What are you doing today?

[Back in the fold]

Crimony pup’s alive ! I went on my walk / run today and as I was passing the ditch right of way I looked down it and thought “ why not “ . I turned aside and found a perfect trail that’s goes for almost two miles alongside the Big Ditch that runs the entire length of Billings . I saw deer tracks and plenty of pheasant habitat . I cannot believe I’ve overlooked this gem all along ! No cars , no people and it’s a little slice of semi wilderness right in the middle of town only a stones throw from home . I was as giddy as a little school boy .

 

[GaryE]

I just looked at Billings on google earth, as you got my curiosity. It ends very suddenly around the edges. It looks like a good place to walk. It's also surrounded by place names out of my reading about Plains Nations and the westward expansion of settlers. I know you know that, but it is cool.
I've only lived here 3 years, but in early summer I found a perfect dog walk I'd overlooked. I don't know why, and I don't know how, but I didn't spot it. Now I really enjoy it. I hope your new trail is as good.

 

[Nells250]

Accompanied my boyfriend while he did a small food-shop. Then realized I should have done one myself, since the supermarkets will be INSANE over the next two days!

 

[Back in the fold]

I just looked at Billings on google earth, as you got my curiosity. It ends very suddenly around the edges. It looks like a good place to walk. It's also surrounded by place names out of my reading about Plains Nations and the westward expansion of settlers. I know you know that, but it is cool.
I've only lived here 3 years, but in early summer I found a perfect dog walk I'd overlooked. I don't know why, and I don't know how, but I didn't spot it. Now I really enjoy it. I hope your new trail is as good.

Yes , I live practically on Billings’ edge and there’s a lot of farmland nearby . Unfortunately most of it’s going under the developer’s bulldozer but it shouldn’t be completely gone for at least five to ten years . In the interim I can enjoy a little city wildness while it lasts . The Custer Battlefield is only 50 miles from here and the northern boundary of the Apsaalooke ( Crow Indian ) reservation is only ten miles south of town . THAT will never fall victim to a bulldozer and a very scenic narrow two lane road runs along that boundary that makes a nice Sunday afternoon drive . The last time I did it we saw a black bear cross the road . That only a half hour from home . The last real old time Chief of the Apsaalooke people , Plenty Coups , has his house preserved as a state park only 40 miles south of Billings and the countryside around there looks just like it probably did in the late 1800’s . I like Billings . I’m never leaving . Lived here for all but seven years of my life and I will be buried here .

 

[gwand]

Third day in Los Angeles. It was my wife’s turn to pick an activity. Paramount studios tour. I was reluctant but then pleasantly surprised. Paramount is on a 50 acre campus. Huge. We toured in electric vehicles. The guide showed us where Hitchcock shot Psycho, Vertigo and Rear Window. He told plenty of Hitchcock stories. That made the visit worthwhile. I am a major league Hitchcock fan. We saw the studios for the Godfather film series and the Star Trek films. The defunct Desilu productions studios are on their campus too. We saw where the Red Sea was made to part in Cecil B. Demille’s 1956 epic film, The Ten Commandments. I remember watching it as a youngster on TV. Their filmography is vast since they have had continuous productions since opening in 1912.

 

[gwand]

Yes , I live practically on Billings’ edge and there’s a lot of farmland nearby . Unfortunately most of it’s going under the developer’s bulldozer but it shouldn’t be completely gone for at least five to ten years . In the interim I can enjoy a little city wildness while it lasts . The Custer Battlefield is only 50 miles from here and the northern boundary of the Apsaalooke ( Crow Indian ) reservation is only ten miles south of town . THAT will never fall victim to a bulldozer and a very scenic narrow two lane road runs along that boundary that makes a nice Sunday afternoon drive . The last time I did it we saw a black bear cross the road . That only a half hour from home . The last real old time Chief of the Apsaalooke people , Plenty Coups , has his house preserved as a state park only 40 miles south of Billings and the countryside around there looks just like it probably did in the late 1800’s . I like Billings . I’m never leaving . Lived here for all but seven years of my life and I will be buried here .

Why is Billings nicknamed the magic city? I heard Billings experiences Chinook winds in the winter which can mitigate some frigid winter days. Sounds like a great place to live, although General Custer might disagree

 

[Alice B]

Moved all the big succulents into the catio, all the little succulents into the back bedroom, put my jalapeno and tomato in fruit behind my truck near a small pond. Then went with my helper to clean the mud out of pumps and filter on a pond with a foot high wall - city big water main break it took them 4 hours to stop, flooded my customer's garage and went over the foot high wall into the pond. He dumped a bunch of chlorine remover in so the koi are ok

 

[Back in the fold]

Why is Billings nicknamed the magic city? I heard Billings experiences Chinook winds in the winter which can mitigate some frigid winter days. Sounds like a great place to live, although General Custer might disagree

