One Horse Town or Gateway to God's Country? (part one)

So I have told my story in person regarding our recent trip to Dillon, Montana mostly because to write about it would be a novel at the very least. So for my next few blogs, I'm going to highlight this magical place and it's affect on me personally. I might throw in a note or two about how I think it affected Chelsea, but to get anyone's heart for something, you almost always have to hear it from them.

So with a population of just 5,000, some might call Dillon a "one horse town". Some might say that Dillon seems like one of those "middle of nowhere" "back country" "hick" towns. Well to some extent those people might be right. Dillon is small and the community is rural for sure. Some of the folks speak with a drawl much like the ones you hear in the south and there is something about it that makes it feel remote. Most people when the hear of a town like this they think of weird movies like deliverance or some old western. Well truth be told, much of Dillon is from the turn of the century, but I don't remember seeing any banjos. So if it's not creepy or a gun slinging town, then what is it?

Well I like to describe Dillon as a "Time Warp". Its a place that us "orange county folk" didn't know still existed. Sure I've been a part of a small town community before, but it was always infiltrated by "flat landers" in their big SUVs. In Running Springs, though beautiful and charming, we still felt pretty close to things like Walmart. With that, most of us still had "SoCal Mentalities". You know what I mean, it's the mentality that helps us cope with the freeways, or the smog, or the plasticity of people around us. In Dillon, things are even different than that. I noticed something while cruising the town that was foreign to me while there and I believe it is a perfect example of this "Time Warp" factor I've mentioned. Driving around town on Saturday, I noticed something coming from the other cars on the road. It was something you rarely see nowadays and it really stood out to both Chelsea and I. Once I noticed it coming from cars, I noticed it on the sides of the road, in fact, it was everywhere. It seemed as though the Pastor must have alerted the entire town to our presence, and they were excited for us to be there, because just about everyone waved to us. Before I go any further, it's not the kind of waving you guys are used to on the 405 N at 4:30 in the afternoon, but the kind of waving you seen when you drop your kids off for school, and their still at the age where they like people to know you're their parents.

What's in a wave? It's a simple gesture really. Five fingers open with the palm outward and held up so others can visibly observe. But that's not quite a wave is it. Well maybe for some, but a real wave has a little boogie to it, doesn't it? It's that small little shake of the elbow and wrist that really makes a wave clear. That's when you know someone is really waving at you. A wave can say so much, can't it? It can say "Hi", "Bye", "Go Ahead" and my favorite "Welcome". I'll be honest, though I'm kind of maximizing the wave factor a little, it really is a great representation of Dillon.

Every one is friendly, welcoming and helpful. They don't care if you're new, they just care that you feel welcome. There's something about it that's genuine, beyond what we see here in our "bustling metropolis".

Okay, I said all that to say this; most small towns may be small, they may be remote. They may have a high school with less students than your local elementary school, but they are anything but "One Horse". Dillon, well Dillon isn't just a small town. Their welcoming atmosphere enhances the beauty of small town life. Maybe like it was here in orange county when we were still small. I believe the "Time Warp" factor of Dillon, makes it more than just one horse. It's really more like the Gateway to God's Country.