David Brooks wrote a column about religion (NYT Jan 28, 2014), and hequoted Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel who said, “Our goal should be to live in radical amazement…get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal…To be spiritual is to be amazed.

The rabbi was talking about religion, but right now I feel the same radical amazement about Montana in winter. How can one not be amazed–have your breath taken away–by the beauty of a stand of winter willows?