The Chamber of Commerce story is that Billings is called. “ The Magic City “ because at its initial founding it was established and grew so quickly it was like magic . Billings started out as Coulson City just across Interstate 90 on the banks of the Yellowstone River . That was the highest point that paddle wheel steamboats made it up the Yellowstone after leaving the Missouri River further east near present day North Dakota . The railroad arriving just a bit north of the river only a few years after Coulson City got its start killed Coulson City . Billings is named for railroad tycoon Fredrick Billings making this town capitalist to its roots . The Chinook winds so prevalent at one time that Billings was dubbed the “ Banana Belt of Montana “ have shifted away with the recent change in weather patterns . Those welcome warm winds haven’t blown in decades now . Did you know that Custer wore an Arrow shirt ?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

@Back in the fold I LOVE finding places like that! Used to find little trails and right-of-ways in Sheridan all the time. Sounds like a nice place for a run.

I'm psyching up for the final day with kids before TG break. Should be a good day, as we aren't doing anything too hard, just having some fun with the kids. But we do get some weird behaviors right before breaks. A lot of the kids have less-than-wonderful home lives, so the anxiety ramps up just before holidays. It always makes me sad how many kids just hang out on the playground at the beginning of summer vacation. We try to make it as enjoyable as possible, but school really isn't supposed to be the best part of their lives, poor kiddos.

But for most of the kids this is a great time for year. Weather is supposed to be nice.

During my days off, I'm planning on rebuilding the waterfall in my Paludarium to finally get it looking like a natural spring, the way I want. Now that I have some frogs, the motivation is stronger. Also on the agenda for the vaca: Hunting some bow wood up in the canyon; finishing up a little recurve hickory/dogbane bow I've been working on since last spring; cutting a Christmas tree and getting Badger Manor looking all festive; finish up the sheathe for this cool looking knife I made, and possibly selling it for some travel money; and taking some time to give thanks for all the things in life that make me a better person.

And eating. Lots of eating. And naps. Lots of naps.

 

[Back in the fold]

@WhistlingBadger Geez ! Where do you find the time for all that ? You might have to forgo those naps to fit it all in and yes , it is fun to find little trails unexpectedly . The one I found gives me some dirt which I have very little of and the possibility of pheasant and deer sightings is all the more exciting . Sure looks like raccoon country too . You’ve been to the big Scheel’s store in Billings . This ditch right of way passes just to the south of there at one point . I can look over and see the bush plane hanging from the ceiling in their window . Bums me out to hear about kids that don’t and won’t have it so good around the holidays . Even in a little town like yours .

 

[gwand]

The Chamber of Commerce story is that Billings is called. “ The Magic City “ because at its initial founding it was established and grew so quickly it was like magic . Billings started out as Coulson City just across Interstate 90 on the banks of the Yellowstone River . That was the highest point that paddle wheel steamboats made it up the Yellowstone after leaving the Missouri River further east near present day North Dakota . The railroad arriving just a bit north of the river only a few years after Coulson City got its start killed Coulson City . Billings is named for railroad tycoon Fredrick Billings making this town capitalist to its roots . The Chinook winds so prevalent at one time that Billings was dubbed the “ Banana Belt of Montana “ have shifted away with the recent change in weather patterns . Those welcome warm winds haven’t blown in decades now . Did you know that Custer wore an Arrow shirt ?

That Custer story has holes in it!

 

[GaryE]

There are too many kids who are better taken care of by schools than they are by their families. We had kids terrified of breaks. It isn't good, but it is everywhere.

So US thanksgiving is this weekend.... I've never met a teacher terrified of a break.

I believe Mr Custer got the point though.

 

[Back in the fold]

@WhistlingBadger Just curious . Being where you are is it the grinding poverty of The Wind River reservation or the meth glut of Rock Springs and surrounding area that makes it so tough on those kids or is it just the ordinary bad home life of single mothers with chronically unemployed druggie boyfriends ? Or maybe just something simple like drunk parents ? You’d think a little town like yours wouldn’t be so bad but the little towns out west here can go toe to toe with just about any of the big city problems .

 

[WhistlingBadger]

@WhistlingBadger Just curious . Being where you are is it the grinding poverty of The Wind River reservation or the meth glut of Rock Springs and surrounding area that makes it so tough on those kids or is it just the ordinary bad home life of single mothers with chronically unemployed druggie boyfriends ? Or maybe just something simple like drunk parents ? You’d think a little town like yours wouldn’t be so bad but the little towns out west here can go toe to toe with just about any of the big city problems .

All of the above. It's a nice town and most families are great. But not all.

 

[GaryE]

Opiate drug culture is just hitting hard in my part of the world now.

The single Mom, poverty cycle is real, but there were more kids messed up by Dads who stayed when I taught. Sometimes, as a man, I wonder what other men think. If many of them think.