I had hoped for tons of snow, something I don't see here in the balmy pacific northwest. The wish was granted, abundantly!
I had hoped to film my sister Bonnie's history-math-science-English classes, but 'life' happened instead. . . .we played hookey for the complete duration of my visit. Nobody wished to diagram sentences, conjugate verbs, or work out math equasions. World history paled against the lure of wild turkeys, deer, Canadian geese, and the stories of cougar attacks and grizzly bears.
We built a snow-woman, strung beads, wandered along an alpine lake in Glacier Park, filmed browsing deer in the forest, studied our ancestors and the family tree, and went to hear the Rocky Mountain Rhythm Kings play at the Snappy Sport Center among all the elk heads, beaver pelts, moose racks, skiis and snowshoes.
Snappy's was kind to allow the director of Camp Heebie Jeebies, Karla West, to bring her band there, so they could practice. When somebody asked the Rocky Mountain Rhythm Kings how often they practice, someone in the band said, "This is it!" They had a piano, guitar, banjo and bass, a cornet, drums, trombone and saxophone - and my brother-in-law, Frank, on the washboard and 'tinklers' - a conglomeration of cymbols and squaks.
They play ragtime jazz, with Linda Ensign as the female vocal lead. She says that her first appearance performing was for the Lutheran Ladies Aid meeting, performing "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam". She also works in vaudeville theatre with her husband, and performs with a modern jazz group. She danced to the ragtime tunes, performing the Charleston.Setting up their sound system, the Rhythm Kings welcomed everyone into the backroom, where folks sat next to one another on folding chairs. I noticed that most of them were retired folks, just like my sister and me, and they all seemed to know one another, talking about their trips here and there to avoid the snow (Phoenix), or to catch up on health issues. It reminded me of the banter at the Roslyn Cafe on that series "Northern Exposure". One of the guys, Don Snow, had to warm things up while setting up the speakers. He read a list of sensible western insights, gleaned over 78 years of rugged Montana living:
"Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco."
"Never kick a cow chip on a hot day."
"Always drink upstream from the herd."
"Never miss a good chance to shut up."
"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment."
"If you're riding' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there."
"Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back."
And, on aging, "One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been."
