Hello, everyone!
I'm a freelance writer, mother, and housewife (not necessarily in that order) who is currently living in a teeny tiny hamlet in upstate New York, a few hours north of the Citadel City. Although the gun culture up here is fairly strong and hunting is an entrenched way of life, NY still has draconian handgun laws and of course you'd better not go anywhere near one of the cities with a firearm. You even need a permit to buy pepper spray in NYC, and you can only buy it from a licensed "dealer" at a pharmacy or department store.
I'm sure many of you already know all about it.
Hoplophobia aside, this state also has horrendously high taxes, ridiculous Nanny State legislation, and the various other trappings of quasi-socialistic fascism that make my skin crawl. Due to the nature of my husband's career, he has to travel frequently to either Los Angeles or NYC (Did I mention we moved to NY from LA? I'm no stranger to living in Hell.) so I've felt stuck. However, after a lot of discussion we've figured out that because of all the travel he already does, we could make our permanent home in beautiful Wyoming and he could open a small office in one of those two cities and we wouldn't see him any less than we already do.
So I'm contemplating moving to Wyoming, a state I've never even visited, alone, with a toddler. I have no family or friends there and won't know a soul. I'm planning to homeschool and I'll be on my own most of the time. And yet, I'm oddly okay with it all. The thought of living in a place where we're not outnumbered 500:1 by willing slaves and other coercive statists makes my heart sing. The truth is, although I currently live in the country, I feel very crowded, stepped on, and oppressed. Two days after we moved into this house, our new neighbors down the road rang the doorbell armed with pamphlets and fliers to try and convince us to register locally so we could vote for a certain town councilman. This man, if you can call him that, promised to institute strict zoning laws and grandfather them in so that my affluent neighbor and his friends would be able to remove "tacky gravel mining operations" (my neighbor's words) and small-time farmers. When I told the neighbor that I'd never voted in my entire life, but that I did once send a campaign donation to Ron Paul, he looked at me like I had horns. I suppose, to him, I do.
These are the rugged, individualists I'm surrounded by in rural New York.
My husband and I are planning to visit Wyoming on a fact-finding mission this summer. We hope to fly into the state, rent a car, and drive around for a week, checking out various places along the way. High on my list are Sundance (well, really all of Crook County) and Sheridan, but I'm hoping to see as much as possible before I commit.
Anyway, this is getting long but I just wanted to sort of introduce myself and say hello. I've read a few of Boston's books, including Molon Labe!, and agree with him that Wyoming can offer, if not true freedom, at least the most reasonable facsimile we can find on the planet today. I hope to see you all there sooner than later.
