Postage Due

Originally posted 11/17/11.

 

Postage Due

On about my third day as a resident of Geraldine, I ran out of stamps and walked the hundred yards or so to the post office. As I waited at the counter I overheard a conversation between "Marie" and and older gentleman who appeared to be one of the local farmers or ranchers. Well used truck parked out front, faded, worn jeans, button up plaid shirt, a hat that was obviously never left at home....

"I need to pay the Post Mistress for my postage from the other day," he said. " I mailed off some things and I didn't have enough money with me, so the she covered it for me."

"Oh, alright, how much do you need to pay?" asked Marie.

"I can't remember exactly but I know it was $62 dollars and some change," he said.

Marie looked in the cash drawer and pulled out a little sticky note. " Yeah, she said you might come in today...."

This exchange didn't seem at all out of the ordinary to the farmer or Marie. Yet, I was truly amazed! The Post Mistress had given this man over $62 bucks on good faith alone that he would come into town and pay her back! Take a moment and imagine yourself in the farmer's shoes at your local post office? Do you think the gal behind the counter would say, "No problem! Got ya covered, come back and pay me tomorrow?" Not a chance in just about any other place I know of! We'd be driving all the way back home to fetch our wallets, for sure.

Do you live in a place where the "Honor System" still thrives as an expected and respected way of doing business? Where you know what's owed to you will be paid. Where people actually wouldn't think of not keeping their word? The accountability here is tangible. If you treat anyone badly, prove yourself to be a liar or a cheat, or act in any way dishonorably, the whole town is going to know it. There would be huge repercussions and you'd probably have to leave town! People in this remote place are depending on each other in a way that most of our nation has forgotten. They are teaching the children the values that made this country the greatest there is.

In spite of the stressful things I do still have going on in my life....and there are quite a few....I find a moment in each day that I just look around at this place God led me to, and I am so grateful. I find my faith restored. In God, and in humanity.

Yesterday, there was a little note in my post office box. It seems the large envelope they mailed to Laramie, Wyoming for me had been 20 cents short on the postage. Today I walked over and gave the lady the postage due....

11/11/11

Originally posted on 11/11/11.

Tonight there was a dinner held at the V.F.W. hall for all who wished to attend. I decided it would be very nice to go down at meet as many of the local folks as possible. It's funny how now that I know I have precious, twin boys to help me break the ice, I'm not as shy as I once was. It turns out I didn't really need an ice-breaker. We walked into a warm, welcoming place that smelled of homemade pumpkin pie, coffee and floor wax. Within seconds we were approached and several hands were shaken. My mom and I explained that we were the ones that were moving into "the yellow house". All were understanding when told of my husband's work in North Dakota that keeps him away much of the time. People here understand that sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to get by....

Tonight the room was much less full than the lovely ladies who cooked had anticipated. About 20 people in all left many empty seats. But no one was disappointed at the small turn out. I was told that "almost the whole town" is in Bozeman tonight watching our Geraldine Girls Volleyball team play in the state championships.

The wind was calm as evening required we get the babies home and tucked into their beds. A lovely warm night, with warm people in Geraldine....

Everybody thinks I'm Crazy....

This is a re-post from 11/10/2011.  For some reason my other blog acted up so I decided to re-post those essays here.  Enjoy!

I've moved my family to Geraldine. Population 266 at last count. There's not much here to people that don't truly look. There's one bar/cafe, one feed store that has fuel pumps so we don't get stranded, one bank with one banker, one school for all grades and there was one grocery store....but it burned down. There are two churches. One Methodist and one Catholic, of which I am neither. I feel closest to Baptist these days so I'll have to drive 70 miles each way on Sundays.

There's a lot more that Geraldine doesn't have. Traffic, or traffic lights for that matter. Half of the streets here aren't even paved. When I happen to drive down the streets I am almost always the only one on them. My little boy and I walked right down the center of the streets while trick-o-treating as many houses as we possibly could. We would run across other little kids that would smile and wave and shout "Happy Halloween!" to us as we went by. They went down the middle of the streets too....

No one in Geraldine is wandering around talking on their cell phones. No one in the cafe is preoccupied with their text messages while trying to eat dinner with their families. Teenagers here have their eyes up, look at you and say hello!!! They aren't lost in a virtual world.... That's right folks, there's no cell service in Geraldine. You have to drive up the highway 6 miles to get a decent signal. They say by 2013 they will have service here. I really hope it doesn't happen.

I can safely say there are no "big, fancy houses" in Geraldine. Some homes are well cared for, for sure. Many have been updated and fixed up since they were originally built. Many are also abandoned and starting to crumble. I regularly walk past two cute little old houses when I'm taking my son to the park. They are both empty and seem so sad. There aren't far away from being perfectly livable, yet they have no one. How tragic we have people in this country with no homes and homes with no people.

I just bought a house that is 95 years old and was part of the original township that was founded in 1913. It's just a small farmhouse that has had the good fortune of having people who cared enough to update her plumbing, wiring and insulation. She'll need a new roof pretty soon, the siding needs replaced and there are some cracks in the foundation. This fact seems to worry my father a lot. But I'm pretty sure if she's been standing almost 100 years, she's not falling down tomorrow. The house and I are both in desperate need of revitalization. I think as I restore the house, I will be restored as well. Cliche?

