Many of you have been wary at best.
After a month of residing full time in
rural Montana I'm certain that some
assume that I'm miserable. Frankly,
nothing could be much farther from
the truth! The fact is I'm quite happy
being a rube. At 5,857, our population
is fraction of New York's 8,377,000.
Less is more and so much more! I'm
learning that we all live within our
own sphere no matter where we are.
And oddly, that means there's little
difference between here... and there...
One of the things I was most eager
to leave far behind in Manhattan
was the social whirl. I could NOT
spend a quiet night at home, alone!
Since moving to rural Montana I've
quickly realized that Manhattan pales
in comparison to Lewistown. The
fact is we could be out every single
night of the year and still turn down
invitations. After almost a month,
I'm not bored, just exhausted! My
only question is... can we keep up?!
Or... where can we hide?!
Yesterday I went to the paint store.
After selecting a few things I went
to the counter. Rather than tallying
up my purchases on the register,
the proprietor scanned my mound
and said "How about we make it
twenty even". He then offered to
mix my paint and drop it off at the
house on his way to lunch. That's
just one benefit of living in a small
town. Everything here is friendly,
casual, and provocatively simple.
People actually want to help you.
Not everything is perfect but honestly,
we want for little. Many years ago,
a Parisian who was transplanted here
by her sheep herder husband was told
"If you can't buy it in town, you don't
need it". In today's world you can get
anything you want anywhere. So with
a bit of pre-planning the world is our
oyster! There are somethings you can
only get locally. Just try an omelette
made from freshly laid eggs and then
you'll understand! Now that our local
grocer stocks Irish Butter I'm happy!
In New York City everybody walks
everywhere. There's no reason one
can't do the same here in Lewistown.
I'm doing my best to allow enough
time to WALK not run to everything.
We live in town and wherever we're
going is usually within a few blocks.
Add our substantial trail system that
surrounds us and the only thing that's
keeping me from being healthy may
just be laziness. By late fall it will be
too cool to trot about town therefore
I must get out of the house... NOW!
We've already been to the movies
which tops our prior frequency in
Manhattan. The Judith Theater
program rotates weekly and most
major block busters will play here.
While we'll never get foreign art
flicks, they're easily viewed on-line.
When we crave live entertainment,
all we have to do is saddle up to the
bar at The Mint. By the time you've
finished your first cocktail, you're
certain to be entertained and trust
me... it sizzles! I'll have another!