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I am taken aback by the beauty we share in the Seeley-Swan Valley this May. We share stunning sunny days, majestic snow covered peaks contrasted against gorgeous blue skies, gushing rivers and eye-catching wildlife. Amidst our glorious surroundings we also share many personal challenges; one of which is a concern about memory loss, in ourselves, friends and loved ones. Memory loss is a scary thing to think about primarily because there is no definitive way to prevent it or cure it. Memory often changes as we grow older. But memory loss that...
Time has long been a mystery. What is it? How does it influence us? Why does it exist? One of the most important questions is: How does it change? As we get older, we all experience time passing more quickly. This is just one of the common experiences that we all share. It isn't unusual to hear someone say: "It was just Friday. Wasn't it? How can it be Friday again?" People are surprised at how quickly the months pass or even the years, but this is not what you hear from children. Their...
It's springtime... no wait. Not in my neck of the woods anyway. It's January 78th, but that's another story for another day. Anywho... What I meant to say is that it's horse trading season again for the dude ranch, and given the going price of horses these days, we should've spent less money on diesel for snow plowing, starved the kids, forgone Christmas, hit the millionaire jackpot and hocked granny's fine china. All I can figure (and hope for) after reading through some of these for sale ads...
Some of this was from my book "Journey to the Backwoods" When I was lad and ol' Shep was a pup, we lived for a spell in an old homestead on the end of a dirt road. Weren't no modern conveniences but was a great place for a boy. No electricity for a few years, good thing Mom was a pioneer type, nothing fazed her. She did the wash on a scrub board in the same tub that us kids got our Saturday night bath. The outhouse was a two holer out behind the woodshed. I still remember those 30-40 below...
Dear Seeley-Swan residents, Happy Spring! As you know Missoula Aging Services (MAS) opened a branch office at the Bison & Bear Center in the fall of 2016 called Seeley-Swan Resource Center. I am able to make a complex system of benefits and services more easily accessible through education, referrals and individualized, person-centered consultations. Please make an appointment with me by calling 406-541-7688. This month I am highlighting the many educational opportunities available through MAS...
Most people know there is a difference between fantasy and reality. Nonetheless, in our society fantasy is more important than we might imagine. From politics to social media, fantasy influences many people's lives. We only need to look at the popularity of computer games and movies to see the influence of fantasy. For example, the latest fantasy movie "The Black Panther" is breaking box-office records and people by the millions are flocking to watch it. Of course, there can be many reasons why...
One of the most beautiful effects of living your passion is that it inspires others to live theirs. I believe this wholeheartedly. It's catching. It isn't about wanting what others have and duplicating that. It's about you deciding to throw some skin in the game of your life and give your own dreams a shot. We get one life on this earth. It really is up to us to live it as beautifully and bravely as we can. And we're darn fools not to. We all get a little lost. We all go a little crazy....
After the last go round with Ben Widrick, set me to think'n about one of his trapping endeavors. Back in the late thirties times were still tough and a dollar looked like a dinner plate. Uncle George and my dad were trapping beyond Bennies line but their paths crossed sometimes. Beaver was worth a dollar an inch and you were only allowed four per trapper. Anyway, to measure a beaver you stretched the hide almost round, measured nose to tail and side to side. A big beaver might measure 70 to 75 i...
Mental illness is not a new phrase but it is one that has been in the news and on the lips of many people since school shootings began. The most recent tragedy in Broward County, in Fort Lauderdale, has intensified the use of this phrase. The horror associated with the murders of the young high school students and staff cannot be expressed enough; this two-word phrase only begins to describe the tragedy. Mental illness, however, is a general phrase associated with a range of psychological...
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know when to just pull my lip over my head and swallow… Riding my horse is a wondrous salve for my salty soul. The salty soul is getting saltier with every falling snowflake. Winter is getting to me this year. I think it may have something to do with the fourth broken snow shovel, armpit deep snow and the 20-foot snow banks outside my door. I’ve seriously thought about packing up and heading south for the winter but then I rem...
When I lived in the Swan and before I hauled my ponies and mule over to winter on the bench out of Fairfield to my great friend old Mormon Sam, I needed considerable hay. Elden Rammell once introduced me to an old timer on the Helmville cutoff named Otto Eder. Otto was like many that age (in his eighties). We had to go in and sit a spell. And he insisted we taste his homemade wine. I wasn’t much of a wine drinker but to be sociable I took a small glass. Don’t know what it was made of but it was real tasty stuff. Anyway, if memory serves me rig...
Hi. I have exciting news today! The new "Seeley Lake Community Health and Support Guide" is in print and being distributed this week. It is a collaboration of Seeley Lake Community Foundation, Missoula Aging Services, and our neighbors, most notably Jeanne Koester's tireless efforts at gathering and proofing all the facts. This guide was a result of the Seeley Lake Community Foundations Community Assessment in an effort to expand the ability of the resources in town to communicate with each...
Loneliness is a feeling that covers considerable psychological ground. In other words, it is complex like most psychological expressions and experiences. Most people feel lonely from time-to-time, particularly when major events or changes occur. But as we get older, loneliness can dominate our lives. In an attempt to avoid being lonely, people socialize. That is, people meet with friends, maintain permanent relationships, seek out groups and even go see therapists for companionship. People are...
