July 2009

Thank you for dropping by.  I was just sitting here wondering where June went and how it got there that fast.  The only good thing about having such beautiful days go by so quickly is that it makes it sooner for the high country. The grass is good and deep here in Nye and the summer tourists are beginning to recreate.  Ranchers down the valley are beginning to hay.  It must have been in the high eighties or so today and it seemed hot.  I can't wait to be camped near the glacier on Chalice Peak where the breeze blows cool off the snow and on a clear day you can see across Yellowstone Park to the Tetons.  (August 1 will be when I head out on that one. Before that it will be a couple of trips up the Stillwater to see if any fish have an appetite.)

This morning started early and by 7:00 I was at the top of the Buffalo Jump photographing ideas for the next painting.  You can still see the old drive lines that mark the route the ancient hunters used to get their prey into position at the top of the cliff. The optimum time for bison to be cajoled off a cliff is in the morning when the sun tops the mountains and gets in their eyes.  This scene will be looking south/ southwest and toward the upper Stillwater country. 

Zoe got kicked by a horse a while back and got a leg broke.  We were bringing the ponies in to get them off so much green grass and the next thing I know she was dragging a leg.  I got an x-ray and it is broke pretty good.There is a definite, but clean break. A couple of bone fragments are floating around and a tendon is torn loose.  Tomorrow she will go in to get a couple of rods,  plates and screws.  Hopefully she will be able to make the later trips to the high country.  She loves it up there as much as I do. 

A friend and I circled the Crazy Mountains last weekend.  There is a great hot springs up at White Sulfur Spings on the north end of the range and a good soak in them will cure anything that ails you.  I have a few sore and stiff spots and an evening in the medicine water always fixes me up. the rest of the road trip went uneventfully beautiful.

Well, other than a few more brandings and a couple of day rides around the neighborhood it has been a quiet June.  I will try to get some spring photos up as well as the world land speed record for painting the Buffalo Jump scene...(yeah, right...).  Anyway, I hope your month goes well and is prosperous. Till next time: see you.  From Tom

Comments

[Brittany]

Mornin' Tom,

I woke up to fog rolling off San Francisco Bay and was really missing a crisp Montana morning. For some reason a scene you painted of the Stillwater arose in my mind and I figured I could look it up on the web. I am so happy to have found this site - thank you. Hope you are well and godspeed with the Buffalo Jump painting :)

Peace,
Brittany Moreland

(Nadine Keogh's middle daughter)

[beth armstrong]

Tom,
Fantastic website! Beautifully written. Hope to be out in October, hope to see you then. Have some new recipes. Nick got me the buffalo head/watercolor for my birthday, it's at the cabin, love it.
Beth (Armstrong)

[Cindy Seng]

Hey you old grizzly mule train conductor!
This is Cindy, one of the Big Bottom Girls who had the pleasure of riding alongside you on that great trip in July up the Stillwater.
Hard to wake up to Chicago traffic reports...us gals sure had a great time and your artwork is truly inspiring. So far I have found my brushes...sigh...so much for dreams and intentions in the saddle in the most beautiful place on earth. We were so very fortunate to have the good weather, good horses and did I say good food.
Thanks for it all, Cindy with best wishes from Debbie and Vickie!

[Steve Barnes]

Well, ole' Pard, how it goin'??
Working on a view to the east from the top of Lake Plateau 24x36 I'll send you a pic by Email soon.
News is I'm hanging it up September the 30th. Want to come out and paint sometime. Susan sends her regards. Love the site and , of course, the work!
Regards myself, Steve Barnes

[Steve Barnes]

Tom:
You get the points I knapped for you yet???

Let me know if and when they come your way.

Steve

P.S. You probably will not read this until next winter, but , it's almost upon us anyway.. what the HEY.