Mother's Montana birthday celebration

Our mother is 87 today. As I write, she' probably getting herself ready for the big day ahead. When people are 87, they don't necessarily need "things" for their birthdays. So, we decided to go a different route---a slight detour of sorts for birthday celebrations.

We're taking her to Montana. "We" are my two sisters and I. Mother loves horses, loves Montana, and cherishes the hundreds of memories associated with time spent there on frequent drives and vacations, sitting in the front seat alongside our dad Harold.

One memory she savors is enjoying a huckleberry milkshake. She told me a few years ago that she and Harold drove all the way to Ravalli for a huckleberry shake whipped up at the same restaurant where buffalo burgers are featured. A couple of years ago, she, Kiwi and I made that trip and she enjoyed her purple shake.

We don't know if we'll make it to Ravalli today, but we'll see that she has the opportunity to reclaim a taste of that memory somewhere along the way. Our destination is Ronan to look at horses and to the nearby National Bison Range to enjoy a picnic with our brother Kevin who lives in Frenchtown.

As a family with just Batch I of the two Batches of kids, Mother, Harold, Mike, Kevin and I visited the Bison Range for a few Sunday picnics. On the way, we counted deer. That was a ploy initiated by Harold to keep us occupied rather than fighting while scrunched in the back seat of our '58 Ford Ranchwagon.

It worked. We're all deer counters, and proud of it. Batch 2 does okay at their roadside deer tallies too.

We're going to Ravenwood Arabians where, one week shy of a year ago, Barbara and I drove over to pick up Lefty and Dusty. A year later, we have no regrets because of the joy they've both provided us every single day.

Mother adores those two babies, and we've told her so much about the 185 horses (give or take a few) at Jane Bohn's place. It seemed like a neat idea to take her to the spot where Lefty and Dusty got their start.

Jane has promised to have her mares and foals up at the barnyard for Mother to see today. Last year, she had 25 babies lined up with their moms. I don't know what the nose count is this year, but there's nothing more adorable than little dish-faced Arabian foals, no matter how many we get to see today. We're leaving our checkbooks at home!

We've bought a few supplies for the picnic, including assorted chips, soda and festive cupcakes. And, we'll stop off at the Pantry either in Clark Fork or Bull River to have custom made sandwiches with their fresh-baked bread. Mother's been wanting to buy a loaf of bread or two from the Pantry, so that will be a "thing" to purchase on her birthday extravaganza.

Otherwise, it's the memories of past and present that we hope will provide her a celebration worthy of her 87 years on earth and her 64 years as our much-beloved Mother/Mom.

Happy Birthday to Virginia. Now, let the deer counting begin!