City of Eagles

 Today, I return to my travel photos. I have been distracted by other things, primarily the writing of the final book in the Legends of the Aurora trilogy, but that's no excuse to leave you hanging.

Libby, Montana: a small town of 2,600 in the northwestern corner of Montana seems like an unlikely travel destination, but I was itching to get there. Known as the city of eagles, they certainly live up to their name. It was a bright, cloudless day when we arrived in Libby. A river town, it stretches along the Kootenai (Koot-na as we were told it was pronounced)river. Above, dark shadows soared in search of a meal. Now, being a writer, I'm prone to a vivid imagination, and because I was working on the final edit of Cairn: A Dragon Memoir, those huge shadows read dragon to me.

But I knew better.At least until we drove downtown to purchase a few supplies. Something about the giant, dangling feather alarmed me. 

Still, we needed supplies to we slipped into the parking lot of the local grocery store where I discovered this guy. Seems I can't get away from the Vikings.  

It was all a little weird, but I stayed with the dogs will my husband went inside. Wandering around the parking lot, I stumbled on this bit of tackle. It must have been 14 feet tall. It seems the people of Libby like things big, really big. 

Come back to learn why I was really excited to be in Libby, and maybe what inspires the residents to think big.

Teenagers Never Change

I was digging through my notes this morning. I gather bits and pieces from any number of sources. Most of it will never see the light of day, but there's always something to spin me off in a fruitful direction. A wonderful source comes from the newspaper. Those quaint little sections of historical articles. I have to wonder how many people read these especially when it's reporting on a town you aren't living in, but I find endless nuggets here. 

This one came from my local paper, The Courier Hub. I haven't used it, don't think I will, but I got me to thinking this morning. 

Teenagers never change. Generation after generation we think we are the brightest, the funniest, the most clever humans who have ever walked the planet. I certainly did, but I never once got bored enough to go stealing chickens. And certainly not in a buggy. 

AMENDMENT: While considering my replies to the comments below, I realized I had in fact used this article to spur an event in the Legends of the Aurora trilogy. Astute readers will recognize Uredd's passion for goats milk in this crime story.