We spent the majority of September 2009 living at Tom's place in between trips to Wisconsin moving our belongings. It was a busy time and the theme for the next six month's as I got us settled in a new place, took on the opening of the new cafe, and bird hunted as much as possible! I will always remember the day I finally got my North Dakota license plates. When I took them out of the envelope it hit home that I now belonged in a different place. As I took the old Wisconsin plates off and replaced them I couldn't help but be a little nostalgic but it felt good to look at my vehicle and think I was now a true resident here. I laughed at the experience at the Motor Vehicle office in Bismarck when registering for plates and my driver's license. Being used to the long waiting lines in Wisconsin and the forms to fill out and having to take a ticket to get in the Que then watching and listening for the bell to ring and your number to come up the system here was in one word "simple". All you did was walk up to an open attendant window tell them what you needed to do and they did the rest! Done deal! Of course this is due to the fact that this is one of the least populated states in the nation but that's just fine with me.
Now I would find that just because my license plates said North Dakota that meant nothing to some of the people in the small town in which we were to live. While they were a very friendly bunch these families had lived and operated the same farms and ranches for generations. Consequently the names you would come across were very common from one area to the next as families continued to stay in the same geographic area's. This creates a very tight knit social system centered around family,church,school,work and civic organizations. In that order. It was the same from one area to the next with people being loyal to each little town and community they lived around and with very few new people ever moving to these area's this culture was very developed as a way of life here. My main objective in coming here though was to bird hunt and not for the social life. I had looked forward to living in a small town having grown up in one but had never been one to belong to organization's or needing a lot of social interaction having had a job where I was around people constantly all day. So when I experienced the difference in how people treated someone not local or part of this tight knit system naturally I looked to spend my money or take social outings to those places where I was greeted with a smile and treated in a more friendly manner. No problem. I've written about the differences from one town to the next as I traveled about over the year's so this was nothing new to me and I quickly adjusted to the fact that in some people's eye's I would never be from here, never be "local", and for those people that treated me differently because of that I had no time for such bullshit. So for example if I was out hunting and felt like a cold glass of beer I'd gladly drive ten miles out of my way if it meant I felt welcome to be there. Make no mistake there are a lot of very good people here that I truly enjoy and do business with. However the main reason the Setter's and I came here was to bird hunt!
We finally got into our new house and I soon learned I had great neighbor's. In fact one of my neighbor's, Mike, was right there to help me unload and offered his help any time if needed. To the east were Roger and Pauline. Roger had been the former county agent for year's now retired. He also had been Mayor for several year's. Pauline had come over to introduce herself and said my husband love's to hunt as well. He also likes to drink beer! So you're welcome to come over any time we're out on the deck! I met the rest of the community as I worked on the cafe project and thanks to a couple articles the local paper did on my arrival in town in regards to the project everyone knew me. These people were friendly. The local convenience store and gas station run by Ken and Brenda was not only the friendliest place in town it was probably the most friendly business I know of. You're always greeted and called by name here and I really go out of my way to do business with them as a result.The people here were fun and as usual there were some real character's. This all felt good and right to be here.
It was great to just load up the Setter's anytime I had a few hour's and head out to hunt. I could have them on birds five miles from town just about any day. This is why I moved here and it was a great feeling. This was worth a lot to me and was a lifestyle choice just like Love Creek was so I was remaining true to my passion letting it take me where it may. The sounds of the town included geese usually flying over making there way to and from feeding grounds or during migration. The train that would come through stopping at the grain elevator. The cattle calling from the sale barn pens on the outskirts of town. And the kids in the neighborhood as they rode bikes and ran around the neighborhoods making their own fun as kids do. People out for a walk would stop and talk for a while. My neighbor Martin who lived a couple block's away in his eighties would ride his bike down the alley and stop and chat with his German accent. Sundays quickly became a favorite day. The streets were vacant. Nothing moving. Total silence except for the sound of church bells. An occasional car would go by on main street but for the most part nothing was moving except the traffic from the church's. It was a great day for a bike ride, a run with the Setter's or maybe just reading a book while sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee.
So we were here. The fall hunting season would have many great moments as expected but we were just letting go of the tension and uncertainty of the past several month's. Exhaling if you will. The process of making the move was finally over and a new process under way. That being the process of making our new home work for us. It would take some work and organization but it would finally come around with time. Patience. Always patience. I couldn't help but note with all the moving and lifting that I hadn't put my back out of whack. No visits to the chiropractor required. This surprised me but I was conscious of the need to be careful and was glad to have gotten everything done without a problem. Amazing. We were officially "Moved In".
No comments:
Post a Comment