Montana is beautiful

It's been so long since I've had an opportunity to write anything about all of my travels. I should start with Montana, because that's where I left off. I had a fantastic, relaxed time in the tiny city of Helena.

The main street is called "Last Chance Gulch" because there was miners looking for gold, and this site was their "last chance" before they packed up and returned home. Luckily they struck gold, otherwise this beautiful little capitol wouldn't be what it was. The city itself looked like a real old west town. Bars were more like saloons and coffee shops were more like...Okay, well they were like coffee shops, but in general everything had a smalltown atmosphere. The whole valley is made up of 70,000 people, which is about one tenth the size of Baltimore. Everyone seems to know everyone and they literally tip their cowboy hats to say hello on the street. Amazing. What do I love more than friendly people? Friendly people in cowboy hats.

I went there to visit my friend Sarah from college. Sarah, to put it mildly, is awesome. She originally found herself in Montana doing trail work for an americorps program. She led crews of people out in the woods and cut down trees with chainsaws and moved boulders. She made barbed wire fences and, simply, was tough as balls. She met this awesome guy, Chris, while she was out there and has been living with him in the city of Helena. She recently started working for the state. She sleeps on her hair and goes to work with bed head that looks (there is no better word for it) totally rad. She and Chris, under no dispute, are the cutest couple in Helena, Montana.

My trip began by flying out from Seattle. I sat next to a woman named JoAnn who loved to talk about all of her physical ailments. This would be annoying to me if she hadn't told me that I reselmbled Lindsay Lohan, after that, I couldn't help but love the woman.

When I arrived into Helena's tiny airport, Sarah and Chris were there to greet me with a sign with stars all over it. I saw Sarah through the glass as I was walking up and immediately began perspiring with excitement. She looked so beautiful. Her muscles were all strong and her face was red and sunny and healthy. It was obvious that this mountain air was doing her great. Sarah and I hugged for a long time, both of us sweaty from being so excited to see the other person. Isn't it weird that we both perspired from excitement?

Let me talk about this mountain air - This was one of my favorite parts of Montana. We were leaving a bar my first night there and it smelled just like an airfreshener from a car shaped like a tiny tree. I realized, that my whole life, I've associated that smell with cars instead of conifers and suddenly felt really silly for never really understanding before what those tiny trees were trying to imitate. Once, when Sarah and I were hiking a very tiny section of the Appalachian Trail, I was hiking up a pretty steep section when I announced "this is just like a stairmaster" - and Sarah pointed out that a stairmaster is supposed to imitate hiking, not the other way around. It seems like when I'm with Sarah, I really get to the truth of things, doesn't it?

The first night I was there Chris and Sarah took me to Blackfoot Brewery immediately so I could have a taste of delicious local beer. It quickly became one of my favorite tastes ever and may have put Brewer's Art, here in Baltimore to shame. Afterward the team made me a delicious falafel welcome dinner and Ted, sarah's old roommate came over with a sweet tart to go along with it. Ted is simply fantastic. I felt instantly close to him. My favorite part was at the close of everyday saying "I'll see you tomorrow." And, as simple as that, we were instantly friends as though we had been for years. Montana is so fun. We all went to Jester's the local dive bar and on to the Gold Bar, saloon on Last Chance Gulch that had gambling machines. I got to meet Sarah's former co-crew leader Nick and swap stories until late in the evening.

We went for a hike the next day up Mt. Assention to get a really great view of Mt. Helena. The beautiful part about the city of Helena is that we literally walked two blocks away from Sarah's front door and we were at the foot of a mountain. It made me understand why she might not leave this place for a while.

The fourth of July we thought that we should celebrate in glorious American Style. We started this off by going to Target and McDonald's. That night, we went up to the south hills and sat overlooking the entire valley as everyone set off their own fireworks. You could hear the echoes of bangs and pops and hollers off the mountains as sparks of celebration danced all around us. It was almost like we were on an island surrounded by fireworks. Some near, some far, some big some little. A symphony of fireworks. Nestled there in the mountains, I understood what they were celebrating more than I would have if I were in a city that night.

