AROUND THE NABERHOOD: What the wind blew in

Posted 4/28/15

Before I go any further, I’ll get the confusion over my last name out of the way. It’s pronounced the same as “neighbor,” as in “I’m Matt Naber, your new neighbor.”

I grew up in Iowa, so corny jokes are kind of my thing.

Anyway, …

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AROUND THE NABERHOOD: What the wind blew in

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I’m terrible at introductions, but writing about other people is a breeze — I guess that’s why I chose to work in journalism. Although I’m not originally from Rock Springs, that is where I moved from before arriving in Powell on Saturday.

Before I go any further, I’ll get the confusion over my last name out of the way. It’s pronounced the same as “neighbor,” as in “I’m Matt Naber, your new neighbor.”

I grew up in Iowa, so corny jokes are kind of my thing.

Anyway, I blew in from Rock Springs on Saturday to be the new managing editor of the Powell Tribune. I realize I am young, but this isn’t my first rodeo.

I started out working at my hometown newspaper in Muscatine, Iowa, while I was still in high school and continued on through the end of college.

My first full time reporting job after graduating from the University of Iowa was in Pinedale with the Sublette Examiner. That was when I came to adopt Wyoming as my new home.

Like many journalists, I went wherever the wind blew me and found myself as far north as the Alaskan islands and as far south as right along the Mexican border in southern Texas. But, the entire time Wyoming was on my mind — possibly because Chris LeDoux is usually playing on my iPod, or because I treat Taco Tuesdays like religious holidays.

When I’m not chasing down news, you’ll likely find me running around town with my headphones on, working out at the gym or goofing off at a rodeo.

I used to compete in saddle bronc, but decided I like having full use of my legs and am working on transitioning into roping since the only thing that will go flying through the air is my new lefty-rope.

Like the microbursts that come out of nowhere, big news stories can blow in at any time.

My favorite news article I wrote happened while at a rodeo in Texas where I met a blind bronc rider. He managed to pull off a score in the low 90s and win the event by a long shot since nobody scored above an 85.

Watching him achieve his dream inspired me to achieve my own, so I returned to Wyoming. Some people have to wait years to see what we have — mountain views filled with mule deer, elk, moose, bears and more.

We get to see those everyday, and it never fails to blow me away.

What I love about this region is it’s all one big playground with more places to explore than I could ever cover in one lifetime. But it doesn’t end there; it’s the people that make it all feel like home.

I arrived on Saturday and, without asking, Toby Bonner helped unload my trailer. Then I ran into Joe Alberico at the grocery store the following day and ended up ordering pizza and watching wrestling — pretty good for my first 24 hours in Powell.

I’ve lived in places where it would take weeks to find people that friendly, but here it’s the norm.

Leaving Rock Springs was difficult. I was teaching my friends’ son to ride mini broncs, was helping another friend get in shape, basically lived with another and literally never had a weekend with nothing to do.

Something interesting always blew in my direction — and if the wind ever stops blowing, I’ll probably fall over.

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