A Surreal Experience
Even a couple of months after relocating to the mountains near Flathead Lake, a longtime dream of mine, it still feels very surreal. I keep staring through the window at the evergreens bows capped with snow, and the lake sitting at the foot of the Swan and Mission mountain ranges with ice slowly creeping in from its banks waiting for everything to disappear.
We're still trying to dig in our roots and discover the community around us, but we've already begun settling our daughter into the activities she enjoys. But we're also trying to immerse ourselves in the culture and assimilate. That was one of the big secondary reasons we came west; to make the outdoors an integral part of our everyday life. We're looking forward to skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, camping, equine activities, paddling, and fly fishing.
Omnipresent Bigotry
The RFRA and the oppressive religious demagogy that surrounded me in Indiana is what kicked off this entire journey west. I was never naive enough to believe I could completely escape it, and there are definitely people of the same mindset here in Montana. There is just a hell of a lot more space between us and them, and that gives me a lot more comfort.
