Wednesday, April 27, 2005

I've struck gold! My new job is so perfect that it just may test how much of the proverbial "cowboy" I am. You know how in those stories where the cowboy (or knight, or mystic) gets so bedraggled along his odyssey that he decides to rest? Well, that's where I am! And it feels nice. I think those fairy tales were created to keep our souls eternally searching. Fine. But my body's gonna relax for awhile. The sunlight at the end of the culvert has arrived...metabolism will return to normal...muscles will regenerate...I'll remember people's names...I'll get in more fist fights with the devil and God...I'll learn to cook...fish will be attracted to my allures...elderly people will trust me again, even when I cuss...debts will be paid off...rank horses will admire my staying power...I'll launch more postcards...a raised-bed garden of ideas, photographs, and songs will sprout and be published.

Here's the dirt: I'm the new curator at the Dunn County Museum in Dunn Center, ND. I work 30-40 hrs. per week at $9/hr. I have an assistant named Geri. She's around 70, a real sweetie. She'll work up to 25 hrs. per week with me, and sometimes in my place. I have a boss named Candace. Also a sweetie. There is a museum board that I'll work with, as well as the Dunn County Historical Society.

There are 3,437 people living in Dunn County--a total population loss of 99 people last year. There are around 100 people living in Dunn Center proper. It has a saloon owned by a Japanese woman named Sadie, a restaurant owned by Alice (named Alice's Restaurant), a post office, a Lutheran church, a thrift store, a tiny library, and "my" museum. The closest school, gas station, and grocery store are seven miles west in Killdeer.

You all must come visit me, now. I will begin making an underground railroad refuge for all ye weary travelers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

does the museum or town have a website? probably a crazy question but you never know....

Chris Sand said...

no website yet... here's the best i could find: http://www.idcide.com/citydata/nd/dunn-center.htm .