Editor's note: I wrote this draft more than a week ago, while quite tired, and decided to let it wait until the next day to publish it after looking it over while rested. I remembered writing it, but did not remember that it was not up yet, so sorry for the extra delay.
For those who have not heard the news, Sarah and I got engaged Sunday the 25th! We were in Montana for a visit and for branding, which Sarah had never experienced. I'd been planning for a few months, and not liking what the jewelry stores had, designed a ring myself. We went for a drive Sunday morning, and I gave her the ring at Canyon Ferry at daylight on a calm, crisp morning. She claims to have been surprised.
We have some planning sorted out, but I'll need to post more later on details.
As for the rest of the trip, we got to see Court and Aaron's new house and neighborhood since their move to Helena in August. We were thoroughly impressed! Being a block away from a Mt Helena trailhead, we hiked on Friday morning, after getting in on Thursday evening. We went to the ranch, helped gather cows for Saturday, and helped with a few smaller things, and greeted my Grandma, Chris, Jim, and nephew Miles as they got in.
Branding on Saturday went smoothly, and I can't hardly remember a nicer branding day in October: it was sunny most of the day, calm, and never even threatened to rain. We had a just-right crew and nobody got hurt other than the usual bumps and bruises. I don't believe Sarah was too blown away, and was a good sport. I ran the table and did the branding while my dad snoozed in a lawn chair, content with the progress of the job.
After our eventful Sunday morning, we enjoyed some barbecue at ACE's house to celebrate Aaron's 40th birthday. Sarah and I kept rolling to Bozeman that evening to see her cousin Drew, who is a transplant to MSU from Minneapolis. We were also lucky to catch up with my good friend Scott Ervin and his wife Cheryl, who had moved to Bozeman in the spring. I had not seen them since their wedding more than a year earlier.
We were very pleased to be able to break the news to Chris, Jim, and my Grandma in person Monday morning. We did not have any plans to rush off to anything else for once on a trip like this, and got to spend a quiet morning with them. Oddly enough, while sitting at the kitchen table I got two calls and sold two pieces of braided gear over the phone within a half hour. I suppose I'll need to do that more often.
We wrapped up our Bozeman trip with lunch with the Ervins, made our way back to Helena, and flew out Tuesday morning, another quick trip home complete, this one especially memorable.
The last branding I made it home for was in 2012. I met Sarah less than a week after that trip. Maybe there's a metaphor there for brandings being the time to claim something as my own, but I think I'll leave that alone.
