Watford City – The Good ‘Ol Days

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This morning, I swear I could have been acting in a sitcom called The Good ‘Ol Days.

First thing, I got up and took Benj over to a really cool new daycare/preschool facility here called The Wolf Pup. I do a little drop-in day care a few hours a week so my child does not think his mother is the only one in the universe.

I then meandered over to Larsen’s Drug on Main Street. I say meandered because that’s what you do at 9am on Main Street in Watford.

I got there early enough to finally have coffee with the ladies (and yes, they did have a cold can of diet coke for me!). There was Agnes, Val, Darlene, Bev, Gordon and Grace. Bev got me properly introduced to everyone. She even pulled the pharmacist out from behind the counter to come and say hello. There was a man, probably late twenties, early thirties, who sat down to have a cup of coffee while he waited for his prescription to be filled and the ladies got him properly introduced to everyone as well. When he went up front and tried to pay for everyone’s coffee he left with his actually paid for out of their collection (I’m still not sure what that means or how it works but I also left having paid nothing for my diet coke nor did I see any money change hands).

I’m not making this up people. This actually occurred this very morning.

Darlene told me about the midwifery house that used to be out in Arnegard (pronounce arn-e-gard) where her mother gave birth to her and her sister. She told me about the country school that wasn’t great and how her and her sister used to stay “in town” sans parents during the week for school when she was a kid.

I mentioned I needed a floor lamp and there were many suggestions, none of them being to order one from Amazon Prime. The consensus was that I should head down to Soku’s furniture store further down on Main Street.

After sitting with the ladies I headed down to Soku’s. They had 2 options of floor lamps. Do you want the straight one or the one with curly q’s? Uncomplicated. They were both around $100. The man working there told me about the brawl he almost got pulled in to at the bar last weekend.

I then went back down past Larsen’s and to the McKenzie Farmer office, the city newspaper. I walked into the office and got a subscription to the paper.

Then back to Wolf Pup to collect my boy. We played trains for a while, ate lunch and now he’s taking a nap and I’m trying to decide what to make for dinner.

This place is good to me so far. Living here means I don’t have to work. Living here equals my husband walking in the door every night around 5pm with a smile on his face because he loves his job. Living here means I have time to write. Living here means we can afford to have more babies.

I am so grateful for this place and what it means for my family.

I have always left my family to live in weird places. I have always wanted to be the type of person who says YES to opportunities that are not the norm. But, it is a whole different scenario for me now, having a toddler in tow. We left our whole infrastructure of support. I was worried that I would be miserable. I am not miserable though.

11 thoughts on “Watford City – The Good ‘Ol Days”

  2. Thank you…THANK YOU cute ladies for taking care of my sister!!! I miss her desperately and the only thing that makes it better is knowing she is not miserable. Knowing she is making connections with interesting people everyday while trying to raise little Benj. Can’t wait to meet you all!!

    Michelle

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    • I was waaaaaaaay too into my sweet potato fries to stop and take a picture 🙂 But that place definitely deserves a place on here! So glad there are cool people like you here to make me feel at home!

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  5. Been here my entire life. Well I was gone for college for a few years. Had to come back. When my son and grandson come with me to visit “grandpa’s grave” there are 7 generations in the cemetery. Got married to my lovely bride and moved back after I finished law school in 1980. Great place to raise kids then and is going to be again. Everyone that wants to make roots here is welcome. To accept that our roots mean honesty, pride, care for the land, care for each other. Helping out when times are bad and rejoicing when times are good. Boom town it has been 1914, after WWII, after the depression and drought ended in the 30’s, oil from 1951 to 1961, oil 1978 to 1986, and we are in it again. We have survived the booms. Some of my best friends growing up were “oil field kids” and we still are today. Welcome. Thanks for taking time to get to know us. Dennis

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    • Dennis, your comment is exactly what I’m talking about! Even though the mass of oil newcomers brings more traffic, noise, crime, drives up housing prices and and and… I have felt so welcome. The people here are golden which influences the new comers to follow suit. Thank you so much for welcoming us here!

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  6. Thanks for beautifully written post! Just when I was losing faith that we are losing what we “had,” you made me realize that it’s all still here, just with more people to enjoy it with us! We welcome you with open arms!!!!

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  7. Do you live in Pleasantville? Is everything there in black and white? If so, we may need to talk.

    If you have more babies, I’d recommend naming it Jeff if it is a boy, maybe Jeffie for a girl, or Jeffica. Just think those would be nice names.

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