Culture Shock

I stopped outside of St. Louis to stay with a cousin overnight on the way through.  It was fun to reconnect with her.  She will only be about 4 hours from me so that was a nice realization too.  It’s always nice to have family so close.  We were sitting at dinner talking about my move and such and her boyfriend kept laughing at me and saying I was going to have some serious culture shock because I’m from “the north country.”  I realize that Tennessee is different than Montana, Colorado and Alaska, but really, how different can it be right? 

 

I arrived at my new home around 4:30 in the afternoon.  My little neighbors were in their carport next door and they were so welcoming.  They talked and gushed about how happy they were to meet me.  It was a nice way to arrive.  My mom and I unloaded the car despite the hot and humid afternoon.  The air conditioner was not working so by the time I was unloaded I was sticky and quite cranky and completely exhausted.  Around 10:00 there was an odd smell in the house.  I opened the back door to see if it was coming from outside.  There was no smell outside but there was a bug the size of my palm that flew in the door at my face and then all around the light and then landed in the hall.  Now I’m not a shrieker, but that got a shriek.  Seriously, it was tangled in my hair.  Then we had to catch the dumb thing and get it back out of the house because who wants that crawling over their face in the middle of the night.  Turns out it was most likely a cicada. Very pretty noise, but they look like a cockroach with beady eyes.  My mom thinks it’s ridiculous that I can hike through an Alaskan forest and not worry about bears or moose, but a 3 inch bugs puts me over the edge, but that’s the way it is. 

 

Outside our back door there is a concrete slab with mulch on either side.  One side we use for composing.  When I went to bed the first night there was simply mulch.  The next morning there was an entire patch of some yellow bubbly growth.  By the evening the inside of each bubble had turned green.  I’m told it’s some sort of mold, but I’m convinced it is a birth sack for some alien creature.  It’s just not normal.  Things don’t grow that fast.  I’m keeping a close eye on it and I will try to give early warning when the alien beings are born so you can all escape to some underground bunker in time. 

 

Danielle and I took a long drive on Saturday to some of the cutest little towns on the backcountry roads.  They are rich with Civil War history and there are plaques everywhere telling about battles and famous people who spent time there.  There are also Confederate Flags flying in all of them.  Huh. 

 

Murfreesboro is kind of a strange little town so we have been getting out when we can.  We decided to go to Henry Horton State Park to take a hike (there are no hills so really it’s just a walk).  It was a nice little walk and a beautiful drive.  When we get home I got out my computer to figure out exactly where we were and lo and behold, we could have rented shotguns and used them to participate in the free squirrel hunting day.  Who knew? 

 

People keep asking me questions about my kin and they gave me directions to drive between 2 buildings on campus that are half a block from each other and then were stunned that I would consider walking.  Even at Wal-Mart everyone is wearing nice clothes and their hair and make-up are done.  I had my hair thrown up and was wearing capris and a tank and I got the funny looks instead of the lady with the giant hair and the 3-inch heels. 

 

So maybe Jeremy was right.  It might take a little while for this north-country girl to feel at home here.   

Denver

  Even though it was slightly out of the way I decided to go through Denver on my cross-country trip.   I debated about not going, but it was a good decision.  I was able to reconnect and say good-bye.

When I lived in Denver I couldn’t get a full-time teaching position.  I ended up working in a bar called the Handle Bar and Grill.  It was a weird little restaurant that I love dearly to this day.  I met some of the most interesting, heart-breaking and wonderful people in the world while I was working there.  Many of the regulars at the restaurant became very good friends.  Chad-O was one of these.  He came in most evening to have a drink and unwind from the day.  As we got to know each other better I appreciated him more and more.  The restaurant business is extremely frustrating and I often had rough shifts.  He always had a smile and a joke to bring me out of my misery.  So may times he’d say, “You’ve had a rough week, let me take you out to dinner.”  And we weren’t talking Applebees.  He took me to nice restaurants and bought nice wine and we just would have fun.  It was one of the biggest blessings of that time in my life.  I was routinely treated like dirt by restaurant customers and to have Chad treat me to dinner always made things better.  When Willie Nelson came to Red Rocks I was so sad that I couldn’t afford a ticket and he showed up at the bar one night with 2 tickets.  One for him and one for me.  He started coming to dinners at my house and Brandy and I would go to his house and lay in the hammocks and jump on the trampoline and play horse shoes (he had a great roommate) and he’d be cooking pork tenderloin with crazy cheese plates and again, good wine.  He had a smile all the time and a fantastic laugh.  He was simply a good person. 

