A quiet time in Pincher Creek July 26-27

Pincher Creek July 26-27

Up at 7 and on my way down #22 to Pincher Creek – short and beautiful - just how I like my drives to be.

I checked in at the municipal campground which is right in town along the creek. The camp host wasn’t in so I checked with my compass to find a site that would be shady in the afternoon. When I went to get water, a big voice yelled across to me – “Are you moving in here?” I turned and said, ”Hi, how are you?
 But she ignored that. Bossy Boots told me that I had to move from the site I had chosen because she said she needed the space for tenters. I acquiesced but wished I hadn’t, especially when the sun was beating down on my trailer that afternoon and evening.

I like being here because I read Annie Dillard’s book of her time spent around Pincher Creek. There’s one main street, a Timmy Ho and other business areas, and not a lot to see so after doing my laundry I decided to walk along the creek.

I saw two young boys about 9 years old in a bike park and one of them came up to the fence to say hi to Baloo. He said his name was Christopher and that I could come in the park with them so that Baloo could run around. He told me where the entrance was and that he would bike up there to meet me. Eric, his brother was also there and he sat on the ground and patted Baloo.  When I asked them about school, Eric said he didn’t like any part of school, not even PE, and that he wished he didn’t have to go. He looked so sad, I wished I could do something to cheer him up, but it seemed as though Baloo sensed his need and curled up beside him as though he had known him all his life.

Chris rode over some of the dirt jumps and told me I could cheer for him if I liked, and I did with lots of enthusiasm. He told me that his aunt owned the best bakery in town and gave me directions to get there. And he was right, the bakery was cheerful, painted a lovely bright yellow with white trim, and the soup was full of flavour and good healthy vegetables, the cheese bun was scrumptious, and everything in the display case looked wonderful. I talked to his aunt and she said that people needed to take the time to sit down and enjoy quality food, and I certainly agreed with her.

Yellow plastic ducks, hundreds of them, floating down Pincher Creek, and people catching them under the bridge – Friday night fun when there’s not much to do?  Questioning revealed that it was a fund-raiser for the museum.

Tonight when I packed up my trailer so that I could leave quietly in the morning, I met a friendly young man and his wife, newlyweds, who were enjoying their honeymoon travelling in a truck and sleeping in a tent. He told me that he was a carpenter and that they had just got a job working at the church so he was teaching his wife how to help with rebar. What a transition! He offered me a hot dog cooked over their campfire. Nice people in Pincher Creek. I asked a lady what it was like to live there all year round. She said it was nice except for the wind. You wouldn’t believe how bad it can get she said.

On the road again…for the perfect little town…