I'm approaching the end of my second and final spring semester at UW, and although I'll be in Laramie through the summer, the melting of the snow (sort of), the submission of final papers and the impending arrival of parents for graduation signals that we're coming to the end of something, which has caused me to reflect upon my time here as a whole.
I've become really very attached to this town. I've grown to appreciate its eccentricities, and perhaps started to understand its cultural and political dynamics. I feel part of the community, or part of a community, at least. Although as a college town, it does feel different to many other small towns in Wyoming, with its transient population and, generally speaking, more liberal political views (although these certainly are features of the various boomtowns around the state and Jackson, respectively), it nevertheless has allowed me to experience the many novel aspects of living in a small town in the American West. I'm very grateful to have been able to live in this town of 30,000 at
7200ft for almost two years. I'm unlikely to live anywhere like it ever
again.
Unlike many counties in the state, we don't have significant energy extraction in Albany County. While this means we don't have a contaminated water supply as a probable result of fracking (Pavillion, WY) and don't have a 2:1 male/female population (Gillette, WY - insert own joke here), it also means there's not nearly as much money here to go towards various projects and activities. Pinedale, for example, close to a large natural gas field, built a $6 million rec center for a town of 2000 people. The coal, oil and gas industries certainly give a lot of money directly to the University, which is partly why we saw such controversy around public art installation "Carbon Sink", and much of the money that comes into the county is from the state legislature for higher education (UW is the only university in Wyoming), but compared to its resource-rich neighbors, Albany County has comparatively little to spend. This is not to say that it is impoverished by any means, but simply stands out as something as an exception in a region now characterized, to some degree, by these extractive industries. But we're probably ok here without the ozone alerts.
Sitting in the middle of a stark, largely empty valley, Laramie sometimes feels a little isolated (even more so when blowing snow closes the roads), but it's really very well-situated. We're only forty minutes from the lights of the big city, Cheyenne, with all it has to offer (Target! Olive Garden! A mall!), one-and-a-half hours from Fort Collins, which has much more to recommend it than Cheyenne, and about two-and-a-half hours away from Denver. So while Laramie does occasionally feel very far away from the rest of the world, it's not too hard to go elsewhere when it's needed. And sometimes it is. But then, whenever I have been out of town and am coming back along I-80, when we pass the giant Lincoln head 11 miles east of town, I know it's not long until we'll turn the corner and descend into the valley. It's really something.
So, as part of this reflection, I have composed a (by no means exhaustive) list of things about Laramie, or Wyoming more generally, that have made me laugh, smile, or scratch my head:
Laramie: a place where...
- You can leave your door unlocked when you're out, at least during the day. Often even at night.
- There are two Starbucks, both of which are inside grocery stores.
- When you're talking about bars and refer to “The Cowboy”, you have to specify whether you mean the one on 2nd Street (good for dancing), or the one on 3rd (good for drinking, arguably).
- You can see the mountains on your walk/ride/drive across town, you're a 20-minute drive from snow-shoeing/cross-country skiing, and less than an hour from downhill skiing.
- You can see what are apparently the tallest buildings in the whole state: the dorms. Sadly, Laramie cannot boast having the state's only two escalators - that title belongs to a bank in Casper.
- You can find surprisingly good sushi. Who knew?
- If you stand in certain spots, you can see right through town, from one side to the other.
- Many of the buildings downtown, including a charming bookstore and a less-charming bar/club, used to be houses of ill repute.
- Walmart is really the only place to buy clothes, and is also where you’ll find some of the most impressive views of the valley.
- It usually takes less than a minute after meeting someone to identify who you both know from a town, say, 600 miles away. Six degrees of separation? Not here. Wyomingites (or, really, anyone who has been here longer than a few weeks) can often do it in two or fewer.
- It’s sometimes not possible to leave town. Not “inadvisable” – actually not possible.
- Anything above 40°F is considered a warm day. Heck, anything above 32°F.
- The former mayor is the owner of what is arguably the town's most popular coffee shop. and "edgiest" if you're to believe the lettering on their front door and their WiFi password. Don't tell your customers you're edgy. It is not possible to buy groceries while you're at this one.
- You see guys in cowboy boots on most days. This one still gets me, even if my understanding of what's actually going on there has evolved since my first excited Facebook post in August 2011 about seeing a "real cowboy" wearing red cowboy boots in Walmart.
- You pass by Merica Hall on your way to Cheney Plaza
- This is front page news.
- It’s sunny almost every single day. As someone who has lived in the UK and Oregon, this is particularly exciting for me.
- Your neighbors might give you some of the meat they got from hunting a moose. With a bow.
Damn, I'm going to miss this place.