I was finishing packing up my apartment in Anchorage on one of my last nights when Brandy called to tell me Chad had had a heart attack that morning and was gone.  I was stunned.  It was incomprehensible to me that he wouldn’t be there anymore.  He’d had a rough couple of years and we hadn’t talked consistently, but whenever we did we were just able to pick up where we’d left off and he always finished the conversation with a positive attitude that things were going to get better.  I’d talked to him just a few weeks before and we’d planned to get together when I went through Denver.  It didn’t seem real that I couldn’t pick up my phone and talk to him.  I had to give up on my packing for the day and I just fell apart.  I got up the next day and went back to business and just moved on.  I had too much on my plate to deal with it.  I just didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with everything all at once.

So I decided to go through Denver.  I arrived at Brandy’s house and we had a glass of wine on the porch and then she suggested we go to the Handle Bar.  We walked the mile to the bar and when I walked in the bar the first thing I saw was an 8 x 10 photo of Chad hanging by the bar.  It was surreal.  I kept thinking he would walk in and order his traditional Makers and 7.  But he didn’t and Brandy and I talked about him and laughed about the time we’d had with him and I cried a little and I said good-bye.  It’s hard to lose people.  It’s hard to say good-bye.  Chad was a good man I will miss him every time I hear Ryan Adams or Willie Nelson or the Grateful Dead.  But I am so grateful for his friendship and his kindness in my life and I feel blessed to have known him and have had the opportunity to be called his friend.  

Montana Fair

Tonight we celebrated my birthday.  It isn’t actually for another week, but we were together tonight and we celebrated.  At first I wanted to go out to a nice dinner.  Then, Karen mentioned that the fair was in town.  I haven’t been to the Montana Fair in years and Riley has never been.  So instead of dinner we went to the fair.  It was so fun.  We took Riley on all the little kid rides.  The first ride was the carousel and I stood beside her on her horse and the minute that horse started moving her eyes opened wide and a smile of sheer joy lit up her face.  We hopped from ride to ride for the rest of the evening.  There was the coolest petting zoo I’ve ever seen.  They had the traditional goats and sheep but also thrown in was a 4 horned sheep, a “hairy coo” calf (highland cow), zebra, emu, baby camel, and even a kangaroo.  Seriously, have you ever pet a kangaroo? 

 

All day long Karen had been talking to Riley about the ferris wheel and how it goes around and around.  She was so excited.  Karen graciously allowed me to take her on it.  We got on and Riley was so excited she could barely sit still.  The minute it started moving she started shouting, “I’m riding the ferris wheel, I’m riding the ferris wheel!!!”  We got to the top of the wheel and as we came over I suddenly remembered, “Oh yeah, I hate the feeling of falling and this pretty much scares me to death every time.”  So I clung to the bar and tried to smile.  After about 2 times around I decided I probably wasn’t going to plummet to my death on the ferris wheel and just enjoyed the ride. 

 

When I got off the ride I mentioned this irrational fear to Karen and she said, “I bet you hate the zipper.”  I then had to tell her I’d never ridden the zipper for just that reason.  I should have kept my mouth shut.  She decides it’s time that I ride the zipper.  She drags me to the line and tells me I have no choice.  I’m determined to prove that I am not a scardey-cat and I can do this.  It’s only a carnival ride.  It’s only a carnival ride.  Now the worst thing is that I don’t just walk over, get dragged on the ride and get it over with.  No, I have to stand there listening to the shrieks and watch the ride over and over and over.  The closer we get to the front, the worse I feel.  My mom finally took a picture because I looked like I might die.  The whole time I’m in line I’m pleading, “ Let Riley throw a fit and we have to leave, Let one of the cars come loose and go spinning off (safely so no one is hurt of course) and they have to close the ride, Let the earth open and swallow me whole.  Something!!!”  We’re about 4 people from the front of the line and my heart is in my throat and my hands are clammy.  I can hardly breathe.  When suddenly, as if by the hand of God himself, lightning streaks across the sky and the wind starts blowing flags and blow up hammers crazily around the carnival.  And the ride is shut down.  I almost fell on the gross disgusting fair ground.  SAVED!!! I’m SAVED!!!  Hallelujah. 

