Helena

This is a nice small city, the capital of Montana, just east of the continental divide (so all those rivers are emptying to the east rather than the west from here on out). Helena appears to be pretty progressive, to the point of having a headline this morning about doubling the fine (to $50) for talking or texting on a cellphone while driving, something that liberal Chapel Hill has been thwarted by.

This morning I visited the Archie Bray Foundation, which is a haven for ceramic artists not unlike Penland in North Carolina. There are artists-in-residence and classes for those interested, and the extensive yard is littered with leftover shards and pieces discarded by some of those artists.  I photographed a brick form about 10 feet tall crated by one of the artists; notice the incredible Montana background.

This photo shows one of the three enormous, no-longer-used beehive kilns with the remnants of an overhang which may have had a corrugated roof. The entire kiln was about 15 feet tall and 25 feet across. All the items to be fired were loaded into the space, which held about 600 pots from wall to wall and bottom to top. I learned from an enthusiastic potter named Lindsay that the way to determine if the kiln had completed its work was to climb up to the top of it and see whether the space between the pots and the ceiling had increased "enough." I noticed no memorial markers, but I wondered.

This afternoon I had a very nice visit with Adam, friend of Laura, over a cup of coffee in downtown Helena. As have others, Adam advised I go no further east without reservations (because of the booming energy business in eastern Montana and especially North Dakota), so I took care of that. Interesting that I cannot get within 100 miles of North Dakota for tomorrow night, but it'll work. Adam also suggested buying gas every time I see a station. I think it's going to be flatter by far, with longer distances between towns.

I wandered through the Holter Art Museum, which has a nice collection of contemporary artists of the West. Some sculpture, some paintings, some unusual pieces.

With dinner tonight, Moose Drool. Pretty good ale.