2. Pro tip: If you're planning to visit Glacier National Park, check the Range Riders schedule to make sure they will be playing at home while you're here. The ballpark is practically new (I think it opened in 2022), and it's a beautiful facility, great food, local brews, and a fun vibe. Definitely a great way to spend the evening. Sit on the third base side.
3. After that last post about short literary classics you can try, it occurred to me that I should have leaned in to more Montana writers. I taught a six week class on Montana writers of the short story on two different occasions in our local continuing ed department, so I have lots of ideas about this. But I will limit myself to D'Arcy McNickle and Grace Stone Coates (plus Dorothy Johnson, as previously mentioned).
D'arcy McNickle grew up in St. Ignatius on the Flathead Reservation and he wrote a bunch of beautiful stories that were collected in The Hawk Is Hungry after his death. He adopted the Salish Kootenai conferederated tribes, but his mother was Cree-Metis.
4. Aside: If you're still planning your trip (see #2), you can fly into Missoula, catch a concert at the Kettlehouse Ampitheater just east of town, then drive up to Glacier National Park, and you will drive right through St. Ignatius. (You'll also drive through Arlee, the setting of this book, not related to D'Arcy McNickle, I just thought you'd want to know.) McNickle's novel The Surrounded is excellent, but it is a bit over our 200 page limit. It reads easily, I don't think you'll have a problem with it.
5. Grace Stone Coats has, among other works, a slim book of inter-connected short stories called Black Cherries. It's set in the midwest if I remember right, but Coates lived in Montana for almost her entire adult life. One of the stories is in Best American Short Stories of the Century. Both Coates and McNickle were amazing writers, and neither of them gets much attention anymore. Do your part, people.
6. Awhile back, I told you to find a faith community as part of caring for your soul. (I know, I know. Just do it.) You definitely have to find a place where you feel at home, but on the other hand, I think it's also good to find a place where not everyone thinks in lockstep. You may not feel like you fit in at first glance. Our church is off-putting to some young people because it is an older congregation -- as are many congregations these days. You might consider giving them a chance. I was at a church barbecue last weekend and I sat with some women who are 15-20 years older than me, and they were a hoot. They got to telling stories about when they were young wives and mothers and they were cackling. It was great. I laughed until I cried. I didn't need any conversation starters since I've known these women for years, but if you do need some-- try asking about their first job, or their first car, or what's their favorite place they've ever traveled. (I wouldn't pull those out the first time you talk to them, but eventually.) You might be surprised at how relatable old people can be.
7. Our son's wedding was June 6th. I went with the bridal party a few days before to get pedicures, and I got gel polish. How the hell do you get it off? Good grief. It's two and half months later and I still have chipped polish on several toes that will not come off. It looks awful (although I admit it did look great for about six weeks). I tried filing it off a couple of nights ago, and that at least made it less shiny (i.e., noticeable). YouTube says to wrap your nails in cotton soaked in acetone and then wrap that in foil and let it sit for thirty minutes, and I am not doing that. Who does that?
I had big plans for this post but fact-checking myself on McNickle and Coates slowed me way down so this is it for this week. Next week I will be sweltering the heat and humidity down south to visit my mom, so who knows if I will post. Hope the last days of summer treat you well.
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