Small Town Life

So... sometimes when my husband leaves for work in the morning, he slips a CD in the player and turns the volume up loud before walking out the door. (I know, can you believe it - we don't have n Ipod. It's still CDs around here.) Usually it's MXPX or POD or any number of other 90s punk rock bands he knows I can't stand! :) This morning, it was Dixie Chicks. Not my favorite, but there are a couple of songs on the album "Fly" that I like. So, I let the girls boogie for a little while as I washed the breakfast dishes. It was pretty funny: three little girls dancing away to "Ready to Run!" I sang along loudly to "Cowboy, take me away!" I love those lyrics, actually. They remind me of why I like Jackson. Now, Jackson is not the pristine, untouched wilderness it once was. But, there is a small town, rugged feel even amid the hustle and bustle of a thriving tourist industry. It is beautiful here, and quiet, and peaceful, and safe.

Here are some reasons why I love living in small-town Wyoming.

1)There are mountains. I can see them from my windows, and we can drive to them within 35 minutes.

2)We have snow and sun! Sometimes I bemoan the late onset of Spring, but we truly love all four of our seasons here. Granted, some of those seasons are short. But it is so easy to be outside any time of year!

3)We can see stars.

4)And sunsets.

5)And elk, and moose, and deer, and bison, and foxes, and trumpeter swans, and bald eagles, and even wolves and grizzly bears...

2) In the off seasons, the national parks are fully accessible - and nearly devoid of other visitors. We can do things like go camping in Yellowstone - without dodging hundreds of slow-moving tourist vehicles. (We did this last weekend. Pictures below!)

5)There is no Target. Or Wal-mart. Or mall! I seriously love this. It may sound inconvenient to you to lack those things, but I am so grateful. We do have K-Mart, and I am forced inside about once a year to purchase something the grocery store doesn't carry - but I cringe.

6) There is little traffic, and no freeway to navigate. Ooh... I am a nervous wreck driving on freeways.

7)My husband loves it here. He would be so happy living the life of a cowboy - but he settles for working indoors at a computer, and spending the weekends enjoying the wildness all around him.

8)We love our small-town church and close-knit community.

Anybody want to move here? :)



Sadie chasing a bluebird. You can see the bird if you enlarge the photo. She kept saying, "Where did the blueberry go?"

Erik at Old Faithful. The patch is Adam's ranger patch. He takes it everywhere to remind him of his brave brother!

Sadie posing on rocks overlooking the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Best friends at Grand Prismatic Spring

Pumping water. My big helpers!