Like harvest and hunting seasons, “Felt Hat Season” arrives with the chill of fall. It's the time of year when you swap out your straw hat for the warmth and weight of a good beaver-fur felt.

I was recently reminded of the cultural shift taking place in the Bitterroot Valley when, in a recent conversation with some newer residents, the term "Bitterrooter" was unrecognized. Its use was received with a quizzical look and the question, "Bitterrooter? What's that?" Good question, one that will likely lead to a series of articles, but let's try to unpack it in just this one for now, shall we?

If you're living near a cattle ranch, at some point this fall you'll likely notice the ambient sounds around your place shift from occasional bovine bellering to a cacophony of clamorous cattle. Fall is Montana cattle shipping season, the time of year when ranchers wean their spring calves off their mommas and prepare for shipping day. Naturally, this causes a loud and noisy protest, but don't fret; you'll get used to it and maybe even come to love it as I do. After being se

As a kid I loved to drive the truck while my dad bucked bales and stacked the hay in our barn. He always made sure there were steps for us girls to climb onto the stack and a pile of loose hay to jump into. I remember my Grandpa Corky and how he taught me the perfect way to stack small squares.

Well, have you? Have you ever actually seen a cowboy? I silently posed these questions on the ski slopes one day when a coworker opted to criticize my "fancy scarf" saying he'd "never seen a cowboy wear a scarf like that".