Round VIII

I arrived here in Casper late yesterday afternoon. Here’s the lowdown on my latest hosts. I’m staying with Jim, Gail, and Jeanette, they also have a son who lives in town. Jim grew up in L’Anse, the rival town of Baraga directly across the bay. Jim’s sister and my mom have been best of friends for several years. It’s been fantastic to talk with Jim and Gail about Baraga and L’Anse and see a perspective of his (and mine) hometown years down the road while living in Wyoming. One of the coolest parts is how he (and many others across the country) subscribe to the weekly L’Anse Sentinel. It’s a small town paper that goes a long ways. It brings the town and community together. Gail was telling me how she grew up in Denver and never thinks about subscribing to her hometown paper. It’s one great advantage of a small town, and that paper is always anticipated every Wednesday.

Jim is a banker here in town. Gail works with government group housing, or something like that, I’ll learn more. And Jeanette (or Jette) is a senior in high school who is very musically gifted, piano, saxophone, drums, guitar, clarinet, and probably a few others.

Last night and this morning were pretty chill. I caught up on some laundry, ate some delicious mashed potatoes, and watched a shocking comeback on Monday Night Football. This morning I was able to sleep in for a while and catch up on a few things. Then at 11 I was lucky enough to go to lunch at Hardee’s with three energetic high school girls. Sitting with them on their lunch break you get a great feel of high school. The topics, the jokes, and just the free spirit they all have. Then I got a brief tour of Casper through the perspective of Jette’s friends’ Rachel and Liz. There’s a stark contrast of where people bring you depending on their age. Rachel and Liz brought me to the mall. And no complaints there. I’m not a big fan of the mall, but I can tolerate it for a short time, and it’s great for people watching.

My worst trait as a photographer is not having my camera with me. Rachel and Liz showed me two of the seven wonders of Casper. They included a cool old steel spiral staircase and a mirror that’s quite funny. I’ll have to hit them all with my camera before I head out of town, which looks like it will be Saturday morning. The three girls are quite stern in making sure I’m at the big football game on Friday night. That’s no problem for me, I’ll enjoy it. But, if I didn’t go I’d be worried for my safety as much as they want me to go. Here’s to the start of another great week. Round VIII.