TEN-STEPPING IN MISSOULA

Down in a dark, industrial section of Missoula, Montana, a bright Budweiser beer sign flickers invitingly (if you like Budweiser) in a dark window.  The neighborhood is a good place to be if you are looking to remodel your house. But we are looking for the Sunrise Saloon, Missoula’s only country western bar that seems to have live music this Saturday night.

My friend Merry from the Park and I are visiting my son Dan who lives in Missoula. For our 'dinner out,' Dan took us to his favorite dive bar, The Oxford Saloon, which also offers a huge 1-pound rib eye for about $14 which you can enjoy in the ambience created by a cast of characters that look like they came right off the set of Duck Dynasty. The Ox, as its familiars call it, has been open 24/7 since 1883. The bar did move once but the actual bar itself stayed intact at the old address until the new address was ready for it. Then the patrons unbolted the bar and walked the bar down the street to its new home, all their drinks still on top of the bar. Cheers it ain't. The bartender's name is Beth and she likes my Dan - says he is a 'nice boy'.  I like her.

We also walked down to the much classier Montgomery's Distillery, all shiny brass and copper with designer swivel seats at long tables and leather seats at the bar.  We savored the Distillery's two white spirits and each bought a fancy mixed drink with names like White lady and Mango Lassi. At Montgomery's, we ran into the daughter of the owners of Willie's Distillery in Ennis, Montana where Merry and I had spent a pleasant hour tasting their bourbon and other Montana-ingredient spirits just a few weeks ago. (Have I mentioned that even though Montana is a geographically enormous state (4th largest) it is a place where everyone seems to know everyone else?) She told us she loved the beautiful shiny distillery in the basement of Montgomery's. A distiller's daughter for sure.

Down at the Downtown River Park, after visiting the River Park's fantastical children's playground, we watched a wonderful authentic carousel carry happy children and their parents around and around. We walked along the sparkling Clark Fork and watched a small group of 'surfers' try to keep upright on Brennan's Wave, an artificial bump in the river that creates waves enticing enough for kayakers and surfers. The Clark Fork is one of Missoula's favorite activity venues and is generally full of kayakers, tubers and swimmers this time of year. It's the River that Ran Through it (but not in the film - just the book).

Later, Merry and I want to do a little boot-scooting. Merry even brought her bright blue cowgirl hat. Dan is willing. He loves country music and doesn’t mind spending time with the woman who has a deeper checkbook than he has. He’s a smart young man. That's how we wound up in the dark, industrial bowels of Missoula.

Parking is no problem – those industrial buildings are all shut down for the night or the weekend and there are plenty of empty parking spaces. We know we are at the right address but can’t find the door.  We walk around, honing in on the following the sound of country music. The requisite bouncer is at the door although there is no cover.  Inside, the band is just getting started and the couples are already out on the floor.

I don’t usually frequent country bars in Tucson. But here where the West is truly full of cowboys and rodeos and range and cattle, it just seems exactly right.  One thing I do like about country music is its danceability. In a country music bar, you can spot the couples who have been dancing together a very long time. They seem to flow as one unit across the generous dance floor with an economy of step that is amazing given the real estate they travel. That’s the second thing I like about country music bars – they almost always have a larger than normal dance floor. You really can’t waltz on a postage stamp.  Of course, those lucky folks who know Western swing need a reasonably sized dance area, too. Showoffs.

Country music fans are pretty multi-generational and country bars also tend to have a wide variety of generations on the dance floor. Various types of swing are popular at college campuses – at least in the West – and young people swirl with their partners, the girls wearing wide flowy skirts that open like flowers as their partners spin them around time and time again. Most everyone is dressed in some variation of country. The gents wear fancy western shirts and bright silver belt buckles. Many of the couples, by design or long habit, have color-coordinated their outfits and remind me of the square dance couples of my childhood.

And then there is the music. I’m not a big fan of all country music; I don’t like the twangy stuff and I will NOT stand by my man if he doesn’t deserve it but I do like the outlaws – Waylon, Willie and the boys. I also like Reba and Loretta and Carrie and Emmie Lou. Harlan Howard, a country music songwriter for such greats as Patsy Cline, Charlie Rich, Johnny Cash and even for pop music greats like Ray Charles and the folk trio Kingston Trio, once called country music ‘three chords and the truth’. Country music speaks to our common experiences – loss, love, lust, losing your kids to a war, having fun with your buddies, getting even with your ex. Country music doesn’t have to be twangy – it can also be full of soul.

I haven’t been dancing since coming to the Park months ago.  Merry, obviously well-stepped in Country music, is ready to put the 2-step on, or the swing step and especially the 10-step.  She volunteered to teach me the 10-step, a dance flow I’m pretty sure I’ve seen people using in a line dance. Me, I’m pretty decent at a box step, the salsa and even a standard shuffle-ball-change but trying to figure out how to 10-step to a 4-beat leaves me feeling like a complete novice, constantly crossing the wrong leg over the other. Good thing I was the Designated Driver; if I’d had any more to drink I might have left blood on the dance floor. But by the end of the evening, I was able to 10-step myself all the way around the dance floor. At least I was impressed.

My time away from Tucson has purposefully been spent indulging in activities I have always loved but had no time for as well as trying all manner of new things. The 10-step is just one of those things.  Will I take my new skill down to Tucson’s country showcase The Maverick when I get home? Maybe. But I will be taking my memory of my evening spent 10-stepping in Missoula’s Sunrise Saloon. Who knows what else I might bring!? I’ve still got another two and a half months to try more things and bank more memories.