Wyoming Landscape, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 30, $3,000.
On the Road Again (1)
Back in Baggs
Towns and Villages don't need necessarily to be pretty, they just should have atmosphere and character. Small locations usually have more of that, because they are more integrated into nature, while bigger cities, sad enough, are an Orgy in Concrete.
A village where I feel some atmosphere of the Old West, and where no ugly concrete buildings bother my eyes, is Baggs, Wyoming, next to the Colorado border. The number of people who live there, right on the bank of the Little Snake River, you almost can count on one hand, 400 and a few more. No, not really overpopulated.
Driving towards and into this little village you can be sure I am listening to a song that fits to this area, "My Pony, My Rifle and Me", for example. Also "Ride Away" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" works perfect. Yes, that depicts the Old West and grabs my emotion.
Some day ago I got a real feeling of the old west. I had checked in in a small motel in Baggs and was ready to sleep. Suddenly heavy hammering on my door. I opened to see two men and one of them with a pistol or a revolver - (we Europeans are not weapon experts) - or something like that in his hand stormed into my room, went into the bathroom, looked into the closet and underneath the bed. His short comment, "Seems to be clean". The other man started questioning me, "Are you by yourself? Did you have a visitor? Did you notice anything unusual this evening? Unusual noise? Arguing? "No, I did not notice anything like that" I said. The only visitor this evening are you two. And now I really would like to know which circumstances I deserve the doubtful honor of your visit? The two pistolero's excused, "Sorry Sir, we are policemen. About an hour ago the manager of a campground nearby got stabbed to death, and we are pretty sure the murder is still somewhere here around". With that they left and wished me a good night. Good night? Nearby a murder on the loose?
It was a sleepless night for me in Baggs, Wyoming.
