Bench Roundup: November 2024
Ideal conditions / a sight for sore eyes
Howdy howdy,
Ornaments and garland once again grace the streetlights and storefronts. We’re lucky, generally, and much more so if we see any proper sunlight sprout through the trademark Missoula winter grey1. Snow slowly accumulates along the mountains and eagerness for seasonal activities grows in tandem. I think we have much to look forward to.
Also, an announcement from the Benches Arts & Culture team: after certain lived experiences unique to an individual in a particular context, we are softly declaring that jam bands2 are over (for now). All other types of bands (within reason) remain endlessly encouraged.
The Benches of November
Within November, there were many moments central to the month. There was personal fondness and there was public displeasure. We’ve seen snowcapped mountains sun-kissed through cracks in the clouds, and we’ve seen a parade of clowns and grifters find their way to high office. There were moments of comfort and exploration, of randomness and reaction. The imperfect memories from which stories are spun. And, amongst it all, there were benches.
First Presbyterian Church; Missoula, MT
Emerging from the shadows of the recently renovated First Presbyterian Church, under the walking bridge that connects the main chapel to fellowship hall, a nighthawk. An obsidian frame beaconed by downlights, its after-hours glow noticeable to those taking the Heal-Toe Express along 5th Street. A good place to gather yourself if the hymns hit too hard. A timely bench if you’ve heard one too many psalms. Let’s be clear: what we have here is not salvation, but it could save you at the right time.
Book Exchange; Missoula, MT
At Book Exchange, a faux-granite hog stands saddled and ready. Lean meat between the used cookbooks and puzzles. I was surprised to see snout when I meandered around the aisles looking for nothing in particular. A stretch of the legs. I imagine the fiction of this bench, its dormant being, awaiting a call-to-action from another ether. A Jumanji-ass bench eager to be beckoned.
City Hall; Hamilton, MT
A November Saturday, driving south on 93 along the Bitterroots, a rendezvous in Hamilton. I had to see about a quilt, which was not meant to be. But the day, and Hamilton, was far from a let down. There were new streets to dally, crisp November air behind the sails, sweetness in arm. There were benches flanking the primary entrance of Hamilton’s unassuming City Hall. Bolstered by legs of flaking pistachio, one more sunken than the other. Weathered wood that has seen better days.
Missoula Family YMCA; Missoula, MT
Maybe we discuss how life can bend. How a sport you only half-chose to play when you were fourteen, can be such a force, such a factor, twice as many years later, in the places you find yourself. Not the main force, surely, nor most significant factor, but nonetheless on Sunday evenings I find myself as a member of a volleyball team at the Missoula Family YMCA. There have been many a winter league, from the basement annex of a student center at Marquette University to a small sporting complex in Hopkins, Minnesota, and now the community gym of Missoula, Montana. In stride, I find my way along the halls (currently under renovation) lined by straight shooters of slight build. Classic geometry, easy to transport.
Philipsburg Public Library; Philipsburg, MT
Benches is thrilled to report the bench density in Philipsburg, Montana is stellar. Only fitting, as the town of 900 is the actual seat of Granite County. In mid-November, there was no doubt we were in high elevation, a northern clime. The gales abundant, the thrifting fruitful, and at the Phillipsburg Public Library, crimson gems let you rest for a spell. Lumbar systems with a woodsy theme, each bench memorializing quotes from Col. Bruce Jones. “I was born to fly,” and “gardening keeps me grounded”, says the colonel. A walk through a gallery, cribbage at a brewery, and then up to Georgetown Lake we ventured.
Ideal Conditions
The Ancillaries
A succinct set of paragraphs about walking through Wisconsin at the end of an election cycle
Local newspapers, forever.
Eau Claire, WI’s very own released an EP and went on a press cycle. I was seated.
Fare thee well,
— Markus
Hex #c0c6cf
“jam bands” as categorized within contemporary rock & roll.