails.  And that's frustrating, but it is what it is, you know?  

I've found that what keeps me clawing forward, though, are all these little, dear gestures.  I wake up and look for them, the tiny little things that to me are so huge.  

And I've started making sure I do more to let people know I'm thinking of THEM.  Who knows when that will be the one thing in their day that validates them, that encourages them in the storm?  

One last thing:

For the last year or so, I've been sort of following this funny page called: The World Needs More Love Letters.  It's basically just the idea of someone who thought to leave anonymous, encouraging notes on park benches, tucked in library books, sticking out of railway lockers, taped to windshields of cars in the Walmart parking lot, etc. (Because if you EVER needed love and encouragement, it's when you come out of Walmart...I'm telling you!)  The website gives ideas on how to do it, but the best part is when people contact them about the "love letters" they've found.  So many times it's on a day that they were ready to give up, that they faced a cancer diagnosis, that they were feeling completely alone in the world. It has inspired me to do more of that, for people I know AND completely anonymously.   

If you're interested, click on the highlighted words, above. 

Coming up for air...

Guess what?

It's 8 a.m. and the temperature is 41 degrees!!!

Kids and I will be wearing flip-flops and shorts today, because that's what Montana people do when the temperature hits 40+ in the spring.  We may even eat ice cream bars this afternoon, to be able to bear the heat better.  

We've had a week, folks.

Sunday, the kids and I raced to Billings to swim at the Reef with B.J.'s kids and celebrate two cussin birthdays: Bailey and Hesston are both April Fool's Day babies!  It was hot and happily loud, which was perfect because outside the rain was coming down in torrents. We got to see Grammy Karen, Cowboy PopPops, Auntie Cari, cussins, new friends, eat pizza and cake, then drive right home in that rain all the way which turned to snow.  

Rain and snow and cold winds kill calves, you know.

So, the next day when the kids went to school, us grownups spent the morning gathering up chilled down babies from the pasture and warming them with the pickup heaters and hot boxes in the shop.  We didn't save all of them, sadly, but we saved more than we lost.  

Repeat the next day.

Repeat the next day.

Thursday was the Academic Fair in Jordan, which is Garfield County's version of a science fair, except that it's not limited to science projects.  For instance, I judged a family history project, a medieval weapons project, a history-of-dance project, a varmint snaring project, a tooth staining project....it was fascinating and fun!  (It's only fun for the judges. It's not fun for the teachers, especially those who teach 5 grades in the country schools. Academic Fair has turned more than one country school teacher into a twitching, alcoholic shadow of a person for three days after the event. Even as I type this, some readers are having flashbacks...) Maggie did a project on meteorology and Angus's project was on pinhole photography this year.  Maggie got a blue ribbon while Angus merely got a green participation ribbon, simply because ALL the first graders got a green participation ribbon.  The newspaper took a picture of him with his project, though, and we're hoping it will appear in next week's edition.  

Yesterday, Maggie had the stomach flu, so everything else stopped in this house.  

Hoping, hoping no one else gets the bug...

This morning, I woke up to find (via Facebook) that Jamie Jo Baker was crowned Prom Queen last night! COHAGEN QUEEN!!!  I think I'll wear my tiara today in empathetic celebration...

Also, my sister-friend Sue and her family said a sad goodbye to their dog Gus yesterday.  When I was with them in Massachusetts in 2012, Gus was such a pal and slept on my bed a couple nights...I think he knew I was lonesome for Molly.  I loved that funny faced boy!  And I know how hard this was for the whole family. Wish we could wrinkle up the states between us so  I could hug them and bring them a casserole/cake to help fill up the empty.  

And we have one new kitten, here, named Trinket.

WHEW!

Now you're all caught up!

Here are some pictures from the week:

They're pals.

And it cracks me up that they have the same lips...

We're DYING for some baseball!

Our television is broken, so we can't watch it, and all the local college teams have been snowed out the last few weekends.

We don't feed them in an expedient manner, so they're forced to snitch as many loose cake pellets as their long tongues can ease out of the cake feeder.

I've been trying for years to get a picture of a bucking calf!

This little heifer was just full of the beans that morning and just HAD to bounce.

It always looks like a nest of calves.

Coming in to feed...

And that's the end of it.

He's "the man".

(I know. This is out of the blue for my readers, but I've been writing this particular post for a MONTH in my head and it has to spill out.  Forgive me, indulge me, unfollow me...whatever you must...but I really need to get it out of my brain so I can move on.)

This winter, I ended up in a situational road trip with someone I don't hang out with in "real life"; our circles just don't really cross and we seem to get along better that way, oddly enough.  We have a couple things in common besides our cool kids: sports, live on ranches, like our dogs and (I thought) love of music.

Here's where I learned a lot.

I am, it turns out, supremely and hopelessly out of step with the latest country music artists.
Particularly the male country music artists.
SPECIFICALLY the male country music artists that are "hot" and encourage us to "shake it" for them.

To me, they all sound the same.
They're all extolling the awesomeness of wearing cutoff jeans, drinking beer down by the creeeeek while dancing in the back of a truck, shaking it (I'm not sure what "it" is, exactly, but at age 42, I've decided it's better for everyone if nothing on me shakes...) and getting tans.  Bonus points if y'all have boots. Oh! and sometimes there's hay, but not always.  I think I heard one about falling in love in the back of a cop car, too.

Then there's the issue of hotness.
Apparently, Luke Bryan is hot.  And Jason Aldean is hot. And Eric Church is hot. (I don't remember the other names.)
Don't I watch the videos???
Um...
No.
No, I do not.  I sort of LISTEN to music, I don't watch it. The videos in my brain are always better than the ones produced in Nashville.
And even IF I happened to stumble upon them, I sincerely think I wouldn't think they were hot.
(This is also probably due to my advanced age-ed-ness. It seems I'm one of those ridiculous people that is attracted to personality, too.)

I tried to find common ground, musically.
Have you heard Aloe Blacc?
Nope.
Tim Montana and the Shrednecks?
WHO?
Caro Emerald?  Sara Bareilles?
Mumford and Sons?
We got close on Pat Green and Cross Canadian Ragweed.  I mean, at least there was name recognition.
That's big, right?

An attempt was made to school me on the hottiest of hots, Luke Bryan.
We had a solid hour of his songs, with explanations of the videos (which can be found on Youtube, by the way).  There was an interlude of slightly less hot male artists, so that I might be able to compare, then a return to his most royal hotness for replays and such.

I truly appreciate the zeal for artists and their work, and for the enthusiastic sharing. I've sent friends Zac Brown and Kid Rock songs that I thought they should hear, whether they wanted to or not.  I get passionate about things, too....just not Luke Bryan.

*sigh*

(PS:  I've been DYING to send this Aloe Blacc song to my Dad who will simultaneously be irritated and amused by it.  He'd like it better if he could see his grandson walking around the house singing, "I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man; yes, I am, yes, I am, yes, I am."  Angus ROCKS it.)

(Double click on the words Aloe Blacc song, above, to listen.)
(There's no video.  I have no idea if Aloe Blacc is hot.)
(Sorry!)