MY MT

I have very mixed feelings about this article. I LOVE E. MT. Love it. I also understand that one of the reasons I love it is because there is no one out there, and selfishly I kind of want it to stay that way. That is unfair because those eastern montanans need jobs, they need an economy. . . If I could do it, I would live somewhere in the plains and raise cows. It is in my blood and I have had more breathtaking moments on the back of a horse in a field filled with sage and cactus.

Let me share a little story. I was working south of Chinook, MT earlier this summer. It was one of those days, it was a little bit hot with a nice breeze. I parked up on a hill to survey the coulees around me for abandoned coal mines. It was still green there and I had taken a grown over two track about one mile off the main road to get to where I thought I should be. In other words I was 1 mile off of a road that handles about 5 cars per day. I was out there. There was this small hawk flying around my head, in fact she had flown over my head calling out to me for about an hour. She followed my car, she followed me while I walked around the whole time crying that creepy hawk cry they put into commercials advertising Montana while showing a bald eagle. It was cool. At one point, she dipped down to about 2 feet above my head.


So there I was somewhere way south of any town on a farm sitting at the top of a hill looking down into a series of coulees some of which were filled with small ponds. I scrambled onto the roof my vehicle to better survey the area when it hit me. I could see forever and it was STUNNING. So beautiful I almost tipped off the roof. Rolling green hills, blue sky dotted with white clouds and not a person in sight. Just me, my hawk friend and some small yellow butterflies. I get choked up just thinking about it.

I am starting to hate W MT. It is not the mountains, lakes or scenery, it is the god damned people. If you don't know what I am talking about, go hang out in Ravalli County for a while. It is flat out disgusting. And frankly, I hope Collapse is right about that place. My good friend is a county sanitarian in that county and I want to get her a psychiatric evaluation. People, people, people - crushing the environment - crushing the economy - crushing Western Montana. You assholes deserve a Wal-Mart on every corner.



Hubby always laughs at me when we drive over a hill and laid out before us is a big open prairie bordered by foothills and bisected by water and I gasp and explain "It is SO BEAUTIFUL!" He likes to say something about how you can never get Great Falls out of the girl. He is right - sort of. You can never get E MT out of the girl.

P.S. Many of you think Billings as soon as I mention E MT. This is my comment, Billings would be gorgeous if it wasn't for Billings. Think about it, the Rimrocks are stunning, the Yellowstone River is magic, the city is gross. Maybe it is all of the refineries. . .