Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Are you from Idaho?


I was driving home from Wal-mart today when I saw an Idaho license plate on the car ahead of me. I instantly wanted to pull the car over and say, "Hey! I'm from Idaho too!!".
I love that I grew up in Idaho. Not very many people can say they grew up in Idaho. I love that I say phrases like "jockey box" and "Oh my heck" because I come from Idaho. I love that my Mom says phrases like "let's go to the showhouse" and that my grandma pronounced the word "fork" like "fark". I love that we truly went CAMPING each summer for girls camp and went on actual HIKES. I love that Yellowstone National Park was practically our backyard and that I went so many times as a kid that I thought it was commonplace to see a bear and buffalo along the road. I'd actually get impatient at people who stopped along side the road just to get a picture of a buffalo. You've never seen a buffalo before?!, I thought. Well, they probably hadn't.
I love (and miss) Fiesta Ole' and Taco Time Burritos and Arctic Circle hamburgers. I love that my Mom thinks she's stuck in "traffic" when she may have to wait for TWO green lights to make a left turn. I love that my Dad and my brother say they are going snow machinin' (instead of snow mobiling). I love that I never owned a key to our house because we never locked all the doors. I love that I grew up on fry sauce.
I always love to run into people who are also from Idaho. We have an instant bond. I was on Martha's Vineyard. (An island off the coast of Boston) As I was strolling down the street I saw a big pick-up truck drive past. (Kind of an odd car to have on Martha's Vineyard) The license plate caught my eye...IDAHO! I was happy to see a fellow Idahoan so I yelled out "I'm from Idaho Falls, where are you from?" He yelled back, "Blackfoot!" (a small town about 20 minutes from Idaho Falls) I knew, even though we were both strangers, we were instant friends because that's just how we, Idaho people, are.

4 comments:

Cammie said...

You will be happy to know that I did a real blog. It is scattered and disorganized but it does have pictures.
I love this post. I will always remember you asking for the key-map. "Where is it?" "In the jocky-box." "The jock-what!?"
I had no idea what you were talking about. I think that was one of those times that you got a little hit of frustration with me. Maybe it's because I would take the picture of the buffalo too.
Love you!

idasale said...

I am so with you on all of this my husband is from boston and I lived out there for a long time before we came back to idaho and that really how it is you have an instant bond with people when you find out they are from Idaho...all the other people just confuse Idaho with Iowa or some other state in the mid-west. Thanks for reminding me to appreciate where I live! Have a great day! lol on the traffic doesn't that just crack you up what people here think traffic is as to what it really is...it used to take my husband 2 1/2 to get home from work which was 1 hour away.

Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke said...

I think its true if you are out of your home state and run into someone from your home state. Its a fun, random bond with people. A lot of that phrasology comes from Utah, too. I lived in both states for college.

Shy said...

You put it all so well! I love Idaho too, and although an Idaho license plate is way common here in Utah, I still get excited when I see one of those Idaho plates! Can't wait to see you! Love ya!