(Don't 'cha wish they'd plant those powerlines somewhere else???) No, they don't help the picture at all, do they? But on the other hand, I kind of like having hydro too!LOL Yes Brenda, country living can sure be sweet, and sunrises/sets are definitely the best of times. Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!

Hi there Vic, Bear grass-Xerophyllum tenax is actually a lilly. http://www.nwplants.com/business/catalog/perennials.html Also if you check out a few of the native nurseries they may carry it depends on which part of Montana your in.I used to grow it in the nursery and do landscapes in fire prone areas with it. Its not always the easist to get growing however.It really needs to like the space you plant it in or it will just sit and slowly die off.

Donna - of Kitchen Table fame, It is extremely difficult to lose one's mate. Your usual friends will want you to get on with your life - they won't want to hear your stories (more than) half a dozen times. Some years ago, after my wife's departure, I attended a group of Parents Without Partners. It was a fairly new group, and we became great friends, though we were very different people. Many of us felt that we had instant acceptance, there - as everyone else knew what we were going through. After a while, everyone went their own way - but some years later, when we attended one another's funerals, etc., and if we had a get together, or just met one of the others during normal living, there was a big smile and a handshake, often a hug, exchanged - we'd gone through hell together. My ex- died last summer, as a matter of fact - after 33 years apart and only minimal commuication. Our young uns are clearing out the house that was home to them for a number of years, though not recently (the youngest hit the big 40 last fall). Do you know whether there are any groups for recently bereaved persons in your area? You might find some companionship and empathetic people there. The ones who have lost a loved one recently will have an open wound, so to speak, as you do. The ones whose bereavement took place longer ago can still understand your pain. Maybe ask in local churches, synagogues, mosques, comunity agencies, health-related agencies. Or, perhaps some funeral homes, etc. whether there may be such groups - and where to find them. If not, some of those agencies may know of people who might like to consider joining such a group, and some of them might be interested in facilitating such a group's formation. Doing such inquiries would get you busy doing something worthwhile, also. As I said once to someone, "You feel as though someone just cut your leg off". That person looked at me and asked how I knew. I replied that I'd been there. Feel free to come back and share with us, Donna. Quite a number of people at the Kitchen Table forum ask for one another's help and there is a great spirit of fellowship and concern expressed, by many, there. One of my best friends died a few weeks ago and the family asked me to officiate at the funeral. I've visited with them several times, since. His wife is beginning to become used to her being independent, now. Quite a number of bereavement counsellors advise people recently bereaved to try to avoid making major decisions for a time - for often, after life settles down some and they feel somewhat more back to normal, they may regret them. Good wishes for the days ahead. ole joyful P.S. I think that my email address is available - send me a message if you feel so inclined. o j

Dirtdigger, I'm sorry to see such damage, but I'd bet that's gopher damage, not voles. We have both voles and gophers. Voles pick on smaller plants here and mostly grass, which they store in their tunnels. Vole tunnels run fairly close to the surface, while gophers go deep, tunnel a long ways and come up to larger roots which they demolish, leaving a rose or other plant with only its top growth. Our cats are really keeping the voles down this year, and in the past, badgers which are all over these desert hills, have decimated the gophers, really reducing their destruction in my garden. Entrances to gopher tunnels have a pile of dirt called frass next to the openings. If you see one of those, you've got gophers. But often the entrances are a long way off. Diane