2025, August 18-24

It can cool down any time now. Seriously. Another week has gone by. Mike had new employee orientation, and the College of Education and University Kickoffs in anticipation of Autumn Semester (UM has Autumn, Spring, and Summer Semesters. Winter is a forbidden word here 🤣). 

He had some fire and rain early in the week. He can't take credit for the below picture, but late Tuesday afternoon was fun.  

On a walk later in the week, he caught sight of a fire a few miles to the west.

In Springville, we didn't hear much else about the fire from last Sunday. 

Ferg decided to jump into Hallie's lap, and here is the evidence. 

Several activities in Missoula finished off the week. On Thursday evening, at Caras Park on the north side of the Clark Fork River they had Missoula Downtown Tonight, complete with music and food trucks. 

Mike caught a glimpse of some people kayaking on the artificial rapid to the south. 

Earlier in the day, the College of Education had its Fall Gathering with Ron Clark, whose story was made into a movie about 20 years ago and who heads the Ron Clark Academy in Georgia, as the keynote speaker. Interesting cat. Mike's always up for learning from people with out-of-the-box ideas.

On Friday, Mike had the Fall Welcome and New Faculty Orientation. So much to learn about UM! He's excited to be here.

All these meetings meant lots of SWAG, including stickers, pennants, and other items from the university, college, and department. Maroon is our new favorite color. Go Simi Pioneers, er, UM Grizzlies! 

   Fergus even has cozied up to Kai of late. 

Landon has a new guitar for one of his classes. We hope he enjoys it and finds his inner rock star! 

Mike figured out where to put some more of his B-Side Labels from Japan. 

On Saturday, he put in some 20,000 steps window shopping at all the different downtown activities and events. Here is A Carousel for Missoula, comprised of 38 hand-carved ponies and a huge pipe organ. 

Here's the county courthouse, made famous as the double for the Montana Capitol in the Yellowstone TV series. 

Local landmark XXXX at the top of Higgins Street. 

While the street vendors and performers drew his interest, The Import Market grabbed his attention. 

Friday and Saturday showcased the River City Roots Festival, which included all sorts of eclectic musical acts. 

Murals abound in town. 

As do fish and other water critters in the Clark Fork River.

After tooling around downtown, Mike ran an errand at the Southgate Mall and found some more interesting surprises he'd missed last week, including this Asian blind box-themed store, Miniso. 

His on-campus dining plan gave him two free meals this week, so he went to the Lodge on Saturday and Sunday and indulged. Here's your UM view of the day. 

While Mike was trekking around Missoula, Hallie, the kids, and Jocie went to the Utah Renaissance Faire down in Mona. 

Weather in Mona got quite windy leading into a storm Sunday morning. 

The kids really got into character. Eliza even got a plaited braid and a henna tattoo. She said she was melting from the heat. 

She enjoyed watching the melee fighting. Hallie wanted to see the jousting but didn't get to. 

The Springville pack is looking after a kitten owned by Heidi, Kai's groomer. In Woodland Hills, they saw this herd of deer. 

As part of the new school year, UM freshmen (and other?) paint the bear paws that dot the sidewalks on canvas with inspiring words. Mike loves this idea and found many such tracks on his walks around campus. 

He ended Saturday with a bike ride along the river and a smoke-hued sunset. 

Joice has been chosen! 

Here Hallie found Fergus Sunday morning. He's not too sure about the new kitten. 

Here's the kitten. She's cute. 

Without air conditioning, Mike's house can get a bit stifling. Fortunately, he has keys to the College of Education building, where he can watch streaming video on the big screen while prepping for Monday's class. 

He also wandered over to the library, where he was pleased to find a favorite book, Terry Pratchett's Nation, among the stacks. He also found this unusual sculpture. 

He startled this wee faun while walking on campus. Mom's gotta be somewhere nearby.