For 'Tis Life - Shiny Happy Photos

As happens in life, just by nature of it being the unpredictable, uncontrollable, baffling roller coaster that it is, I've been feeling a little funky lately. For the entirely self serving purpose of having to look at them and hopefully brighten my world for a fleeting moment, it's about time to impart some happy-thought inspiring photos out to the rest of the world....

March 2011 - Funny, I know. But my car's back door hasn't opened in over a year, and I fixed it myself the other day....quite a happy moment!

May 2007 - My best friend's dog, Arthur, making himself comfy in the back of my car during his very first Yellowstone visit. Other than a brief stop to try and lick some sticky gunk off the Gardiner bridge, he was very well behaved for a puppy on a road trip!

Winter 2010/11 - Photo courtesy of Beth Pratt - Mama Bison and a late-born baby(aka lil red dog...we don't usually see lil guys this red when the snow is around!)

September 2002 - Iris and Colonnade Falls in the Bechler region of the Yellowstone backcountry. My first backpacking trip, almost 10 years ago.

December 2010 - My best friend in world, Jayne Rockford Pond, with her husband Alex and their one year old daughter Reesa. Family ski day in Steamboat Springs! I miss that girl an awful lot....

July 2010 - One of my nearest and dearest, Laney, fishing on Yellowstone Lake on her wedding day

May 2007 - Me on the widow's walk of the Old Faithful Inn...one of my favorite places in the world

May 2004 - My mom and me at an overlook for the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. Mom's first trip to Yellowstone, back when I was 21 years old.

November 2008 - My little brother and me(yes, I'm happier than I look....Dad has such great timing for catching terrible faces with the camera!). This was my brother's first visit to Colorado, and the first time I'd seen him in almost 5 years. 

November 2010 - The epic snowstorm that hit Gardiner, MT. This is only a happy picture because it looks pretty, and I got to drive away and leave on vacation about 2 hours later.

November 2010 - Balanced Rock in Arches National Park. Not only is this just cool to look at, but Arches is also one of my favorite National Parks. I also get warm fuzzies because Edward Abbey's trailer house was near here during the time he wrote of in Desert Solitaire, one of my all time favorite books

November 2010 - The wonderful man I love, playing in slot canyons in Arches National Park

October 2008 - My Dad and me on the Fish Creek Falls bridge, Steamboat Springs, Colorado

May 2007 - Arthur and me at the South Entrance to Yellowstone. I have a thing for signs when I visit places, and this is by far my favorite and most photographed....I have no idea why :o)

Summer 2010 - Me, Laney and Tyrene, another of my nearest and dearest. I have known Ty almost my entire duration of time in Yellowstone, and she is a wonderful, kindred, native Oregonian, Portlandian and Oregon Ducks football fan to have around. Plus, she's the reason I even know Laney. I love these girls!

The "Where to Live Dilemma"

Unfortunately I'm not talking about the fun and exciting "where to go?!" sort of dilemma. Rather, the one we face around is more like "Ok I'm here. Now where do I sleep?".

Having an economy based primarily(if not almost entirely....) on tourism, Gardiner has fallen into the same rut as other like places of seeing our housing options dwindle at an alarming rate. Just like everywhere else this has occurred, the 2 common culprits are increased demand and demand's(sometimes) evil counterpart, increase in price since the supply hasn't kept up. While of course there are always more intricacies involved in these matters than we see up front, I see a few big culprits. A few different categories, but similar result nonetheless:

1. There are fewer and fewer "old timers" - retired and/or elderly residents who have either lived here their entire lives, or at least a significant chunk of it. This population has decreased(2000 census notes 7.4% of our population as over 65, compared to the national average of over 12%) by their passing, moving in with their children or other family members, moving to assisted living, etc. When they do so, their homes and property often go to their children, who very often do not live here, nor do they want to. So, they decide to sell or rent.  If they opt to rent, they will inevitably learn about and consider the large sum of money to be had by not renting for a measly $500-$1000 a month when they can get that in a week from tourists. End Result: Vacation Rental
2.  If their option is to sell and their house is pretty much anything worth living in, it will more than likely be priced out of reach of many, many local residents(our median household income data was about $31,000 compared to the national average of just under $42,000 in 1999). End Result: Vacation/2nd Home
3. It's a small town, and as with many small towns, kids finish school and get the heck outta dodge. See #1. End Result: Parents house eventually becomes Vacation Rental or Vacation/2nd Home.

