Well everyone, it looks like winter is here. How do I feel about it? the freezing temps and snow are cute for a few days. Then it turns into a relentless grind. It’s character forming, however.

Recently, the Washington Post wrote about the “land rush” here in Montana, and how residents from places like New York and California are “escaping Covid-19”.

They are in for a big surprise. I’ve heard estimates of 35,000 new residents. Many of whom bought houses sight unseen. This weekend, western Montana was slammed with below zero temps and up to a foot of snow. And it’s not even Halloween.

I’m not quite sure why California residents, or Oregon residents are bailing for Montana. The weather here is FAR WORSE than either of those states, both of which you have the option of driving to “new weather” within a half hour drive. This is not the case for Montana. What you see is what you get…for hundreds of miles.

I’m also a little confused as to why California residents would pass up the tens of millions of undiscovered acres and federal land between San Francisco and Montana. That’s a lot of amazing scenery, and much better weather they’re just skipping across.

And finally, I’ve never quite understood why people “escape the cities and suburbs” yet bring that exact property aesthetic to the new place (in this case the Rockies, and in this case cutting down native flora and replacing it with golf course lawns). I plan to write some more about this, and it is of course detailed in a few of my unpublished novels I have set aside for a rainy day.

Anyway greetings from Montana. It’s freaking cold.