I'm not ignoring you!

I haven't forgotten about or ignored The Lowdown, it's just that I'm trying to catch up after being off on Friday and out of town for a few days.

Speaking of which, did you guys check out the Folk Fest in Butte? Awesome. Again. Personally I thought Magic Slim and the Teardrops rocked, and 16-year-old Sierra Hull's mandolin playing absolutely blew me away. Anybody have a favorite performance? Tell us about it in the comments.

There was some pretty wild weather in Butte on Sunday. The photo above is of the Anselmo Headframe west of the "Original Headframe" stage shortly after a powerful thunderstorm rolled through. Some people even sat through the rain until lightning and strong winds put a temporary halt to the on-stage tunes. But as soon as the rain stopped and sun popped back out the crowds returned. You gotta love Butte.

Stay tuned for a story in Thursday's Tribune Outdoors section on how the pine bark beetle infestation is impacting ski areas. Preview: thinning dead trees will make for some great glade skiing at Great Divide in Helena. I'm also working on editing a short Internet video to go along with that piece.

I've got at least three other stories piling up on my desk. Once I've made some headway on those I'll have more time to think about returning to the blog in earnest. You might be surprised to learn that the blog amounts to extra work for me. The news that appears in the dead tree version of the Trib always takes precedence over The Lowdown. But keep checking back because I promise to keep it up.