Summer Came to Montana, and there was no turning back.

Anxiety rises in my throat, threatening to choke me. The air is an incessant frenzy that no amount of A/C can calm tho my face shows pure chill. My brain is dialed to a critical volume that blurs my vision.

I don’t like Summer. Especially as a bartender. The waves of curious and belligerent strangers from Ohio to Florida never cease. This is when we make our money. This is the “make hay while the sun shines” everyone tells you about. But this is when I hate my life.

Give me the poverty of football season and the smell of sweaty snow soaked jackets every time. Jump me forward to familiar faces and streets free of RVs.

Jaded July is underway and we still have Angry August to go. There are very few things I enjoy in summer. Mostly I’m exhausted and uncomfortable and don’t have time for the people I love or the life I moved here to create.

I hate that part.

In the midst of this season, I’m grateful for the small moments of happiness, the occasional chance to be on water, eating breakfast in my yard, catching up with a friend in a parking lot, the one camping trip we can squeeze in, watching Luna learn to stay on a paddle board.

There is very little I find redeeming about Summer. But those little things mean the world.

Inversion

Inversions used to mean heavy smoke, reduced fire activity, that thing that happens to make the sun orange. That seems like a lifetime ago, and in away it is.

Now I’m not below the inversion in the heat and smoke. I’m riding those powder days in the sun!

Oh my, oh my do I love to ski! Every opportunity I can it’s up to the top and pure joy follows.

Then there was a Luna

Harry Potter wasn't something I read as a child.  I was engrossed with Louis L'amour, Dear America, Anne of Green Gables, pretty much any historical fiction, and a few Christian fiction authors.  

When I went to college I finally watched the Harry Potter films and they were endearing but I was very busy with classes and not flunking out.  About Junior year I had random roommates I'd never met before and we became a little squad. This squad watched Harry Potter, a lot...as a reprieve from studying. We'd wear jammies and eat popcorn or treats from the 55th Avenue coffee shop, swap back rubs, and giggle like elementary girls over the escapades of these fictional kids fighting against "he who must not be named".

Fast forward to "out-of-college-Abigail" who listens to audiobooks while driving across the country in a giant Forest Service rig as we hop from fire to fire over the course of 6 seasons.  I listened to the audible version of the whole series....best best BEST Audible experience I've had!  The narrator draws you into the story with his masterful voice inflections and timing.  This is where my favorite character came to life for me. 

Luna Lovegood.  She was whimsical and a little out there. The other children didn't "get" her...except Harry who appreciated her soft and sweet take on even the most somber moments.  Without her encouragement and friendship, the story of Harry would have gone very differently.  

I've also had an affinity for the moon.  Since being a little girl I've loved seeing the moon and having it shine on me.  Laying in my bed as a small child I remember rushing down to tell my parents to come see the moon out my window! It's so bright! Sometimes it looked spooky.  Other times it created beautiful shadows in the orchard behind our house.  The moon has always been a special part of creation to me.  

Now I'm not one who believes in the metaphysical or astrological significance of the moon.  It is powerful and silent as it pulls the oceans back and forth but it's not really deciding that.  It has mass and with that comes gravity and with that comes an effect on the bodies of water on our planet.  

My person and I now have a puppy, and as she was a gift to me...I named her Luna.  

*Luna has been my little love for a few months now and it's been the best adventure to date

I Live in Montana Now

You heard right!  The state besides Oregon that's burning to the ground? Yes I live there now.

I left the concrete jungle after two years of city living and crossed over a heap 'o mountains to a new home.

I'm beyond thankful for my time in Seattle and the amount of growth it afforded me.

There is a part of me that's going to stay there for good...

I made this!

BUT, life carries on and my heart belongs a bit nearer to mountains, lakes, and oodles of trees!

The few weeks I've lived here have felt more like home than anywhere I've been in a long, long time.  The peace I feel in the quiet is magical.  

And the traffic?  Hah! My "commute" to work takes 5 minutes by car if one of the 3 traffic lights is red.  A far cry from the madness that has become Seattle commuter traffic.  There was a reason I took the bus everywhere!

My job is at a unique coffee shop run by intentional people and a staff I'm proud to be a part of.  In the short time I've been there, each person has taken time to invest in me and help me be a successful barista and team member.  The change in pace is wonderful.  

All I can say is I'm full of happy and excitement and calm...and that is a good place to be.

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I do want to ask for your prayers for my new state.  The fires have been devastating here and have gotten no coverage nationally.  We've just passed 1 million acres of burned land and there is no end in sight right now.  We've been living indoors for weeks as the smoke is so thick it's truly hard to breathe.  As someone who's been out on the line fighting those fires I know that when it's horribly smoky in town, it's 1,000x worse for the men and women working tirelessly to contain the fires and protect the land and homes.  If you feel led to contribute financially here are a few resources for you

Donate for the fires closest to Whitefish

Donate for the families of Western Montana

Donate to aid firefighter's and their families