A Carousel for Missoula

This Christmas, my husband and I went to Montana for the holidays. In years past we've made plans of things to do and stuff to see, but most of the time we've ended up goofing off on ATVs more than anything.

One change this year from others is that we spent two whole weeks with my Dad - giving us ample time to get in everything I had tried to plan for the last 6 years.

Our drive to Montana was interesting... we made it over Homestake Pass just 2 hours before their shutdown time due to wether. The entire drive from Colorado to Montana ended up being 17 hours because of snow, but it wasn't what I would call a bad drive. Nice and slow - a chance to really enjoy the scenery and giant flurries.

So - Christmas Eve my dad had an appointment with the VA... checking up on his health overall. His doctor proudly admitted that Daddy is her healthiest patient - since he manages to get out hiking all the time, goes hunting (got his first big-horn sheep this year), and has no major health problems. He had to fast that morning for the blood work, but Jer and I took him to Famous Dave's for lunch afterwards.

We had snow-snow-snow-snow to deal with driving around the city... not to mention traffic because of all of the crazy last-minute shoppers. I was determined to get the guys to downtown once they had full-tummies - to visit a place that is very near and dear to me.

When I was younger I ran a dance school for several years. One of my students had Prader-Willi Syndrome (See previous post), and her mother was married to a founder of Watkins-Shepard Trucking. One day my student's mother asked if she and I if she could talk after class about an idea of hers... Not sure what was going on I cleared my afternoon and we met for lunch. As soon as I sat down she pulled out an envelope filled with papers about a Community Carousel project - some kind of pipe-dream revival that she decided to get involved with in her free time.

Apparently she had purchased a Carousel Horse, and it was at her discretion how it should be designed. She realized after the purchase that she didn't have a clue of where to begin when it came to art so she though of me because I had designed the t-shirts and posters for my dance troop. Over the course of lunch, and a few more meetings - we had a sketch to go forward with... a horse dedicated to the memory of her infant daughter Carrie who died from SIDS - to be decorated with all the things little girls like:

Ribbons and Bows, Butterflies and Bangles, Puppies and Pansies.

I had the chance to share a memory of my contribution to a local legacy... My dad, my husband, and I took a ride on one of the fastest Carousels in America on Christmas Eve 2008. It was the perfect beginning to a fantastic vacation!