Valley Views

valley views Elevate the every day

For this New Year, I splurged during a sale and bought myself a countertop ice maker.

I’ve never lived in an apartment with an ice maker built into the freezer. Ever since I left home, I’ve just used those little freezer ice trays, and mostly gone without ice at all because they never felt worth the hassle to me. But when I visited my dad for the holidays, he had ice in every drink, and it felt kind of luxurious. Silly, right?

When my best friend was moving recently, she talked about the things she and her husband were searching for in their next rental. Little things, like a shower with a door instead of a curtain, and a fridge with sideby-side doors. Tiny elevations that make the place feel a little bit better than their last.

This made an impression on me. I’m not typically one to spring for household luxuries for myself; a thrift shop find and a utilitarian solution are usually good enough for me for a solid few years. But adding a little something that makes your life feel a little bit elevated, makes you feel a little more like that mythical “proper adult,” can make a surprising impact.

Something as silly as having ice in my drinks all the time now puts a smile on my face, and I’ve noticed granting myself that “luxury” has helped to turn my mood to a more positive perspective on the daily. A good mood has helped my productivity too, and my days lately have felt just a little bit nicer.

This isn’t all about purchasing “luxury” items, either. Taking the time to do something for yourself you wouldn’t normally, something that feels just a little bit luxurious in your day to day, is a wonderful change to bring into your life. Winter can be a long, hard time of year in a lot of ways. We miss the sun and warmth and vitamin D that come from being outside when it’s not miserably cold. But doing little things for yourself, small treats for a reward or for no reason in particular, can help bring a little excitement to the dark days of the year.

So, in this new year as we wait for the days to get longer, try and treat yourself a bit. Award yourself extra time in a hot shower. Try something new with your style just for fun. Add ice to your drink. Be kind to yourself, and add a little luxury to your day because you deserve it, whatever that luxury looks like.

A Taylor’d Approach Taylor Davison Editor, Valley Journal

Library embraces the new year

Happy New Year! We are all so excited for 2023 and the wonderful updates and changes it will bring to our building with our renovation project. We hope you are excited as well.

We will continue our music in the library series after our renovation is complete. We have several programs scheduled for January so you’ll want to be sure to check them out. In partnership with AARP, the library is hosting another Smart Driver Course on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 1 p.m. Call or visit the library to register. There is a materials fee due the day of the class. Angela is hosting a final coloring program on Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. If you have ever attended a library coloring program or always wanted to, this is your chance. Our January tech program is Thursday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. Sierra will help navigate the changes that our renovation will bring. She will provide instruction on how to use our online resources, setting up a library PIN, placing holds, using our app, changes to picking up items and what parts of our library collection will be available during our renovation.

The Library is very pleased to host local author, Milana Marsenich on Monday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 p.m. for a reading and book signing. Milana’s latest book, “Beautiful Ghost” is a sequel to “Copper Sky” and is set in Butte during the 1918 flu pandemic. Books will be available for purchase at the event or bring your own copy.

Children’s programming will run throughout our renovation project. Visit us on Mondays at 9:15 a.m. for Mother Goose for ages 0-3 and Thursdays at 9:15 a.m. for Story Time for ages 3-5. If you haven’t registered yet for 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, visit our website or ask us about this fun program.

A lot will be happening in January and February to prepare the library for the beginning of construction in March. At this time, we plan to move out of our current building into a temporary location. Plans are not quite finalized, but we will announce our temporary location as soon as they are. In order for the construction to go smoothly, we need to clear the building as much as we can. You can help us with this in a few ways. Beginning on Jan. 3, all of our 28-day checkout books have an extended due date of Oct. 1. We hope that you will check out as many of these books as you care to read (or try to read) and

