Changing realities ...

Today's news that the US Post Office is considering the closure of both the Two Dot and Martinsdale Post Offices is discouraging but not surprising. Small communities have been under pressure to survive for decades. It's easy to lay blame -- on politicians, on big-box stores, on changes to governmental policies.

Post Offices themselves are getting less use; fewer people send mail using stamps. Fewer letters are incoming as people use e-mail and websites more and more to communicate, pay bills and make purchases.

The fact is that populations continue to shrink in small rural towns. People have been moving to cities for at least three generations now. And the jobs that supported small towns like Martinsdale are gone. Railroad, gone. School, gone. Grocery store and gas stations, gone too. Ranches that used to require large numbers of ranch hands no longer need them because of advancements in technology. Meanwhile, the people who are left bypass small towns on their way to Billings or Bozeman to buy their groceries. They are even, largely, bypassing the next size up towns like Harlowton. All to save a few dollars, never thinking about the cost in fuel and time that it takes to get to those larger economic hubs.

It used to be that people went to Billings for a specialized doctor visit, to pick up relatives at the airport or annual Christmas and back-to-school shopping trips. Now it's to go to Costco Walmart or Home Depot.

The damage to small communities is incremental. Instead of a gas station being sold, it closes when the owner retires. Nobody really notices because, hey, he retired! On the walls of the community hall in Martinsdale, ghosts from the past look out from black and white photos. Large smorgasbord gatherings and community events all speak to a vital past when most things a community needed to survive were right at hand.

Then one day, the Post Office closes. With that, the town dies.

Stephen Shore's Uncommon Places

I spent some time tonight looking at Uncommon Places. Stephen Shore's seminal photo collection of America in the 1970s. His photographs are raw; they lay bare the country's soul as it struggled through a brutal recession and war. The juxtaposition between what we see today and what those images show couldn't be more stark. Then: bleakness, empty streets, soul less vacant stares among his subjects. Today: we are suffering through an even more brutal recession and war, yet a visitor would be hard pressed to see it in the vitality and hum of our cities. For people who believe that today's challenges are unprecedented; a quick historical study of our not too distant past would be beneficial. Shore was very young when he embarked on his journey; ironically, it is usually youth that see the truth. Maybe it is that they are still willing to rock the boat where where older, more jaded people aren't.

I'm also struck by the photos in that they show a period of fundamental transition. You can see the basic building blocks of today's America, yet in towns across the country the norm was still the dying lifestyle of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. The period of time that Shore documented so clearly truly foretells the future. It it isn't pretty. But it is brilliant.

I saw some of Shore's work at the Whitney in New York City a few years ago. I keep going back to it because, as someone who was an impressionable child in the 1970s, I have a tendency to glamorize the period. The truth is that brutal racisim, sexism, economic and political dispair and homophobia dominated the landscape. Shore's images, without trying, document the truth. Everyone should take a look at them.

Thinking about my favorite place ...

A few days ago, I returned from my latest trip to Montana and a few days in Glacier Park. There have been a lot of changes in my life in the past year and I was looking forward to being grounded at home again...no cell service...no plans to be on my laptop. Just hanging with my friends and family and reflecting on new and missed opportunities. I had a great time in Two Dot at the street dance, at a family picnic in the Crazy Mountains, the 4th of July rodeo in Harlowton and a hike to Daisy Peak with my sister and friends.

As much as I enjoy being at home, my real love in Montana is Glacier National Park. I have missed only one summer visit in the past 12 years. This year the special hike was into Medicine Grizzly Lake at the Cutbank area of the park. 13 miles round trip and it came with a verbal grizzly warning from the ranger at the trailhead. The hike was amazing and the lake was spectacular. We saw a moose but no grizzlies. I think my friends and I were the first people there that day; although we met a few on the trail. The solitude and beauty are inspiring and it makes me believe that God must have had a hand in it.

Unfortunately, Things don't often go as intended. This year's trip went by too fast and some unexpected experiences are causing more questions in my life. I'm back in Seattle at work, feeling distant from my friends and I don't really feel any better than I did before; I still need to do some more self-reflection. I guess this is just a year of turmoil; time to catalogue, learn from it and move on a better person. Hopefully.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom turns 70 today. It's hard to believe how fast time marches on; memories from the past are in my thoughts, like when we kids would come home from school on a winter day, met by the smell of freshly baked bread. Or the smell of her perfume mixed with a faint smell of smoke when she and my father came home from a party. While those memories are all in the past, they are still comforting to me. Here's to many more birthdays Mom!

Camping in Glacier and Waterton National Parks

I was in Waterton National Park in Canada earlier this week with two friends from Seattle. We tried to camp but wind gusts of 65 - 70 mph made it an unwelcome experience. After the wind picked up the tent and moved it across the campground, we decided to find a motel. Hard core campers we're not!

As national parks go, Waterton seems more like a theme park. It's basically a high-end town parked in the middle of a beautiful setting. Nothing at all like Glacier to the south. The town reminded me of Jackson Hole, WY. Lots of restaurants and shopping...I was glad to see it, but don't think I'll be going back.

Hello ...

Well, I've decided to start blogging! I'm not sure what I'll talk about but I have a lot of stories and personal observations that are funny or just interesting (to me, at least). I hope they find an audience and that they are enjoyed. I'll try to keep them witty and interesting and feedback is good! So don't be shy!