Tuesday morning-

I am sitting at Doc's Sandwiches trying to wake up and wrap my head around another day.

The weekend at Augusta was a challenge for me.  It started out well-with a sunrise shoot with Rox and Sarah at the Lolo flower fields.  It was stunningly beautiful out there and I know I got some good abstract images.  Getting up at 4AM isn't bad, and I think that I may try to do it at least once a week while I am in Montana.  The mornings in the country are peaceful and serene, with as many opportunities to photograph as I have time to do.

Rox and I drove to Garnet Ghost Town (http://www.garnetghosttown.net/) on the way to Augsuta.  The town was celebrating "Garnet Days" so it wasn't great shooting, but it was fun to walk around the town and scope it out.  There are a few buildings filled with interesting artifacts to photograph; the tack room, the hotel and some of the houses.  Because the town is fairly accessible by car (only 1 hour from Missoula) there are many more tourists than in a place like Bodie.  However, Garnet has been kept in it's native condition, which to me is a saving grace.  I want to go back at night and shoot here.

We stayed in a town about 30 minutes from Augusta called Fairfield at a B & B with 5 rooms. It was overtaken by RMSP students and staff! The town has more grain silos than I have ever seen in one small place before. It was beautiful to me! The huge metal silos all lined up all in a row with the sun shining on them-amazing. I took shots of the silos in the daytime, the early evening, the late evening and the morning morning. They change in the different light and I wanted to capture it all. I think that this was my favorite part of the weekend!

Augusta is a type small town in Eastern Montana, and the town was geared up for the Rodeo when we arrived. Cowboys/girls, horses, cattle, manure, dust & lots of drinking. It was all good or me until I was actually at the rodeo-than something shifted in me and I became acutely aware of the distress of the animals. I am not sure why I noticed it. Perhaps it was the calf roping cowboy who was kicking the calf with his boots. Or maybe it was the blood and sores on the bulls and the calves. Or the cramped conditions that they were housed in. Whatever it was, I got a strong visceral reaction, so strong that I felt as if I would start to cry. I left the rodeo and returned in time to catch some kick-ass barrel racing. Now that was fun.

I am not sure how quickly I will return to watch a rodeo-perhaps never?  I posted an entry on the Facebook Page stating that sometimes I am too sensitive to the pain of the world.  I did learn sometime about myself, which is always a good thing.