View from the

Library Abbi Dooley,

North Lake County Public Library District

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from page 10 Sun and shade

hang onto them until our renovation is complete in the fall. This is a great time to read an entire series, a new or favorite author, or really delve into your favorite genre. We will move and have available for checkout a selection of the remaining 28-day books, all of our movies, audiobooks, new books, board books and special items. All other books will be stored and unavailable to checkout during renovation. Our Partners sharing system will continue, so you will still be able to get the titles you want from other libraries, and we will continue to buy new titles as they are released. The second way you can help is by shopping our surplus sale in February. We will be selling most of our furniture, shelving and lots of miscellaneous items. Watch for details and a date. To allow us space to prepare, our meeting room will not be available for large groups beginning Feb. 1. We hope to not be closed more than is necessary to get moved, but we will keep you updated on any closures we may have.

The library’s hours are Monday – Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The library will be closed on Monday, Jan. 16, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Curbside pickup is available for everyone during open hours. Please call us at 406883-8225 or email us at: polsoncl@polson.lib.mt.us with questions or to request curbside pickup.

vj

I’ve always loved gardening. No, I’m going to take that a step further: I’ve always loved growing things.

Growing things - as in flowers, vegetables, friendships, babies and kids, this column, faith, my marriage, knowledge, compassion, kindness and most importantly love. And more, of course. There is always more to grow.

I’ve learned many insider tips and tricks about growing things over the years. Today I realized I’m still learning.

I’m in a new climate and meeting new neighbors. That’s a scenario ripe for learning potential.

This morning I was talking with a neighbor. She has numerous plants in her yard that are common in this region, but completely new to me. I asked her about a couple - whether they liked sun or shade, water requirements, whether they were finicky or easy to grow, and so on.

“Oh, honey,” she said. “I just plant them. If they grow, they grow. If they don’t, they weren’t meant for my yard. They have to be happy to be here.”

I thought that was insightful and wise.

In my last house I had a large garden plot filled with shade. The owners before me planted roses. Rose plants thrive on sun and temperate winters. I had neither.

However, I did have am ample supply of small children at the time, which prevented me from treating my roses with the TLC they needed to survive in my yard.

So, they perished. At the time, I thought: Any plant can grow in the sun. It takes something special to grow in the shade.

I replaced the roses with hostas. Hostas are a common perennial in the cool, dark climates that favor them, but apparently they aren’t as widespread as I thought. My autocorrect wants to change the word to “hostess,” so apparently they haven’t even made their way into some dictionaries.

For those unfamiliar, hostas are sort of leafy northern versions of large-leaved tropical plants. They typically grow in a round mound, with leaves flowing outward. They can be as small as six inches in diameter or as large as six feet - and just as tall (or short). Cultivars have come up with hundreds (and probably thousands) of named varieties. I believe I had close to 40 or 50 different strains in my backyard.

It took years to build, and was one of the hardest things for me to leave when I sold my house.

But, there were other gardens to grow.

I moved from a plot of ever-present shade and ever-present winter (or so it seemed) to ever-present sun and ever-present warmth. I’ve looked around and there isn’t a hosta to be found in my new environment.

Apparently growing hostas in my yard now would be akin to growing roses in my old plot. With that comes the realization: Not every plant likes the shade. It takes something special to grow in the sun.

Herein lies the wisdom of my new neighbor. Not everything can grow everywhere. Plants have to be happy in their environment. You can try forcing them, like the people who planted the roses at my old house, but it’s always going to be a battle against nature - against the order of things.

The same goes for people. Sometimes we find the right amount of shade and cool temperatures; other times we seek the sun. Both are good. Both can be good.

Bottom line, we all get to figure out where we grow best. When it’s time to put down roots and when it’s time to replant and regrow – sunshine or shade or maybe even a little of both.

I’m not sure where that will take me, but for now, right here seems right, but I’m still learning. I hope I never stop.

Jill Pertler is an award-winning syndicated columnist, published playwright and author. Don’t miss a slice; follow the Slices of Life page on Facebook.

Senate Republicans agenda for this legislative session

The 68th Montana Legislature is officially in session. As Senate leadership, we’re excited to see Senate Republicans getting to work on enacting conservative policy for our state.

