Ladies' Luncheon, Montana Style

The first Wednesday of each month, about 15 of us women from the Trout Creek area get together for lunch at one of the two local taverns. We alternate between the Wayside and the Naughty Pine Saloon. The hardest beverage ordered is iced tea, and the typical lunch fare runs from chili dogs to taco salads.

My neighbor Kathy Hill, a like-minded conservative woman, invited me to join the group, which has been meeting for several years. "Members" come and go with the seasons, but a core group is always there, since it's an important chance for "female bonding" in an isolated mountain area where the air is always heavy with testosterone.

Most of our lunch bunch ladies are retired, although Maureen, the Trout Creek postmistress, does lock up the post office for 90 minutes so she can join us. Like so many people in this area, most of these women are "from somewhere else" and have lived in the area for only a few years. A disproportionate number are from western Washington. It's easy to understand why they'd escape from the I-5 corridor to a place like this if they're conservatives!

These are educated, savvy, strong, independent women. They cherish the special way of life here, just as much as their husbands do. They pinch pennies. Nobody's ashamed to ask, "What does your hairdresser charge?" or "Where's gas the cheapest today?" They're unpretentious; dressing up for lunch means putting on a new sweatshirt.

Luncheon conversation often revolves around food and recipes...how to cook bear meat, how to field dress an antelope so it doesn't smell up your kitchen later. We also discuss home and garden topics...what to do about all the stinkbugs, and how to get rid of carpenter ants and yellowjackets. And we'll touch on fashion and personal appearance...how Faith found this great Coldwater Creek fleece top at the consignment shop for $7, the practicality of Sharon's great new haircut, or the fact that losing weight causes facial wrinkles so it's better to stay chubby.

Among our group we have women who styled hair for Hollywood celebrities, a woman who lived on a sailboat with her husband for two years, women who work in the local taxidermy shop, and a myriad of other fascinating personal stories. Many of them now share common bonds in quilting and craft work. All of them share something else, however, the first Wednesday of each month. They share the Good Life here.