A Trip Back to Montana

Dear Reader,

The family was sitting on my nephew’s back porch this July, watching the sun go down behind the mountains, listening to the little kids play in the yard, when Eric commented, “You know, I always thought Vitamin B-12 was a scam. But then I started taking it, and it really helped.”

This little revelation about a common vitamin we all love was unprompted, but probably sparked because I revealed that I shop for three “S’s” whenever I’m back in the U.S.A.: Software, Shoes, and Supplements.

Not because Portugal doesn’t have the three S’s.

It does.

It’s just that tech, clothes, books, and supplements/pharmaceuticals are things that I can a.) get a fairly significant savings on when I’m in Montana and b.) are easy to stuff into a suitcase.

“I love B-12 too,” I said, and thus we began a nice family discussion about the benefits of proper supplementation for aging bodies.

However, I went back to Montana this summer for a deeper purpose — to attend my father’s 88th birthday party.

The whole family had gathered to celebrate him and what is actually a considerable achievement these days — longevity.

We had a barbecue planned with sides of baked bean, corn salad and watermelon.

And of course a giant cake.

But punctuated between catch-up conversations over cake and huckleberry ice cream were trips to “town” with my mom to restock my supply of Benadryl for allergies, Calamine lotion for mosquito bites, and Tylenol Cold & Flu medicine for (you guessed it … colds and flu), plus thrift shopping galore.

While in my childhood bedroom, I rediscovered an Anthropologie tea mug of mine that my mom kept for me and I flipped through a book my sister-in-law once gave me called, The Bucket List: 1000 Adventures Big and Small.

That night I had jet lag and couldn’t sleep and later I found a note in my journal that said “run with a herd of reindeer in Finland at Christmas” which I’m pretty sure came from that book.

My mother showed me the things she had purchased for me pre-arrival, which were stored in the bedroom.

“I bought you an umbrella!” she said. “And it’s very pretty.”

It was indeed. Yellows and pinks ran through the fabric, and it made even a small rain in Portugal’s August feel cheery just yesterday.

In my mom’s kitchen, while we made homemade apricot jam together, a friend said, “I think about you all the time in Portugal. How do you stay grounded when you don’t own anything any more?”

“I own things,” I said, somewhat taken aback by the question since I was busy stuffing my suitcase with things to bring back to Portugal. “I definitely still have stuff.”

As we all know, “stuff” is easy to accumulate, but harder to get rid of. It took me nearly two years to “de-stuff” my life before moving to Portugal, and now that it’s done, I try not to re-accumulate too much.

But I kept thinking about her question about feeling grounded as I cut up juicy apricots on my mom’s counter and stirred in sugar and pectin to thicken the jam.

“I guess I just value experiences more than things now,” I told her, shrugging, which sounded even to my ears a little moralistic but the actual truth.

“Stuff” doesn’t ground me. Life can feel surreal at times living abroad. It’s such a contrast to my past.

Life in Lisbon is the counterpunch to Montana’s ranch life, the colorful architecture, the difference in the language and culture, the surf instead of the slopes.

The vast difference between then and now.

As I walked Eric back to his truck after sunset, he was carrying his baby with him and I said, “I have a secret goal, you know.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I want one of my nieces and nephews to be an exchange student in Portugal,” I admitted.

He paused and buckled in his newborn into the car seat.

“I was an exchange student once,” he revealed.

“Oh really?” I said in surprise, “Where?”

I immediately guessed that he would say, “Germany” but he surprised me.

“Iowa,” he said seriously and then added, “Not too far away that I couldn’t get home in an emergency.”

I had forgotten that he had done an agricultural exchange in university, and even though his answer made me laugh, I respected it.

Later I thought I should have asked him, “Does French Toast taste the same in Iowa as it does in Montana?” Enquiring minds want to know.

“You know you have to come back,” he said.

“Why?” I asked.

“So we can finally have that pizza at Froggy’s together when it reopens.”

Froggy’s had an unfortunate accident where a truck went through the side of the building and it’s been under repair.

And I thought to myself, yes, pizza together in Montana would be an experience worth coming back for, and no “thing” could ever replace it or the people there.

It was good to be back.

Love,

Janelle

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad! We love you. Thank you Mom for all of the gifts and the rest of the family for the hospitality, rides to and from the airport, and fireworks on the back porch. It was nice to see McKenzie too!

P.P.S. A lot has been happening! Here are some new updates:

• The Portugal Goat Tour Sold Out! I’m so excited to help host a tour Portugal’s goat and traditional shepherding practices in October with my friend and goat expert, Deborah Niemann, who also writes here on Substack (her latest post is called “Confessions of a Workaholic Goat Nerd”). We were so thrilled to have the trip fill up with goat-ees. I stopped into Windrift Hill while in Conrad, Montana and got to sample of some of the goat soaps in Montana too.

  

• Got Creative Work to Finish? My September Creative Intensive in Lisbon Still Has Room For You! Work on your book, business plan, goat tour (hahaha) or other wildly creative project in the mornings over coffee and pastries with me in one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Explore Lisbon and surrounding areas (think castles and museums) in the afternoon. Gather on rooftops in the evenings. Sept. 21-25th. Click here to learn more and register.

  

• On a bookish movie critic note, I am very excited to see the movie The Odyssey here in Lisbon this week at IMAX. I brought back Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of Homer’s epic poem and hoping to read it someday.

  I finished reading the book Dune on my trip (yes it was that long of a flight) and I have to say, that was the first book I’ve ever read where watching the movie first (both of them) helped make the book even better.

Finally, here’s a little pic of Portugal I took on a July hike with a subscriber who has become a good friend. She gave up an afternoon to show me one of her summer happy places: Praia das Azenhas do Mar near Sintra. It was so good to get out with her and explore another incredibly beautiful place in Portugal. Thank you Larissa!

Happy Trails Everyone!