Sarah works in a really cool office with this woman, Lonie, who seems to love adventure. It's always so nice when I get to meet people in a regular job who seem extraordinary, it reminds me that you can meet extraordinary people everywhere. And what luck that Sarah can have a new friend out of her job with the state of Montana. We talked for a long time Lonie, Chris, Sarah and I about politics and travel and everything else that gets our blood bubbling. Lonie is absolutely kind and invigorating, If Sarah has to be in a cubicle for now, I'm glad it's across the isle from this lady.

Lonie told me why Montana is ACTUALLY big sky country. It ends up that the height of the mountains actually reduce the amount of moisture in the air making the view unobscured. You actually can see more sky out there!

Every Wednesday in the summer the whole town gets together for this event called "Alive at Five" where there is beer and food and music on the lawn to the library. Ted, Sarah, Chris and I went and was surprised to see that almost everyone came out for this event. I got to people watch for a long time and settle into the idea of what it would be like to live there. It seems like almost everyone is genuinely a nice, solid person. I felt like I was at a block party in the suburbs, where everyone is happy to say hello or send a smile your way. Sigh, how lovely is this life of Sarahs!?

I thought a lot about my job and my new career while I was out there. Things move slower in Montana and I had a lot of down time to catch up with myself. A few days later I wrote this little thing about what I was thinking:

When I first got a desk job, I thought there were such things as beautiful cubicles - like amber honeycombs. I'd nestle in, humble hornet, and work would please me. At first, I thought that poetry was in everything and I'd find it in every moment, phone call and photocopy. After sitting at the base of mountains this summer, where silence isn't sustained by and blended with the hum of fluorescent lights, CPUs and clicking, I realized that I was completely wrong before -- a fax machine is simply a fax machine and there is no part of office life that is sweet like honey.

...Except of course for job security and health insurance.

One of my favorite nights in Helena, Sarah and I got "dressed up" and for Montana standards, that meant a t-shirt and a jean skirt. We went to the fanciest restaurant in Helena and ordered cosmopolitans. A real girls night out. Immediately after our cosmos, we left to go to Jester's, the dive bar to order either a huge beer for $1.25 or whiskey. We sat, half drunk on barstools taking photos of each other and telling all the reasons why we were pleased to know each other. One of those reasons is that the cheap beer and whiskey was more appealing to Sarah than the pink girly drink.

The next day Lonie suggested that Sarah take some time off to spend with me. We met Ted and Chris and Ory (their old boss) for lunch at Chris' work. I got to meet the most incredible 5 year old girl, Brigid who yodeled for me and got to talk to Ory and Ted about Teddy Roosevelt for like an hour. "I like this man and how he has adventures, even if he was kind of a prick and an imperialist and shot rare animals." I was so glad they nodded in agreement.

After lunch Sarah and I took a nap in the park with no blanket and walked into town to shop. There are probably four shops in Helena. One of them was the yarn store. Sarah was excited for me to meet the woman who she knits with in the winter time. I learned all about needle felting and felt suddenly jealous of this slow, warm life that Sarah has there in Montana. I was thinking how me moving to New York City will be the complete opposite of most of the simple pleasures I found there in Big Sky Country.

That night we had our farewell hang out at this bar which is considered the meatmarket bar of Helena. We sat outside and Nick brought his dog out back. I got to Met Mel and Chris, two kids from Montana who were super nice, funny and awesome. After Chris and Sarah got tired, Ted, Mel and Chris and I drove out to East Helena for the Rodeo street dance party. What is a Rodeo Street dance party, you ask? It is the street party after the Rodeo where everyone dances to jammin' classic Rock and drinks Budweiser. Everyone has on denim, bangs and cowboy hats. Yes, even the boys have bangs.

The next morning at 4:45 I left to go the airport. Sarah and I sat looking out the window like puppies, waiting for the cab, sad to leave each other and too sad to talk about being sad.

The mountains before sunrise on the way to the tiny airport were back lit and beautiful and were the perfect bittersweet bon voyage for my journey on to Chicago.