I lost my job in April, and the rest of the year was an absolute struggle. High cost of living, combined with unstable work took its toll on me. By August, I was at a breaking point, and by September, my girlfriend and I decided to pack up our belongings and move from California to Idaho.
Now, I'm a Cali boy, born and raised. I have lived in and around the Riverside area since I was about 3. Cali is what I know and love. The free-thinking, open-minded, tech savvy culture is what I always called home. 30 minutes from the beach, 30 minutes from the mountains. Vegas, Mexico, both 4 hours away. I essentially had life at my fingertips. Until... Idaho.
A friend of mine summed it up really well. "Welcome to Idaho, the fucking time machine of the US." Somehow I was transported back to 1992.
Half the town doesn't know what terms like "email" and "wi-fi" mean.
High School Girls all have the crimped over-permmed hairstyles again.
And flannel was considered haute coture once again. Not hipster-flannel. Lumberjack.
Everything is "just so" in this state. Idaho is such a red-state, bulls get pissed off and charge at it. On the radio station, there are 8 country stations, 11 religion stations, 3 classic rock stations, and a small mix of others. If you want to listen to music that was made in the last 2 years, you have very limited (and very censored) choices. No hip-hop or rap allowed.
Best of all, I still have California plates on my car. This labels me as a "liberal queer-o hippie" somehow, and gets me more sneers than I have ever expected. It doesn't help that I drive a Ford Focus, while the majority of people up here are in pickup trucks (called "rigs" here, for some reason...)
Highlights in this state include:
Idaho is so damn proud of their spuds, it's the feature on their license plates...
Famous Potatoes? Really?
There is even a Potato Museum in Blackfoot, a small town that shows it's "Tater Pride" every year with festivals.
Other Highlights of Idaho are....
....
....
I got nothing.
I moved up in October, and am doing my best to make the most of things. Will I move back down to Cali, or will I forever be trapped in "The Gem State?" Only time will tell...
Heh, yep. That about sums it up all right...
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to get so philosophical on a very old post (but since your blog has hooked my interests) but I think it's good that you moved to Idaho. A Daoist once called it "when a beautiful blade meets the rock to sharpen." Although residence in the Potato Pride Looney Bin has probably made your tongue and sarcasm sharper than your other faculties, I'm sure you've already found, or will find, a fulfilling experience somehow. If Martin Luther was able to write his challenge against Catholic debauchery and supremacy while doing the # 2 in his bathroom, I'm sure you can be even more profound in a perfectly analogous state.
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