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"Which one first?" Ellan held up the square cardboard picture of John Denver laughing and holding his crumpled hat as if the bright sunshine was trying to blow it off his head and into the meadow behind him. Four other John Denver albums passed through twelve grabbing hands. Freedom charged through their veins while Mom and Dad were out on a date. Nobody had the nerve to pull out the television in the basement, but they were all ready to max out the stereo volume. [AMY: MATCH THE SONGS TO THE ALBUM PICTURES] "Rocky Mountain High," Joe ordered. "Sunshine on my Shoulders," Lori coo'd. "Wild Montana Skies!" Amy barked. She had recently learned you could get a free wild horse in Montana if you could catch one. "Calypso," Boo squeaked. "Thank God I'm a Country Boy!" David bellowed, holding John Denver high overhead in the spotlight of a concert stage. "Country Boy!" everyone agreed. Ellan dropped the record down its post and carefully laid the needle into the second groove on the record. They all assumed their positions, Joe and David tall sentinels on each side, Amy and Boo on the raised ledge around the fireplace, Lori and Ellan front and center with guitars. They performed a cacophony that nearly drowned out the master's voice. [VIDEO] Well, life’s on a farm is kinda laid back, ain’t much an old country boy like me can’t hack. Early to rise, early in the sack Thank God I’m a country boy. Well, a simple kind of life never did me no harm, Raising me a family and working on the farm. Days all filled with an easy country charm Thank God I’m a country boy. Well, I got me a fine wife, got me old fiddle. Sun’s coming up, cakes on the griddle. Life ain’t nothing but a funny, funny riddle Thank God I’m a country boy. When the work’s all done and the sun’s set low, I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow. Kids are asleep so I keep it kinda low Thank God I’m a country boy. I’d play Sally Gooding all day if I could, but the lord and my wife wouldn’t take it very good. So I fiddle when I can and I work when I should Thank God I’m a country boy. The second chorus always sent the Schlinger Six bouncing across the furniture, Amy and Boo scampering across the wide back of the golden velvet couch. Well, I got me a fine wife, got me old fiddle. Sun’s coming up, cakes on the griddle. Life ain’t nothing but a funny, funny riddle Thank God I’m a country boy. I wouldn’t trade my life for diamonds or jewels, Never was one of them money hungry fools. Rather have my fiddle and my farming tools Thank God I’m a country boy. City folk driving in a black limousine, Lotta sad people thinking that’s mighty keen. Son, let me tell you now exactly what I mean Thank God I’m a country boy. Well, I got me a fine wife, got me old fiddle. Sun’s coming up, cakes on the griddle. Life ain’t nothing but a funny, funny riddle Thank God I’m a country boy. Well, my fiddle was my daddy’s till the day he died, He took me by the hand and held me close to his side. Said live a good life and play my fiddle with pride, and thank God you’re a country boy. My Daddy taught me young how to hunt and how to whittle, Taught me how to work and play a tune on the fiddle. Taught me how to love and how to give just a little, Thank God I’m a country boy. Well, I got me a fine wife, got me old fiddle. Sun’s coming up, cakes on the griddle. Life ain’t nothing but a funny, funny riddle, thank God I’m a country boy. The two Schlinger boys high-fived and punched the sky. Boo collapsed into the recliner. Lori tuned her guitar while Ellan propped hers and scanned the album selection. Amy forced into her view the double-album of John Denver in the spotlight of a concert stage. "Wild Montana Skies!" she demanded. "In a minute, babe," Ellan soothed. "It's time for some Calypso." "CALYPSO!" Boo sprang out of the recliner and ran circles around room. "Calypso! Calypso!" The needle dropped. Ellan grabbed her guitar. Everyone rushed to their positions. As the orchestra ushered in the ding-ding of the ship's bell, Amy forgot about horses in Montana and got swept out to sea with dolphins. They all let Ellan harmonize with John Denver for the verses. [VIDEO] To sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean To ride on the crest of the wild raging storm To work in the service of life and the living In search of the answers to questions unknown To be part of the movement and part of the growing Part of beginning to understaaaaand Ellan held the last note until the Schlinger Six geared up and roared through the chorus. Aye, Calypso, the places you've been to The things that you've shown us, the stories you tell Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit The men who have served you so long and so well The booming men-voices of the boys yodeled through the farmhouse and out the windows to the cows in the field, maybe even across the highway to the Crumptons house. Amy and Boo spun in circles with their arms wide, crashing into furniture and their older siblings. They all calmed down as the chorus again ushered in the ship's bell. Ellan resumed her harmonized story. Like the dolphin who guides you, you bring us beside you To light up the darkness and show us the way For though we are strangers in your silent world To live on the land we must learn from the sea To be true as the tide and free as a wind swell Joyful and loving in letting it beeeeeee The Schlinger Six tried to get the chorus out to their parents in town and God above. Aye, Calypso, the places you've been to The things that you've shown us, the stories you tell Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit The men who have served you so long and so well Aye, Calypso, the places you've been to The things that you've shown us, the stories you tell Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit The men who have served you so long and so well They all joined the man-boys in the final yodels, swaying or spinning with raised faces and closed eyes, releasing all obligation to conform to authority. Lori came to her senses first. "Amy wants Wild Montana Skies." Amy sprang up from her dizzy crumple on the floor. "Wild Montana Skies!" Ellan agreed. "Yes, it's Amy's turn," she panted. "But I need a drink." She put the album on and went to the kitchen. David and Boo joined her. Lori and Joe stayed for Montana. None of them knew the verses, but Joe held the album cover and read the lyrics as fast as he could to keep up with the song. Lori strummed the chords on her guitar. [VIDEO] He was born in the Bitterroot Valley in the early morning rain Wild geese over the water headin' north and home again Bringing a warm wind from the south Bringing the first taste of the spring His mother took him