A Tribute to Wilma

Missoula in Spring is lovely. Our caged wintered souls, who scoffed at the idea of sun returning now bask in the long days, dainty rain showers, and sunny picnic dinners. Only a few weeks ago I was literally counting the days until we headed back East. All has changed after two long weekend trips to beautiful places. With the return of the Montana sun my heart aches with nostalgia for a place we've lived less than a year. 

My desk mate Hattie, who since Fall has daily remarked

“What would I do without you Abigail?! You’re the best desk mate!”

now daily chimes

 “She’s leaving soon.”

We ARE leaving soon. In fifty-five short days we will pack our Subaru, Tri Tran, to the gills and lumber across the country to a new season of life. With this future moment nudged lovingly to the side I want to soak in every detail I love about this place.

Last night we went to see the Tallest Man on Earth at the Wilma Theater. Our apartment here is tiny, so many times I’ve considered that home here for us is made up of the small nooks and crannies of Missoula. The Wilma is part of our “home” that I will always treasure. 

This historical, not quite restored theater is the best music venue I’ve ever been to. Every time we see a show here the musicians marvel at the intimacy and energy of the space. We usually sit in the balcony because it boasts good views and less hipster noise pollution. Even above the crowd, we are close enough to see even the subtle facial expressions of people on stage. The creaky old red faux leather seats, peeling satin wall paper, and huge creepy cherub light sconces all add to the unique feel of casual interaction and intimate experiences.

In December we went to the Wilma to take part in the Sufjan Steven Christmas Sing A Long Extravaganza. More performance art than concert, the band members wore extravagant costumes and sang social commentary about the commercialization of the Christian Holiday as they passed out plastic Christmas kitschy inflatable reindeer and spun the wheel of Christmas songs. It was an indescribable delight.

In March we saw Josh Ritter. He magically wooed the crowd into quiet listening, unplugged his guitar, asked for the lights to be turned down and sang acoustically. It was beautiful. 

Last night was Mr. Kristian Matsson. He pranced onto stage on his skinny little legs and produced big sound for a man by himself with only a guitar.  I love concerts that encompass poetic truth, varied rhythms, and performance art. We will miss good ‘ol Wilma.

Vacation Part 2: Big Arm State Park, Flathead Lake

Abigail and I both worked Thursday and then we left right away for Flathead Lake, which is almost due North, between Missoula and Glacier National Park.  It took us about two hours, passing by the beautiful Mission Mountain range on the way.  We arrived at Big Arm State Park with plenty of time to take a walk around.  Big Arm is a very small park, but it boasts many lakeside campsites and yurts and also a small pier. Here is a selection of pictures from the beautiful area.

The beautiful Flathead Lake.  Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake this side of the Mississippi.  It is about 27 miles from tail to head and with a surface area just shy of 200 sq miles.  This picture was taken just a short walk from our yurt.  Notice the huge islands out there, a few of the many islands in the lake.

Playing around on the rock beach.  Love this lady!!!

Some of Abigail's lovingly placed cairns

Our yurt!! The Salish Yurt is 10ft in diameter and boasts a skylight, which keeps it very light, but didn't keep out the rain very well :( !!!  There was a little hail storm.  Funny story:  We got steaks to do on the grill and we were hungry, so we decided to race against the ominous storm clouds surging toward us.  We started the fire and waited.  We impatiently put the steaks and veggie kabobs on.  Fortunately, the steaks were done when the rain came, but we covered the rest with foil and ran inside the yurt to eat as the rain (and hail) poured.  Amazingly, our fire was still live and our remaining kabobs were done when the rain stopped!  We stoked up the fire and did up some delicious s'mores.

Dusk at the Salish Yurt

This is our neighboring yurt.

A little river creature - perhaps the spawn of the fabled Flathead monster???

It was mostly sunny with patches of clouds and only one major downpour - mostly gorgeous!!

Abigail's masterwork. The leg is for perspective

We took a little jaunt North to Kalispell on Friday afternoon.  We needed some dinner supplies and it was well worth it just for the drive (we also ended up doing some pretty awesome thrift-shopping).  At one of the thrift shops we experienced something rather odd:  We were checking out when all of a sudden we heard "TORNADO, TORNADO!!!!"  The commotion came around a store worker with developmental disabilities who was having a seizure.  Another store worker was yelling "Tornado" on his behalf.  Evidently in the seasonally mild Northwest, "tornado" is the best safe word they could come up with.  It struck us one part comical (frantic code word yelling), one part sad (seizure), and nine parts bizarre.  We also happened upon some Southern food at the Georgian-owned Southern Skillet that was surprisingly authentic and delicious (gotta love a good cornmeal-fried catfish sandwich!).  A "hidden gem" as it were.  

We stopped in Lakeside to take some pictures of the beautiful mountain range and lake.  Pictures don't really do it justice - you'll either have to take our word for it or come visit!

Our last stop on the way home was the Mennonite-owned Mission General Store.  It is basically a Peights-style bulk foods and close-outs store in the middle of nowhere just outside of St. Ignatius.  It was bizarre to see brands we had at Sharp Shopper on the shelves of a Montana store.  We stocked up on goodies such as Skippy's Super Chunky Peanut Butter (super large), coconut oil, close-out lime Pepsi, and various other snack items.  Overall we had a very enjoyable and relaxing vacation to the North.  The next time we go North will be to meet our parents in Glacier in late June!!!   We are very excited for the family time!  

Love from us to you all!!

Dietrich and Abigail 

Dora and Serge

Dora and Serge have been a hoot. They're fun, quirky, and hospitable. They took us all around Salem and their places of work, all the while providing a comic narrative of details and opinions. We like them.

Dora wanted me to note that she dresses much more professionally for work...today is a Saturday.

Inside Western Mennonite School

The campus

The library

Dora and Serge with their precious Ginger

Serge showing off his weight lifting skills

Ginger

Willamette River

Serge went outside and set up the motorcycles for this posed picture. He even made Dietrich put on his Oregon tank top. 

And then! he told Dietrich to pose like this so he could get the Oregon license plate on. I was dying laughing so hard.

And here he is, the man himself. Serge

Tomorrow we head back to Missoula. We've enjoyed the humidity and green foliage of the West, but alas, we must return to arid Missoula. 

Newport Aquarium

Friday we lazily packed up, did a last walk along Depoe Bay, and then slowly worked our way towards Salem via Newport Bay. It was cool and windy, so we spent the majority of our time in the aquarium.

Mmm BREAD

Newport Accordion master

We were lucky enough to witness the feeding of the sharks. Basically, we stood in a tunnel watching sharks snatch up smaller fish while children all around created a symphony on sympathetic cries and wails.

Old man fish

I loved watching the seals glide effortlessly through the pools

These jellies were incredible to watch as they tangled and untangled themselves from each other.

Depoe Bay

Depoe Bay has been A-mazing! It's quiet, beautiful, humid, cool, green, and slow. We love it here. Yesterday included a whale watching trip out on the Pacific looking for a pod of Gray Whales who live here,   an amazing seafood dinner of chowder, scallops, and shrimp over the bay, and a pebble/shell hunt along the rocky lava beach at sunset! We ended the night by watching a made for tv movie about a killer quid. Needless to say, this trip has been the perfect romantic getaway. :)

This is on top of a huge cliff, but who would guess from this picture?

Our whale watch mostly ended up being a sea otter watching trip...they're much cuter anyway. We only saw a couple whales from a distance. They are HUGE!