Welcome Malenda Sage!!

We have a new grandaughter - Malenda Sage!

Malenda was born on August 25, weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 22 inches long.  As of this writing she is 4 weeks old and pushing 10 lbs.  We are so thrilled to welcome this wonderful little girl into our family.  And, I'm so pleased that she shares my name.

Her name is a blend of my name and my daughter Marci's name - MaLenda.  Dad Ryan chose Sage as her middle name - let's just say he's an avid fly fisherman! 

This naming tradition started with my mother who named me Lenda Nell because of her best friend Lenna, who was also her cousin, and my mother's last name Davis (which was also shared by Lenna).  My mother's given name was Nellie Mae which she shortened to Nell as an adult.  The tradition continued when I named my daughter Marcia Lenell, a combination of my name and my mother's name.  Marcia is her paternal grandmother.

We got the call about Malenda's birth on the day she was born.  Marci was working in Dallas and got the call that Malenda was waiting for them.  Marci got back home on Wednesday evening and she and Ryan met Malenda on Thursday morning.  For more on their journey, check out Marci's blog.

We were able to get a quick flight to Nashville on Friday and, along with Ryan's parents, met Malenda on Friday afternoon.  Malenda was quite calm, considering all the excitement around her.  We were permitted to go into the nursery, after properly scrubbing and gowning, and hold her as much as we wanted to.  The staff at the hospital was so supportive.  On the 3rd day, they moved Marci and Ryan to a rooming-in room and they spent one night with Malenda, with fabulous nursing support, before bringing her home on Sunday.

Now...  I apologize for bringing politics into this, BUT Malenda had the good sense to arrive just in time to justify my trip to Nashville on the weekend of Jackson Day.  It was a very exciting weekend which started with a meeting with Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia.  He met with about 20 very active volunteers from across the state who had worked in the Obama campaign and listened to our ideas and concerns.  In fact, I just took a cab from the airport to downtown just in time to make the meeting.

Then, on Saturday night, the keynote speaker for the Jackson Day dinner was former President Bill Clinton.  Along with other friends from Grundy County, we had participated in a phone bank challenge to win a table next to the head table at the dinner - and WE WON!!  The head table included former Vice-President Al Gore, former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr.,Governor Phil Bredesen and  former Governor Ned McWherter.  Before I knew about Malenda, I had given my tickets to my son Jimmy, and his fiancee Seoung, who were thrilled with their blue ribbon seats.  Seoung teaches environmental science and was very pleased to meet Al Gore.  I was able to get a ticket at the last minute at the Hamilton County table.  By the way, the gentleman in the picture with them is Senator Roy Herron, who hopes to become the next Governor of Tennessee.

OK - that's all for politics - but a big thanks to Malenda for making it necessary for me to be there on that weekend!  Not sure what this portends for her political future, but I am grateful for her timely arrival into the world.

I was able to stay in Nashville for a little over two weeks and help Marci and Ryan get settled.  My favorite times were definitely the walks with Malenda in the stroller.  On her second day home, she was fussing a little bit so I decided to take her outside for a change of environment, and, to my surprise, she went right to sleep.  So, the next day, Jim and I put her in the stroller and took her on the wonderful riverwalk trail in the neighborhood.  She went to sleep within the first 5 minutes and had a nice 1-hour nap while we got our exercise.

I also took the overnight shift for a couple of nights which meant waking up every 3 to 4 hours for a feeding.  Fortunately, she quickly established a nighttime sleeping routine of taking a bottle and going right back to sleep.  I, however, am not accustomed to having my sleep interrupted, so I was quite sleepy the next morning, so Marci or Ryan would take over the next morning and let me sleep in.

How quickly little ones change!  Before I left, she was already resonding to the mobiles and floor mat toys.  As soon as she learned that she could make the toys move and jingle, she really got her whole body into it.  Her arms and legs were in constant motion and she even started smiling and cooing in response.  Oh my, I miss those sweet little smiles and know she will have changed so much by the time I get back there again.  Fortunately, that won't be too long!

Grand Targhee Bluegrass

It had been 6 years since we were in Grand Targhee, WY for the annual bluegrass festival.  The last time we were there... what a lineup - Del McCoury, Blue Highway, Cherryholmes  - and those are just the ones I  remember!

This festival is a 3-day event, Friday thru Sunday, and the lineup this year, while trending more toward "newgrass" than to my liking, still had its fair share of traditional bluegrass bands, along with some new acts (new to me, at least) whom I will follow for years to come.