to her breast and softly she did sing Lori strummed hard to signal the chorus. Joe nodded to Amy to take over. She jumped onto the couch and matched John Denver's cadence perfectly. Oh Montana, give this child a home Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies Amy sat on the wide back of the couch and grinned proudly as Joe nodded his approval. He resumed his speed-read singing. His mother died that summer and he never learned to cry He never knew his father and he never did ask why And he never knew the answers that would make an easy way But he learned to know the wilderness and to be a man that way His mother's brother took him in to family and his home Gave him a hand that he could lean on and a strength to call his own And he learned to be a farmer and he learned to love the land And he learned to read the seasons and he learned to make a stand Joe nodded to Amy. Amy stood up again on the couch. Oh Montana, give this child a home Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies Joe held the album cover close to his face again. On the eve of his twenty-first birthday he set out on his own He was thirty years and running when he found his way back home Riding a storm across the mountains and an aching in his heart Said he came to turn the pages and to make a brand new start Now he never told a story of the time that he was gone Some say he was a lawyer, some say he was a John There was something in the city that he said he couldn't breathe And there was something in the country that he said he couldn't leave Joe nodded to Amy. Lori strummed twice. They both joined Amy in the chorus. Oh oh ohh Montana, give this child a home Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies Joe sang the story while Amy and Lori listened intently. Now some say he was crazy, some are glad he's gone Some of us will miss him, we'll try to carry on Giving a voice to the forest, giving a voice to the dawn Giving a voice to the wilderness and the land that he lived on The other three Schlingers returned from the kitchen and joined the final chorus. Oh oh ohhh, Montana, give this child a home Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies Oh oh ohhh, Montana, give this child a home Give him the love of a good family and a woman of his own Give him a fire in his heart, give him a light in his eyes Give him the wild wind for a brother and the wild Montana skies Joe and Lori put down their instruments while Amy disappeared to Montana in her head, riding a wild mustang bareback on a grassy mountainside. Ellan announced the next plan for the evening. "We're going to perform a play for Mom and Dad when they come home. We made some watermelon juice in wine glasses for them." "What play?" Lori asked. "Don's car lot," David answered. He held up the notebook paper he had been writing on. He proceeded to give everyone their lines and stage instructions. Don and Betty Schlinger came home from their date in a somber state that made the Schlinger siblings nervous. But Ellan pushed through it and got the parents seated with curious smiles. Don and Betty chuckled through their virgin watermelon wine while their six children acted out a day at Don's car lot in the nearby town of Williston. That night, the parents' bedroom door remained closed. The boys clunked and laughed in the dark from their double room. Amy and Boo whispered and giggled in their shared single room. Lori hummed a Three Dog Night song in her room in the middle. Ellan called out in a loud whisper from her room on the end, mimicking the family goodnight ritual they saw on the one Waltons' television episode Don had allowed them. "Goodnight John-Boy," Ellan called. "Goodnight Mary-Ellan," Amy called. "Goodnight Lori," Boo called. "Goodnight Joe," Lori called. "Goodnight Dave," Joe called. David didn't answer. "Dave," Joe turned on the light so David could see his lips. "What?" David looked at him. "I said Goodnight." "Goodnight," David said. Joe turned the light off and the farmhouse fell silent. Don stepped out of the parents' room long enough to flip the switch for the ceiling vent fan in the hallway. It stirred to action, and soon a cool country breeze was sucked through everyone's open window. Amy had to forego the breeze. Her nightmares loomed. She closed her bedroom door and turned on the bed lamp. She laid a book over the lampshade so her parents didn't see the light and make her turn it off. She read Nancy Drew until she fell asleep. In her sleep, Amy found herself walking in the the grass parking lot for Booster Football Stadium. It was dark, save for the distant stadium lights and half a moon. The whole family strolled back to the car after a game which Ellan had just served as a cheerleader. The parents walked ahead while the Schlinger Six chattered about the game. Amy took up the rear, just listing to the chatter. She slipped on the damp grass and landed on her belly. She scrunched her knees to pop back up, but that made her slip backward just a tad. She glanced behind her and saw the ground arching down into darkness. A round black hole with no edge. Just a soft, grassy slope into darkness. Maybe a car sank into the earth during the game. Amy scrunched her knees again to get on her feet. Again, she slipped further into the hole. She tried pulling forward with her arms. She had no strength. She tried pulling at the grass under her hands. It broke off in her fingers. She called her siblings for help. "Hey guys! Hey! Joe! David!" Joe and David turned and came back to the hole. The other siblings followed. The parents didn't hear--they were still walking and talking far ahead. The siblings stood around the hole looking at Amy on her belly. "What are you doing?" David asked. "I slipped," Amy snorted. "Help me up." "Just get up," Joe commanded. "I can't. It makes me slide back every time I try," Amy whined. "Help me up." Lori and Ellan continued their conversation about the halftime show, waiting for Amy to get up. Boo watched to see how her siblings would resolve the situation. David waved. "Come on, Amy. We have to go." "I can't!" Amy yelled. "Pull me up." Lori scolded, "Quiet, Amy. You'll scare people." Ellan glanced down at Amy and resumed her conversation with Lori. The two elder sisters took their conversation with them as they strolled to the car. Amy started to panic. "Help me!" she cried. Then the real crying started. Boo watched with sympathy and curiosity. Joe coached Amy. "We'll help you if you calm down." Amy couldn't calm down. Her parents and nearly adult sisters had already left her to sink. She tried again to pull herself up and slipped a few inches further into the hole. She cried harder. Luckily, she was back in her bed when Betty woke her up for church the next morning.

