The ANTecdote
A Day in the Life of a Red Ants Pants Dog
by Sarah Kmon Nellie watches for unsuspecting customers, so that she can get in as many licks as possible before they get through the door. Then she takes a break. Then, like a trooper goes back to her duties of greeting people looking for some hard-core work pants. Or directions. Sometimes they just need directions.
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Worst Wine in Town
Last Monday, in the Red Ants Pants store, we sang Christmas music way too loudly as we hung decorations and continuously “sampled” the mulled wine. We were preparing for the White Sulphur Springs Christmas stroll. I chopped oranges and apples to go in the wine, while Sarah C. added whole cloves and cinnamon and other yummies. It was delicious. Donna prepared the Chrismas tree which had dog-biscuit-theme going on – Nellie was unimpressed that she wasn’t allowed to eat them. The cheese-and-cracker table. Always popular. Did you know that at Red Ants Pants, we are very close to Glamour, Fame and Excitement? Just after dark, Santa arrived. The reindeer took off to see old friends so he was on foot and needed directions. But not before we two Sarah’s made a Santa Sandwich. Then people started arriving. By about six, the shop was packed full of mingling adults, and children feeding Nellie the biscuits from the tree. The “worst wine in town” as one friendly rancher called it, kept people coming back and (I hate to say it) loitering until well past my bedtime. But we like loiterers. It was so much FUN. And everyone should know that you are all invited next year.
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Dogs, Cats and Christmas Gifts
by Sarah Kmon Nellie, Sarah C’s dog, wears people clothes. We don’t judge her for it. But we find her wearing them, quite often. Like this morning, she was lounging on the couch in the store wearing this hat. She did NOT like that I found her and took her photo. But I thought that the hats make great Christmas gifts and that I should let you all know that we have them. As it turns out, Magpie is partial to the hats also. She guards them from Nellie, but hasn’t figured out how to wear them herself. I am partial to the belts and buckles, which also make great Christmas gifts. The belts are tooled by local rancher/brand-inspector/horsehair-braider Kathy Hochstrat. The buckles are cast in Colorado. She also tools dog ant collars and leashes. You know, if you ever have an ant that needs a walk….
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Two Kinds of Shipping
by Sarah Kmon In cow country, there is a thing called “shipping”. Just, as I’m sure, there is “shipping” in Lapland. Only we ship cows, not presents. And we don’t care if you’ve been naughty or nice. Shipping in Montana is the release of weanling calves to their new owners by sending (or shipping) them off to their new zip code. The first thing that happens is the separation of the appropriate type of bovine – cow from calf, or heifers from steers. This often involves cowboys. It’s a lot of fun. But there is some serious work too. Like counting brands, or counting cows, or calves. But not sheep. You don’t count sheep when you’re supposed to be working. The cowboys ride sweaty horses, (different from Lapland, where they have reindeer) and are usually supernice. Sometimes they have painfully cute dogs that you want to take home while no-one’s looking. I’ve never seen it happen, but I suspect that the cowboys would not be so supernice if you tried it. Anyway, back to shipping. Shipping here usually takes place in late October/early November – not December, like in Lapland. Shipping involves lots of people, not elves. And I’m pretty sure Lapland would wrap a big bow around any dog you wanted. It’s just not cool to do that here. However, cow country is still very awesome. We like it here.
