Sergio

Sergio joined the ranch in late June to assist Chef Jim in the kitchen. This was his first masterpiece: a salsa appetizer platter, with neat descriptions of the different kinds. It was a work of art. Sergio lived in Boise before coming here to Stanley. He was Mexican and had nice teeth. In the kitchen he was serious and upbeat. Outside of the kitchen, all he wanted to do was have fun. He drank a lot of Jager and some other things. He came with me, Marla and Heidi to Hailey to see the rodeo. Afterward he picked up a handful of horse manure and chased us around the field.

He got the best room in the roost, perhaps the best room on the entire ranch, if the view is included--because it is the best view of the Sawtooths, the mountains, and even the river. It's amazing. When it was empty CC would make up her hair in the room; Marisa would sketch at the window, and I would sit and stare at those beautiful snow-covered mountains, and sometimes regain focus long enough to write something.

Sergio excelled at playing the guitar. He had high hopes for us at open mic. We were going to sing country songs together, and he started getting serious about practicing. But I was tired and needed my daily nap. And then on one Wednesday when he volunteered to make lunch, it all ended. He didn't clean up his dishes, so when he got back Jim yelled at him and Sergio said, "I quit." He packed his things into his car, said goodbye to everyone he cared about, and drove off to Boise. And Marla became a cooking assistant.

Stanley Bars

There are two bars in Stanley. The Kasino Club, on the left, is a restaurant/bar where local bands play several nights a week, and on Thursdays there's Open Mic Night, my favorite night of the week. Mike, who always wears a bandana and sometimes glasses, hosts open mic and plays the guitar. He will play it for someone interested in singing. He played "Faith" by George Michaels for me once. Before the Open Mic, the K Club has a "dancing in the street" with live music and free food. I've never been able to make it since I work that night every week. Cory works at the dancing in the street.

The second and much smokier bar, is the Rod & Gun. Smoking is allowed in this bar. There are a lot of seats, the best dance floor in town (a wooden floor in front of an actual stage), and two pool tables. There's also a jukebox, and the bar is much longer than that at the K Club. The Rod & Gun tends to have good live music, which they sometimes charge a cover for. Johnny Ray, the owner, will always check your ID--at least for the first 20 times he sees you.

The Rod also has karaoke on Monday nights. This past Monday I sang "Angel" by Sarah Mclachlan, and this older man with white hair--Huck--said to me, "You have a lovely voice. You make a man wish he was 50 years younger."

Swing

The Bridgestreet Grill is a decent-sized restaurant and bar with a small parking lot and an old log cabin next door. There's a long hall for the bar, a larger dining room in front of a stage, and tables and chairs on the back deck, where customers can admire the rolling green hills across the river as well as the white-topped Sawtooths upriver.

I met a barage of people at once: locals, rafters, and summer folk. Brett Woolley--the owner--lives right next door in the cabin. He wore a beige cowboy hat and danced with all the girls at the bar--spinning them around and catching them, then throwing them back. This is the first summer working out here for Tara the waitress. Weiner (Sarah) works at White Cloud with Cory. White Cloud is a rafting company about a mile up the road from Bridgestreet.

Cory had driven us to the restaurant/bar in his Bronco. The driver's seat can't go straight so it's stuck all the way down if the back seats aren't pulled forward, and the seats are beat up. He keeps camping gear and fishing poles in the back. The Bronco reminds me of my dad's old Jeeps.

The band was an ecclectic group with the usual guitar and drums (but one was a full-bodied electric guitar, so it looked and sounded acoustic), as well as a steel guitar and bass. Chewy, one of the band members, played the harmonica, banjo, cow bell and/or the wash board, alternately. He was wearing dark tan overalls and has a beard and mustache like Wolverine. He played banjo and the harmonica at the same time. He also plays on barbecue nights at the ranch.

The band played some jazz, country and blue grass, I guess. It was great.
They even played their own version of the "cat style" song I hear on the radio sometimes--that cool, finger-snapping song.

Mike sat at a table watching the band. He was wearing a white bandana. He runs open mic at the Kasino Club and lives in campsites all summer. He's pretty much a quiet guy when he isn't drunk.

Cory and I eventually got out on the floor after I'd finished my Twisted Tea and he was on his third. He pulled me in close, pushed my arms to the side, and we circled, our feet moving in small steps. Then he'd push me away, leave a finger for me to spin on, and pull me back when he was ready. Then we'd spin together, he'd spin away, I'd grab his hand and bring him back, and we'd come back together in a close dance. We did this all night long. It was incredibly dizzying and exhilarating.

The dance floor turned into a mess late into the night as the sober and the drunk carried plastic cups of beer onto the floor and danced until they spilled. Weiner, who is tall like an Amazon woman and has thick bushy hair, almost fell once, and I learned to keep my distance as Cory twirled me around our small patch of territory.

Around 11:30, my ranch friends Marla and Surgio showed up. I got Cory to dance with Marla so she could swing. Surgio grabbed me and spun me in circles until I was too dizzy to see. Then he picked me up, flung me over his shoulder, and spun me even more. I kept my eyes closed and bit him until he put me down. They left before us.

Whenever we needed a break, Cory and I slipped through the sliding glass doors and stood out on the porch. The moon was getting fuller, and it silhouted the mountains above the river. It looked mysterious and beautiful. The river swept past beneath us.