Montana

Subj: Montana

Date: 95-07-31 18:18:58 EDT

From: JOMAXSOLO

To: El Polvo

Polvo, Thanks for getting back and for the great quote, I'll use that forever. It won't fit AOL space but it fits my space.

Montana where we are gets cold but the Chinooks play there all winter and it's comfortabler than the hardcore Montana you envision mebbe. The country is eerie and beautiful, the foothills where the land sort of starts ironing out into plains has these deep valleys that you'd expect to be more plains but as you get up to them you see pine forests down there and rugged streams with native trout (No wetback trout here), log cabins, pastures, so unexpected.

The woman we are buying the house from calls herself Nellie Levay, others call her Boots and GlintEye, her dog calls her Woof!, but she was a sheep rancher for 60 years and she is one fine old coot, and her house is all insulated and has no fireplace, which we'll take care of pretty damn soon, but it has hot water heat and a nifty cellar where all the plumbing to the lil place hangs out, and I mean this house is set on a massive concrete foundation, and we just really love it there, the way the neighbors can be read by their yards and the livestock in the back, and the sort of fences they have if any, and what's parked out front, I mean this place has no zoning, no laws or regs or anyone to hassle you, no law, and there's horse riding in the streets, and a woman bronc rider who owns and operates the hardware store, and the last day we were there a young woman was walking a little lamb in the dirt street and another had her twins riding eight month old calves bareback, her name is Sonia, the mother not the kids or bulls, their names are Cynthia.

Great Falls is 35 miles to the east, Choteau 25 miles to the north, not much out there but ectopeace and dazzling beauty, I mean I just gawked all the time I was there, and yes it snows, comes in horizontal and drifts deep, but then the warm winds rage over the mountains and dries it up in a few days, and in the spring the winds lift gravel off the road and pepper you with it, break your windows, tear your camper right out of the bed of your truck, and if you are sideways in some big old RV you lay over fast and show your belly and hope the mean old wind don't tear your gizzard out with its rabid jaws. But I wanted violence in nature and that is why I connected there, I liked the way the people are, the directness, and the politeness. Neighbors means something in that part of the world. And in Montana they allow you to die any foolish way you want, they don't have any signs warning you about nuthin, they leave it up to you. A hiking trail doesn't come with a menu of ne'er-do's. Nearby is the Bob Marshall Wilderness area and it is huge, bigger than the Pecos, and all sorts of outfitters live out there in the mountains and are glad to take you back into there to introduce you to the way it used to be. I'm just dazzled.

As for boating with you, the chances are remote right now because of the cost of the move, but if the house sells in the next two months we may go, but that isn't much warning, doesn't give you much to plan with. You tell me what you want to do on that. We want to sail with you and the young lady you share life and boats with. But we can't commit to it financially right now.

This is a shortened version of what I had planned to write but I am staved in right now, and will sign off. I am 58 as of yesterday and want a present from you right away. I'll send you a slice of cake and some ice cream.