When you live in a remote place, you’re maybe even more drawn to company, and because meetings are less frequent, each becomes something of a celebration. Hospitality takes on a new meaning when someone drives 40 miles to have dinner at your house, never mind just to stop by and say hello.

I've been to the Tasting Room many times before, and every time someone visits me in my adopted town of Butte, I always take them there. But somehow, I never paid much attention to the bar before now. It is a long, gorgeous hardwood number that looks as if a hundred years or so of cowboys and miners have rubbed it to a reflective polish. 

Although Montanans pride themselves on their rugged individualism, sometimes we need some help to achieve our dreams. Jackie Wickens and Trecie Wheat Hughes of Yellowstone Brokers are good at that; it’s what they do. They worked with him for a year before finding him the perfect spot.

Ancient Egyptians used a variation of them to protect their crops along the Nile River Delta from pesky quails. But it was the Greeks, Romans, and Japanese who anthropomorphized them, dressing wood and straw up in old clothes and lending them clubs and scythes to enhance their capacity to intimidate birds.

I feed the river otters lunch and sanitize the otter building. I do a quick free-contact (no barrier between the animal and me) training session with our badger, Uki, asking her to go in her crate, put her paw on a few spread out wooden marks, and touch her nose to a tennis ball on a stick.

I love introducing people to new foods. With the kitchen as my sanctuary where so much deliciousness can be created, I find enjoyment and comfort there. I want others to feel the same way.