(Mis)Adventures

I went for my first run in almost a week this morning.  I'll get to why in a short while.

Elizabeth and I spent last weekend in the high, wide, and handsome land of Montana.  I find myself being more and more infatuated with the large state separating Wyoming from Canada.  It's still very similar to Wyoming, but the towns of Bozeman, Missoula, and my personal favorite, Helena, have a decent sense of liberalism (one that does not exist in Wyoming), delicious beer, awesome trails and mountains, and actual restaurants in which to eat.  Bozeman is a little on the yuppie/tourist side, but Helena is, in my opinion, what Laramie could possibly be if it ever got its shit together.  

Laramie is a college town.  Not "cowboy", not "Old West."  College.  And a pretty dumpy one at that.  The first things one sees entering Laramie from any direction are a) pawn shops, b) liquor stores, and c) some sort of junk yard.  Or Wal-Mart, which is really the same thing.  I love Laramie and have made it my home for eleven years, but it has potential, I feel, to be more.  I just am not sure what that would take, and I don't think I'm willing to beat my head against "tradition" to achieve it.  I can just go somewhere else where it already exists.

That rant was not my original intention, but that's where my mind wanders every time I come back to Wyoming from somewhere else.  And in true Wyoming parlance, I could say, "If you don't like it, leave.  We don't want you here anyway."  Might be time to heed that close-minded advice.

We were in Montana for a wedding in Helena, with stops to and fro, of course, in Bozeman.  Helena has trails right on the edge of town with Blackfoot River Brewing close by.  Pretty much a dream situation for yours truly.  On a running related note, I am looking at Elkhorn next August.  Lots of incentive to do it.

The wedding and weekend were great.  I ate way too much good food, drank delightful beer, ran a little bit, and kicked it with some amazing, generous, and hospitable folks.  

Helena, MT.

Pretty lady with great beer at Blackfoot River Brewing.

And we looked damn good at this wedding.

Everything was great.  Then this happened:

Eff.

This is the result of a piñata party gone wrong.  The wedding party took swings at a papier-mâché unicorn with no real success.  The bride stepped up to the plate, swung for all she was worth, lost the club (a broken/tapered 2x4 no less) and sent it sailing like a boomerang through the crowd.  It hit our friend Mariah, who was sitting on my left, directly above the eye, and clipped the side of my head on the ricochet.  I immediately started bleeding profusely, and after a few chaotic moments, we were put in a car and driven to the ER.

It took awhile to get admitted and all that jazz, but I did eventually get cleaned and stitched up.  No concussion or head trauma, just a nice, 3-centimeter cut.  Poor Mariah, however, was found to have a fractured skull that will require surgery to repair.  I apologize to her for not moving my giant head in front of hers.  Friends in Helena, you should definitely give my injury buddy a hug.

So, after that fun, we came home.  I didn't run because I wasn't sure how my head would feel.  It never really did hurt much.  When I got back, I remembered that for Valentine's Day, Elizabeth had bought me tickets to see my favorite band, Baroness, at the Bluebird.  I was also not sure how my head would like a loud metal show with moshing.  We decided to go anyway.

Baroness.

It was a great show.  I wore my earplugs and stayed out of the pit.  I will be sure to see these guys again when they undoubtedly come around in the future.

So, that's been a pretty eventful couple of weeks.  Classes start here next week, so all the students are back.  Life just got more treacherous in the Gem City.