Family Mellmann

After about two weeks of high heat during the day and modest cooling at night, we are enjoying a little reprieve.  A weather front rolled through this evening bringing cool temperatures, a good breeze (clearing away some of the wildfire smoke), a little rain, and a lovely double rainbow.  After about 30 minutes, the rainbows disappeared, the rain moved on, and a lovely blue sky was exposed for the first time in many many days.

Katherine has put in her first full week of work, and it will come as a surprise to those who know her that she is actually enjoying the job.  She reported that it's "fun", yet she admits that standing in one place all day long is hard on the legs and feet (no surprise to anyone) but hasn't complained at all.  She even pointed out that she hasn't complained because she realizes her lack of physical conditioning is a problem of her own making. I managed to convince her to put her hair in a ponytail so now she's (finally) learning to manage (beyond just brushing) her own hair.  I think her new look makes her more...approachable.  I like being able to see her face. 😃 As we sat in the local Thai restaurant, waiting for our take-out meal to be ready, we talked and talked and talked.  This whole working thing seems to be helping to bring her out of her shell and it also gives her some new material about which we can talk.

The initial digging is pretty much done and ready for the arrival of the "cement guy" who is finishing up another project before starting ours.  On this day, it was a lovely 75 degrees (F) (after nearly two weeks of brutal heat) and the smoky skies (due to wildfires west of us in Idaho, Oregon, and California) cleared a bit so that I could see some of the mountains.   Next stop, hopefully, footings and foundations.

With the building site relocated to make the best use of the terrain, we met the excavator to plot out corners, discuss drainage (which seems a bit ironic given how dry it is here right now), and think through driveway approach and parking area.  Armed with this knowledge, the real earth moving will commence. Over the weekend, Joerg and I made a run to the local building supply store where they have samples of roofing and siding materials, doors and windows, and all the little details that will become important sooner or later.  Our mission was to pick siding and roofing, and while we were there we even found a front door.  Decisions #1 - 8, done.  That just leaves 8,274 more before we can move in. :) (No mountains visible today because of the wildfire smoke.)  

It has taken us a while to get to this stage, but Katherine has herself a job.  Her first ever, full-time, work-for-someone-else job.  She started training on Monday and by the time I got there to get some groceries today (on Tuesday), she looked like an "old pro".  She is still learning the art and science of bagging groceries so things don't get crushed and the food is separate from the non-food items but she was quick and friendly (even to me).  Maybe next time I'll pay in cash so she has to make change. :)

 ...another moonrise.  I'm not sure I'd call this my "happy place", but it sure does come close.

In the evening, when it starts to cool off, I enjoy sitting out on the patio to watch TV (on my iPad), read, or knit.  Sometimes I get distracted by the view.  On this night, it was a lovely moonrise.  

While Grandma works at the Chamber of Commerce, Patrick had a chance to hang out with Grandpa with an afternoon in Bozeman. They "geeked out" over their shared interest in tea at a nice tea shop in town.  And eventually we ended up in the music store.  Patrick tried out some beautiful guitars but the highlight for him was to finally get to try an electric upright bass.  Since taking lessons on the (acoustic) upright bass during high school, he has had an interest in playing more.  As a practical matter, the acoustic bass is not a good option for his current life - apartment with close neighbors and he drives a small car.  The electric upright offers all the right benefits; small and easy to transport, plugs into headphones for "silent" practice or a into an amplifier for public performance, and it (this particular one) has a very rich bass sound plucked (with the fingers) or bowed - both of which he was able to try during this visit. Three more benefits of this beau

A little dinner at a local favorite while Patrick is here for a visit.

Patrick came to Livingston for a short visit.  For a fun activity on Sunday, he and Joerg made one more run to the Lewis & Clark Caverns.  The older we get, the harder it is for us older and less flexible folks to make the tour which involves some mild...contortions (crawling or sliding on your bottom, squeezing into tight spaces, or ducking way down).  But it does have some beautiful examples of stalactites and stalagmites.  

July in Montana can include a lot of forest fire activity.  With smoke in the air, the mountain view has a distinctly clouded haze. I have an app on my phone that tracks forest fires (below) showing how many acres are involved and what the level of containment is.  We are the small blue dot just outside of the pink zone on the left side of the image.  While we were never in any kind of danger - the actual fires are actually many many miles from us - the smoke was clearly visible. For a reference, here is our view without smoke.

Early in the morning, as I raised my head off the pillow to start my day (yes, my bladder insisted I get moving), I startled this female mule deer snacking outside my window.  We stared at each for a few moments before moving on with our day. Later in the day, we encountered this little one.  One of two little twins, it appeared to be completely comfortable being very close to us on the patio.  It walked toward us and took a little walk through the garden before wondering away to look for Mom.

For nearly 25 years we have attended parades in Vermont; sometimes the Memorial Day Parade in Essex Junction and sometimes the 4th of July Parade in Williston (and sometimes both).  Montana parades have a completely different flare.  Lots of local businesses decorate vehicles and strut their stuff.  Local politicians make an appearance - of course - including the Governor Greg Gianforte as the Parade Marshal.  There were even two pipe (bag pipe) bands!  Community services (from garbage trucks to septic tank pumpers to police and fire) decorated their trucks and tooted their horns.  And most of them brought candy, some brought other treats, one brought apples, and a few brought bottles of water.  The kids clearly understood how this was going to work because they came armed with empty bags for their candy and lined the edge of the street to be in the best catching position while parents sat comfortably in chairs behind them.  In Vermont, almost none of the parade participants brought ca