See Larry “B-o-b” Plant in Glendive Ranger-Review!

Our Little Larry Bird Makes the Glendive Ranger Review!

Traveling Glendive Medical Center physical therapist feeds the soul, one bird story at a time

By: Brendan Heidner
Glendive Ranger-Review

"We're engaged."

This is likely what anyone crossing paths with Larry Plant will hear him say once a conversation is established, and he says that to practice the principles of exploring life, enjoying living and loving neighbors published in his first-ever book titled "Bird Food for Life."

"One word can open a person's mind and eyes," Plant said in an interview last week. "It's just kind of a way of breaking the ice and it brings about a little laughter and fun and verbality."

Plant is 34 years into a career as a physical therapist, traveling around the United States contracting with different hospitals for about three months at a time.

He is currently on his second consecutive three-month contract with Glendive Medical Center after arriving in June since he is loving his time in the community.

While wandering Lake Havasu City, Ariz. some time ago, Plant was inspired to start writing short stories highlighting some of the beauty and simplicity of life he started to observe and experience.

"My mind and eyes were just opened to the beauty of life down there," Plant said.

He was eventually encouraged to take his collection of short stories and publish them in a book, which he did in 2023 for the purpose of providing readers with "little stories aimed at a lighter, brighter and more beautiful life."

"It's just an opportunity for me as a person to represent life and living and how to better engage with people," Plant said. "We're connected as human beings in a way that nobody else is; nobody."

Not only that, but he does not believe he should hoard the stories for himself, rather he wants to share them in hopes they can help others see and experience a simpler and more beautiful life just as he has.

Plant's Bird Food for Life models renowned author Jack Canfield's "Chicken Soup for the Soul," as it contains simple — yet profound — truths about everyday living not always apparent to everyone. He even got to know Canfield a bit at a conference in California and kept in touch, even having Canfield write the foreword for his book.

Each of Plant's stories analogize the life of birds, taking a commonly known and understood animal and relating it to human experiences in life.

"I've captured the bird as my metaphor," he said. "Everybody knows what a bird is, you don't have to explain."

Each chapter is centered on what Plant calls 7-H, a seven-part harmony, Ukrainian-inspired recipe for life he came up with after meeting a woman named Liu-da' on a hillside near Loveland, Colo. three years ago. Seven-H includes health, healing, hope, humor, happy, harmony and hallelujah.

Even after his initial meeting with Liu-da', he keeps in touch with her and together they are trying to encourage everyone they meet to love their neighbors better and learn how to love life for as long as they live.

"We're trying to pull the world together," Plant said. "We all have an opportunity to get engaged with the people in our midst."

Bird Food for Life is available online at www.birdfoodforlife.world or Amazon, among other online stores.