One of the newbies appeared on Sunday, a misty, rainy day, unlike the two other glorious blue sky days preceeding.  I sat under an umbrella for their entire set and bought TWO CDs.  Anne and Pete Sibley have been together 10 years and their music is some of the most soulful and touching I have heard in a long time.  Two of the ballads, "Calling My Children Home"  (an Emmylou Harris song) sung a cappella, and "Just the Right Moment" sung in 3/4 time and written by Anne, brought me to tears.  Add to that traditional gospel tunes like "Angel Band" and "Wayfaring Stranger" and I'm in total bluegrass heaven!  Take a listen to their music clips and let me know what you think.  This couple is so connected - Anna's lead and Pete's harmony is spot on and they're not bad pickers either.  Oh... and did I mention that they write their own music and lyrics and just won "The Great American Duet Championship" on NPRs Prairie Home Companion.  They live in Jackson Hole, just over the Teton Pass, so their whole family was there including their adorable 2-year old daughter who was decked out in her red lady bug rain gear and ushered around by Anna's mom.

The other group I will be following is Bearfoot.  The 3 young women in this group are knockout vocalists and all 5 band members are talented musicians.  One of the guys grew up in Alaska and went to school at ETSU in Johnson City - so some Tennessee connection there.  They have some TN and NC dates in September.  They were also recently nominated for IBMA's Emerging Artist of the Year Award.



Steep Canyon Rangers, a band I had already heard at the WDVX Blue Plate Special about 3 years ago, was also there and brought the house down.  They won the IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year Award in 2006 and have earned an international reputation in traditional bluegrass.  Based in Asheville, NC, the hallmark of this group is their gorgeous vocal harmonies. The lead vocalist and guitar picker, Woody Platt, is not only very pleasant to gaze at, but a pleasure to listen to.  I also understand that he's a heck of a fly fisherman.  Maybe my son-in-law can make a connection there!

There's always such a diversity of people at Targhee.  The one constant is the hula hoops.  At the entrance to the festival are a stack of hula hoops.  The hula hoopers generally line up behind the sound system stage and merrily hula hoop in rhythm to the music.  Some of these people are really quite good and I suspect they have been at this every summer for years.  They carry on conversations, eat full meals and drink beer without ever losing the hoop.  Amazing.

Equally entertaining is the variety of clothing.  This year, we had hippy Santa Claus, birdman with some 3-foot bird feathers in his hat and a woman wearing a fur vest and boots - and this was a very warm day!

Sunday was to be a blue ribbon day with The Wilders and David Grisman.  Alas, the drizzle turned into outright downpours so we finally called it quits.  I'll have to catch them another time, 

The drive back through beautiful eastern Idaho, in the shadow of the Tetons, was filled with bluegrass music from the autographed CDs purchased at the festival.  Driving through this beautiful country always reminds me of the lyrics to America the Beautiful...  "spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountains"...   It's great to live in the country that everyone sings about!!

Until next year....

Will's Summer

One of the things I miss most about being in Montana for the summer is weekly visits with our grandson, Will. Can it be that he is 6 years old this summer and getting ready for first grade? He celebrated his birthday in May in fine fashion at Chuck-E-Cheese with a Spiderman birthday cake. I'm not sure he was thrilled with the Chuck-E mascot, but he loved the cake and the friends who were there collecting tickets like crazy for take-home gifts.

One of his favorite gifts was a Spiderman scooter.  He really caught on to the required balancing skills fairly quickly and now is zooming around the neighborhood - thankfully with his helmet on!

We were in town for a few days at the beginning of July and spent the afternoon at the pool with Will and his dad. Will's swimming has improved exponentially. He was actually doing a pretty good free style without holding his nose. His favorite activity for this particular afternoon was using his dad's hands as a springboard for flips into the water.

In a recent telephone conversation with Will I was trying to persuade him that he needed to come to Montana for a visit. "You don't have a pool," was his response. He was very surprised to learn that not only did we have a pool, but that there was no snow on the ground. That's understandable since the only times he has been here are for annual ski trips - Montana and snow are inseparable in his mind.

Maybe next summer he will be ready for a Montana vacation. Can't wait to introduce him to wildflower hikes, horseback riding, trout fishing - and yes, even the swimming pool!!

The Morning After

I was up early this morning - looking for one more photo op. I stopped by the parking lot where the two helicopters were parked. A few Marines and Secret Service were milling about. One sharp shooter with a lot of ammo and a very large gun walked by and spoke. No problem, he said, from where I was standing.

I continued my normal walking route down to the base area and spotted a CNN cameraman, who told me that he was headed down to West Yellowstone shortly. The Obamas were staying in the Summit Hotel, probabaly in the top floor penthouse, so I looked for lights and think I spotted one on the top floor.

Seeing nothing that indicated they were anywhere near leaving, I decided to walk back up to the helicopters. A friend joined me and we started chatting with anyone who would respond to try to find out what the President's itenerary was for the day. Eventually, a Secret Service person told us that the Obamas weren't leaving by helicopter, but by motorcade. OK..... back down to the Summit to "stalk" the President.

