With the economy as it is for some of us, I’ve taken a consulting job that has taken me to Morgan County Colorado, which is approximately 80 miles east of mile-high Denver. I’m staying in Fort Morgan and driving a four-wheel drive Jeep through the blowing snow and bitter cold to Wiggins Colorado, which is about 12 miles down Interstate 76. I’ll be in Colorado for about three to four weeks.
I haven’t been in the snow, ice and cold like this since I went to Mammoth Mountain as a kid many eons ago, when I used to try to break my legs on the bunny slopes. I’ve learned a lot of things here in Morgan County of what not to do as this spoiled and soft Southern California resident has always had the propensity to fall, literally, straight into every trap that has ever been set before me. Here’s a quick six-day snapshot of Morgan County, its residents, things learned, and the many amenities it has to offer;
Don’t leave your case of chick bottled water in the car overnight, unless you need some ice to put on the back of your swollen head after trying to walk on black ice with your dress shoes on; Invest in a pair of anti-slip boots and leave your dress shoes at home. Don’t leave your sunglasses in your car overnight and put them on as soon as you enter your car in the morning. Same rule applies to both hand gloves and baseball caps. Go slow around all street corners, regardless if you driving a four-wheel drive or not, especially during your early morning commute.
The natives of Morgan County are some of the friendliest down to earth people I’ve ever met. Their pulse rate must be twenty-five beats slower per minute than they are back home. This is a place where everyone is a patriot, Ronald Reagan is still a hero; Norman Rockwell is still hanging on the walls; and hot chocolate is the choice of grandparents and kids alike at the local McDonalds.
It seems everyone here prefers Chevy pickups, or Jeeps, and 18-wheelers are as common as BMW’s are back home. The steaks here are awesome. There is a restaurant connected to my hotel aptly named Mavericks. I’ve had some of the best New York steaks and baked potatoes with sour cream that I’ve had anywhere else. Better than the famous steakhouses in Chicago. The only problem that I’ve run into is when I’ve asked for chives for my baked potato. They had never heard of such a thing. I fixed that missing condiment by going and buying some pre-cut chives at the local Wal-Mart and sneaking them in my overcoat prior to my second meal. I don’t know if anyone saw me sprinkling, clandestinely, my chopped chives onto my steaming hot baked potato, but boy did it taste good and was worth the effort.
The landscaping outside of Fort Morgan is flat and beautiful. The fields are spotted with old red and white barns, rusted swing sets for kids, with plenty of Holstein cows and bulls with their necks hanging down forging for food through the fresh snow. There’s plenty of barbed wire connected to old slanted wooden posts that have probably been there since Benny Goodman was still alive in the 1940’s.
In fact Benny Goodman’s hometown is Fort Morgan. There is a Fort Morgan museum that is connected to the lone library that has artifacts of not only Benny Goodman golden big-band years, but also displays, among other things, of an old telephone operator’s desk, a 1950’s soda bar, old school desks from the 19 century, and a huge and impressive collection of old Indian arrowheads from years gone by.
All of the people that I’m working with in Wiggins are lifetime residents of Morgan County. It’s a bragging right that I’ve come to value and respect. One of the gentlemen that I work with had his father recently killed on the Interstate while driving his tractor; just before Christmas 2009. After interfacing and laughing with him my first week here, I had no indication that such a tragedy had struck him based on his positive and upbeat behavior. I found out reading about it in the local newspaper Saturday morning during breakfast.
Come Monday, I’m going to pack up my clothes, coats, packaged chives and new boots and head on over towards Greeley, Colorado. Located there is a sister company to the one at Wiggins. Before I leave, I’m going cruise one last time down Cherry Avenue to the old Wiggins post office, just across from the old movie house, and mail my first check to my family back home in sunny and warm Aliso Viejo. I’m going to miss the Norman Rockwell’s, the Benny Goodman’s and the Indian artifacts of Fort Morgan. But I’ll keep with me my warm memories and newfound friends of Fort Morgan and Wiggins forever.
Steve Sayer
ALNews Columnist
