Montana

So, one day I happened to bike through Bigforks, a lovely little dot on the map of Montana, with a touristic street full of artwork and coffee places, where I recommend everybody who happened to be in the neighborhood to stop, take a seat at the bakery, and watch life pass by for a little while with a nice cup of tea in hand. I needed food for the next few days of wilderness biking, and because I ran out of money, I went to a bank. The ATM had a note that read: “if you’re not a customer, go inside.” I wasn’t quite sure if this was a trick or not, but I figured I do as told. You know how in a bank you always have one young guy in a suit, one older guy a bit more normal dressed, and some ladies who have hair and make-up in place, and all look like they shop only in boutiques? Well, Bigforks is no different. After looking around some more, I realized going inside was a good idea. There was Halloween candy lying around. As I was heading over to get a lollipop, I heard some lady saying “I can help you dear.” So I had to skip the lollipop and headed over to the lady so she could organize me getting some money. Halfway her doing things to achieve that, one of the ladies a few boots over started screaming and there was a major swirl of action around her. My lady just kept going. I asked her what was going on. “Oh,” she said, “there is a snake in her boot.” In the meantime, the screamer had made her way surprisingly fast on very high heels to the opposite site of the room, where she started oh-my-goodness-ing to some other ladies. The older man decided it was time to save the day, grabbed the snake by its tail, and brought it outside. The lady next to the boot where the snake was found was also still at work, not impressed by what happened around her, and as she walked to the printer, she said: “well, better a snake than a mouse.”

Op weg ben ik al een paar keer een slang tegengekomen, ik denk dat het er hier vol mee zit. Ik had geluk, afgelopen week was het prachtig weer. Heerlijk om door het herfstlandschap te fietsen. Er is een bomensoort, de Western larch (Larix occidentalis), een coniferensoort die in de herfst zijn naalden loslaat. Nu dus. Als er dan een zuchtje wind staat, dan fiets je ineens door een regen van gouden naalden heen, fantastisch. Het is net of je keer op keer de hoofdprijs krijgt. Met mond dicht en volle teugen genieten… De bomen zijn hier zo hoog en lang, meestal kaarsrecht. Behoorlijke reuzen, vergeleken met oost Canadeze naaldbomen. Ook heb ik de eerste Amerikaanse zeearenden gespot, groot met een witte kop, wachten ze tot er een nietsvermoedende muis voorbij komt in de graanvelden. Prachtig, dit wilde westen.