Josh sent me this video in a text message:

"Montage Google sent to me"

Perfect Unfolding : Seven Years of Life-Changing Solo Adventure, One Year That Broke Me Open Kindle Edition by Kristy Halvorsen Customer Review Amy Howard 5.0 out of 5 stars A book to be savored Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2026 Format: KindleVerified Purchase What a fantastic, poetic adventure. Kristy gives up a life of security for a life of freedom. She takes us on that adventure in a hippity-hop way back and forth through time and poetry and prose. Some chapters take you to remote, spectacular corners of the planet, where she manages to find the salt of the earth in humanity. Some chapters bounce off of painful hard knocks. Every single chapter is an experience to marinate on, even those that are only one sentence long. This book is simultaneously captivating, liberating, raw, real, and surreal. Take your time with it.

My big family really enjoyed white elephant gift exchanges. That's because my big family outgrew individual gift exchanges. It's ironic, because my big family also had an unspoken law that you just don't mention certain things. As a borderline autistic person, I could never tell what you were supposed to refrain from mentioning. I could never figure out what we were talking about when we weren't talking clearly. I craved just being open about everything so that we could clarify things. But I was in forever getting in trouble for saying the wrong thing. I'm in my '50s now and wondering, who's determining what is the wrong thing? To me. It's the right thing. And when? I ask outsiders for their advice, they always agree that these things should be openly spoken about. And clarified. I worked hard too create forums where my family could openly discuss things. I always got in trouble for it. Or ghosted for it. And sometimes, I got called abusive for saying the wrong thing. We have a a herd of elephants and our family. There's always an elephant in the room that you're not supposed to mention. Of course, when the object of that elephant is not in the room, then we can talk about it. And then of course, we talked to Hi heaven about it. But that person can't be there to hear all that. And when I learn the completely expected and understandable and obvious reality lies within all of my other family members, I wonder all the more why we are not talking about this with the person who it applies to. And several times, when I said the elephant in the presence of the object of the elephant, and of course got accused of being abusive, the other family members who freely said those things in that person's absence thought suddenly also considered me abusive and promised the object of the elephant that that elephant didn't exist. Amy is just a toxic person. So now, white elephant gift exchanges r&m of my elephant in the room family. In a white elephant gift exchange, you don't buy the gift for any particular person. You don't think about the person. You think about yourself and how that gift will be presentable among the other gifts. You think about yourself and wonder if you are spending more money than you will receive because the gift you get randomly in the gift exchange has nothing to do with you at all or your interest and therefore is a waste of anybody's money. Amy, write this book.

Photomontage song:

Jimmy Buffett - Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes