“But why think about that when all the golden land’s ahead of you 

and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you 

and make you glad you’re alive to see?”

                                                          
                                             On the Road, Jack Kerouac

Actually it is my first rodeo

Last weekend I went to my first rodeo in Gardiner, Montana, a town about 40 minutes away from the ranch and borders Yellowstone Park. Gardiner is a small town full of "river rats" so the characters in attendance were great for people watching. But when I wasn't distracted by the crowd and the $2 beer I watched some of the events of the rodeo. From what I could gather, the cowboys compete in a series of different events ranging from bareback riding, calf wrestling, hog tying, and bull riding. Afterwards, everyone went out to the Two-Bit Saloon and other bars for some two-stepping.

Men Who Don't Fit In - Robert W. Service

There's a race of men that don't fit in,

 A race that can't stay still;

So they break the hearts of kith and kin,

 And they roam the world at will.

They range the field and they rove the flood,

 And they climb the mountain's crest;

Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,

 And they don't know how to rest.

If they just went straight they might go far;
 They are strong and brave and true;
But they're always tired of the things that are,
 And they want the strange and new.
They say: "Could I find my proper groove,
 What a deep mark I would make!"
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
 Is only a fresh mistake.

And each forgets, as he strips and runs
 With a brilliant, fitful pace,
It's the steady, quiet, plodding ones
 Who win in the lifelong race.
And each forgets that his youth has fled,
 Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that's dead,
 In the glare of the truth at last.

He has failed, he has failed; he has missed his chance;
 He has just done things by half.
Life's been a jolly good joke on him,
 And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, ha!  He is one of the Legion Lost;
 He was never meant to win;
He's a rolling stone, and it's bred in the bone;
 He's a man who won't fit in.

A Whole New World

I’ve already written about how unordinary my life in Montana is, and how drastically different it is from my life at home and from most people’s perceptions of the norm. But that exact thing is what has always inspired me to travel. After I go through the turmoil of planning a trip, raising enough money to go, packing up my life, fighting through planes, trains, and buses, and finally arrive at my destination, I get to reward myself by transforming into an entirely new person. I can lose myself in my new environment; change my habits, adopt new customs, adorn myself in local clothing, subject my taste buds to new cuisine - simply, to live an alternate life. I have often compared it to the five year old’s desire to dress up and “play pretend.”

Some of the new things I have been fortunate enough to try thus far in Montana:

camped overnight in tent 

hiked mountains
went horseback riding

 ate a shrimp, lobster, crab cake, as well as other fine dining
purchased bear spray, which I previously didn’t know existed
wore overalls, flannel, hiking pants, cowboy and hiking boots
danced the two-step
shot a pistol
went fly-fishing

ate beets
built several raging fires
learned numerous fancy napkin folds
hung out in a teepee
saw multiple animals: mountain lions, bears, mountain goats, buffalo
went to Yellowstone Park
saw snow in June

drank PBR

ate dinner cooked entirely over a fire

And I’m sure there’s more that I forgot and more that will come. My favorite thing about Montana, and any big trip I’ve done so far, is the opportunity to try out life in someone else’s shoes, and inevitably making those shoes mine, even for a short time. 

“Perhaps I might go off to Africa and offer my services to Albert Schweitzer or, decked in my coonskin cap and powder horn, I might defend the people like Davy Crockett. I could scale the Himalayas and live in a cave spinning a prayer wheel, keeping the earth turning.”

Just Kids, Patti Smith

A Peak into Life in Montana

As in most newspapers in most towns, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle has a crime report section. The first time some of these said crimes were read aloud to me, I had to double check and make sure they weren't a joke. Normally crime is no laughing matter, but it is so sparse out here in the mountains, that in order to fill up space the reports that are printed consist of the most hysterical, inconsequential crimes I've ever heard. Here's a few examples from May 25, 2012:

• A man who was stopped by officers called to say they still had his ID and he’d like to get it back.
• A man pounded on a woman’s door saying he had a pizza delivery. But she said she did not order any pizza.
• A woman walked into another woman’s apartment. When she was told to leave, the woman said she wouldn’t leave unless the other woman said please. She then left, slamming the door on the way out.
• A man received a call from a person claiming to be an employee of a local hotel requesting personal information. The caller gave out his name, address and phone number but refused to give his credit card number.