19 Aug, 2011
Some of the best tales go untold. This is a sad fact of life. Adventures go on all around us that would stump the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Relationships unfold in meaningful and slow ways that cannot be conveyed easily. Some tales are just too big to tell. What does it mean to be mindful– fully cognizant– of the miracle of being alive? Can we really relate to what some would call the gospel on a daily basis? How does the story God’s love go untold?
Trixi’s is a saloon in Ovando, MT where all sorts of great tales get told and untold. This is where the cycling cattle herding adventure began.
Other stories we choose not to tell. At present, we do not live into the fact that our earth has changed dramatically as a product of our lifestyles. Nor do we tell how we have set off a cycle of change that will take thousands of years to offset. This is not an easy tale to tell. But we must tell it. Otherwise, we are the proverbial ostrich denying the future suffering of billions.
Missoula buddies with untold charity. They are representing the masses of other kind once-strangers. Thanks to you, great friends!
A classic Montana moment: telling something that would otherwise go untold at a countryside saloon.
One of the tales that is most neglected in our culture is that of American Indians. That tale is also one involving relationship to the land. We have a great deal to learn from native peoples. If you are interested in the wealth of native perspectives on contemporary ecological issues, try checking out Winona LaDuke’s “All Our Relations.”
In the midst of these untold tales, the adventures that I am unable to recount with regard to this journey are minor. But they are significant to me. They will make good fodder for fireside/beachside/trail/dawn/dusk/wee-hour chats when we meet again.
One untold tale: Thaddeus had the chance to herd cattle in the twilight near Ovando, MT. Here, the trusty steed looks out on the herd.
The blur you see in the foreground was the real hero of the evening cattle tale. Laddie is a rescue dog who lived in a trailer park where he barked miserably all day long. Eventually, he was abandoned and picked up by my hosts Jon and Diane Krutar. Now, he’s a great work dog.
After our cattle wrestling, Jon let me stay in their incredible homestead for the night. See http://www.khomestead.com/ for more on this great spot.
Here’s the moonrise that signaled the end of our cattle herding adventure. That’s the homestead in the foreground.
Here are Jon, Diane, and Laddie after breakfast the next morning. Thanks again!
If we get to tell one tale, let us tell the tale of love– love so deep, sincere, active, and palpable that it is undeniable. It is a tale in which we can participate, but we neglect that participation. We know that love. We know that story. It trumps all other tales. That is the story we must tell now. Let us tell it by living it.
Sequence: swimming across the Idaho-Washington border. Another untold tale.
