Other states, other lives, other souls

Helena is the Capital of the state, but only has 35,000 residents (There are only 1 million in the whole giant state!) As a result it has many of the features of a small western town in the U.S., but also features you would expect in a larger cosmopolitan area. I visit frequently from Minneapolis, MN, to see my daughter and granddaughter.

1. Helena sits in a valley surrounded on 3 sides by lovely “dry side” mountains. That means that Helena and the nearby east-of-the-mountain communities are arid, receiving an average of only 12” of rain per year.

   

   This makes for a very different color palette for the terrain that I find quite lovely—dusty blues and sage green, tawny browns, against a brilliant blue sky. Deep green tall pines add to the drama, while my midwest home welcomes me with thick green flat softness and well tended flower gardens.

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   Helena is full of small casinos attached to restaurants, motels, and in strip malls. Not surprisingly, there are an equal number of pawn shops. It tickled me when I saw an upscale vinegar and oils shoppe with the clever name Just Tapped. [The Urban Dictionary defines tapped out as out of money, penniless.]

3. Helena is home to a world class pottery residency center called the Archie Bray. It has spawned a vibrant arts community including many individual potters studios and a dynamic art museum, the Holter.
   

   Archie Bray clay tableau

   

   bird forest installation at the Holter
4. The Helena airport appears to be the one untouched by 9/11 security hysteria. You can pull up to the curb in front and park. No-one will challenge you. A giant mustachioed TSA agent greeted my daughter by name at the entry door and briefly chewed the fat. Later when my granddaughter Alder and I started through security he boomed out to the whole room, “Alder! Where is Alder?” Six year old Alder giggled and repeated several times, “I’m here!”. (She is pretty tiny for a six year old)
5. There are quite a few people in Helena who “carry”. I have only seen one man myself sporting a sidearm while waiting in line for his Starbucks Frappuccino. I was startled but then amused as I looked closer and saw his hand gun was a pleasant shade of green. (Not army green) It is common to hunt in this part of the state. My daughter’s freezer is filled with elk burger, elk steaks, venison, and other wild things that are buried too deep in the back. Many are part of a trade in return for a professional massage from her.
6. Helena and Montana in general has geothermal energy which results in natural hot springs. There are a couple nearby that I have visited. One has the look of an old school health springs, like Lourdes. Everything indoors is cement—hot baths, cold baths, and there is also an outdoor swimming pool with a great view of the mountains. The other one is an outdoor cedar-lined swimming pool with food and tables nearby. There are bands playing in the corner stage on weekends.
7. Helena is one of a few cities with a food forest. It is behind the new transit station just off a main street. My daughter started the process six years ago by getting permission from the city council to use a dilapidated one-acre park as the site for a ten day permaculture course on food forest design.The course ended with a several designs that incorporated community stakeholder requirements, along with a planting plan for edible trees, shrubs, and perennials. It also included a water-capture system to filter street run off for garden use. Six years later, on the power of dedicated volunteers, the Sixth Ward Park is offering weekend foraging to members of the community and edible plant education. Anyone can stop by and enter the six foot deer fence gate to look around.
8. Helena is predominately white and the state is very red (Republican). Yet in 2016 the town elected a refugee from Liberia as its mayor, unseating a four term predecessor. Now he is running for state Senate against a GOP incumbent. This interview with the Democratic mayor Wilmot Collins is instructive about how he sees bridging the partisan gaps in rural and libertarian Montana. https://theintercept.com/2019/05/13/wilmot-collins-montana-mayor-senate/
9. Helena in July can be very hot but it’s a dry heat, unlike Minneapolis. On this visit it was often 90 deg. F. but it hardly bothered me. At the end of the day, t h  e wind comes up and the temperature drops 10 deg. or more, with expansive (Big Sky) sunsets.
10. Doors to houses and cars are often unlocked and one can expect to run into a friend or two at the natural food store, on the street, or at an event. All small town standard fare, but Helena has a wonderful mix of high and low culture, rural and cosmopolitan, and that old West flare of cowboy hats, rodeos, and live-and-let-live approach. 

Try a visit if you want to see the American West. For foreigners visiting, don’t expect a shoot out at the OK corral.