Enga mellom fjella

Out of the eyes of Idaho

Out of the eyes of Idaho

Sun glare,
blue eyes and the Mormon stare,
I'm in Idaho and Desseret's air
is sucking out my moisture.

In a landscape of ashy craters and lava rocks,
fertile fields of wheat, potato pocked,
I cannot wait to leave,
to breathe the fresh wet flair
of new ideas.

© 2008 Kåre Enga [165.153] 2008-07-19

My only concern about this short poem is whether it will be interpreted as a put-down. It is true, by the way that: SE Idaho is LDS, has lava fields and volcanic craters. It is dry irrigated agricultural country. I have also experienced the wide-eyed look-in-your-eyes on people's faces. Blond hair and blue eyes are not required, but common. Desseret is not only desert; it is a way of living that does not always allow for cultural diversity. Salt Lake City is the diverse city of the region. Rexburg, Idaho? Not.

Poetically it is what it is. It is brand new and will need to be edited. I was sitting at Butterfly Herbs with a postcard of Idaho when suddenly the thought "sun glare, blue eyes and the Mormon stare" occurred. It flowed from there.

ME:

"I feel better even on the days I don't feel well." I wrote this (on that Idaho postcard to my friend Gary). Connie, Startiara , said I sounded better when we spoke today. My aunt Dot says so too ... so maybe it's true. Maybe I am doing better.

Went to Bonner yesterday on the number 4 bus (fare free Fridays). What a sad looking place (although I did come across some ripe huckleberries). Reminded me of Pennsylvania and the towns that hugged the base of mountains along the creek, railroad tracks and the one road in and out of town ... the factory, mining, lumber towns that died when the only industry in town closed down. Bonner is very very sad. It is on its way to becoming a ghost town unless things change for the better.

Today, I finally scored some moose poop. Yep. Filled my room with the aroma of digested and defecated willow. Yes-siree.

Where I'm staying rates 94 on the "Walking" scale. Where I grew up? 54 (55 where Fivesixer lives, close to my sister's). Where I lived in Kansas? 60 and 78. How about you? Do you live where you can walk to everything essential?

The link: http://walkscore.com

BLOGVILLE:

Margaret, Fallser , asked me about some comments I made the other day. This is my (edited) response:

I think there was more interaction between bloggers a year or so ago. Before I got active in responding to blogs, there was already an active group that read each others blogs. Some still do. The Blogville News came out of that. Another group started too but faded. It isn't easy to do a daily blog of interest ... a weekly ... maybe. There are all different types of blogs, of course.

I watch statistics because I relish them! Unfortunately, stats don't tell much. However, in a month I used to average 80 unique WdC readers, about 25% men. Got up to around 120/month in May of '07. When I started this blog in September it took a while to regain readership as folks were linked to my old one. [It is now at 59 viewers/month and barely 700 views/month, so yeah, blogging and blog interaction is definitely down.]

I don't do well with on-line groups. I'm much better in person! Have to find a group here in Missoula to hang with. Since I'm a prolific writer, I almost always have something new to share.

Do blogs spur creativity? Not for everyone. For me, it is two edged. I get to edit and share, but it takes away precious time from reading poetry and can exhaust me. It is time consuming.

An old wood structure in Bonner, Montana:



Montana: 82º at 17:15.

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