Snow Day!

It is September 24, it is Wyoming, I needed to drive 25 miles to the courthouse in Lander to renew my license plates and I only got in trouble once. The snow in the hills was pretty but I saw some snow covered cars coming toward me and I wondered if it was going to get icy or dicey. When I got to my clerk's window, I heard the clerk next door say "That will be $2700," to the, almost as big person as I, next to me. So I handed my five renewal slips to my clerk and said, "After hearing how much he has to pay, I guess I don't feel so bad." Then the person spoke and it seemed a little high pitched but sexual ambiguity in Wyoming is not uncommon especially from the rear view. Jeans and shirt, close cropped spiky hair: I still didn't know for sure but hoped I wasn't in the soup. Mine came to $800.00. The person next to me asked how much mine was and said " I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Yikes! She was a jovial woman and we left friends and the clerks had something to chat about I am sure. She could have cleaned my plow.

On the way to Lander, I called Sue to see if they needed anything and they did: a few things at the grocery. Sue said to come for dinner so I did. Rasty's son Dode and his girlfriend had brought dinner for them the other night and it was Hamburger Gravy, etc., which had only whetted Sue's appetite for this old "down home" recipe. So she did a repeat with Rasty mashed potatoes, fresh tomato salad and homemade rolls and peas and a cake. Soul Food for the westerner. Might fine vittles (victuals, to you).

We visited quite awhile. Rasty has memories of the olden days but not yesterday and sometimes not 3 minutes ago. So it was good to hear him talk about a few things: Hudson in its heyday and sneaking in the bars and gambling houses. He remembered the cathouses but was not a patron, according to him. I'm sure he would have remembered. We both miss some of the wild characters that abounded in older wild Wyoming. We used to laugh about things like the Mayor's wife calling in a fire at the Rawlins cathouse, The Ruby Rooms, and the whole fire department watching her husband, the Mayor, come out pulling up his pants. Now, that would cause an indictment and a Congressional Investigation, then, it was a hoot- further evidence of universal human foibles. Never made the newspaper but everybody knew. He was re-elected.

I spent the weekend putting the swamp cooler to bed for the season, (wasn't I a smart boy?) and winterizing a bit, getting the ankles smaller, and in Geekdom. I got a nifty Bluetooth program that makes my Motorola Q Smartphone a modem. I hope to operate a freebie Internet Cafe in the park this winter. Perhaps they will get a little looser about the length of stay as they tend to do for those who assist the community. It worked when I tended flowers two years ago but my site had no flower beds last year. All will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Had a good yuk with the Jehovah's about people who stand in the middle of their rubble after a tornado and thank God. See the September 2007 Watchtower coming soon to a doorstep near you. They know I will never become a Witness but they are nice people. Over eight years we have enjoyed some good talks.