The last time the Legislature met, we

successfully passed a conservative balanced budget, cut taxes for individuals and businesses, se Legislative Notes cured our Second Sen. Jason Ellsworth, Sen. Ken AmendBogner, Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick ment rights, invested in public access to public lands and high speed broadband, and passed legislation to protect see page 12

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the unborn and further secure our elections. We also put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to ensure Montanans’ electronic communications are protected from government intrusion, which voters overwhelming adopted in November’s election.

Since the last legislative session, three major things have happened that will impact the current session in big ways. The first is that Montana now has a record budget surplus in the neighborhood of $2 billion. The second is that Montana’s housing market went from very hot in certain areas to completely unaffordable and unsustainable across much of the state. The third is that voters elected a supermajority of Republicans to the Legislature, something that had never happened before.

All of this means we’re entering what we expect to be another historic legislative session. Top of mind for Republicans is providing financial relief to Montanans who are suffering from President Biden’s inflation and the high cost of living. Perhaps the “worst kept secret,” as Governor Gianforte has put it, is that we’re going to cut taxes again. With our massive budget surplus, we’re going to pay down the state’s debt to get rid of those existing taxpayer obligations. We’re also working on the specifics of returning hundreds of millions of dollars back to Montana resident taxpayers. As conservative Republicans, we know that that money belongs to you, not the government.

We’re also working with the governor on a massive Red Tape Relief project to get rid of unnecessary government regulations that stifle businesses and prevent Montanans from achieving their full potential. On the housing front, we’re again working in conjunction with the governor on a suite of legislative options to make housing more affordable and attainable.

We expect to put more state constitutional amendments on the ballot for voters to consider. It takes 100 out of 150 legislators to propose an amendment, and 51% of voters in the next election to actually amend the state’s constitution. Both of those are big hurdles to meet, meaning amendments need to be clear and have broad support.

The Legislature will consider hundreds of additional proposals in the coming months. Every member is there to represent their specific constituents and every lawmaker has their own individual goals and priorities. But the ones we’ve mentioned here are the big ones for the Republican caucus as a whole and the ones we expect to define this legislative session.

The Legislature is the most transparent and most accessible branch of Montana’s government. Contact your representative and senator. Testify on bills you care about, whether in person at the Capitol or remotely via Zoom. Make your voice heard.

Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, is the President of the Montana Senate. Sen. Ken Bogner, R-Miles City, is the President Pro Tempore and Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, is the Senate Majority Leader.

Unity in the community, or, how I learned to get along with my enemies

Who am I supposed to hate,

again?

For years I taught a graduate class, Identity Conflict, and I would begin the term by noting that trying to list the composite identity elements of any one individual would show that, indeed, we are unique. No two humans share an exact measure of identities. Even twins billed as “identical” have identities that are separate, if only “born first,” and “born second.”

My tribal labels: white, boomer, male, Green/Democratic, professor, pacifist (except to mosquitos and rats), and much more. Your tribal labels extend into many permutations of your primary identity, carving out your unique identity now and forever on this Earth.

Nonetheless, we manage to stress one identity on many days, and allow that to create borders and even conflicts with those who do not share that one aspect of Who I Am. That frequently erupts into conflicts small and large, internal and between peoples. Those who hold multiple identities are often caught in the middle: One study looked at the effects on Muslim girls in British schools and the challenges faced by both the girls and the schools. Another examined the devoutly religious who are LGBTQ+ and subjected to exhortations to “pray the gay away.” These pressures can fracture communities and damage innocent people. In my field of Conflict Transformation, we know that loss intensifies that aspect of identity and sets up a typology of identity: Us vs Them. My field is highly interdisciplinary; we borrowed this identity-intensification-as-a-legacy-of -loss from a cross discipline, Social Psychology. It’s basically the collective version of passive-aggressive behavior. The narrative is: We were defeated and now we hate them forever, we nurse the desire for revenge in our private circles, we gather our forces behind the scenes for as long as it takes (even generations if needs be), and then we strike.

