We are NOT in Kansas anymore, Toto!
OK, I moved back to my hometown.
Hometown, Montana.
This explains my long absence and my lack
of musings lately!
If you are new to this site you should take
a minute to read my post called, "The Tie
that Binds". It might give you a brief intro
to where I am coming from now!
My bestfriend called me nuts for moving back
and I had all sorts of excuses as to why in God's
name we were going. I had weighed all the
pros and cons. I had gone through every single
worst case scenario. I had pondered all the
good, wholesome opportunities that this hometown
has to offer. (Family, friends, our church, our dog,
free riverfront property to build our dream house on.)
Don't get me wrong. We moved here (hubby,two kids
and I) because the pros DID INDEED outweight the
cons and as a family we decided that it would be a
great step for us. We've been here for about eight weeks
now and all in all it's going fairly well.
Being in a small town is most definitely a different
living experience. It's not so small that everybody
knows everybody else, but it is small enough that
you recognize people and cars and you notice EVERY
wierd person who makes you wonder why on earth
did you move BACK here!
I think a lot of people have misconceptions about
Montana. Yes, we do have cable television! And
no, we do NOT ride horses to school. Yes, we have
Old Navy and The Gap. No, we do not all live on
farms! Yes, we have millionaires and movie stars
that live here. NO, I have NOT run into Brad Pitt!
(Although don't think I haven't looked!) Yes there
are LOTS of grizzly bears and mountain lions here.
NO, I have not gotten over my fear of said
carnivores! (See post called Self Meditation!)
Montana is big and beautiful and it's one of those
states that most people want to see before they
die. If you haven't been here, you really should
come visit.
But, back to the weird people!
Remember the Unibomber? He came
from Montana. He is an obvious
BIGGIE that will go down forever for
making Montana look bad. But when
I mentioned earlier that the weird people
just sort of tend to stand out in a smaller
town, these are just a few:
FIRST, there is "the walker". He is a guy who
spends hours everday walking from restaraunt
to restaraunt and eating. He always sits in the
very back of the place so he can eat and watch
people and he is actually VERY unfriendly. I
know he has a name, but we have ALWAYS
called him "the walker". In fact my own kids
have grown up calling him the same thing!
This is second generation weird! As long as I
can remember, he has been walking, walking,
walking. He scares me. I should add him to
my "things that scare me" list in my post called
"Self-Medication"!
Then there is "Flat Stanley". He walks, also, but
he is about six feet five inches tall and it's almost
like all he is is a backbone. He is so flat and wide
it's like he is just a 2 by 12 with feet and a head.
I don't know why he walks because I know he has
a car! And when he walks his head is looking
straight ahead, back is straight, arms straight
down by his side. It's really very strange.
Although, unlike "the walker", Flat Stanley seems
to be very nice. He doesn't scare me but he
DOES make me feel funny!
And finally, there is "Hail Mary". She is not
weird, she is just extremely and profoundly
OLD. But, she drives this white, midsize
SUV around all the time! Most of the time
she drives to the Catholic Church, hence
the nick name. My kids and I have always
joked about being a very defensive driver
when we see her coming down the road.
She does seem like a very sweet lady but
I would feel more safe on the roads if I knew
she wasn't out driving her Izuzu Trooper
all over the place.
I am sure that all three of these people are
very sweet and kind and really I have no
excuse for saying negative things about
them. It's just hard not to NOTICE them!
I am sure they may think horrible things
about me as I am eating a hamburger or
talking on my cell phone while I am
driving around in my own SUV! "Hail Mary"
probably prays for her OWN safety when she
sees me driving down the road! She
probably screams out obscenities at
me calls me a damn weirdo!
It's just that compared to where we
HAD BEEN LIVING, my little
hometown is still a bit "slow". I do
not have the time or, God forbid, the
ENERGY to walk anywhere! I just keep
filling up my obnoxiously huge gas
tank with highly expensive gas and drive
around to my heart's content! The only
place I walk to is the bathroom! When the
stoplight turns yellow, I punch it. People
who have lived here forever slow down a
mile BEFORE the stop light just in CASE
it should turn yellow!
All in all, I am happy to be "home". But
I can totally relate to Dorothy when she
told Toto she was NOT in Kansas anymore.
Afterall, she thought the Munchkins were
all a little weird, too, right? :)
Hometown, Montana.