Granted, there are many more factors that come into play, but much of it is means to the same end. Areas like this are based on tourism because there is something that draws people here(proven by the fact that most of us are not from here!). With overall populations increasing**, that often means more people coming, which means a larger need for places for them to stay. No argument from me there(I wouldn't have a job without them!). But, the job doesn't do me much good if I don't have anywhere to live. Ironically, a good portion of my reason for moving back here was I was just plain sick and tired of needing 2 jobs just to get by in Steamboat Springs. **Note: Everywhere but here that is...my vacation rental takeover argument is firmly based in the fact that the residential population of our census block actually decreased from 1990-2000, with little change projected for 2010(per U.S. Census Bureau)

This growth phenomenon in towns like this can have some great benefits. An out of town investor has purchased 3 run-down local bars/restaurants in the last 2 years and done some wonderful things to renovate  and rejuvenate them. The out of town children of another property owner partnered with their dad to build a wonderful roof top patio bar that is great new place to hang out in the sun with a cold drink and amazing view. Another out of town couple tore out a long-vacant gas station and put in a little BBQ joint(with wonderful hash brown casserole at breakfast, I'm told!). These are great improvements, but they come with a price - the investor who purchased and renovated the 3 bars/restaurants also just purchased his 3rd house in the area, just before the sellers were about to rent it to a local family(with a clause to honor their lease if the house should sell). I have also seen friends need to leave their jobs because their landlords chose not the renew their lease to turn their property into a weekly rental. I have seen friends purchase mobile homes and trailers(often all one can afford to start off with), only to have the land they pay lot rent for sold off and built on. Most recently, an 8-unit apartment building was sold,and plans made known immediately via 30-day eviction notices that the building will be torn down. This last event leaves 8 individuals and families all looking for somewhere to live at the same time, a time which conveniently lines up with the spring influx of summer seasonal works also looking for a place to live. I by no means intend for this to be a slam to these investors/purchasers, as it's a great area to invest in and it's not for me to judge what people do with their resources(because I might do exactly the same thing if I had them!). It is, however, always sad to see another of the already limited residential properties go by the wayside, adding another tic to the growing number of vacation properties.

This is the point where I should not break the big rule of "No Bitch with No Fix"(or at least suggestion of fix!), but this one truly puts me at a loss....we are too small for a legitimate affordable housing program, we are too dependent upon the tourist industry to not provide for their demand, and the cost to purchase is quickly out-pacing income. Oh magic 8-ball, what do thee say?

The Two Minute Warning on Another Yellowstone Season

One of the things that comes with living in not just a small town, but a small town that is a gateway community to a National Park is learning to accept the concept of seasonal relationships. As another season in Yellowstone winds down, and Gardiner settles into a nice little mud season before the summer traffic arrives, thoughts go to this dynamic and how we all choose to deal with it.

With a year-round population of about 850(as of 2000 census, and including outer-laying areas), a large portion of those you interact with are seasonal staff from both the park and local business who pump up their hours and staff during the busy summer season. A significant portion of these jobs, however, disappear along with the throngs of summer visitors, so as a quickly as these people showed up they are gone again. This was a very tough thing for me my first summer working in Yellowstone...I left Old Faithful with a friend(love you Brent Simon!), bound for our common home state of Oregon, and were both a sobbing mess at the thought of leaving our new-found "family". As the years went by though, this seemed easier each time. Sometimes I attribute this to already having a group of close, established friends so I just didn't meet as many new people; other times I seem to know, deep down, that I probably didn't go out of my way to make new friends, in the name of saving the inevitable, heart wrenching goodbye that comes about more often than not. Surely a bit of each of these is true to a point but, regardless of which, it makes me a bit sad to think of both the countless good-byes and the missed opportunities at wonderful friendships that I may have passed by.

This winter marks my 10th season of working in Yellowstone(not to confuse "season" with "year"...I have worked in the park for about 5 1/2 years) and the passing into the world of double-digit seasons is somewhat bittersweet. Seasonal folks are making plans for their "break", a concept that us with regular day jobs and houses to take care of find a foreign one, at best. "Fun-employment" is a thing of the past; notebook pages filled with addresses of new friends are replaced with trips to the post office to retrieve the electric bill; the countdown begins to the summer days when the grocery store will stay open past 7pm(!) and we all anxiously await the sunshine. But with the sunshine comes the influx of raft guides, housekeepers, servers and of course, the visitors. But, best of all, the seasonal friends will return with pictures and tales of fun adventures....and us regular, full time town folks will start dreaming up ways to get two weeks of vacation at one time :o)