Out of Range

If I want to listen to the radio at my house, I have four options.  Only four FM stations come in on my radio.  I have taken to giving these four stations nicknames, as follows:

The Easy Listening Station
Today's soft hits.  Supposedly perfect for the office.  Who has an office out here?  Most people's 'office' is the seat of their tractor, or the kitchen counter.  I suppose people in town may be able to use this station for its intended purpose.  To me, another nickname for this channel is The Bore Me To Sleep Station.

The God Station
No music here. But if its fire and brimstone you want all day every day-- you know, in case you want to feel guilty about living your day-to-day life, this is the station for you!

The Native American Station
Certainly the most interesting station.  They offer limited news from nearby reservations, and an EXTREMELY diverse music rotation.  Today on my drive home from work, I listened to this station for about fifteen minutes, after I had driven out of range for NPR.  The first song they played was a Native American dance/chant.  Next, there was a PSA about avoiding the perils of HIV/AIDS-- and I have to point out that the song playing as background to this PSA was Cruel Summer, by Bananarama.  As if to point out the obvious-- Yeah, it would be a cruel, cruel summer if you came down with HIV...  After the PSA, a country-western heartbreak song was up.  Then, another country song by the same artist, followed by yet another by that artist, which made me think that the deejay had either fallen asleep or gone out for a prolonged smoke break and left the album to play on.  I have heard every style of music imaginable on this station, which is partly why I like it. You really never know what you're going to get.

The Country Station
This is actually the station I listen to the most.  I never liked country until I moved to the West, but once out here I found that many areas have very few stations to choose from, and if they have any music stations at all, at least one of them will definitely be a country station.  What's more, I like that country music is easy to learn and easy to sing along to.  This station also gives stock reports several times a day and provides the most accurate and timely local news and information, making me feel more connected to the community.


Our music tastes reflect our personalities; music perpetuates lifestyle.  That being said, I wonder what these four stations reflect about their listening market? What does your favorite radio station reflect about you?

Peoples of Havre

When we want groceries, we drive either 45 minutes (to Chester), or an hour (to Havre). Today, needing to stock up upon returning from our Denver vacation, I chose Havre (prounounced Hav-Er-- not to be confused with the French city of Le Havre, which is pronounced much differently.)  Havre is a city of roughly 10,000 inhabitants, though its shops and businesses serve a broader community beyond residents of the city proper.   Havre is where country people in North-Central Montana go to do business and run errands.  You can find anything you should require in Havre, and if you can't find it, you probably didn't need it anyway.  Thus the unofficial city slogan of, "Havre Has It!"

One thing that Havre does have is diversity.  Four distinct groups of people that I notice when I go to Havre are: Town People, Country People (I guess that's me now), Hutterites, and Native Americans. I suppose a lot of Canadians go to Havre as well for shopping.  Town People and Country People can be difficult to distinguish, but Country People tend to be forming a line at the parts counter in the local implement dealership (yes, I have already found myself there more than once!), and are often dressed in their 'work' clothes-- straight from the farm.

Hutterites are a religious denomination, who, from what little I have learned, are similar to Menonnites. They are easy to pick out due to their distinctive way of dressing.  As a former textiles and clothing major in college, I am very interested in their clothing.  Women wear dresses and keep their hair covered, and men wear dark pants with patterned shirts and suspenders. Often, men have beards.  Sleeve styles for both men and women are slightly leg-of-mutton, and most things look to be homemade.  I would like to learn more about Hutterite dress.

Havre is very close to two of the seven Indian Reservations in Montana-- Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy. Because of this, it is extremely common to see Native Americans around town.  In Iowa, we have extremely low numbers of Native American population, so it still catches me to see so many around Montana, and especially in Havre.  I am not very knowledgeable at all about Native American history and culture at this point, but I am very interested in learning more.

(Photo taken from Wikipedia)