I had a wedding to shoot Sunday in Idaho. I could have flown to the job, but Leah and I used the wedding--and the long Labor Day holiday weekend--as excuses to drive and make a side trip to Missoula, Montana to visit Leah’s brother, his wife and family.
It’s a nine-hour drive from Seattle to Missoula. Leah and I make the trip every couple of years, and we make the journey happily. Over the years we have watched our Montana nephew and nieces grow from sweet children into fine young adults. Our nephew is in the Air Force, stationed in California. Our two nieces are smart and beautiful young women, now married and parents of young children of their own. I spent the two days of our Montana visit playing the role of proud uncle, taking pictures of a baby and two preschoolers.
Missoula is an interesting and funky town, ringed by mountains and home to the University of Montana. Saturday morning we walked around at Missoula’s Farmers’ Market and bought fresh peaches. Later we spent a warm, sunny afternoon at an outdoor vaudeville show/bike festival called “Tour de Fat,” an event put on by the New Belgium Brewing Company. One young rider named Chris stole the show. His 360-degree flips rekindled the old sports shooter instincts in me. As I angled for a good vantage point to shoot the bike action (I couldn't have looked like a professional, since I was using a point-and-shoot snapshot camera) a man in the crowd asked me whether I was perhaps the father of one of the riders? Leah later wisecracked: “At least no one figured you for a grandfather...”
