A trip East...

(About the pic: The Belt Mountains and the Missouri River between Cascade, MT and Great Falls. East of I-15. April 26, 2009. DEH)

... to Montana.

To drop some personal effects of Dad's off to two of my brothers, to "clear the air" so to speak on some things, to find time to think, to think, to regroup.

...to try to get new, fresh, crisp views of what lies ahead in the future... good, bad and indifferent.

It was a trip that had to be made. If for no other reason then to simply make it!

I've regrouped over the past several weeks. I've stepped back and taken a look at things from different perspectives and have realized once again that life has so many variables to it.

So many challenges!

Life's not meant to be fair as we know it. Life's meant to be real, memorable, educational and if all goes well... rewarding.

Life's meant to challenge, to test, to affect...

Such is life.

(About the pic: Two Bighorn Sheep engaged in one of life's challenges at the base of the Little Belt Mountains, and the Missouri River between Cascade, MT and Great Falls. East of I-15. April 26, 2009. DEH)

I'm not sure what I got out of the simple four day, whirlwind trip east to Montana but I do know I had a lot of time to reflect, think and review where I've been, where I'm at and what's the possibilities ahead.

It's an odd and almost out of body, surreal feeling.

There's a lot of "things" going on in this world, this country, this state, this family that can be and are influenced by things, happenings beyond our control.

(About the pic: If those walls could talk. An abandoned homestead by Cascade, MT. East of I-15. April 26, 2009. DEH)

Sometimes life seems simpler without all of the amenities of today. Sometimes I find myself longing for memories of my past, those memories clouded by life as I know it now.

I long for the hot summer days in Thompson Place in the late 50's, Mud Lake, the Satellite Bubble Gum machine from "Pete and Gay's" diner...

I long for those things I left behind in my rush to get here! Those memories I buried, those friends I've lost, those experiences I've forgotten.

I guess I needed that little trip east.

If for nothing else but for a bit of "renewal"... realizing that in the end, some things will never change.

I rambled but it's my blog, my right. If you've read this far you must be really bored.

Take care and enjoy it while it's here. Each and every "it" you can.