Boots on

Disclaimer: I've been listening to too much Country Western lately.

I'm driving a bit more often in the city this year as I teach night classes at another university one night a week and I have a FREE parking pass on the campus parking lot. Traffic isn't too bad at the hours that I need to go in and back out, and hauling piles of books and materials is easier by car than bike. It's made me think a little bit about whether I bike because it is more efficient, more ecological, or just because I am too cheap to buy the monthly parking permit, but that is another posting entirely.

All of that aside, I have been enjoying listening to the radio while I drive. Diverting from beloved WAMU and NPR, I listen to Country... I crank it up and begin to feel all kinds of out of sorts with my city environs. What is a woman like me doing in a city when what I yearn for is the bright blue skies, crisp air, wind, and openness of the prairie? In all of my acquired worldly urbanness, I wonder if I still have the right to even identify myself with the plating of my car (Yep, still Wyo).

By the time I get to my educated, white-collar environs to work with very earnest and very sophisticated graduate students, I really feel like heading back to Small Town USA, putting on work clothes, finding my dog, and heading out to fix something (what I might fix is more an idea than a plausible reality). I guess that there are a lot of great things about a lot of great places, but at the end of the day, I really do hope that in all honesty and with recognition that I may be labeled as a city-slicker or a poser I can go out with my boots on...

Diagnosis: Bit of homesickness and a little too much Country
Treatment: Put those boots back on and hope that you can take the girl out of the Honky Tonk but You Can't Take the Honky Tonk out of the Girl

Quote of the day

My favorite thing is to go where I've never been.
Diane Arbus, US photographer (1923 - 1971)

Hot tamales!

I experimented with something new last weekend while visiting friends in Michigan... For the first time in my life, I not only ate a plate full of tamales, but I also made them -- from scratch. It was done with good spirit and in the right company, and they turned out just scrumptious (I ate until I could no longer move). What a feat for a handful of gringas!









This experiment begs to be repeated -- yummy!

Hiatus

I've been missing in action for a few months, but, to my credit, a lot has been going on. Much wandering and many new exciting journeys undertaken...

I'm married to a wonderful man and had a fabulously fun wedding in Wyoming.

From wedding prints

We explored the terrains of New England and Maine during our honeymoon trip. Camping, biking, hiking, rafting, summer lakeside theatre productions, microbreweries, road trip, rain gear, LL Bean, Cape Cod, lobster, Bigelow mountains, Appalachian trail, audio book, blueberries, quiet, romantic, together...








In August, we flew out to the other Portland in Oregon to attend RPCV friend's wedding and explore the waterfalls, Columbia River Gorge, Mt. St. Helens, the Pacific Coast, and Portland. Gorgeous!




The summer in Washington was hot hot hot and humid humid humid in August. We developed some coping strategies (swimming pool, ventilating the apartment, and hiding in air conditioned spots), but are convinced that there is sufficient reason to vacate the city in the summer for cooler places (such as one of the Portlands) if possible.

Here's a fun picture from a trip the National Zoo this summer where we saw a baby gorilla.


With the onset of the academic year and Uli's return to Estonia, I'm caught in an onslaught of teaching and professional duties that seem to have no end. I'm back to the classroom with joy but adjusting to the new pace of life is rough.

Not to worry -- I haven't abandoned my writing project here. More to come!