The Weekly Croissant: Dispatch from the Wild West
Mountain Lighting / Itchy Blankets / Cowhide Rugs
Greetings my Croissants and I hope you all are having a lovely week!
I’ve been enjoying my time out west where it has been Summer, Winter, and then Summer again in the space of about seven days.
Bozeman, Montana is a beautiful hub of life surrounded by snowcapped mountains and a delicious blue/pink light. Landing in the airport you can already see the panoramic landscapes through the building’s windows. Who needs airport art installations when you have this?
For two nights I slept in the venue basement which had a greenroom/apartment set up with nice bathroom and kitchenette. There was no bed, just a big couch, which is no problem for me…but there were no sheets and only some very scratchy woolen blankets.
The building is converted from an old refrigerator storage space, where fruit and meat awaited its transportation around the country. I slept with a small space heater running. Every thirty minutes or so, it would detect the temperature lowering a restart with a dramatic buzz that so closely mimicked an alarm clock that I would leap awake, and then lie back again in frustration.
As I felt the scratchy wool against my legs I was reminded of one of the most absurd lodging nights I’ve ever experienced. I was traveling through England with my bandmates Cy and Shelby, and we were playing at a rural farmhouse that had a kind of dinner and a show situation. They had offered to house us and I had gratefully accepted since we were in the middle of nowhere.
When we arrived in the home, it immediately became clear that accepting this kind offer had been a mistake. There was a fresh dog shit in the hallway, and a strong stench of cow throughout the house. One of the hosts rushed in apologetically and cleaned up the poo, explaining that they were training a new puppy.
It was Shelby’s turn for having her own space, so she took one room, and Cy and I went into the other. There was a bed and a sort of cot/bench thing on the end of it with some animal fur bedding. There was no way (as an employer) that I was going to make Cy sleep on that cot, and he wouldn’t have fit anyway, so I was like, no problem I can do this.
It was late and we were all tired, so we tried to escape the hosts as soon as possible and get into bed. I lay there on this pile of dirty bedding, and noticed the cow smell becoming more intense.
“Oh”, I said to Cy, “There’s a cowhide rug under this bench, that must be why it smells”.
Just then, the puppy (in training) pushed his way into the room. He ran happily over to my bench-cot and took a giant piss on the cowhide rug.
Cy sat up in bed and stared at me.
Neither of us said anything. Then we both lay back in our respecti
ve beds and tried to pretend nothing had happened.
I thought about all the life choices that had led me to this moment. Eventually, I drifted off into a fitful sleep in which I dreamed of barns and cows.
Anyway, here are some croissants that I found at the Wild Crumb Bakery in Bozeman - highly recommended if you’re in the area.
Hope y’all had a wonderful weekend!
xo
Rachel
I think there’s a song in this one Rachel. I think it will be easy to find a word that rhymes with dung.