Our open house on Thursday was held in the Fire Hall of Home on the Range, as it has been every year for at least 15 years.

For a rural community of only a hundred people or so, we had good attendance. Thirteen citizens, more than twice the number of folks in uniform (not counting the deputy). But a fairly tense affair.

Not that there was a lot of animosity to our proposals (well, there was to the one statewide one, but they don't hold us accountable for that). But there is a lot of tension in the community right now.

I eavesdropped on one conversation, grateful that I wasn't in it, where one local was seriously bad-mouthing environmentalists in general, and some others in particular. With one of them sitting right there, a meter and a half away. He knew she was there, and who she was. After several minutes of this, he politely excused himself from the room before he could say something he "might really regret."

Lot of strong feelings in town.

One of the fellas who showed up has made serious accusations against one of the local wardens. And now has his wife videotape all of their encounters out in the country.

'Course, no one but she and he have seen the tapes.

That particular warden is now under direct orders to always carry a tape recorder in his pocket when in this neck of the woods, and to turn it on for all encounters with this gentleman.

Like I said, it was a tense room.

But also a lot of friends.

We had stopped to visit with the owner of the local cafe/bar/gun store before the meeting, and he and a buddy later came and stayed for most of the two-hour meeting.

As we were wrapping up, the boss asked him if he might be able to warm up the grill.

"Been countin' on it," was the response.

We adjourned to the cafe/bar/gun store.

His friend, a retired school teacher, volunteered for the job of waiter. Just because somebody needed to do it.

Got tipped, anyway.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the decor of the Fire Hall:

This original painted-on-velvet lady has been hanging there for as long as I can remember. And had been there quite a while before I ever set foot into that place. Our outfit borrowed the hall to host a rather large and long family-type open house about a decade ago, and that is the only time I remember her being set down behind the bar.

You will notice the firemen (which is basically almost every able-bodied man, and a few women, in the community) have since installed a lacy curtain for her.

For those rare occasions when a little more modesty is called for.

We didn't use it Thursday.