Dec 04 2008
Shall We Begin?
Hello, and welcome to my new blog. Maybe you came here from a search, my other blog (where I shamelessly promoted this one), or scanning posts on Today.com. However you came, here is a very warm Hello! to you.
This blog, unlike my other one, is going to focus on life here in Montana. The beauty, the hardships, the stereotypes, the people, city and town life, etc. I welcome all comments and views, although I may not always agree with you.
Lets begin from the beginning, shall we? I arrived in Montana for the first time way back in 1970 when I was two. Of course, I had no choice in the matter back then! Dad was in the service and was transferred to Malmstrom AFB to work in the ICBM silos here. It was in the middle of the Cold War, as well as the Viet Nam conflict. I was a lucky child and my father was not sent “over there”, but he was gone seven days in a row, then home for three… or something like that. Childhood memories can get a bit fuzzy as we age. Dad was in a field that kept us in the same town for 10 years. Yeah, 10 years at the same base! When the Air Force restructured some of their jobs, dad and many of his co-workers were transferred to Chanute AFB in Rantoul, IL. At 12 years old, I didn’t have much say (again) about the move. Illinois was OK, but as soon as Dad retired we all moved back to Montana– Bozeman this time. We lived there long enough for Dad to graduate from MSU (GI Bill) and my brother and I to graduate from Bozeman Sr. High.
Mom and Dad moved to Helena right after I graduated, then I moved there after I married. My brother followed about a year later. Since then, I have lived in Kalispell, Evergreen, Butte, and back to Helena. I have travelled all over the western and southern parts of the state, but still haven’t made it to the Northeastern parts. It will happen, just don’t know when. I have met many different people, from many walks of life. It is from these encounters I will draw many of the insights I will write about here.
