MY IMPRESSIONS OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA

i've been here going on 5 days now and have met serveral people and this is my take. by and large, they seem to be pretty friendly in a small town fashion-a bit guarded at first and then full of info afterwards. they really seem to enjoy their city and state and i can't blame them for montana is a gorgeous place to visit and i guess if your cold tolerant- a nice place to live in. i don't recall ever visiting an area with soooo many rivers and creeks and they all just take your breath away. it reminds me of austin or perhaps redondo beach without the beach. chi-chi and quaint and just a nice small town feel to it. being a college town- MONTANA STATE U just down the street, you do get the feel that the college kids have helped to kinda bring it into the modern era. nice coffee shops, tex/mex, bistros, and a couple of pubs--it seems that obtaining a liquer license in the state is difficult and expensive-though the local safeway etc sell beer and wine.
as far as i can tell this is the ethnic breakdown:


WHITE--ALL OVER
BLACK--2 AND THEY WERE IN THE LOCAL BBQ PLACE
MEX--NOW THAT I SAW--THEN AGAIN I HAVEN'T GONE INTO THE RESTAURANT KITCHENS OR OUT TO THE APPLE FIELDS
ASIAN--A SMATHERING-(5-8)
GAY OR EVEN GAY LOOKING--A BIT FAT ZERO. I WAS READING THE LOCAL ALPHABET GAY ORG. AND A COMMENTATOR HAD SAID THAT HE HAD BEEN CRUISED AT VARIOUS PLACES--IT SEEM THAT AS SOON AS HE GOT OUT OF HIS CAR BOZEMANIANS WERE HITTING ON HIM LIKE FLIES TO POOP. YEA RIGHT I HAVE YET TO SEE ANYONE EVEN RESEMBLING "THE GAYS" AND I HAVE MY RADAR UP ON THE ROOF OF MY SUV. I DON'T THINK ONE WOULD WANNA WALK AROUND BOZEMAN AND PROBABLY MONTANA WITH A SANDWICH BOARD ANNOUNCING THEIR GAYNESS. DON'T THINK ITS A HATRED THING SO MUCH AS ITS A SMALL,MOSTLY WHITE, MOSTLY LOCAL TOWN MENATLITY. I'M SURE THERE ARE HATERS HERE AS ANYWHERE BUT I THINK IF THERE WAS MORE ETHNIC INFUSION AS WELL AS A FEW MORE BRAVE SOULS JUST BEING WHO THEY ARE- IT WOULD BEGIN TO CHANGE

ALL IN ALL, I DO LIKE MONTANA AND I'VE BEEN TREATED WELL AND FOUND MOST PEOPLE RATHER HELPFUL. THE ANGLERS I MET AT THE RIVERS HAVE GIVEN OF THEIR EXPERIENCES FREELY AND OUTSIDE OF PEOPLE SEEING ME AS A PECULIARLY SEXY GUY-NO BAD VIBES FROM ANYONE.

TALKING ABOUT TAKING UR BREATH AWAY--yesterday i finally decided to fish this creek along a dirt farm road just east of town-it was calling my name-or was that the breeze rustling thru the weeds- and i couldn't resist the lure. grasshoppers were all over the place so i rigged up one to my tippet and away we went. at first i cast from the shore and not getting any hits, i ventured further into the creek-mind-you, your not supposed to walk thru private land so i decided to wade in as i had my wading boots on and no big deal. after still no luck, i figured there was no one around and the path was already beaten down so off i went into what at first seemed an easy enough path. BUT KNOWING ME, i left the beaten path and ventured into the unknown brush and by the time i finally saw the creek again, i was covered in twigs, pollen, flowers and god knows what else. now i was totally on my own with no one around and the creek to myself. GREAT--THAT IS UNTIL MY NOSE STARTED RUNNING FASTER THAN THE CREEK- AND IT WAS A FAST CURRENT!! my allergies kicked into high gear and were relentless. it was a two step from then on-cast line and mop nose....

so to add insult to running nose and biting insects and whatever else lay in store in the brush or water, i'm still happily wading upstream when i put my left foot on what seemed a shallow pool and in i went--musta been bout 4-5 feet deep the pool i waded into. damn was it cold and luckily i had my wallet in a ziplock cause the wading boots were beyond their capacity and the quick dry pants were quickly wet. after the initial shock of cold water subsided, it actually became pleasurable---took me back to the days when i'd wet my pants in grade school and just felt that warm glow about myself.

so anyway, i stayed in for bout half an hour and then couldn't stand the allergies and private prop or not once i crawled up the bank i make a beeline straight for the car and straight for the nearest drug store. i hadn't gone this straight in a while!!