"A Weight Worth Waiting For"

In Montana, we are blessed with beautiful, inspiring landscapes and people.  One of the best showcases for both of these is the magazine Montana Quarterly, published by Big Sky Publishing, out of Bozeman. Some of the best writers and photographers in the state are routinely featured in this  award winning magazine.

Each issue of Montana Quarterly features a spotlight article on a town in Montana, usually a small town.  The issue that recently came out this fall did an article on Chester, which is one of our anchors to the Hi-Line for supplies and groceries, and also the town where I work.  The article was written by one of my favorite Montana writers, Jeff Hull.

The article is appropriately titled, "Small Town that Lives Big," and covers what might seem to be a renaissance of activity in Chester.  As a newcomer, I learned a few things I didn't know about Chester and the people who call it home, but what won me over most about the article (writing nerd that I am!) was Jeff Hull's tremendous prose.

Take this excerpt, the second paragraph of the article:

"This is a land of exquisite patience. It requires footfalls.  It can only be solved by gazing both at the horizon and at your feet, by opening your nose and breathing what the growth of wheat smells like, by crumbling the soil between your fingertips, by noticing the way the wind wants to comb your hair.  Amid such fastness, each single note of bird song acquires a weight worth waiting for.  Be still, and you will be deeply moved." 

This short paragraph puts into words how I have felt this land should be approached.  With stillness and patience.  In a sense, Hull's words are the Mission Statement for this blog.  There is more here than meets the eye.

If you see an issue of Montana Quarterly at your local newsstand, pick it up.  It is always worth the money spent.  And, if you're looking for a good book, check out Jeff Hull's book Pale Morning Done, perhaps at your local bookstore.  If not, there's always Amazon.  I recommend taking your issue of Montana Quarterly or your copy of Pale Morning Done, and heading out to an open space with a lawn chair or blanket and a good glass of wine.  As you read, take pause now and again-  "Be still, and you will be deeply moved."