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| Wall at UM Bozeman |
What took me a while to realize, is that this appointment was meant for US!
After breakfast today, our early :) 10:30 meeting at the University of Montana, Bozeman in the
Architecture Department was with two faculty members who have conceived of a revolutionary (seriously: some of this is going to be hard for people to get their minds around), new way to build a green, prefab house that has applications for almost any environment: they are earthquake and hurricane proof, are adaptable and flexible, easily conforming to local tastes and materials, and easily moved, expanded, and reconfigured,.....and Bob and Elizabeth will be the prototype builders of this new home on their land at Poison Creek. It will be like Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, or Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House. The Ranch at Poison Creek could be part of architectural history! And for some reason they wanted us to get the full picture!...of course, David had input as far as lighting and systems controls may go, and he was given the opportunity to give his spiel and they responded to all our questions and observations with enthusiasm and respect. Having been involved in the construction and design worlds for some time, we gave them the impression that we, too, were architects, I guess we just speak the language well enough to get along! I did not take pictures and I will not describe it further, because there are patent issues and privacy issues, but suffice it to say...it was very exciting and I felt very honored to have been given a couple hours of valuable time, so that we could become familiar with this new design and technology, ask a zillion questions, and give our friends our two cents worth of opinion! Elizabeth is fond of saying "let me staff you on that," meaning let me get that for you, we hope that, in return, we can staff her and Bob, and that some of our thoughts and reflections on this new project may be of value to them....Stay tuned for future road trips when we return to Montana and check on the progress of construction. They are hoping to begin next spring.
After this exciting meeting, we had sandwiches back at the house, and while Bob and Elizabeth caught up on some of their own duties, David and I went for a hike up Sype's Canyon Trail just outside of Bozeman.
This was a rugged trail UP all the way...a little bit of weeding in the garden was not enough exercise for this workout, but it was mostly in the trees, so cool, and the pay off at the top was phenomenal. The altitude was a factor and so we took our time, stopped regularly for water, and had a great time. The vistas were spectacular...like I said, this is BIG country out here....
The trek down is always easier.
Back in Bozeman, we stopped at the Montana Ale Works for a local brew and called our friends to come down and join us, which they did.
We decided to sit out on the patio and stay for dinner, as Elizabeth said they had great food here. And she was right again!
David had bison chili rellenos that he loved... which is amazing, because it is hard to get rellenos right, and I had a tofu soba noodle salad that was very tasty too.
At home, retiring to the deck with wine and down comforters, (yes, it was cool),we had a lovely evening....we will miss this lovely air and light filled home and it's amazing occupants...including Harriet and Pearl...
(Pearl by the way, has had a consultation, via telephone with our own able Dr. Lisa, and has been prescribed rest and observation. She is still limping a little today, but seems perky enough). Since they slept in the garage last night, just below our room, it was fun to wake up to the girls clucking and cooing this morning).
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| Bozeman Grain Elevator |
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| Chicken Yard |
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| Right Angles |
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