acrophilia

So, briefly:

1) Economically, the amish colony eight miles up the road is the new walmart. I haven’t figured out if they have connections with the mob somewhere, but purchases have been made that suggest I actually live in the pre-hyperinflation era 1970s.

Medium sized box of honey nut cheerios: 1.50
Large package of linguini: .50
Assorted large cans of Campbell’s Soup: .50, each.
Spices, usually running $3 to $4 at your local market: .75 for garlic, cinnamon sticks, cayenne pepper, ground red pepper; $1 for bay leaves.
40 lb bag of dog food (not for me, I have no dog) - $12.

Existentially, the amish are my new heroes. A friend has an in with them, and visiting hours are like being bathed in weirdly accented wishes of well-being. With good reason (or so I imagine), the Indians that I know are guarded, suspicious, and in general as forthcoming as people who take the Fifth. The Amish, on the other hand, have brightly colored shirts and live without electricity. They milk their cow, and then share it with you. They talk about the wolves in Yellowstone with you as six of them lay the foundation for a new house, old-school brick and mortar style. You bring them eggs because someone in the community is getting married this week, and they CLAP YOU ON THE BACK in thanks and ask if you need your cowboy boots re-soled. Now, to be sure, being with my friend made it easier for me. That much is true.

I am being completely sincere in proclaiming my uncompromised love for this colony. More news later.

2) I am going to the Big Horns.
3) Meta-
in so much as this is purely about me these days, I feel the need to assuage personal guilt-type/fears of narcissism feelings by directing you to some shit I’ve been consuming, thereby completing the circle and bringing everything back to me.

Thom McGuane – 92 in the Shade. Where did this come from? People drop Pynchonesque in all the reviews, which I kinda get, but this is a short fast read. It has one of those narrator/faux protagonists whose read everything and can navigate a skiff to boot. Themes: fishing, inheriting father’s oddities/craziness, sex in public places, and the ethos of enacting revenge on principle v. the sensibility of letting a dog lie. (is that the cliché I want?)

Other books – I don’t know, have been busy. Other music – yeah, ditto. Don’t really do music too much anymore. Though in all honesty, Merle Haggard may be everyone’s father, ontologically speaking.

3) going to ascend Cloud Peak tomorrow. people in the know suggest that wearing bells around one's neck lowers the chances of encountering a grizzly. this may be true, but it raises the chances of encountering another human being while wearing bells around one's neck , yes/no?

Bell-less, i go.