Montana Women For

Montana women continue to amaze me. Livingston is a small town, but there is a sizable group of women here who are concerned enough about social and political issues to start a group called 'Montana Women For'. For 'what' you ask? Well...fill in the blank. For peace, social justice, reproductive freedom, gay marriage, more funding for education, environmental responsibility, affordable health care, etc, etc. Many of these women have never considered themselves political activists but are now concerned enough with the current far-right political climate that they want to speak out for change.

For the local Independence Day parade, these fabulous gals donned blue gowns and statue-of-liberty hats and walked in the parade to raise consciousness about the issues. They were well received and someone even noticed later that, in one of the local cowboy bars, several of the men were wearing the peace buttons that were handed out during the parade.

Dang - I wish I had been here in time to participate with my friends. I just emailed Margie to ask her to put me on the email newsletter list for Montana Women For. I am now officially a resident of Montana and am registered to vote here, so I want to be kept up to date - especially on the local issues.

~~ Daughter and mother join the parade ~~

A Busy Week

The past week has been a mish-mash of different activities for me. I like to help out Cassandra since she so generously let's me stay in 'The Studio' when I am here. Her place is on the Yellowstone River and she built a nice observation deck down on the bank overlooking the river. This year has been great for rain after so many years of drought; however that also means that the path down to the deck and from the deck to the river was very overgrown. I grabbed the long-handled pruning shears and fired up the weed-eater and cut a new path down to the river. Hannah was the first one to take advantage of the new access; she and friends drove upriver a few miles and floated down here on inner tubes and were able to use the path to get back up from the river.

Cassandra always has several projects going on, such as restoring her downtown building to create 'The North 40' coffeehouse and frame shop; or remodeling her duplex down the street for rentals; or clearing brush and debris from her empty lots next door to start a big garden; on and on - you get the picture. Anyway, her gardening and construction tools are always in use and getting mixed up with tools belonging to others who are working on the projects. So now I'm gathering everything up and 'branding' them with red and purple paint so it will be easier for them to find their way back to Cassandra's workshop.

Val is selling part of her ranch land, so we went out a few days ago to see where she needs to flag the boundaries for the realtor to be able to show clients. We also took her pickup truck out in the hills and drove around to flatten the grass so the realtor will have a 'road' to follow to show the land to prospective buyers. It is gorgeous out there with a stunning view of the Crazies. We saw several does with their fawns and also a Pronghorn doe with triplets - pretty rare.



This is Val with her dog Jacqui whose breed is Bouvier... Jacqui Bouvier - get it ? :-)

Cassandra

My dear friend, Cassandra, is one of the core reasons for me spending so much time in Montana. Originally, we were friends in the Napa Valley in California where she owned 'The Diner', a popular restaurant in Yountville that offered fabulous food to locals and tourists for 25 years.



Cassandra is very community oriented and was also the founder of the Napa Valley Women's Network, a group that gathered together for social and recreational activities and at times political activism. I also met Judy through NVWN when she was invited to perform there (more about Judy later). They both came to Montana for an extended visit after Judy's mom died and ended up getting rooted here in Big Timber where Judy grew up.

Cassandra built 'The Studio' behind Judy's house (where I am now staying) and lived in it until the house next door went up for sale. Real estate here is a steal compared to California, and Cassandra now owns half the block plus a building downtown that she has renovated. She recently opened 'The North 40' there - a coffeehouse/cafe offering (what else) delicious food and a cozy place for locals to meet and hang out with friends.

As usual, Cassandra has become a pillar in the community, getting involved in several outreach programs and forming a wide and wonderful group of friends. She and Ivanie also started the annual 'Woman Spirit' retreat at a camp on the Boulder River.

When I first hit the road three years ago, I looked up Cassandra and Judy, having been out of touch for several years. I have since fallen in love with Montana and, because Cassandra has introduced me to so many of the wonderful people living in this part of the state, I have also developed a circle of fine friends here.