Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 11 T IME TO EXHALE. Summer has departed, along with millions of Montana visitors, the last few just now boarding planes, folding tents, closing trunk hoods and re-routing RVs in the direction of hometowns and to Walmart lots in Arizona. Truth be told, we love our tourists, and are proud that they think enough of our state to have it on their bucket lists. It helps (a great deal) that they also bring their buckets of cash to our hotels, eateries, small businesses and recreational activities. ey leave behind a vast amount of wealth. We're talking billions. ank you, fellow Americans, we'll see you again next summer! In the fall, Montana returns to our version of "normal." Roads, highways, and especially city streets are drained of traffic excess. e sun glows in faint light, settling lower on the horizon. Pumpkins magically emerge from the earth. Aspens shine in gold. Footprints on trails are wiped clean by bursts of wind, the sweep of dead leaves and the shuffle of fewer feet. Bears come down from the mountains to feast on bright, ripe berries. Elk bugle for breeding, and the geese point their beaks, honk- ing south. With all respect to the tourists, this is the Montana we love. Peaceful, natural, the settling grip of solitude in the majesty of the wild. If there is a fault to autumn in Montana, it is that it is far too short a season. Once you begin to smell it, feel it, enjoy it, it is gone. You wake up one dark morning to falling snow, a shift- ing, icy wind and realize that it is now gone for good. Spring is so far away, but the memory of fall holds fast for now. Exhale. Is that winter's breath you see? BILL MUHLENFELD, PUBLISHER bill@distinctlymontana.com ANTHEA GEORGE, PUBLISHER anthea@distinctlymontana.com "In Heaven, it is always Autumn" ~ JOHN DONNE ANTIQUITIES Vesuvius' catastrophic eruption destroyed the seaside villas of some of Rome's wealthiest citizens. Come see the artifacts of leisure and luxury that are all that remain of Oplontis. Join us at MOR, one of only three museums in the U.S. to host this stirring exhibit of artifacts that have never left Italy before. This exhibition is organized and circulated by The University of Michigan Kelsey Museum of Archaeology in cooperation with the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attivitá Culturali e del Turismo and the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Pompei, Ercolano e Stabia. Now – December 31, 2016 Leisure & Luxury in the Age of Nero The Villas of Oplontis Near Pompeii Marble Bust of Herekles www.bozemancvb.com And generous other donors A N O T E F R O M T H E P U B L I S H E R S

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