My New Community

I've made a new resolution: I must always, I repeat, ALWAYS have a camera with me in my new home town. This is simply because I have now seen some things that I think may possibly be the core essence of my community. So try to imagine..........

I'm driving along through a nice, new development looking at lovely brand new custom homes when I pull up behind a man on his motorcycle...well, his dirt bike. He has on his very safe helmet which my children of course commented on because they notice every person riding a motorcycle and whether that person is wearing the appropriate "safe" gear. This particular man also had on his bomber type jacket, but it wasn't leather and it might have indeed been a Members Only jacket except it wasn't worn in a retro sort of way. And then he was wearing his church shoes. I'm serious. And he was probably 80.

We were on our way to Yellowstone the other day when I turned around in the car and realized that Luke had put himself into the car before we left and no one had noticed that he had done this without putting any shoes on. So we exited at the nearest town that would have a place to purchase shoes and set about trying find such a place. Which meant that William didn't drive particularly fast through the town. He went the speed limit. Which really we've found that in our town most people actually drive right at that set limit. Well, in this other town someone in a jacked up, beat up, crummy old hunting truck didn't like our speed or our out-of-state license plate or the fact that we didn't proceed through a light before it turned green. So we got honked at and glared at and scowled at as he sped around us only to be caught behind a stream of traffic going even slower than us. So we slowly pulled ahead again, only in the other lane. Well, at that moment we happened upon...Walmart! So we changed lanes and it just so happens that as William put on his turn indicator he happened to pull right in front of our friend in the truck who sped up and almost rammed into us as he again honked. Lucky for him he was able to speed around us and cut right in front of us, glaring and scowling, to turn into Walmart. We took the next Walmart entrance and decided on the Payless shoes instead of Walmart just to avoid any further encounters. And we did...except I swear to you when we pulled into West Yellowstone the guy was on the road right behind us. Maybe he was tired of us by then because did not pull into the gas station when we did or maybe he had spotted a deer he couldn't pass up.

But my favorite thing happened this morning, wouldn't you guess, at Walmart. Well, just outside again, actually. I haven't seen a panhandler in this city until today and I'm not really sure you could actually call him a panhandler because of what I'm about to tell you but for the sake of calling him something we'll call him a panhandler. At any rate, as I drove out of Walmart there was a man holding a sign begging for something. I noticed that he was actually quite a well groomed, nicely bearded, probably mid-fifties panhandler. My first thought was "I guess they take good care of themselves here or people are really quite generous to those in need" then I read his sign: Need a (good) wife. I guess he needed to impress. So I immediately got on the phone and called my favorite single sister-in-law and told her she needed to move up here right away. Unfortunately when I returned with my camera and certain questions the man was gone. I guess he found what he was looking for.

All in all, its been an exciting week learning about our new community. Maybe I'll try to fit in a little more. So if you see me next driving up behind you in a beat up, jacked up old truck you'll know I've found the new me!