Connecting Point: Navigating Emotions

At fifty-one years old, I still find glory, fun, and contentment in our vast and wild Montana. Specifically, on my boating experiences, I have enjoyed small raft, one-man skiff, canoe, and kayak. I’ve been dunked by them all. I’ve never had the experience of sailing, yet and still, with little watercraft knowledge, I respect the wind.

I recall one fishing trip on a small reservoir in the Pintler Range southwest of Anaconda as a child. My grandfather and father took me on many fishing trips. I was a nine-year-old. “How do you tie that hook on again?” That afternoon a storm rolled over the mount...