Wednesday, November 3, 2010 

As many of you know, I enjoy riding around Bozeman on my bicycle, taking photographs, then trying to come up with funny captions to write under the photos. This is what I do in my spare time these days.

And it's easy when the weather is so nice, and when you live someplace as beautiful as the northern Rockies. Up here at the Borderlands lodge, we've been experiencing wonderfully mild weather. The winter is coming, we all know that. But for a few short stolen moments, maybe we can hang on to something warm and beautiful from summer.

Voting was exciting yesterday. I was actually a little nervous, having never voted in an actual polling booth. I had visions of being crowded, rushed by people impatient and waiting in line. I think I needed to distinguish better between voting in a midterm election in a small Montana town and applying for a residence permit in a developing world metropolis. Every once in a while, whenever I'm doing something new that I should probably be familiar with by now, I'm hit with these Istanbul flashbacks. And that's a good thing.

My voting booth yesterday was actually quite different from the only voting booth I'd ever set foot in previously. Back when I was a kid in Ann Arbor, some people had brought a voting both to my elementary school. One by one, the classes went down and checked it out. They did a good job of teaching us how to vote. But I would never get the chance to employ these skills, because the booth I voted in yesterday was pretty different from the one I saw at Pattengill Elementary. Times change, I guess. This one looked a lot more "modern."

My voting place was the MSU football stadium, which I checked out for the first time. Unsurprisingly, it offers gorgeous views of the surrounding landscape.


At the football stadium after voting, wearing my "I voted" pastie. The other one must have fallen off.

Here are the rest of the shotz, going in rough chronological order from early October until today:


On my way to campus, Montana Hall's famous minaret in the background


Trying to shoot straight while I ride down Garfield


Hello, Autumn!


That's my bike


Another pretty day


I'm still a greenhorn, I guess, because I still get excited every time I see nice mountains


Good morning, Montana! Looking east.


Walking west at the end of the day


Good ol' parking lot!


Surprise, surprise, there's a vacancy or two at the Blue Sky Motel. Dogz r welcome.


So shiny and beautiful. On the way from my place to school


The snow has been playing cat-and-mouse with the mountains ever since I came back here in late August. Indeed, back in August there was snow on the Bridgers (not these). This shot was taken from the bike lane. Even in winter, the lane is kept clean—it's amazing to ride a bike in frigid temps under brilliant blue skies in the mountains.


Down on Main Street




Spirit the Bobcat sez: everyone is welcome on this campus, with the exception of Grizz!


Parking lot behind the football field


Rah, team!