 

Maybe someday I’ll ride the zipper.  Maybe someday I won’t be terrified of falling.  That day is not today.  Today I'm glad I made it through the ferris wheel without Riley having to take care of me.  Today I’m glad my fair finished with a Norskie instead of a zipper ride. 

Montana

I’ve had a wonderful, restful time in Montana.  My grandparents came from North Dakota for the weekend.  I haven’t seen them in 2 years and it was so nice to spend time with them.  They took a trip to Alaska when I was little and then ferried the inside passage so we spent a lot of time talking about our experiences. 

 

Saturday the Longs were in town.  I went to lunch with Natalie and Marcie and we laughed and talked and spent some time reminiscing about last summer in England.  That evening they invited me to the Mustangs game.  I’ve never been a huge Mustangs fan, but baseball is always fun.  And no matter what it is you’re doing, if you do it with Natalie, you will laugh.  We made it through about 2 innings when the clouds started rolling in.  I tried really hard to convince her they were going around us.  She didn’t believe me.  All of a sudden there was a huge burst of thunder and the sky pretty much opened up and it started to rain.  This was rain like Noah must have seen.  The field was flooded within minutes.  We huddled under a hot dog stand and were ok until the hail started pelting us.  Then we had to hold up blankets to keep it off.  It was obvious the game was not starting again so Nolan braved the hail and ran and got the car.  We went to the classy Rimrock Inn bar and drank gin and tonics and caught up.  I always love catching up. 

 

The rest of the week I spent playing princesses, bouncing Jack, swimming, seeing old friends, bouncing Jack, playing barbies, reading books, putting together puzzles, bouncing Jack.  We hiked Woodbine on Wednesday.  I lived in Montana for 22 years, went to camp every summer on the other side of the mountain, and never hiked Woodbine.  It is a nice little hike up to a waterfall.  Then we played in the icy cold river on the way back down.  It was wonderful.  It’s always good to be back home.  

Missoula (sorta)

I’m a pretty put-together girl.  I’m organized and punctual and generally think things through.  It seems this trip is the exception to that.  First, I came relatively close to missing my border crossing coming out of Canada.  I will say that was not really my fault.  Bad roads and road construction caused most of the delay.  Then, I almost missed my ferry.  Totally my fault.  Just careless.  But lucky. 

 

After I spent 2 days at Pend Oreille I was ready to head to Montana.  Jon’s niece needed a ride to Missoula and since I was going right through I offered to take her.  We headed out on the road and had a nice drive.  Her friends were going to pick her up just outside of Missoula.  However, they had been out picking huckleberries and just happened to drive up right next to us about 20 miles outside of Missoula.  We pulled over and switched at a nearby rest stop.  I was back in my car and on my way. 

 

Now I had planned out my stops carefully that morning.  I figured, when I drop off Kaelyn in Missoula I will get gas.  Then, I’ll stop in Bozeman for dinner and top off for the ride home.  Unfortunately, I dropped Kaelyn off before Missoula.  So, when I got to Missoula I was thrilled to not have to stop and just kept driving.  I went along for quite a ways when all of a sudden I looked down and noticed that my gas light was flashing at me.  Oh, no.  Where is my head?  This audiobook isn’t that good.  What do I do?  I’m in the middle of rural Montana.  Deer Lodge is the closest town and it’s 15 miles away.  So I pray.  Hard.  Plead really.  My fingernails are being chewed and all I can think is, “My dad is a really long way away if I run out of gas.”  I count every milepost.  Didn’t my dad tell me once that you get better gas mileage if you slow down to 50?  Maybe I should start chucking stuff out the windows to relieve some weight. 

