Happy meme Monday.

We can all use a laugh to start the week off right. You’re welcome.

I was doing laundry yesterday at a laundromat in Livingston (my new hometown.) The one I went to was small, and I’ll probably try the other laundromat next time, but this one met my needs for now. (I have space for a washer and dryer in my new home, but the appliances are in Washington, thus my trips to the laundromat.)

As I was waiting for my clothes to wash, I noticed the above sign and thought it was a sweet idea. I didn’t realize it was the first Saturday until a woman came into the laundromat and offered me quarters to pay for my laundry. I told her she could save the money for other patrons but that this was a good idea.

I think it’s a nice gesture to help people pay to clean their families’ clothes. I do only one load a week, and it costs me four dollars. When I do mine and my hubby’s clothes, that amount triples. It can become very pricey to have clean clothes, which is not an option in life.

Well, the last month has been interesting. I hope never to repeat it ever again.

I learned some important life lessons from my month of having nowhere to call home. Here is one.

1.  Do not move to a town EVERYONE wants to move to at the same time that EVERYONE is moving there. (You can do this if you want, but the stress and annoyance will be HUGE.)

We did not follow this sage life lesson, so I spent four weeks trying to find a rental and getting more and more frustrated. So many places do not take pets. (I understand that many landlords have been burned by pet damage. However, in my personal experience, HUMANS cause way more damage to rentals than PETS!) We have pets, so finding all these ideal rentals that did not take pets was discouraging. Sigh.

We were getting more and more desperate, but my stress did not go off the charts until I toured the perfect rental in the perfect location. We wanted this home. It was made for us But we were not first in line. The odds of us getting it were about one in five. (That wasn’t as bad as the great apartment that had a waiting list of 46 people.) When we didn’t get other rentals, I didn’t care, but this time I did, and waiting stressed me out.

It turned out we were second on the landlord’s list, and the first people didn’t have a good credit score (ha!), so we were offered the home. Our credit score is excellent, so we got the rental. I had no idea how stressed I was until I was handed the keys, and I knew our search was over. I hope I never have to do that again.

I still can’t believe we now live where we do. When we visited the area in June to check things out, we both agreed that Paradise Valley south of Livingston would be perfect; however, we figured it was too remote, and from the highway, all we saw were resorts and lodges – no houses.

Well, that is because you can’t see the houses from the highway. They are all hidden, and now I live in one of these hidden gems. The road I have to turn on has no name, and you can’t even see the mobile homes from the highway. It is crazy. However, I have learned that my turn is the third one after the KOA, so I don’t miss it. 

Here is the best part of where we live. There are three lanes that have homes on them, and my home is on the farthest back, so all I see are rivers and mountains (and both are really close.) I’ll be taking many photos of the mountains, but the smoke is back so I’ll have to show you my amazing view later.

Another great thing is that we are on the highway to Yellowstone. The north entrance through Gardiner is just forty miles from my home so we look forward to many day trips to the park. Just perfect.

They say that good things come to those who wait. I guess sometimes that comes true. We found our slice of paradise in Montana.

So I will probably (99.9% sure) have a big announcement to make later today, but I don’t want to say anything until it is 100%.

Is the suspense killing you because it is killing me. This past week has been very stressful.

For all my readers who assume the worse, my announcement, if I have have one, is very good news.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned.

Happy fall!

Okay, I know. Not yet. However, the temperature is dropping in Montana, and it feels like fall. Since this is my favorite time of year, I’m thrilled. 

Of course, it could snow at any time (or so I’m told), so fall may be short-lived, so I better celebrate while I can. 

There are plenty of poems about September, but many of them are moody. The end of summer bums some poets out. I was pleased to find this one.

I’d never heard of Helen Hunt Jackson but was intrigued when I found out she was a contemporary of Emily Dickenson. Why have we heard of Emily but not Helen?

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830 – 1885) was a poet and writer who advocated for Native American rights. She wrote a fictional book called Ramona that dealt with Native American mistreatment in Southern California. This book was reprinted 300 times, and people traveled to southern California to see the sights she described. It also led to changes in how Native Americas were treated. She led an interesting life filled with loss and love, and I feel like she could easily have a movie made about her.