We walked into the Summit - yes they were screening us just like airport security - snooped around and were assured that they were still there, but there would be no public appearance. We waited around for about 30 more minutes - still no action - so I decided to walk back up the hill and go home. Just as I turned up our driveway away from the helicopters, I saw a string of Montana State Patrol cars heading down the hill from the Summit.

Thinking they were setting up roadblocks for the President's departure, I headed back down the hill one more time. This time - voila!! As I got down the hill and crossed the entrance road to the resort, a Sherriff's officer confirmed that the motorcade was about 10 minutes away. He was right!

The President's vehicle - a white SUV - was surrounded by 6 black SUVs weaving back and forth in front, back and beside his vehicle, blue lights flashing all over the cars. Helicopter escorts also appeared. There's no question in my mind that he and his family are well-protected. About 10 of us were standing on the side of the road waving good-bye.

Governor Brian Schweitzer said yesterday that the Obamas were going to stop in Yellowstone to visit Old Faithful and then board Air Force One in West Yellowstone for the next leg to Grand Junction, Colorado where another town hall is scheduled.

Things sure are quiet around here now! And, it's really cold - it was 40 degrees while I was doing all my "sleuthing" this morning and it hasn't gotten out of the 40s all day. In fact, there was a dusting of snow up on the Spanish Peaks this morning. I don't think this means summer is over, but it sure has been an unusually cool and wet one!

Tomorrow we head over to Chico Hot Springs for the annual block party and to hear Montana Rose. I'll be in the mineral hot springs for most of the afternoon.

The President Comes To Town

What an exciting day!! Yesterday, I got up at 4:30 in the morning and headed into Bozeman to get in line for tickets to President Obama's town hall at Gallatin Field. I was #276 in line. Lots of folks had arrived the night before and camped out to be assured that they would get tickets. There were about 650 tickets distributed, 2 per person, so I'm glad I didn't leave one minute later. There were about 40 people after me who got tickets.

This morning, Jim and I left Big Sky at 8 am headed to Gallatin Field for the town hall. The town hall was held in the Yellowstone Jetcenter, a private hangar adjacent to the commercial air terminal. We were allowed to bring cameras and cellphones into the hangar, so I am thrilled with the pictures I got! Also, I was able to post some shots to Facebook as the day progressed.

We got in at about 10:30 am and secured our seats on the fourth row centered in front of the podium. Everyone was very well-behaved. Of course, when you have secret service all around, who's going to get out of hand!! Those guys are big and look rather intimidating.

As we waited, more and more familiar faces began to show up. Governor Brian Schweitzer always draws a crowd. You may have heard him speak at the Democratic National Convention last summer in Denver. He is so charismatic and approachable and very popular in Montana. Known for being a straight shooter, he told about a meeting with the Rotary Club this morning in Bozeman. Someone asked him "What was the rush" on health care reform. His answer was, "There's no rush - we've been talking about this for 60 years!"

Schweitzer also had some thoughts on Canadian health care, our "neighbors" to the north. "Did you know that, just 300 miles north of here, did you know they offered universal health care 62 years ago?" Schweitzer also noted that former Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas, considered the father of the Canadian health system, was recently voted in a nationwide poll as Canada's most popular person in history. He said that Montanans know "big ones" when they hear them and that a lot of outright lies are going around about health care reform, including the fact that Canadians don't like their health care. Quoting a Canadian journalist, Schweitzer said "there's more likelihood of a person in Canada being struck by lightning, then there is a likelihood of a Canadian going to the United States for their health care." Like I said, straight shooter and always entertaining!

The health care horror stories were all around. I talked with a woman from Helena who had come to the town hall with a letter from her 10-year old daughter, also a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with Wilms' tumor at age 6. She had one recurrence at age 8 and is now cancer free - BUT uninsurable because her treatments exceeded the lifetime limit of $1 million. Her mother was at the town hall to ask how health care reform would help people like her daughter who might have to live the rest of her life without health insurance.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was also there. He's pretty well known to Montanans since he was a senator in Colorado. Senators Max Baucus and Jon Testor were there on the stage with President Obama. The Bozeman Chronicle this morning reported that communication between Senator Baucus and the President had been strained and that he might not be at the town hall, or at least not on the stage. Wrong - he was on the stage and made his own remarks prior to the town hall. Guess their sources were either wrong or they mended fences!!

President Obama later described Jon Testor as one of his favorite people in Washington. "For one thing," he said, he hasn't 'gone Washington', and he still wears the same haircut!"

Shortly after noon, the minister from Holy Rosary Church offered an invocation. A young Native American girl led the Pledge of Allegience followed by the National Anthem, led by a woman with a beautiful soprano voice and a younger girl who sang harmony with her - beautiful!

