By Micah Drew, Jordan Hansen and Keila Szpaller
"In Montana, we have Democrats and we have Republicans, but we usually find a way of meeting around the 50-yard line. He (Aaron Flint) always played on the 10-yard line." – Former Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Aaron Flint, talk show host and now Congressional candidate.
Maclay Flats in the Lolo National Forest (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
Have you finished absorbing the news of the week? A few surprises there.
Here’s to the weekend, with a chance to drink in some fresh air, get some mud splattered on your ankles, maybe unplug for a hot minute.
Also, it’s spring forward.
I’m going to spy on Red Rock Beach with this extra daylight because I’m curious what it looks like this time of year. (I actually don’t know if that’s the real name of it, but that beautiful spot up past the Whitaker Bridge on the Blackfoot.)
I mentioned before that Ross Gay had visited the University of Montana for a President’s Lecture, and it feels like a good time to share a poem from him with you.
By Ross Gay
If you find yourself half naked
and barefoot in the frosty grass, hearing,
again, the earth's great, sonorous moan that says
you are the air of the now and gone, that says
all you love will turn to dust,
and will meet you there, do not
raise your fist. Do not raise
your small voice against it. And do not
take cover. Instead, curl your toes
into the grass, watch the cloud
ascending from your lips. Walk
through the garden's dormant splendor.
Say only, thank you.
Thank you.
I saw this bumper sticker on the Northside in Missoula, Montana. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
I also saw a dozen eggs on sale at the grocery store this morning for $1.99, and that was cool.
I commented to the stocker, and he said yeah, but gas prices are up. The man said he and his honey are about to leave on a road trip to Florida, so he’ll be paying more at the pump, and that trip’ll cost them an extra chunk.
AAA says prices are up 27 cents a gallon in one week thanks to the “conflict in the Middle East.” More the costs of this war from our Washington, D.C., bureau here.
In Montana, the average cost of gas is $3.11 a gallon, higher than the national average, $3.41, according to AAA.
“The recent increase puts the national average at the same price as it was in early April of 2025,” AAA said. “Springtime typically sees higher gas prices as gasoline demand rises and summer-blend gasoline production begins.
“The last time the national average made a similar weekly jump was back in March of 2022 during the start of the Russia/Ukraine conflict.”
Got a road trip planned? Let us know how things are changing for you: [email protected].
~ Keila Szpaller
“From the author of the international bestseller ‘The Hakawati’ comes an enchanting story of a book-loving, obsessive, 72-year-old ‘unnecessary’ woman with a past shaped by the Lebanese Civil War.” (Provided by Grove Atlantic)
The Hook 📚 Book
Thanks to reader Julie Emnett, we’ve got both fiction and nonfiction recommendations for you this week.
On the more serious front, Emnett offers this read:
I read Anne Applebaum's “Autocracy Now.” It was enlightening and a bit depressing, but it really laid out the world order and how autocratic governments are gaining traction around the world. It's probably not a summer porch read, but it's short and informative.
Have you been to Beirut? Ever wanted to? Want to know what it’s like? One of Emnett’s fiction recommendations sounds fabulous, both for the interior monologue of the protagonist and the insights about the city, according to this review from National Public Radio.
I am currently reading “An Unnecessary Woman,” a novel by Rabih Alameddine. Definitely porch swing material. My next book will be “The Antidote” by Karen Russell.
Porch swing, or Red Rock! Thanks, Julie!
~ Keila Szpaller
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