Heather Meaning: In American, the meaning of the name Heather is: A flowering evergreen plant that thrives on peaty barren lands as in Scotland. Social media... {insert ginormous eye roll}; the place people feel entitled to know your business, your relationship status, your kids' birthdays, be informed of your dinner choices, criticize, laugh at you, know where you've been and with whom you've been doing it, satisfy their curiosity, speculate, compare themselves, think they know best, want to in...
If'n you're a fairly new comer to the Seeley Swan area you probably never knew Mel Nelson. Ol' Mel had a little gas station just past Barber Creek road there on the left. Mel had a small airplane and repaired others. Mel could fix or tell you how to fix anything. Seems like he was a mechanic in the service. Well sir, it came to pass I had an old antique Case tractor to plow snow with. When lo and behold the old bucket of bolts got anti freeze in the oil. Just enough to ruin the babit on a rod. A...
As a kid, I remember certain ailments being, well just creepy. Like a goiter, or corns, or gout. While I had no idea what any of these things were, in my mind I would picture an old grandpa or grandma sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair rubbing a sore elbow saying something like, "I feel a storm's a comin'." I even thought at one time that, while creepy, it might be kind of cool to predict the weather just by the way your elbow felt for the day. I have since learned that it is in fact...
This month I want to tell you about a very useful program developed by the National Council on Aging called The Benefits Check Up. The Benefits Check Up was developed to help seniors connect with a wide range of programs to help save money through home weatherization, stretching grocery dollars, lowering prescription drug costs, help paying Medicare copays or premiums, among others. After completing the online form, a personalized, printable report is created that lists all the programs a person...
There is no direct translation for the Danish “hygge.” However the word comes from 16th century Scandinavia as a description of embracing and enjoying the winter months through coziness and togetherness. At Swan Valley Connections, we are feeling the need to practice hygge, rather than just hibernation, as we get dumped on with snow at the start of this winter season! Hygge (pronounced hue-guh) is not just cozy, as in a fuzzy blanket and a glass of wine, but it is also interpersonally cozy, as in having a few people with you talking about iss...
I think we all know what it means to control a situation or a pet. Basically, it means the person expressing control dominates through commands, ideas, behaviors and aggression. And control can be applied externally and internally-in relationships and individually. Since we possess consciousness, that is awareness, we have a natural need to control the events in our lives and ourselves. Conscious control enables us to produce order, organize, be disciplined and dictate our free wills. For...
Those of us who lived through the winter of the big snow 96-97 remember – plow ¬– shovel daily. We lived then on the Swan side of the Summit. Come February you couldn't see my jack fence. I had the old relic TD 14 Cat to plow with and had snow piles bigger than the cabin. The snow slid off the roof till it backed up onto the roof. I have a picture of Geraldine sitting on the roof, she just walked up the snow slide. We shoveled in front of the windows to see out. It was a sight to behold it was....
Merry Christmas, The qualities of kindness and compassion…define Seeley Lake, notably generosity towards older adults receiving Meals on Wheels (MOW). During March’s March for Meals campaign, $2,300 was donated to Seeley Lake Senior Center (SLSC) for MOW which reduced a sizeable deficit in the program. Continuing community support comes through local businesses who display MOW jars on their counters. During the six months, May through October, $700 was placed in those jars, which is enough to provide 100 Meals on Wheels to older adults! In Nov...
Previous articles described the dark side of the personality or the shadow. Since each person possesses a personal and collective psychology, the shadow has two forms: the personal and the collective. Remember that the collective psychology refers to social and group membership. Earlier articles also presented the idea of meeting the shadow and building a relationship with it to diminish its power, which means that the shadow would be less likely to be expressed unconsciously (from a person's...
For Grandpa and Teton. May they be riding down those trails together again... It's been time for a while now...to say goodbye. And I knew you knew that when I walked out in the corral the other day on that cold and frosty morning. The time had come to let go. And I could hear Grandpa saying the same. The goosebumps came, the hair stood up on my neck and the tears welled on my icy eyelashes while I slipped the halter on and walked you to the trailer... It's funny how one, single moment can cause...
Have you watched and wondered how a flock of small birds just weave and turn as one headed for somewhere? Like some inner radar maneuvering this way and that. Just another wonder of Ol' Mother Nature. Every once in a blue moon a cock of the woods (Pileated Woodpecker) shows up. When I was a lad and Ol' shep was a pup, Uncle Tony, the hermit-my backwoods instructor, said, "When you hear that kak, kak, kak call it usually means rain." I sure didn't hear any this summer. I think maybe the smoke...
In past articles, I presented conscious and unconscious parts of our psychologies in many different ways. Believe it or not, there are still many other ways to describe and discuss these critical parts of human nature. In this article, I thought that I would present some additional details about consciousness in response to a commonly asked question: Why are there such huge differences and tensions, or divided interests, in our country? Of course, the answer is complex but I want to present one major reason – variations in consciousness. R...