 

Finally, after the longest 15 miles of my life I limp into Deer Lodge and fill my 14-gallon tank with 13.89 gallons of gas.  Phew!!!  I have to say, I have an amazing guardian angel.  But really, you gotta wonder…just how many close calls does one girl get?    

Lake Pend Oreille

I left Seattle Monday morning and headed East to Idaho.  I’d never driven between Seattle and Spokane before.  I gotta say, not the most exciting drive.  Especially when it’s as dry as it is this year.  However, I was on my way to yet another lake and at least there was that to look forward to. 

 

My sister and her family spend a week every summer on Lake Pend Oreille (ponderay) in Idaho with Jon’s brother’s family at their cabin.  They very graciously invited me to come stay for a few nights.  Karen has talked about these vacations so much that it seemed like I’d been there even though I hadn’t.  I arrived at the “cabin” (not a cabin by my standards, it is a beautiful house) and was given my own little air- conditioned camper to sleep in.  Before I even had all my stuff brought in I had a margarita in my hand and my niece chattering away on my lap.  I instantly understood why Jon and Karen keep going back.  We ate good food, laughed, played in the lake, boated, wandered around town, drank good wine.  It was a perfect day and a half.  Completely restful and relaxing. 

 

It was fun to spend a day looking at the huge houses scattered along the shoreline and lay on the dock in the sunshine and have drinks brought to me.    That kind of vacation is pretty fun.  I probably won’t have the chance to have a vacation like that again anytime soon.  But really, I’m pretty happy spending my vacations sleeping under a big blue tarp carefully suspended from the nearby bushes with a fellow knitwit snoring away beside me.  

Seattle

I had a fantastic weekend.  My cousin Todd and his wife are temporarily living in Seattle.  When I got off the ferry Friday morning I drove to their little place on the edge of Lake Washington.  Todd has been my best friend for as long as I can remember.  We are two months apart in age and for most of our growing up years we would do anything to have the chance to be together.  He lived in Bozeman and I in Billings and through the years we rode with some pretty odd people just so we could spend time together.  Most of the time we were climbing trees, building forts under every tree and in every abandoned building on the farm, digging through junk heaps to furnish our forts, floating the canal, chasing cows, playing runaway orphans, hiking to the chalky bank, and as we grew older, jet skiing, cliff jumping and camping.  He’s still one of my very best friends and every time I’m in Montana I make a point to spend time with him and his wife and kids.  Right now he is in Seattle undergoing chemo for colon cancer.  I was nervous about seeing him and about how things would be different.  When I walked in the door he had his chemo pump working and he is thinner than he was, but one of the first things he said was, “Hey, Erin’s cousin is letting us use his boat.  Let’s go out on the water this weekend.”  Definitely still the same Todd.

 

The blue angels were in town and we watched them from the water 2 days in a row.  It was incredible.  They were flying right above us so close that it felt like you could reach up and touch them.  Our other cousin Tyson and his girlfriend joined us and we swam and played in the water.  Right before it was time to go back Hannah, Todd’s 3-year-old daughter, decided the two of us needed a ride on the tube.  Off we went.  The water was pretty rough and it was hard work holding onto the tube and Hannah.  All of a sudden the wake of another boat hit us and off I went, not head over heels, but rather heels over head off the back of the tube, Hannah in my arms.  I managed to hang onto her and we came up sputtering.  She panicked when she saw the boat driving away from us, but actually laughed when she realized we weren’t being left.  She’s a tough little cookie.  I came out sputtering and coughing, having swallowed about half the lake and inhaled the rest up my nose, but laughing also.  I figure everyone has to get bucked off something every now and then. 

I finished my time in Seattle having coffee with a friend from Denver.  He drove over to spend an hour and half with me and we just talked and laughed and caught up on our lives and the movies we hadn’t yet discussed.  Casey is my friend who I can go to a movie with and he laughs at all the same things even if no one else in the theater does.  I love that. 

It was fun to spend a week of anonymity.  Traveling through Alaska and being on the ferry and knowing that no one else knew me.  But it was also comforting to walk into a place with shared memory.  Being with people who have known me my whole life or people who think the same way I do.  It’s nice to have that break to be able to just sit and breathe and rest knowing you are with people who love you no matter what.