Bench Roundup: April 2025
What's good for the goose?
Howdy howdy,
The Tacoma was making haste through Idaho, northbound on I-15, returning from four nights camping amongst the rented vans of southern Utah, passing the truckers and the kickers and the cowboy angels, the local opal, and merrily rolling across state lines, marking return to Montana. “Montana: it just hits different”, observes the driver, and the rest of the cab chimes in with acknowledgment, admiration, and silly amusements. Indeed, an involuntary (dare I say, mystical!) pleasure surfaces when returning to Montana, especially after driving through Idaho.
And what a lovely clime to return to. Spring and its abundance1. All the greens are once again present and properly saturated. Deciduous as hell. The wheels of April turned, up to river put-ins, down to the high desert, and elsewhere. Starlings and sparrows dance between the budding branches of indeterminable trees (skill issue) in my backyard. The sun is once again behaving preferentially, setting to the west and then some. I turned twenty-[redacted]2. April is a reminder of how easy it is to play the season’s fool, to unabashedly celebrate the arrival of longer days, to remember what it feels like to experience appropriate levels of sunlight, to live for the thrill of it all, to ooze mojo.3
The Benches of April
Immanuel Lutheran Church
Missoula, MT
Did I have near-term intentions to give credit to the Lutherans? Not really. But there is responsibility in being the self-elected neighborhood bench arbitrator, so I must put religion aside and acknowledge their yard. Or, more accurately, acknowledge the accoutrements of their yard. For it does take a bit of flair to model the little free library on your property after the bigger building on your property. It’s cognizant, inviting. Playful, even. And it does take a sharp mind to pair the library with a bench, a concept I’d like to see library owners consider. Frances would have loved this.
Ralph’s Takeout; Clark Fork River
Cyr, MT
The kayaks are carried up from the river take-out, off the bank of the Clark Fork, and up the trail to the parking area. The atmosphere: partly cloudy and celebratory, for the fellas are experiencing the bliss from time spent paddling the Alberton Gorge. The postures, the possibilities, all mojo, all verve. They emerge from the river in high spirits. The first rip of the season. A bit chilly, sure, but what’s good for the goose is a wetsuit and neoprene gloves; it’ll make the gander easier. Displayed on the bench at Ralph’s (we’ve been here before), a helmet, a balaclava, a cold one, and a sole wetsuit boot. Experiencing a good stretch of Montana weather is like playing whack-a-mole with all available joys. Participate, see what pops up, and whack.4
Canyonlands National Park Visitor Center
Moab, Utah
The weather was vile (dramatic) when we arrived in Moab. Slanting sleet and relentless wind (reasonable), air colder than this tender blogger desired. One conversation with a German (speculative) away from not having a choice campsite. But, on a mid-April Saturday, it was just the open desert, blueberry yum-yum skies, and bike tires ripping through the rimmed roads of Canyonlands National Park, which greeted visitors with a bench-dense patio, thematically varied but certainly available. The better benches were saved for Sunday. After a fabulous time in the saddle, riding for the feeling, there was a serendipitous amuse-bouche that transcended language. Don’t get me started.
Dead Horse Point State Park
Moab, Utah
And Sunday arrived in pristine condition. As we pulled into the parking lot of the state park relatively adjacent to Canyonlands, a sweet silhouette emerged, an ice cream stick shape covering the distance between two faux-cairn foundations. Naturally, the first steps out of the parked truck were to take in the landscape, the geological becomings throughout the canyon below, and the stoke that builds before treading new trails.
What’s good for the goose? Hmm. Maybe what’s good for the goose is miles of dialed single-track culminating in a view like this with a bench like that, a bench dedicated in 2015 to Mike and Karen, instructing those in attendance to relax and enjoy the view. What’s good for the goose? Maybe what’s good for the goose is Jurassic and Trassic rock deposits, or the La Sals in the distance. Maybe all the goose needs is action, playfulness, friends, and the Dead Horse State Park Intrepid Trail System.
Oouuuuuuu woof. God damn. Count your blessings. What we have here is impeccable. Some fabulous terroir, a bench with minerals, and scenes that will make even the layman geologist get up and groove. The Colorado River, sediment-y and still from 2,000 feet its junior, and all the time in between.
Milwaukee Trail, between California and Hickory
Missoula, MT
New coat dropped.
Have a pleasant weekend,
— Markus
so
much
mojo
This is a developing simile. Check back in later for more nuance.
This Benches post was read this month on the bluffs of La Jolla Cove, seated in a quality bench just steps from the barking sea lions below. The bench itself doesn't stand out with its smooth boards tied into the concrete base. It has moderate redeeming values due to the granite boulder aside the bench, dedicated to the San Diego Bottom Scratchers Club, the San Diego Freedivers, and a certain Jane Stupp (1930-1988), whose "spirit cast her forever free upon the oceans of the world." Between these three groups, the bench was set at the end of Reagan's 2nd term, allowing me today to ponder life in Montana while pondering life in the kelp beds of La Jolla Cove.
This bench is arguably too close to the well-used sidewalk. Seated here with a book does allow one to play Benches' Whack-A-Mole game with the languages being spoken by the never-ending stream of tourists, all while the salt air fills the olfactories, the barking lions fill the auditory canals, and the Pacific vista fills the optical nerves.
With permission from the editorial staff of Benches, the photo of said bench may be shared with the troves of Benches fans, for future consideration on your next trip to the far southern terminus of I-15.