On any given day, you may find a herd of wild turkeys, a group of deer, or maybe even a black bear in your yard.
The nightly news will (without a doubt) include at least one of the following stories:
--Big Rigs that plan to travel across Montana despite those who attempt to fight their passage
--Battles between the feds and state of Montana over how marauding wolves should be handled
--The legalization of marijuana
--Battles between the feds and the state of Montana over the legalization of marijuana
--Ok, battles between the feds and state of Montana on any topic whatsoever (I expect to see some who would suggest Montana secede from the Union at some point)
The sudden appearance of massive quantities of stockpiling foodstuffs (such as the appetizing-sounding dehydrated scrambled eggs) in the grocery store where there were no such products only a week ago (leaving me wondering if there is a massive disaster in the works that I did not receive the memo about).
The seemingly equal numbers of drive-through espresso stands and large Ten Commandments signs.
The abundance of graupel (how did I make it through this much of life without knowing about an entire kind of precipitation???).
The weather that is completely different five miles apart…and that may change around five times a day (rain to graupel to sun to snow to…you name it)
The mountain vista visible over a shimmering lake that doesn’t freeze in the winter.
The warmth and hospitality of everyday folks, their willingness to invite a newcomer places.
The Flathead Valley is an eccentric place, but a beautiful place. While politics keeps my head spinning with wonder that any government system functions at all here considering all the turf battles, it’s worth it to live in such a beautiful place full of people with big open hearts.
Are the stockpiling foodstuffs a response to the perceived radiation threat from Japan? If people think that the chickens that lay their eggs are going to be exposed to extreme radiation (not likely, by the way), it might motivate them to stock up on an alternative....
ReplyDeleteGraupel?!!! I've never heard of it. I had to look it up! At first I thought you were talking about a Montanan version of scrapple (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapple) until you mentioned "precipitation."
ReplyDeleteSheri, having lived on the East Coast, I do know about Scrapple...Delicious, as long as you don't investigate what's in it!:-)
ReplyDeleteEmbers, I was wondering about that...but the radiation thing in Japan has been going on for some weeks...
ReplyDeleteThere is a somewhat isolationist tendency here in Montana...that may have something to do with it too.
This made me chuckle, as I remember so vividly the --uhhh, colorful ways of Montana. And, oh how I miss the coffee stands! Those will be caffeine lifesavers in the winter time.
ReplyDelete