1912

Yesterday was a busy, people, malls and gambling day. The names of the slot machines where: Lucky Lobster, Rich Girl, Poker Princess, Mega Money, Big Bucks, Wishing Well, Drunk Dragon…
If you stick your nose out of the door things will happen, says a friend. And thus on the road again I wonder whether it is Tumbleweed season. They roll over parking lots; tumble over the road where they get crushed to smithereens in head on collisions. It kind of hurts my feelings as I gaze sympathetically at the Tumbleweeds huddling together in valleys, momentarily safe. I am looking for a kind place, out of the wind, away from Drunk Dragons but with a cup of coffee and so stumble upon ‘The Temperance Saloon’ walking back in time, right into 1912. Old green walls, tin ceiling, nice old or homemade furniture, crisp and clean and the people waiting on you in period. If you like the old west style, you can walk around and discover the different adjacent rooms with riding skirts, vests, cotton shirts and blouses. Some of the items are still made by the same factories producing them more than 100 years ago. The underwear section is cute, bloomers that are almost pornographic, notwithstanding the yards of materials, having strategic openings so that skirts do not have to be lifted. Long Johns with flaps have nothing to do with undoing the buttons and then the flap falling down at the risk of being soiled in the process. That would be totally impractical; these open sideways so that the essential parts can stick out and everything is kept fresh… Did you ever contemplate these practicalities of pioneer life? Well here you can learn a lot. And the temperance? Yes this saloon is strictly no alcohol, no smoke, but with a lot charm. I guess I forgot to ask whether they have Wifi.
The old town with pawnshops, the salvation Army, a pretty old Hotel, two museums and some antique shops is fairly intact; still a place to walk, to sit in a park on warmer days, and to find deliverance from the Wal-mart cities which spring up all over the country; the new parts of towns too often build without rhyme or reason, without an eye for beauty. Cheap, practical, catering to big cars and greed that is their main characteristic and I wonder how can one create or find a sense of community in such places, how can one pursue a dream? Maybe here dreaming of the past is the only way forward into better futures.