Montana Ramblings And My Thoughts Here

2006-01-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a new law, I need to cover my "you know what" and give you my email address: GershomMontana@yahoo.com

2006-01-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

It's getting crazy here in Bozeman

Alas, the summer of the "small town" is no more. Druggies, junkies, criminals and lowlifes are moving in and making this a dangerous town to be in. Usually when Meth labs pop up in your neighborhood and crazy people threaten to kill you, it's time to go! I am seriously considering heading back to New England, Montana has a bad record of enforcing narcotics laws. I will resume this blog in my new home. I need to find a job first though, then I go.

Hasta La Vista Bozeman!

2005-12-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

People are weird

I have the oddest freinds here in Bozeman. They seem to hate me behind my back and enjoy my company when I'm around. Frankly, I don't get many freinds anyway, most people just don't want to really get to know me. People prejudge all the time anyway. I guess one handicap is the fact that Montanians don't like or even trust "out-of-staters" like myself. Some do, most don't. "Strange and new is bad" seems to be a theme with these folks. I would leave for greener pastures but thanks to preverts and criminals, it is now not possible to move whenever one feels like it. In fact, most employers won't even hire me because of they think that I fit into the "profile" of a prevert. They can sterotype me all they want, I have a life now. Good-paying too (eternal life). I worship God. I beleive that His Son, Jesus Christ, went to the cross for my sins. Jesus imparts this wisdom to us: "You have New And MORE ABUNDANT LIFE, now stop sinning" (Sort of a summery of the Gospels and Epistles) "Today, when you hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the days of the rebellion" (Epistle to the Hebrews, I think) In conculsion, it would be nice if people would start trusting me more and stop scorning me. Unfortunatly, I too have siloently done the same thing to others but I (except in a few cases) got to know the person and found out what the person is really like. I guess that no matter where you go, people will be people.

2005-12-11T15:54:00.000-08:00

Odd fun with my Church freinds.

Sometimes some of us from Church will gather in Rocky Mountain Roaster's Coffee shop and talk about the oddest things. We'd remember odd people and today I got to steer the topic; History. It seems to be a popular topic among the more literate set here in town. Even then, the conversation was just plain, well, odd. Prirates and such. Sort of topic jumping really. It was really nice weather outside and people seem alot less stressed when the weather is not going crazy.

2005-12-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

Winter is here and won't go away......

The snow hit and the long cold nights are keeping the snowpack on the ground. Thank God for coffee shops I say. Still shoveling at work. Winter is sometimes a mixed blessing. I am catching up on some needed reading. Lots of topics to explore. The City government here is looking at putting in "roundabouts" at certain intersections, where are these people from? New Jersey?

Some pols in New Jersey fell in love with "roundabouts" in roads years ago, needess to say, there are a ton of them now in that poor state and it hasn't done much for traffic safety either. The new library construction might be on "hold" but why not wait to build the thing in summer anyway? The local Talk Radio station here is the local forum for these issues and it seems everyone has an opinion but not many seem to have the facts on these issues. Isn't it like that everywhere?

The Greater Bozeman area continues to grow for reasons unknown......The biggest employer here is the University and it doesn't pay all that much to non-profs. Most agree, it's the housing bubble that drives the growth here. Watch out for when the bubble bursts. According to two experts in the field, it will soon as well.

2005-11-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

If I could remember

Montana doesn't do wonders for the memory. Everything seems similar here. Even the mountains look the same! The Cowboys here in Montana are a good practical people but they rarely talk to outsiders. There are so many subcultures here in Montana that if you can't fit into one of them, you might have a hard time doing anything. I forget so much. Bills pile up, people get upset when I forget key dates. I can't even remember stuff I want t0 do! I suppose Montana is one of the few states where a man can safely forget some things. Maybe it's too relaxing? I don't know. I wish I was looking at the Atlantic Ocean from the Massachussets shore right now. Hmmm, summer, seagulls and the smell of saltwater. The Ocean runs thru my veins, several relatives and some (maybe) direct ancestors had been Sailing Ship Captians, back in the days of yore, when men were men and not trying to imitate women. One nice thing about Massachussetts was it's Classical music stations. One could listen to Classical while riding through the countryside. It's funny, but while I was growing up in Massachussetts, I wanted to actually RETURN to the West! I had been in Arizona for five years in the 1980's beforehand and my family used to visit Colorado for sking. Colorado and the Rockys are nice. Maybe I need to live there for awhile. Despite some of the mountains here around the Bozeman area, it just feels FLAT, like Missouri. I had been in Mexico, Missouri (Jefferson County) for seven days in the early 1990's trying to find a career. Didn't work, I was too impatient. Sometimes I still want to wander, maybe see the Redwoods in California and other things. I don't think I could return southward to Arizona now. Too violent in most places. I like to have new expreinces now and then.