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The Whitehouse
Earlier this fall I was invited to the Whitehouse. As in the Whitehouse, the Big Guy’s house. The Whitehouse Business Council selected two businesses from every state to profile on the Whitehouse website. We were then invited to the Whitehouse for a forum on Jobs and Economic Competitiveness on November 4th. I will admit that my first reaction to this invite was “Oh shoot, I’ll be in elk camp with my cousin Wes.” But then I wised up. @ The Whitehouse Wes is actually my cousin Ashley’s husband, not my true cousin, but we’ve done enough hunting and beer drinking together for me to consider him real family. In September he guided me on my first moose hunt. We were back in New Brunswick, Canada. Meet Leroy, my first moose. Sorry about the tongue. We were too excited to tuck it in. Leroy, the yummiest moose ever It was a fantastic hunt. So in return, I was booked to “guide” Wes elk hunting for 10 days. Then the Whitehouse called. Being the great guy that Wes is, he understood, reminded me that it’s not everyday you get invited to the Whitehouse and I left elk camp a few days early. I like the transition of this: To this: With Senator Baucus and Senator Tester Trying to keep life in balance. My eyes were open wide in DC. The power of that city is palpable, so is the frustration, the energy and the hope. At least it was in my mind. Perhaps I’m too optimistic in these days of gridlock, national debt, and unbalanced budgets. But we must have hope. At the FDR Memorial I read these words on the wall. I could not agree more. Amen. Let’s keep working hard. And let’s never give up on hope.
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Men in Our Pants
In my attempts to get back into writing on the ANTecdote, I sat down early this morning with a strong cup of coffee and tried to begin the mental debriefing process of summarizing the Red Ants Pants Music Festival experience. It’s been four months since the event and I’m still struggling to get my mind around the enormity of what we pulled off. In the coming weeks and months I will put pen to paper and share my festival reflections. I promise. Nate and Ty in their favorite pants But today I was saved by two very handsome (and married!) hunting guides who walked into my shop to buy more pants. Yup, Nate and Ty both guide elk hunters while wearing women’s pants. Nice work fellas! Nate’s pants will even be featured on a hunting show. He needed a belt and hat to complete his RAP outfit. Ty needed a second pair of RAP’s so he could fit his long johns under them. Thanks gentlemen, for your support and for proving that “Real Men Wear Women’s Pants.”
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A Family Affair
A sunny Sunday found us in the lush city of Missoula and while our lovely White Sulphur Springs native Claire assembled delicious pizzas in her industrial and envy worthy kitchen, Sarah and Maggie spent the afternoon jumping on a trampoline and singing songs with Claire’s four beautiful children and their friends. While clouds turned into rabbits, owls and Cheerios, Tour de Pants became a family affair. Camo hats are perfect for wild little boys! Folks really don’t have to worry if life on the road leads to starvation for the two well-season pants roadies as Claire served us tasty pizzas until we could hardly jump on the trampoline. Claire’s party was hosted in her recently constructed two-story straw bale garage and ultimate kid playroom. Babies, toddlers and kids alike ran around the yard, clad in either the new RAP hats, t-shirts and favorite red hoodies. Many moms comments about the need for RAP maternity wear and matching toddler pants. It is never too early to get your kid outfitted in the best workwear and we know that Montana kids work the hardest and most certainly, play the hardest. Following suit from our Helena party, another match occurred! This time party host Claire and Maggie match their ants on the right side pocket (this is the perfect pen pocket). Claire’s pants show the effort of constructing her garage and they looked absolutely perfect covered in stucco and paint. What a great match! Check out the great photos of Claire’s family, all complete in Red Ants Pants garb! And as well all know, families that play together, stay together! What a great looking family! No caption needed for this cuteness! Sarah's newest boyfriends Shelby models the RAP belt with the ultimate coolness If you live in the Missoula area you should visit Claire and her husband Ben’s doughnut booth at the Saturday markets. Judging by how amazing Claire’s pizza tasted, we can only imagine how decedent her homemade doughnuts taste on a fine spring day in Missoula. Go out and find their booth and enjoy! Thanks to Claire and her family for letting us run around their yard, act like kids on the trampoline and let us perform our RAP show to their friends and family members. And we’re more than delighted to eat leftover pizza as we travel to Bozeman for our third and final party of the short tour at the fabulous Tart. For our Bozeman friends, please come to the Tart party on Wednesday May 18th from 6-8pm. Tart is located within the Emerson Cultural Center. There will be tasty treats, cold Big Sky brews and Red Ants Pants on hand throughout the evening. If you come wearing your RAPs or buy a pair at the party, Tart will offer a 15% discount on any items purchased that evening–handmade jewelry, artwork and more by Montana artists or “tartists”. For seriously beautiful and fun art, jewelry, hats, notecards and more, you’ll want to take advantage of this sale!
