Dispatch from Havre, MT.

Summer dawn comes slowly to north-central Montana, on the cusp of the Great Plains. Morning begins a full hour before sunrise, as the sun sends rays of light over the even eastern horizon, when the nighttime demons head to shelter. Coyotes and owls sing their final tune, and night gives way to dawn.

Morning here smells of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and exhaust. The tractors, trains, and diesels start up; tractors to the fields, trains on the Hi-Line off to the east and west, and diesels head out onto Highway 2. The grains grown here will be turned into pancakes, hog and chicken feed; all of it has to be moved around the country to become something you will pay for in your supermarket checkout. Life today is the same as yesterday and tomorrow.

I am amazed, every time I visit here. The clerks in the stores take the time to talk with you, to make sure you found everything you wanted (and then some more); and no one seems to be rushed as they are in major metropolitan areas. Yesterday I was in a local bike shop, looking for an odd-sized spacer. The owner said he was sure he had something like that, and disappeared to return with a small box of odd parts. We looked through it, and yes, found a good part; when I went to pay him, he said, “no, just glad to help you out.” Try that at your local Home Depot. No, the grocery stores don’t carry Quinoa or couscous but I did find a small pasta that could substitute in my recipe.

Is it perfect? No, the winters are bitter cold (-40 and a wind chill factor on top of that), and it is uncomfortably (for me) humid in the summer. But for some, it is a decent trade-off. We took our granddaughter to test for kindergarten, and I found out the class sizes range from 12 to 16. Wow. Double Wow; in the Salt Lake City area, we are dealing with 32-38 students per class. I should mention the bus stop (and the mailbox) is 1.5 miles from her house! Well, it is good exercise.

My son and his family live 5 miles (as the crow flies) from the post office, on a dirt road that becomes very greasy when it rains. Right now (10 PM), I can hear frogs, coyotes and an owl. Cottontail rabbits amused his two dogs this afternoon; the rabbits seem to know the dogs can only go so far on their tethers.

If you have the opportunity to visit Havre, MT., (http://www.havremt.com) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havre,_Montana) I suggest Murphy’s Bar and Grill; Gary and Leo’s IGA (grocery); Triple Dog Brewing Company (https://www.facebook.com/brewon2) and Nalivkas Pizza (http://www.nalivkas.com/). Note: these are unpaid advertisements!