It's been so wet around here most of the last year, it's easy to forget Elkhorn City is a bone dry town.
Some think it's so dry a good gust of wind could blow it away at any time.
And when I say some, I am referring to my old frenemy Meat. I dropped in on him yesterday.
"Hey SJ, where you been? Beer?"
I checked my watch. It was 9:16 in the morning. "It's a little early for me bud, I'd take some of that coffee though."
Tater came in from the kitchen and handed me a cup. "Never mind him, he drank the last beer in the house last night and he knows it. He's talking about the vote."
"What vote?" I asked. I've been on the road most of the summer, so I'm a little behind on what's going on in town.
Meat nearly popped. "What VOTE?!? Are you kidding? Didn't you sign the petition?"
"What petition?"
He dropped his head into his hands and mumbled. "Are you sure you still live in this town, SJ? You're supposed to be a news guy."
Tater chimed in. "He means the petition to get a wet-dry vote on the ballot. It went around last month and was approved. It's on in November."
"Well what do ya know?" was about all I managed to say.
After shaking his head a bit, Meat looked up at me. "Think it's got a chance this time?"
"I doubt it."
He glared at me. "Well you're no fun."
What else could I say? Logic and sense aren't very good predictors of what will happen in Elkhorn. I was a poll observer in the last wet-dry referendum ten years ago and watched the dries cover up the wet turnout 3 to 1.
On that day I counted about 5 people under the age of 30 showing up at the polls. I watched as busloads were hauled from the nursing home to vote dry, most driven by our current mayor. I saw preachers and bootleggers working together and handing out evils of alcohol pamphlets outside city hall.
It was easy to predict back then. The leadership of the wet movement had rejected all advice to go slow and try for a moist vote. By the time the vote happened, they'd alienated most of the town. It was all or nothing for them and nothing is exactly what they got.
At the time I didn't think that much of it, really. Elkhorn had a handful of tourism events that drew folks from all over the country. We were recognized by several outdoor publications as one of the best adventure tourism destinations in the southeast. Our future still looked pretty bright, despite the slight setback.
Unfortunately, none of those events exist anymore. We've alienated the paddlers, the hikers, the horseback and atv riders, and I expect the police force will be handing out speeding tickets to the cross country bikers still riding through town.
Don't get me wrong, I believe in the potential of Elkhorn City and I'll be voting wet. But it's been a while since I've been optimistic about it and a drink doesn't help.