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Spring into Red Ants Pants!
Look for the Anthill on the road in Montana this May! Spring (yes, as of May 16th there are officially signs of spring in Montana) is here and you know what that means (besides tilling the garden, making gin and tonics on the deck and painting your toenails): Tour de Pants! Our Spring 2011 version of the Tour takes us around our lovely and beautiful home state with parties in Helena, Missoula and Bozeman. When Sarah was sent these photos from Helena resident Sue asking to host a pants party for her birthday, Sarah knew that this was just the kind of party Red Ants Pants would love to be a part of! Who wouldn’t want to party or hit the trail with these ladies? Working hard, even without pants on the trails in Glacier These girls are in dire need of Red Ants Pants! These ladies know how to relax after a long day of work! Cheers! Sue and her friends volunteer during the summer months with the Continental Divide Trail Alliance and we figured that these ladies were in dire need of some workpants that can hold up to trail work abuse and still look fancy enough for huck margaritas on the deck of the Many Glacier Hotel after trail dogging for a week. We celebrated Sue’s birthday with her friends and family on a blustery Saturday night in Helena with views of the Big Belt mountains. Naturally, Sue received some birthday spankings at her party but she reported that she barely felt the slaps because of the durability of her Red Ants Pants. That’s right folks, 12 ounce cotton canvas duck will spare you the burn of a birthday spank! Sue’s birthday wasn’t the only cause for celebration at the party but we also had another Match! Two party goers tried on their new pants and quickly located their ant label and found their matching ant on the back belt loop. When you’re out and about in your fancy Red Ants Pants and see someone else wearing the infamous pants, be sure to check ant labels because you just might have an ant that not only gets you a free t-shirt but is also a pretty cool way to connect with other fans of RAP. Another great match! Beer just tastes better with a RAP koozie Maggie just may have eaten not just one but two slices of Sue’s decadent chocolate and Earl Grey birthday cake and we spent the evening swapping trail stories and gushing over Sue’s birthday present: two teeny tiny orange Tabby kittens! Many thanks to Sue and her sister Cindy for hosting such a fun and lively party with their closest of friends. From the state capitol we chugged up and over Roger’s Pass to Missoula for a Sunday afternoon backyard party. Oh–and if you haven’t heard the latest RAP buzz besides Tour de Pants–clear your calendar for the last weekend in July and find your way to White Sulphur Springs for the Red Ants Pants Music Festival. And hold on to your Red Ants Pants…Lyle Lovett is the headlining act! Run, bike, fly, drive or crawl if ya have to to White Sulphur Springs this summer for the musical event of the summer! Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Carrie Rodriguez and more are all playing under the Big Sky in July. Tickets are on sale now at Montana outlets and online (so click here and get your tickets. Camping is available on site too!). We can’t wait to see you in White Sulphur Springs this summer! Does anyone know Lyle’s inseam????
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Donkey Basketball Champions!!!
There are many benefits to living in small town Montana. One of my favorites is that we get to play donkey basketball. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to view or even play this dangerous and tremendously entertaining ‘sport’, it involves 2 teams, 10 donkeys, one basketball and an entire high school gym full of town folk out for a good laugh. Getting Psyched The rules are similar to regular basketball, except for the only way to move about the court is while riding a donkey. True story. Luckily no dribbling is required. However, it is required that you figure out how to mount a donkey, often while holding a basketball and the donkey is on the move while you’re trying to mount (believe me, this is way harder than it sounds). It is quite possible to most ridiculous and unflattering sport imaginable. But so much damn fun. Especially when when the Red Ants Pants team beats the men’s basketball team, and the junior class team, and the Search and Rescue team and is declared CHAMPION!!! In a grown up world where the thrill of playing team sports has been diminished to high school memories, I won’t deny that it felt really good to win. Here’s to the donkeys that carried us to victory!! Thanks team!! Julie, Anna, Jen, Nancy, Sarah and Darcy...The Champion Team!
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