Welcome to Hitler’s Germany, striking back after WWI and the retributive Treaty of Versailles. Say hello to Rwanda following the brutal colonization by Belgium and the favored treatment of the Tutsi population. We’re looking at you, Palestine, since your land was stolen, and you are second-class citizens at best. And of course, we have our frustrated men from former Confederate states, whose ancestors lost the US Civil War. This list is virtually endless.

Everybody wants payback.

So, we will expect that forever, or until wars either escalate to thermonuclear Apocalypse or consume and spew out so much carbon we kill the climate and ourselves in the bargain (is anyone tracking the carbon boot print of the war in Ukraine, for instance?). Destructive conflict, often fueled by identity, may be the ultimate undoing of our species.

I was a Conscientious Objector during the Vietnam War, born in 1950 and thus turned 18 during the most furious part of that war, the Tet Offensive. I am supposed to hate my brothers who served in combat in that illegal, immoral war.

I don’t--never have. As soon as the first of my friends came home, all that tension evaporated and was instead redirected entirely toward the Johnsons and Nixons and Dow Chemical executives and all those who profited. Of course, my first friend who came home did so in a wheelchair for life, a good-looking,

Valley Views Tom H. Hastings PeaceVoice

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friendly big brother to one of my closest friends, a kid who was kind to all of us, someone whose smile remains in my minds-eye, my minds-heart.

Hate? I just say no. Fast forward to our current time, and the Patriot Prayer (local Proud Boys hereabouts) are supposed to hate me and I am bound to hate them. I mean, my sons are African American and they are white supremacists. I am for peace and they want violence. I am disarmed; they are armed.

But we get along. They have literally reached out to me to shake my hand. I can place my hand on the shoulder of the biggest and baddest of them, and I have.

Why? Why stop hating the terrible conniving rotten Other who clearly wants you dead?

Because the hate only feeds more hate, more destruction, more violence, more useless continuation of wreckage. Unless some people simply stop, however unilaterally that might be, the hate will never vanish. It may go under some rock when social norms force it there, but it is like a peat bog fire just waiting under the surface, for years sometimes, before conditions allow it to erupt into a raging wildfire.

How? How to drop the hate?

For me, as a member of an unarmed public safety team, I know, as all of us in this practice know, that we will often be required to just do so unilaterally, to “take one for the team,” and to understand that when we are disrespected, insulted, or even assaulted, it is never in service to the community to respond with hate, nor to mirror disrespect, but to instead regard ourselves as in service to the well-being of the community, even if only for a limited time.

No one is afraid of us. No one holds a grudge against us. We do not dissemble; no one on our team nods in agreement when someone yells a sexist slur, a racist rant, or any other offensive act. But neither do we debate them.

Instead, we seek clarity, we ask, we listen. We affirm what we can.

One young woman told a highly offensive anti-Islam counter-protester, “Sounds like you really care about this country.” Her accurate observation did not affirm his point of view, but it de-escalated him and they had a discussion. She listened for several minutes, asking small clarifying questions, and then, shockingly, he asked her a couple and listened to her. Up until she approached him, he had been live-streaming his racist rants. Once they started talking, he turned off his camera. Not only did she take him out of play for about 45 minutes, she helped diminish the hurtful tone of the counter-protesters substantially, since he was the alpha male of the group.

This young woman is an Iraqi immigrant, a former refugee who fled the war with her mother. She is brownskinned and was covered, fairly obviously a Muslim. The man was literally wearing a t-shirt that said, “Stop being Muslim.”

That young woman is our hope for an end to hate. We can do this. We need her emotional maturity, her willingness to absorb the hate and transform it into understanding, which then, in turn, becomes the weapon that diminishes and even banishes and vanishes hate.

There is hope. Humans have it in us. May 2023 show so much more of this healing. vj