She wrote a lot of poetry, and much of it was heavy due to all the loss she suffered (from the death of her first husband and many of her children), but the poem I’m sharing today was more about the season than her life, and I liked her descriptions. Enjoy!

September

by: Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

HE golden-rod is yellow;

The corn is turning brown;

The trees in apple orchards

With fruit are bending down.

The gentian’s bluest fringes

Are curling in the sun;

In dusty pods the milkweed

Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest,

In every meadow nook;

And asters by the brook-side

Make asters in the brook.

From dewy lanes at morning

The grapes’ sweet odors rise;

At noon the roads all flutter

With yellow butterflies.

By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer’s best of weather,

And autumn’s best of cheer.

But none of all this beauty

Which floods the earth and air

Is unto me the secret

Which makes September fair.

‘T is a thing which I remember;

To name it thrills me yet:

One day of one September

I never can forget.

Many thanks for those who sent captions to Alfred’s photo. I thought they were very clever. Alfred does not think we’re funny, but he should be more concerned that I’ll turn his photo into a meme. 

“I’m going to eat your breakfast, throw up behind the couch, and blame it on one of the other cats.” – Jim M.

“Humans, they’re the worst.” – Judy G.

“I will not wear a mask!” – Arlene K.

Happy Meme Monday.

Today’s meme makes me smile every time I see it, so I am sharing it even though no one else probably knows how awesome it is. Halt is a senior ranger in the Ranger’s Apprentice series*. He trains Will, the ranger’s apprentice, in the first several books.

Halt is grumpy and does not tolerate fools. In book two, The Burning Bridge. Baron Arold tells Halt that he should not throw idiot fief lords out of windows into moats no matter how much they deserve it. Later in the book, he is escorting Alyss, an apprentice currier. The lord of the castle treats her like a child instead of a currier and is very rude, and she agrees that throwing this buffoon out the window is the correct action, so Halt does. It is a brilliant subplot and so much fun to read.

When I saw this meme, it made me smile so big. The Ranger’s Apprentice is one of the best middle-grade books I’ve ever read, and I own them all. If you have kids in your world, I recommend they read this series. It is popular with both boys and girls. Then kids can learn that some people deserve to be thrown into a moat. At least in stories.

*The Ranger’s Apprentice books are a best-selling middle-grade fantasy series by John Flanagan. It starts with the Ruins of Gorlan, and we follow Will and Halt and their friends through many more adventures. There are also several spin-off series, including the Early Years about when Halt was younger and the Royal Ranger, which features the first girl ranger who Will trains. All the stories are amazing, and I’ve never met a child who did not love them.

I have been staying at a lovely state park on the weekends since I came to Montana. I wanted to share a fun story that proves that I am still bear-proof (even though I’d really like to see one.)

The ranger stopped by my campsite when I arrived back in the evening last weekend. He wanted to tell me that a couple of juvenile black bears had visited the campground. I figured they had wandered through the far end from where I was parked, but no, they had walked right past my car the night before, and I didn’t know it.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. The campsite across from mine has a tipi that can be rented. A mom and her two teenage boys were staying in the tipi, and around 4 a.m., the young bears stuck their heads in the opening and chewed on the canvas. The family in the tipi got out and hid in their car until a ranger showed up. The bears wandered off and used the camp hosts’ septic hose as a rope for tug-a-war. It was thoroughly destroyed.

I did wake up when the family from the tipi illuminated my car with their headlights. I sleep in my car and wondered what was happening.

I have stayed at this campground several times and have never seen a bear. Once again, I am bear-proof. The family in the tipi didn’t stay another night. If the bears had visited me, I never would have wanted to leave.

Living out of my car at campsites or hostels means I didn’t bring a lot of reading material with me. Without an address, I can’t get a library card in Bozeman. There is a Barnes and Noble nearby (insert angels singling), but I can’t buy all the books I want to read.

Luckily, I have the Libby app and can borrow tons of ebooks on my phone.

(I also have a ton of ebooks on my Kindle and Kobo app, but we won’t discuss that here. LOL)

I type in authors I want to read on Libby’s search bar and browse through the list. It is amazing how many I can borrow immediately. I’m never without new reading material.

I access Libby through my library in Washington, but there are many ways to sign up. If you like to read and like getting library books instantly, check out the Libby app. It has made my transitional adventure mores enjoyable. All I need is a book.