I find myself drawn time and time again to the Shield's Valley.
It is our own southwest Montana version of Tolkien's Shire. Around the corner there might be Bilbo Baggins putting another keg of beer away. It is my painter's eye version of comfort food. Beautiful and protected.
The headwaters of the Shield's River is in The Crazy Mountains. Twice these mountains were considered for designation as a National Park. Ultimately the idea was abandoned because of the checkerboard ownership by the railroads.
The Crow people called these mountains Awaxaawapìa Pìa meaning something like ominous, crazy, unpredictable. It is revelatory to me that it is an area for vision quests.
I am circling in.