This explains my long absence and my lack
of musings lately!
If you are new to this site you should take
a minute to read my post called, "The Tie
that Binds". It might give you a brief intro
to where I am coming from now!
My bestfriend called me nuts for moving back
and I had all sorts of excuses as to why in God's
name we were going. I had weighed all the
pros and cons. I had gone through every single
worst case scenario. I had pondered all the
good, wholesome opportunities that this hometown
has to offer. (Family, friends, our church, our dog,
free riverfront property to build our dream house on.)
Don't get me wrong. We moved here (hubby,two kids
and I) because the pros DID INDEED outweight the
cons and as a family we decided that it would be a
great step for us. We've been here for about eight weeks
now and all in all it's going fairly well.
Being in a small town is most definitely a different
living experience. It's not so small that everybody
knows everybody else, but it is small enough that
you recognize people and cars and you notice EVERY
wierd person who makes you wonder why on earth
did you move BACK here!
I think a lot of people have misconceptions about
Montana. Yes, we do have cable television! And
no, we do NOT ride horses to school. Yes, we have
Old Navy and The Gap. No, we do not all live on
farms! Yes, we have millionaires and movie stars
that live here. NO, I have NOT run into Brad Pitt!
(Although don't think I haven't looked!) Yes there
are LOTS of grizzly bears and mountain lions here.
NO, I have not gotten over my fear of said
carnivores! (See post called Self Meditation!)
Montana is big and beautiful and it's one of those
states that most people want to see before they
die. If you haven't been here, you really should
come visit.
But, back to the weird people!
Remember the Unibomber? He came
from Montana. He is an obvious
BIGGIE that will go down forever for
making Montana look bad. But when
I mentioned earlier that the weird people
just sort of tend to stand out in a smaller
town, these are just a few:
FIRST, there is "the walker". He is a guy who
spends hours everday walking from restaraunt
to restaraunt and eating. He always sits in the
very back of the place so he can eat and watch
people and he is actually VERY unfriendly. I
know he has a name, but we have ALWAYS
called him "the walker". In fact my own kids
have grown up calling him the same thing!
This is second generation weird! As long as I
can remember, he has been walking, walking,
walking. He scares me. I should add him to
my "things that scare me" list in my post called
"Self-Medication"!
Then there is "Flat Stanley". He walks, also, but
he is about six feet five inches tall and it's almost
like all he is is a backbone. He is so flat and wide
it's like he is just a 2 by 12 with feet and a head.
I don't know why he walks because I know he has
a car! And when he walks his head is looking
straight ahead, back is straight, arms straight
down by his side. It's really very strange.
Although, unlike "the walker", Flat Stanley seems
to be very nice. He doesn't scare me but he
DOES make me feel funny!
And finally, there is "Hail Mary". She is not
weird, she is just extremely and profoundly
OLD. But, she drives this white, midsize
SUV around all the time! Most of the time
she drives to the Catholic Church, hence
the nick name. My kids and I have always
joked about being a very defensive driver
when we see her coming down the road.
She does seem like a very sweet lady but
I would feel more safe on the roads if I knew
she wasn't out driving her Izuzu Trooper
all over the place.
I am sure that all three of these people are
very sweet and kind and really I have no
excuse for saying negative things about
them. It's just hard not to NOTICE them!
I am sure they may think horrible things
about me as I am eating a hamburger or
talking on my cell phone while I am
driving around in my own SUV! "Hail Mary"
probably prays for her OWN safety when she
sees me driving down the road! She
probably screams out obscenities at
me calls me a damn weirdo!
It's just that compared to where we
HAD BEEN LIVING, my little
hometown is still a bit "slow". I do
not have the time or, God forbid, the
ENERGY to walk anywhere! I just keep
filling up my obnoxiously huge gas
tank with highly expensive gas and drive
around to my heart's content! The only
place I walk to is the bathroom! When the
stoplight turns yellow, I punch it. People
who have lived here forever slow down a
mile BEFORE the stop light just in CASE
it should turn yellow!
All in all, I am happy to be "home". But
I can totally relate to Dorothy when she
told Toto she was NOT in Kansas anymore.
Afterall, she thought the Munchkins were
all a little weird, too, right? :)
posted by Peepshow at 8:57 AM
4 comments
