My Blissful Commute
For the past nine months I worked about an hour drive away from home. Keep in mind that I live in Montana, where an hour away from home is actually a good distance. It’s not like I drove 20 miles, in traffic, and it took an hour…I drove 55 miles and it took about 50 minutes in good weather and 60 minutes in bad weather. The drive was heavenly in good weather. But when there was a snow storm, my stress level was out of control.
During those nine months I worked in a school with at-risk kids, so the commute was a saving grace on many days when I needed time to think or clear my head. It’s odd, because, although I spent gazillions of dollars on gas and put thousands of miles on my car, I kind of miss the drive. It gave me time to decompress, listen to an audiobook, and talk to myself. I love being able to talk out loud to myself. Occasionally I would whip the car over, hop out and snap some photos, which was also somewhat therapeutic. When I started this blog in March, I knew that I wanted to blog about my lovely morning and afternoon ritual. So, without further adieu, I hope you enjoy the beauty as much as I did.
~~~
It was lightly snowing on this day. I decided to stay in the warmth of my car to take a photo of the cliffs along the Madison River.
View of the snowy Bridgers overlooking Bozeman.
In the mornings, I was blessed with many beautiful Montana sunrises.
Nothing but blue skies, from now on…
Another shot of the Bridgers looking a little more Springy!
Two bald eagles sitting on a hill. I had never seen such a thing as two eagles chilling on the ground.
Stormy Spring skies.
Another glorious sunrise.
These birds may have been my favorite subject. They are so mysterious and whimsical.
Loved seeing this old windmill from Chicago.
Another blue mountain vista.
I had the road all to myself, mostly. I am missing our daily (healing) time together. I had many a’ good deep thinking session and endless beautiful scenery to appreciate on that highway. Not to mention how I’m missing the people and kids that I worked with at my job. I think about them everyday.
XO, Tobi
Love the pics! I wish my commute to work looked so lovely!
Thanks! I was fortunate…most commutes are not this pleasant!!
Absolutely gorgeous photos… I’d be afraid of the snow and ice but the rest of the time makes me so jealous!
the snow and ice was not cool! i remember having a panic attack because i was passing car after car in the ditch.
I used to commute into London every day, it was joyless, but your commute I could live with and never tire of it, beautiful pictures.
thanks!
The Big Sky State…man I miss home sometimes. When you grow up in a place like Montana, it’s a part of you that you’ll never lose. The story I’m writing is set in the Helena Valley; the sleeping giant, mount helena and frontier town are about as important as the characters in Glow. I commute myself and some of my deeper thoughts surface then, when I’m busy driving as if on auto pilot. Looks like you’re finding bliss one frame at a time
I totally agree. It’s so hard to leave, even though I’ve always wanted to live elsewhere, I just know that nothing could compare to what we have here. What’s the story for? It sounds great! I was totally on autopilot on my commute (except in bad weather–I was very present).
Absolutely stunning photos!
thanks!! and thank you for following
welcome!!
Thank you, Tobi. Loved the pix!
Russ
Thank you Russ! I’m happy you liked them!
Ahh…looks like home! Nice.
~d.
where is home again?
My parents place is now in Deer Lodge. We’re originally from Sandpoint, over in Idaho.
Your pictures remind me of family and good times! Have a lovely weekend!
Oh awesome! I think I remember you telling me that now
I’m glad the pics made you reminisce.
Beautiful photos, Tobi! I love that wide open sky–like a big, blank canvas. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.
Thank you. The MT sky is known for it’s largeness
I love that eagle shot! They look so chilled out.
Thanks! It was really strange to see them like that. Maybe they’d been eating “medicinal” plants or something
Looks so familiar! Though I haven’t actually been in your neck of the woods in winter. I was sad to see the fire damage along the Madison this last trip. Incredible.
Love the photos!