My children are going to attend the simple, country school that happens to have computers and Smart Boards in every class. My Kindergarten son is the 6th pupil in his class. There was only one other little boy and he is thrilled to finally have a buddy. Support for the school is off the charts here. They girls volleyball team was just thrown a huge pep rally and parade that sent them off for the state finals. I think everyone in town was there! My little boy was very proud to be allowed to participate. Imagine that! Kindergarteners right there with the high school kids all supporting the team! Another thing Geraldine doesn't have....gangs. Just kids in cowboy boots and pick up trucks.

Because I bought a house "in town", my horses have to be boarded 2 minutes away at the edge of town. A wonderful, kind neighbor had just the place for them. I can throw a saddle on and head out to ride and literally NEVER run out of trail. The dirt roads and tracks head up to the BLM land and the Highwood Mountains. Miles of rolling wheat fields, pastures and hills. My horses think they are in heaven... I know they are.

This Evening

I'm writing this outside.  The little yellow house has a side porch with one white chair and a pot of cheerful pansies.  A perfect place to sit on a perfect spring evening. 

There are certain things that mean "Spring" here on the prairie.  All of them share a chorus tonight.  First we have the smell of fresh cut grass mixed with heavenly, sweet lilacs.  Many of the houses here are surrounded by huge hedges of lilacs.  Planted long ago by determined prairie mommas who were trying to tame the wind and dust with a shrub that actually thrived here. Right now they are all in bloom and are a beautiful reminder that being determined pays off.

A ways off the frogs are croaking loudly in the slough that runs through town.  I've recently read of places that have lost their frogs due to pollution and habitat destruction, aka. too many dang people.  I'm so glad we still have our frogs.  They are singing to celebrate Spring.

This evening was perfect.  65 degrees and hardly any wind.  Children were out riding their bikes in the street or walking their little dogs.  Mine were out on the lawn, the babies in their bare feet for the first time.

Now the wind has changed. Black clouds have formed out East of town and it looks like we will get a thunder shower or two in the middle of the night.  We will wake up to that amazing freshness that follows a storm.... but for now I'm headed in to close up the windows and say goodnight.

Spring in Geraldine

Spring is here. The good weather allowed the handy man to finally finish putting a new roof on the little yellow house.  Next she'll get a fresh coat of paint.  She will no longer be the "little yellow
house".  Maybe "little charcoal gray house", or possibly "little sage green house", that would match our new little chicken house.

The chickies.

There is a VERY old apple tree in the yard that looked very pathetic when we moved here last fall.  So I gave the old girl lots of water this early spring and now look!  Full of promise with the blossoms and the bumble bees are doing there best to help with the apple crop.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

 Last week it was snowing. Two days ago it was 87 degrees and we had to turn on the air conditioner! So that has caused everything around to burst into bloom. Im not sure what these little bushes are but I love the tiny flowers.

Of course there must be pansies!

So Im afraid this is all for now.  We have been insainly busy around here and my creative writing juices have been slowed.  But I did want to check in and let everyone know we are still here!  Working hard, playing with happy children and watching EVERYTHING grow!

Old Verses New

Today the boys and I went to the town park in Geraldine for some old fashioned fun.  I threw the babies in the little red wagon and drug them down the middle of the streets in the sunshine.  I was amazed at the spectacular weather for the first week of February.  February is often the coldest, most severe month of the year in this area.
I refer to the park as “old fashioned” fun because it seems that the majority of children these days are mostly being entertained by high tech or highly organized play.  There’s wii, X Box, Netflix, cable TV, internet games….the list goes on.  Or parents feel that they have to enroll the kids in every possible activity.  Such as, soccer, dance or even “little guy wrestling”.  They even do that here in Geraldine, though not nearly as much.  A lot of these kids are too busy on the farm or ranch to have a need for such entertainment.  So going to the park to dig in the rocks and grass and go down a slide seems….quaint.
But have you noticed, as I have, that some of the old ways of doing things and the old things we had to do them with are just, well, better?  I didn’t grow up being carted around to activities.  We didn’t even have a TV until I was about 10 years old and even then we had 3 channels.  TV didn’t make the list of “important things” in our house. I grew up climbing on a pony after school or drawing countless colorful pictures to entertain myself.
Here in Geraldine there are a lot of “old” cars.  Not decked out, polished antiques, just old, dirty cars.  A few folks drive something we’d call “new”, but not very many.  Lots of late 80’s model pickups running around.  But those old trucks are still going out here where they’ve had a hard life!  We have 2008 truck with 50,000 miles on it that almost lives at the shop.  But the old ones are running.
The dishwasher in my house was put in around 1994. It’s a bit worn on the inside, but you know what?  It gets the dishes really clean and totally dry!  I had a brand new, very expensive one in our last house and it was pathetic.  Left them grimy and wet.  The washer here is probably and 80’s model and I do drool over the pretty new ones….but this one has a large capacity and still does a great job. I’m scared to replace it with something “new” that might disappoint me.
There are some old things here in Geraldine that just might need to be updated.  The other day a very nice man came to my house.  He was trying to fix a wiring problem we have.  This man moved here in 1986 and he has never changed his hair style since.  He has a classic, 1980’s mullet.  He’s said after he moved here he really doesn’t like to get out much.  Just sort of checked out of the rat race and never looked back. 
It seems to be a common theme around here.  Old trucks, old houses, old hairstyles and old folks….   and I’ll take it.

from the block: February Photo-A-Day Challenge

from the block: February Photo-A-Day Challenge