In Hot Water

Days 38 and 39

          Anaconda.

          If you know anything about snakes, this word will send shivers up and down your spine. Usually about twenty feet long and weighing better than one hundred pounds, these constrictors lie quietly in the water waiting for you to swim by and then, Slam! They’ve got you (a tasty snack) all wrapped up. Just ask Jim, the quintessential sidekick of Dr. Marlin Perkins of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, one of my favorite TV shows from the ‘60’s. Poor Jim was wrestling with one of these biggies while Dr. ”I Never Go In Harm’s Way” stood on the shore narrating in his deadpan style, “Jim’s going down for the third time, gee, I hope he’ll be alright. That snake sure does seem to have a good hold on him! Keep up the good work Jim!”

          Anaconda, (Montana) did send shivers through us but not because there are lots of snakes there, it was because there was lots of cold there. Winter has a tempestuous grip on this area of our Country and true to anyone with that type of personality, is refusing to let go and is taking delight in making others keep a wary eye out for them.

          Much like its namesake.

          Anyway, we spent two nights in this mineral-rich region of southwest Montana. Copper is/was the most mined ore in the area. The National Mining Museum (yes, there is one of those) is located one town away in Butte, Montana.

          We did not spend our two days here scraping out open-pit mines looking for copper. We instead spent that time wallowing in the hot springs of the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort where the naturally occurring, from deep down under the earth, dissolved good-stuff minerals, non-Sulphur smelling waters are pumped continuously into their big pools. In fact, the waters come out of the ground at about 160+ degrees, which is good for cooking some things, but bad for a toe-dip. So, they cool them down for us non-lobsters so that we can sit and soak leisurely without a fear of being someone’s dinner.

          Not even an Anaconda!

          So, I’ll bet you’re wondering then, why Anaconda?

          Back in the day, the local mine was started by Michael Hickey, a Civil War veteran, who liked the way that Horace Greeley described the tactics of General Ulysses S. Grant when opposing General Robert E. Lee. Greeley wrote that Grant had Lee surrounded “like an Anaconda”.

‘Nuff said.

The End.