Twenty years have passed since we first crested the hill on Highway 93 south of Polson—the moment my perception of ‘…purple mountain’s majesty…’ changed forever—an ethereal experience, inspiring our cross-country move to Montana. It was not until one year later, while learning to fly-fish, that I discovered and fell in love with her rivers. Nothing inspires peace and reflective creativity in me like the timeless, synergistic flow of crystal clear rivers. Waiting for no man, pulsing eternally through veins of time, rivers connect me to the sacred life-force. This is my God-place…where I feel anchored, heart and mind opened, where I go to think, to receive inspiration, forgive, accept, and give thanks. As a writer of creative non-fiction and memoir, slipping silently into the current of Montana rivers has little to do with catching fish. I fill my creel with the inspiration of newly acquired insight and precious long forgotten memories.

“…O sisters, let’s go down,

Let’s go down, come on down,

O sisters let’s go down

Down in the river to pray….” Down to the River to Pray, Allison Krauss

(Photo- On the North Fork of the Flathead River, Montana)