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Estes Park
Dec. 3rd, 2005 07:59 pmhere's a couple things about Estes Park, the small town -- that barely feels like a small town -- where i lived for a quarter-century. wifey and i had to visit there today, and we haven't but just barely been there at all in the past nearly two years.
here's one thing i don't miss at all:
sure the town has some confusing twists and turns to it, but there's some sort of paranormal vortex that makes visitors there drive like complete dumbshits.
and there's some concurrent vortex that affects police officers to render them unable to see tourists doing incredibly stupid, highly dangerous and stupendously illegal things with their cars.
today while on a two lane turn into town, i was on the inside turn lane, and while making the turn, the car in the outside turn lane swerved into my lane, causing me to brake and honk the horn at the other driver, and all of this happened directly in front of a police vehicle, and the cop did absolutely nothing. i'm not exaggerating when i say that when i was honking at the other car, i was a scant 7 feet in front of the police cruiser.
if you are from out of town, you can almost get away with murder in this town. if it had been a local that had done something stupid like that, the cop would have somehow suddenly regained his sight and they would have lost points on their license.
one thing i do miss,
but reservedly so...
the 'local' effect.
it's a tourist town, alright? people who live there make lots and lots of money from tourism, and so they are accustomed to being as friendly and accomodating to the tourists as possible, and because they actually have very much hidden contempt for the tourists, they express it by being generally unfriendly and uncaring towards other locals.
but it was kinda funny when i went into a shop to buy some paper supplies for Vuzh Music, and even though i hadn't ever seen either of the shop employees at all, didn't know them from Adam, and while i was shopping, they completely ignored me and were entirely unhelpful (which they wouldn't have been for a tourist!), when i found what i needed, they immediately applied the local discount to me. i haven't lived there for years, and i'd never seen these people before, but they innately knew that i was a local.
strange.
basically,
i don't really miss living in the town at all, but i immediately feel at home there. it's my hometown.
i wouldn't feel quite as conflicted about it if it weren't also one of the most beautiful places on planet Earth. if it were an ugly butt town, i'd just say "see ya" and that'd be the end of that. but it does happen to be overwhelmingly beautiful.
here's one thing i don't miss at all:
sure the town has some confusing twists and turns to it, but there's some sort of paranormal vortex that makes visitors there drive like complete dumbshits.
and there's some concurrent vortex that affects police officers to render them unable to see tourists doing incredibly stupid, highly dangerous and stupendously illegal things with their cars.
today while on a two lane turn into town, i was on the inside turn lane, and while making the turn, the car in the outside turn lane swerved into my lane, causing me to brake and honk the horn at the other driver, and all of this happened directly in front of a police vehicle, and the cop did absolutely nothing. i'm not exaggerating when i say that when i was honking at the other car, i was a scant 7 feet in front of the police cruiser.
if you are from out of town, you can almost get away with murder in this town. if it had been a local that had done something stupid like that, the cop would have somehow suddenly regained his sight and they would have lost points on their license.
one thing i do miss,
but reservedly so...
the 'local' effect.
it's a tourist town, alright? people who live there make lots and lots of money from tourism, and so they are accustomed to being as friendly and accomodating to the tourists as possible, and because they actually have very much hidden contempt for the tourists, they express it by being generally unfriendly and uncaring towards other locals.
but it was kinda funny when i went into a shop to buy some paper supplies for Vuzh Music, and even though i hadn't ever seen either of the shop employees at all, didn't know them from Adam, and while i was shopping, they completely ignored me and were entirely unhelpful (which they wouldn't have been for a tourist!), when i found what i needed, they immediately applied the local discount to me. i haven't lived there for years, and i'd never seen these people before, but they innately knew that i was a local.
strange.
basically,
i don't really miss living in the town at all, but i immediately feel at home there. it's my hometown.
i wouldn't feel quite as conflicted about it if it weren't also one of the most beautiful places on planet Earth. if it were an ugly butt town, i'd just say "see ya" and that'd be the end of that. but it does happen to be overwhelmingly beautiful.
