KONY 2012

We just watched KONY 2012 with students at the dorm. It is quite strange to me to feel so connected here, on an Indian reservation in the foothills of SE Montana, where we do not have internet at our house, to a movement that is spreading throughout the rest of the world.

If you haven't seen it, watch it.

Road Trip!!

We left Ashland at 4am Friday morning.

First stop: Sunrise at Devil's tower

The U.S.'s first declared National Monument; it rises 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet above sea level.

The iPad!

Kellie and Kathryn helping Jimmy take photos...

Then we were on to Crazy Horse. This monument to the famous Lakota warrior has been under private construction since 1948. When it is finished, it will stand 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high.

By the time afternoon rolled around Bryan was happy to see Mt. Rushmore and his hero, honest Abe.

The iPad is back!

How many photos does it take to get a good group shot?

Two?

Third time's the charm?

Nope, four?

Surely by number five?

Number six it is...

And seven is even better (from L-R,Jimmy, Meredith, Kristin, Kathryn, Tony, Bryan, Me and Kellie)

A spectacular monument

And on to a much needed rest in Rapid City, SD

An added bonus, here's a few photos from last weekend's retreat weekend in Great Falls...

On the way there, we checked out downtown Helena:

And Our Lady of Helena Cathedral:

The Ursuline Retreat Center is home to a school and also served as a convent:

Here's our entire group, incl. JVs from Hays, Billings, St. Xavier and Us:

On our way back, we stopped at First People's Buffalo Jump outside of GF:

Prior to the introduction of horses to the plains, 14 different tribes would travel from hundreds of miles away to harvest buffalo by driving them over the edge of a sheer cliff:

One runner wearing a buffalo calf hide would draw the lead cow towards the cliff, until they were close enough for the entire tribe to stampede them over the edge. The runner had to be agile enough to make it to the edge first and find a crevice for cover of the stampeding herd.

Colstrip, MT

A picture I took of the Colstrip power plant in all its glory. I found an interesting article in the Billings Gazette the other day. It details an EPA report that cites coal power plants as the main source of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. The plant in Colstrip (30 minutes from Ashland) is number eight on the list. It's a source of cheap power and is the main economic source of jobs in the community. Colstrip was named the top sports town in Montana as part of Sports Illustrated Magazine's 50th anniversary. Coincidence? I don't think so. Colstrip is a thriving community in an otherwise economically depressed part of the state, where ranching remains king. Coal has been found on the Northern Cheyenne and Crow reservations, could possibly be a significant source of jobs. However, mining would forever change the landscape of the country. There are no easy solutions, US energy independence, global warming, jobs-its all tied up together, right here in the heart of Montana.