Among the sudden life changes that were brought on by COVID-19 in early 2020, a significant one was the loss of cultural events: Live music, art festivals, and films on the big screen, among many other things, came to a screeching halt. Faced with empty...
One of the perks of being a fisheries biologist is that I occasionally stumble upon a hidden treasure. In this case, it was a narrow mountain stream that held small native trout — angling nirvana for me, particularly because I have a 10-year-old daughter, and...
“All roads lead to Rome” is a proverb from the Golden Milestone (Milliarium Aureum) that was erected by Emperor Augustus in 20 B.C.E. Located in the Forum, the monument marked the starting point for all of the roads across the Roman Empire. One hundred years...
Lena Marie Schiffer gets teary-eyed when she thinks about her mainstage debut at the Red Ants Pants Music Festival in 2016. “It was truly a life-changing moment for me,” says the frontwoman for Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs, a Bozeman, Montana-based bluegrass band. “I...
Steven Rinella is only slightly distracted. He’s taking his youngest son to Chico Hot Springs in Montana’s Paradise Valley for his birthday, and there are details to resolve. “We have a deal with our kids,” says Rinella, whose personal life, for most readers, is secondary...
Jimmy and SnickerDoodle attract smiles whenever they clip-clop into Red’s Classical Barbershop, and the arrival of these two friendly goats is all in a day’s work for owner Al Sandvold. The setting of this Belgrade, Montana-based shop — inside a barn and rodeo arena —...
We woke up to 6 inches of snow this morning in Bozeman, Montana. It’s late May, and while I imagine that sounds just awful to readers in more southerly locales, those of us who’ve lived here for a while were unphased. It happens every single...
There may be grander, more dramatic landscapes in Montana than those found in the eastern part of the state that borders North Dakota. In the western regions, including those around Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, there are certainly bigger mountains and more spectacular backdrops. But...
I watched in wonder and anticipation as the historic Art Deco building on Mendenhall and Willson in Bozeman, Montana, stood covered: first in scaffolding, then draped with cloth. Built in 1941 to house the 163rd Infantry Regiment of the Montana National Guard during World War...
Malcolm Brooks hits brave new heights with Cloudmaker (Grove Press, $27), which soars into that rarified space where a deeply thoughtful and sweeping novel is also an edge-of-your-seat page-turner. This taut story takes place in eastern Montana during the Depression. Set at the dawn of...