Some of my friends and I are watching a new PBS series called "Frontier House" where three families got sent out into the wilds of Montana to experience the life of frontier homesteaders. Historians set them up with period clothing, tools, supplies, etc. and make them live out there for 5 months. The goal is to get set for the winter, because living through that first winter usually meant the difference between success and failure. Of course, if you stayed for 5 years you got to keep a whole heap of land.
If you've seen it, you've seen a lot of bickering and backbiting about little things the neighbors are doing. They all said they expected to go out there and have this great sense of old-fashioned community, but it turns out they can't stand each other.
Now you know why Montanans don't talk much and have kind of chilly relationships with neighbors. They're always doing something that bugs the hell out of you, but could mean the difference between life and death in the winter. So you just don't discuss neighborly things face to face unless it's going to endanger you or your loved ones. There's also not a whole lot of grape vine rumor going around these little communities. Everyone just has their own experience with their neighbors, and when other people come up in conversation everyone just sort of nods in agreement and moves on. Or says.... "Well, it's the Smiths, so... you know." And shrugs. If you don't know, then you won't agree with me and my assessment of them anyway, so we'll just not go into it.
I miss that.
The producers of the series aren't making them actually try to live through the winter. They experienced a June snowstorm (the narrator called it a 'freak' snowstorm. lemme tell ya. It's not a 'freak' snowstorm until August, and even then.... well, every year we celebrate Christimas in August for a reason) and one of the girls wandered around in wet clothes and nearly got frostbite on her little Californian feet. So I fear had they been left to try to make it through the winter they would have some casualties, and that's not usually conducive to whatever followup series they'll come up with next.
If you've seen it, you've seen a lot of bickering and backbiting about little things the neighbors are doing. They all said they expected to go out there and have this great sense of old-fashioned community, but it turns out they can't stand each other.
Now you know why Montanans don't talk much and have kind of chilly relationships with neighbors. They're always doing something that bugs the hell out of you, but could mean the difference between life and death in the winter. So you just don't discuss neighborly things face to face unless it's going to endanger you or your loved ones. There's also not a whole lot of grape vine rumor going around these little communities. Everyone just has their own experience with their neighbors, and when other people come up in conversation everyone just sort of nods in agreement and moves on. Or says.... "Well, it's the Smiths, so... you know." And shrugs. If you don't know, then you won't agree with me and my assessment of them anyway, so we'll just not go into it.
I miss that.
The producers of the series aren't making them actually try to live through the winter. They experienced a June snowstorm (the narrator called it a 'freak' snowstorm. lemme tell ya. It's not a 'freak' snowstorm until August, and even then.... well, every year we celebrate Christimas in August for a reason) and one of the girls wandered around in wet clothes and nearly got frostbite on her little Californian feet. So I fear had they been left to try to make it through the winter they would have some casualties, and that's not usually conducive to whatever followup series they'll come up with next.