2005-10-31T18:05:00.000-08:00

The Forklift

Can't tell you where I work but I just took the test on the forklift today. I was never very good with vehicles. Didn't quite pass the test but I have another chance. Life is alot like operating a forklift, just don't drop it on the head of someone else! It was supposed to snow today but fall continues in a pleasent manner. A very few young people care anything about the past. Those who have a handle on the past have something of a handle of current events, to an extent. You need Jesus in your life to have a full grip on your life. My younger years was one disaster after another. Before I was a Christian. Sometimes life can present nasty suprises. A younger freind of mine was almost killed by a mountain lion. God gave my young freind the brains to kill the lion. That lion is an illustration of the dangers of life. We all need to shoot our lions but will we have the gun to do so when the time comes?

2005-10-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

I finished working for Xanterra Parks and Resorts in October of 2003 and was looking for a place to settle. Talk about guidance, God didn't want me in Arizona again. I nearly settled in Flagstaff too. I came up to Montana and started to look for a job in Livingston. Not much there really, so, on the advice of a freind, I came to Bozeman and have been here since. I am going to UM Missoula soon and I'll be there for awhile. (God willing) Comparing Montana to New England isn't easy, there are some parts of Montana that remind me of New England and native Montanains remind me of what New England has mostly lost years ago, Yankee wisdom. The people are not quick to accept people whom they consider to be 'outsiders' I am still trying to make freinds here and it's already 2005! My home is in New England I now realize, my background is firmly rooted there like some ancient oak that has grown around a stone wall. Gosh I miss those. Both Stone walls and oaks. My family is one of those ancient lines that didn't leave New England until the 20th Century. Unlike many modern New Englanders, my family is mostly conservative. One of my favorite political mentors (abeit long distance, via "National Review") is William F. Buckley Jr., also from a conservative New England family. Sometimes I see things in Bozeman that remind me of New England. Lindley Park is one attraction for me, the place reminds me of the New England Commons of my childhood. Ironically, I have discovered my favorite poet here in Montana, it's not a cowboy poet either, it's Robert Frost. I have been "discovering my true self" here in Montana. I sometimes feel the pull of just being a blue-collar type and doing blue-collar stuff but I feel more enlightened when I study and enjoy Classic Culture. You know; Herodotus, Beethoven and the like. Not many people around with my education who work at a blue-collar job as I do. I have to make a living somehow. I try to get out to the concerts whenever possible, and Shakespeare plays, but I usually don't have the time or I am distracted with something else. I do write. I used to write quite a bit actually. Unfortunatly I have fallen out of practice and even this article shows my lack of upkeep of the gift God gave me! My dream? I want to move back to New England, own a farm in Mass, New Hampshire or Vermont, and write. I want to pull rocks out of the ground and repair the stone walls, I want to pull an old stump out of the ground, and I want to write. If I could afford a horse, I'd buy one and ride around the farm. I'd grow different crops, but the farm would be a hobby. You can't make money off a small farm these days. If I lived on the coast, I'd build myself a small ship and go sailing. The ocean seems to have been a draw to my ancestors as well, some of them became sea Captians and never looked back. Restless, wanting to travel, seeing new places and meeting new people, and yet content to be at home in New England. If I went about to place flowers on all the graves of past family members, I would have to travel up to Maine just to complete the task. Most of my family is buried between Massachussetts and Maine. I have been restless, always traveling, for years but my thoughts always return to the land of my family, New England. I had lived in Arizona longer than I lived in New England, but it's hard to say "I'll live here and not here" I love Arizona enough as well to live there part of the year. There is a strange quality about Arizona that makes one want to live there. Cactus, grass or Pinewoods, just pick one, or all three like I did. Actually, I'd rather live out among the cactus, the cactus was my first impresion of Arizona I ever had and I have loved that part of Arizona since. I feel like I've been caught between two worlds my whole life. One seems more sedate (New England) while Arizona seems more wild. I am slowly falling in love with Montana, which reminds me of Colorado and Kansas wrapped up in one package. Every time I travel outside town, I feel like I am actually in Montana. (Bozeman feels too much like New Jersey to be interesting) I plan to travel up to the wilds of Alaska one of these days to fulfull an old dream of mine: To see America's last wilderness. I have always wanted to get lost in the woods or tundra and be a million miles from people. In the 19th Century, I would have been a pioneer, always clearing land and making roads for others in come in and settle. I don't get along with most people. Not much love in today's world and alot of backbiting. I found that even Montanains aren't immune from this. Why don't they mind their own patch and leave mine alone? I forgive them, the culture has certainly changed. (I prefer talking with people in their 70's and 80's, they seem to have alot more sense.) It would be nice to have a cabin somewhere, a dog and a small bussiness where I don't have to go into town or deal with people a whole lot. I don't hate people, they just don't like me it seems. I do hope you enjoyed my ramblings as much as I did. (You wouldn't want to meet me, most people misjudge me quick)