A series of speakers then followed: Senator Testor, Governor Schweitzer and Senator Baucus. A Bozeman resident, Katie Gibson, a cancer survivor whose insurance was cancelled after she was told she had less than a year to live. She was able to get coverage by working through the Montana Insurance Commissioner's office and said she was supporting health care reform so that no one else had to deal with what she dealt with.

She then, without very much fanfare, introduced President Obama. He seemed very energized. If this job is wearing on him, it wasn't evident today. He practically ran up on to the stage and shouted, "Hello, Montana!" He started off telling us that Michelle and the girls were off on a whitewater rafting trip. We knew immediately that they were on the Gallatin River - the only whitewater venue near by. We were hoping to catch a look at them on our way back up the canyon toward Big Sky.

President Obama made opening remarks explaining his health care reform agenda and then took off his sport coat, rolled up his sleeves and started asking questions. I had asked one of the town hall organizers about how people were selected to ask questons. The plan was simply to ask us to raise our hands and let the President pick out the person. He announced that he was going to go "boy, girl, boy, girl" and that's exactly what he did. There were some questions from people who had lost their coverage and were genuinely supportive of meaningful reform. There were some tough questions about how to pay for reform and one man who was a health insurance sales agent asserted that President Obama was "villifying" the insurance industry.

After the questions, he went down to the floor level and started meeting and greeting. This is where the Secret Service gets their workout. I can't imagine the kind of stress they must feel. All went well as he worked his way around the room for the next 30 minutes.

After some traffic delays, we were able to get back on the road home and decided to stop in Four Corners for a late lunch - they have great pizza! When we walked in, Secretary Salazar was just finishing his lunch. We learned that this restaurant is a favorite of the Montana State Patrol and they had pointed him in that direction. We waved at him and welcomed him to Montana and he came by our table on the way out and talked for a minute. He was on his way to Yellowstone where President Obama was fly fishing.

Just as we had hoped, on the way back up the canyon, we spotted Michelle and the girls on the Gallatin River. There were 3 rafts, and it was hard to pick them out specifically, but I think I figured out. Here are the pictures... see what you think.

We are sitting on our deck and we've had a mixture of rain and hail since we got back. The temperature is sitting at 50 degrees right now, and we just saw the Marine One helicopters arrive. We think they will be taking the Obamas to Yellowstone tomorrow and then on to Colorado for another town hall. I will be up early just in case I catch one one more photo op - but I think I have enough memories now to las a lifetime!!

Summer Guests

We always look forward to sharing our summer with friends, long-time and new. Martha B. was one of our first guests in the summer of 2001, and she has been a regular every summer since that time. Two years later, in 2003, right after her marriage to Jim F., she introduced him to Montana, and both of them haven't missed a summer since.

This year, Martha and Jim introduced their friends, Don and Paula, to Montana. We have known Don and Paula through our annual trips to Clearwater, FL, and have long talked about hosting them in Montana. Finally, this year, Don retired and Paula finished her responsibilities as president of the Southern Medical Association. . . so the time was right! Though they were only here for 5 days, they managed to work in fly fishing on the Madison River, horseback riding for Paula in the Spanish Peaks, a concert in the meadow and a trip to the headwaters of the Missouri in Three Forks.

Don was inspired to develop a pully system for getting groceries, luggage, coolers and other items to the main level. After taking measurements and generally surveying the situation, he went back home and constructed the system which we installed today. VOILA!!! No more multiple trips up and down the stairs with bags of groceries. Thanks, Don!

One week later, Martha's daughter and son-in-law, Carol and Ben, joined us for a week-long visit. I actually lost count of the number of hikes they did. We all hiked Ousel Falls trail together. Ousel Falls empties into the South Fork of the West Fork of the Gallatin River (confused?) Ouzel Falls is named for a bird called the water ouzel, a strange little aquatic songbird that lives beside rushing streams and has a strange habit of dipping up and down by bending and straightening its knees. The ouzels (also known as the American Dipper) were feeding their new hatchlings - a first sighting for us. Watching this feeding process was quite fascinating. One of the adults jumps down into the stream, in some cases submerging, and reappears with a bug and feeds it to one of the babies.

Carol and Ben fly fished for the day in the Yellowstone and Ben is definitely hooked - so to speak. Their successful day included a 21-inch brown trout, a couple of other 16-18 inchers, and too many rainbow trout to count.

We also spent one day driving through the Tetons on a beautiful blue sky day. We stopped in Jackson Hole for a beer at the Million Dollar Bar where the bar stools are authentic saddles. We spotted trumpeter swans just north of Jackson and continued north to Yellowstone and one of the more spectacular Old Faithful eruptions I have ever seen. After a final stop at the Fountain Paint Pots, we headed home to Big Sky, stopping for the pig roast at the 320 Ranch.

This is a big place, and there's so much to do. We still haven't done it all, and probably never will, but we keep working on it!!