Sharing the Shade

The thing about Montana is that horses are the animals that teach you everything. I am still trying to decide what that animal might be on Cape Cod- maybe dogs, maybe fish, maybe squirrels. Dogs are always looking for fun, fish know when to go south, and squirrels know how to put food by.

Horses know how to share. I whipped my camera out of the glove compartment today and took this shot on the side of the highway of horses sharing the shade. They are herd animals. They want nothing more than to hang out with their buddies. They might carry you around on their backs for awhile, but at the end of the day, it's their horse buddies they want to see, along with their dinner.

As I was driving south on Route 93 today from Kalispell to Bigfork, about the same distance as Hyannis to Eastham, I was noting the differences between Cape Cod and the Flathead Valley. One notable difference is the speed limit. I had to learn how to drive fast again, because the speed limit is 70, and you have to keep up, or get off the road.

Out here, you can see miles ahead of you up the road. Miles and miles over to the mountain ranges. True, you can also see for miles on the Cape when you are at the bay or the ocean. I've always loved those forever views. I didn't know if we could move to Montana, I knew I'd miss the ocean so. And so it was with this in mind that we decided Bigfork was a good location, because of Flathead Lake, which has the reputation of being one of the largest natural lakes west of the Rockies in the Continental U.S. It is long, it is wide. It is as long as Cape Cod Bay. You can see the opposite shores because of the height of the mountains circling the lake. It is beautiful, the water is still clear, so far . I'll talk about the "so far" soon. But for now, lets just say on this last day of September, the weather is fine, the hay is in, the lake is beautiful, and winter is coming. There are two seasons in Montana; eight months of winter, and four months of company. (This is not so different from Cape Cod, in many ways) The last guest has left.