1200 Miles and a World Apart

I recently spent 10 days in my hometown of Helena, Montana.  There once was a time when I would have rather lived just about anywhere else, the thought of returning to Montana to live the simple life was completely revolting.  But with every visit my heart melts a little more and over the past 10 years my little icy rock has turned to warm squishy muscle.  The livin' is easy, the weather is unpredictable, and time seems to move at a slower pace.  The standard speed limit is 25 mph and no one seems to have trouble driving this slowly; I couldn't drive 25 in California if I even wanted to, no one else would allow it, I'd be run off the road.  But the truth is, I would never want to drive that slowly, anything under 40 is just wasting time.


Whenever I'm in Helena I find myself walking all over the place, and not because I have to, but because I see no reason not to.  While in Helena I accompanied my mom and dad on their regular daily walk of about 3.5 miles.  This walk goes up through the historical district to the base of Mt. Helena, then down through downtown and back to whatever neighborhood my parents live in.  On this entire walk there are only 2 dogs who bark behind their fences, minimal traffic, garbage free sidewalks, deer feeding on chilly winter grasses, clean air, and frankly it's just a pleasant experience.  It's a real time-out from the annoying work day; pretty much the complete opposite from my daily walk with Dexter.


Montana is beautiful, there is no doubt about that.  Everything that is not man-made is completely stunning.  Standing on top of the mountain that hosts the Discovery ski area, my Dad and I looked out over the frozen lakes below, the green trees sprinkled with snow, and the mountains that go on forever and ever until they fade into sky which then proceeds to expand overhead into the biggest sky you could ever imagine.  


In Helena, at least, there is no city planning to speak of.  Business come and go too often, old buildings are left abandoned for years while new ones are built with no regard to their setting.  Helena is starting to expand outwards, strip mall type atrocities are being constructed farther and farther out from the center, and the businesses that are going in are unnecessary replicas of giant chains.  What sucks about this is there are so many empty store fronts and abandoned buildings within the largely populated center of town that expanding outwards like this is pretty unnecessary.  I'm remembering this while driving through Hollywood on my way home from the airport, looking at businesses stacked on top of each other and billboards everywhere and hundreds of people walking about and traffic and really just a sensory overload...while driving with the windows down, soaking up the 75 degree sunny weather and loving every minute of it.  


Montana and California really couldn't be more different in every way, and I am completely in love with both.  I can't decide if I want to spend the rest of my life among the hustle and bustle of sunny CA or in a cabin on top of a mountain under the Big Sky... why can't it be both?