Columns
Searching for opinion based articles? Below we'll share opinion news articles on a wide variety of topics.
17 million words (or so): that’s all she wrote
Well, dear folks, the time has come for me to put down my pen — back away from the computer is more like it — an...
Building up beats tearing down
My brother and I were pressed into the project: schlepping buckets of plaster chunks, clearing out crawl spaces and Brasso-ing doorknobs.
Early fall hunting, fishing awaits
For the outdoor person or family, the coming weeks will offer many more outdoor recreation opportunities as the summer season winds down and we move into early fall hunting.
The little, level trail that keeps on … climbing
I got more than I bargained for a couple of weeks ago when a good friend and I made plans for a Saturday morning hike.
A literary art feels the love
A literary art feels the love
One dog’s day in the sun
Our son texted us a photo last week during that heat spell of his Basenji dog lying in his arms on the sofa and sacked out on his back, paws limp, legs splayed out and spotted underside exposed for all the world ...
A walk prompts liking to lichen
One of the first things we learned: Lichen is not a plant.
Kayak yak
I finally got my kayak out on the water this month for the first time, the latest in any season I’ve had my boat out.
Good pay and good fishing
Here it is, mid-July, and we aren’t breathing unhealthy air from forest fires. We can be thankful for a cool wet spring, so lots of forest vegetation is still mostly green, not yet burnable.
Human nature hunts for sweet life
A couple of weeks after I moved here last fall, a Kalispell resident buttonholed me at an event to ask if people had been kind to me, as a newcomer to the valley.
A tale of too many cities
We recently returned from our niece’s wedding in Florida and, though the events were over-the-top beautiful and the fun factor off the charts, getting there and home again was a tad harrowing.
Delicious kokanee
For those of us that like to fish or eat fresh fish, July is the ideal time in Northwest Montana to enjoy a fish fry of delicious kokanee salmon.
Music sets stage for wellness
In my first column, I wrote about how much I loved music, especially live music. That was before I learned how good it is for us.
A sundry history with Yellowstone
The recent news of the devastating flooding in Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding towns had me thinking back to the summer of 2007 when I rode my bike into the park on the same highway that suffered ca...
New sawyers cut it up
When our dad suspected my brother and me of late-night carousing, he’d wake us up early to go get firewood.
Much ado about mulching
Anyone who’s lived in Northwest Montana for more than a few years is familiar with its typical rainy season — June. So far this month, that “wrings” true like a wet rag.