A good leader is an anchor, unwavering and solid in stormy waters. Everyone else is a buoy, floating and bobbing with the tide.
What’s My Story?
Today’s Photo Challenge- Containers
Courtyards in Paris offer a space of serenity within the chaos of the city. The theme also applies to the apartments: Containers of People, and to the flower boxes: Containers of Plants, found inside the courtyards.
These photos were taken inside the original home of the historic Moon-Randolph Homestead in Missoula, MT. Built in 1893, the relics of country living remain intact; a true glimpse of Little House on the Prairie, mountain style, minus a little wear and tear.
A framed pièce de résistance hangs in my in-laws’ garage. It is quite large, too large for the house, and has been relegated to an uneventful venue, watching through colorful eyes the stony activity that befalls the elderly.
I have passed its solitary station above the player piano for nearly 20 years, unaware of its quiet submission to the bigger, louder object. Seated on a folding envelope of canvas, my eyes recently gazed not on piano sheets, but upward to the colors, composition, and the number 55 that distinguish this magnificent lady from an ordinary girl. Of course, she is a copy, but her vigorous spirit remains.
The artist is (was) Bernard Buffet, a French painter, July 10, 1929 – Oct. 4, 1999. (Happy birthday Monsieur Buffet!) The number 55 represents a collection of his, with this masterpiece and similar others insisting on a little fun. My mother-in-law was gifted the framed piece when she was a working lass (she is now 89 years young) as a food editor for The Spokesman Review. She transported the long-locked lady in the backseat of a convertible car; it was simply too demanding to travel any other way.
My mother-in-law’s foodie career existed when most women her age were getting married and starting families. (Her family life began at the age of 43.) Her work included a live cooking show in Los Angeles before recorded TV existed. Among other mistakes, she started a fire on the set and had a laughing fit over “porcupine meatballs”. Clearly, she’s a woman with a desperate sense of humor.
She took a work trip to France with her cooking colleagues in the day when it was mandatory for a working woman to wear skirts or dresses, nylons, and heeled shoes, and sometimes, gloves. She hated the nylons because they stayed “in place” with garters and every time she stood up the knees sagged requiring a visit to the lady’s room to adjust before accomplishing a task.
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Little activity happens now. The sad player piano only lifts its notes when my children play the resonant keys or pump its stubborn pedals. A sorry sedan replaces the convertible. But I just know on the rare occasion when the notes cry out and voices raise in song, this picture is dancing.
Summer camp for kids: the quintessential element of growing up and learning outside of school walls. Anxiety builds as kids anticipate a week away from home: What if no one likes me? What if I don’t like the food? What if I hate it and I’m miserable the entire week? And the most excruciating scenario of all: What if my parents are the last ones to pick me up?
Sad, these legitimate concerns that plague the mind of every child. But imagine you weren’t a normal kid and unicorns and rainbows were only for healthy kids. What if you were a child with cancer and instead of classrooms you went to chemo rooms? Instead of summer camp you went to, let’s call it treatment, camp? Just imagine.
Montana boasts copious cool adventure camps but Camp-Mak-a-Dream wins for having a heart; a gorgeous 87 acre plot of land in Gold Creek, Montana that hosts cancer patients as an opportunity to explore and experience life away from cancer.
I was privileged to have a tour of this camp last week where I witnessed with great humility the beauty of its surroundings and its offerings. Camp-Mak-a-Dream is a nonprofit organization offering one week long camps for children, teens, young adults, and women with cancer, and an additional camp for siblings of cancer patients, all free of charge. How cool is that?
Here, children with cancer can participate in camp as normal children, but with the necessary amenities they require. The on-site health clinic includes a full-time doctor, nurses, chemo rooms, environmentally controlled rooms, and in the event of an emergency, a heli-pad for safe and quick transportation to St. Patrick’s Hospital in nearby Missoula.
The camp activities challenge and entertain the participants. Among others, they consist of:
- Pool/hot tub
- Ropes course
- Climbing wall
- Teepee
- Horse rides
- Zip line
- Mini-golf course
- And the ubiquitous campfire
The grounds contain well-maintained cabins, cafeteria, art studio, rec room, lounge, and library where kids are given lenient privileges to use as they choose. (Many may be too fatigued to engage in all the activities.) The success rate is high, the campers enjoy themselves tremendously.
However, back to reality. The Memorial Garden provides a space to honor previous attendees who have lost their battle with cancer, many of them women. Due to St. Jude’s continuing studies with children, the majority of the younger participants overcome their illness. A strong message is sent by the very high death rate among women with ovarian cancer. Scientific studies lack progress in this category, therefore successful medical treatments remain to be discovered.
Camp-Mak-a-Dream holds a variety of fundraisers, including RATPOD, a singular event that raises more than 25% of their annual funds. RATPOD (Ride Around the Pintlers in One Day) is a bike ride around the scenic Pintler mountains, garnering at capacity participation every year.
This camp spoke to my heart. I hope spreading the word will educate others of its existence and that you will share this with someone you love or with someone in need.
For more information see Camp-Mak-a-Dream
BARBIE BEATON 
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