another vegas story

I have to keep writing about Vegas... but I'm momentarily blank. One story: I stopped at a gas station, where a perfectly nice attendant saw my passport (since I had lost my other ID). We chatted casually and he said, "You know, if Obama has his way with the immigration bill, we'll all have to have these when we go between states.
"Obama is a COMMUNIST. The Republicans tried to warn us...and I voted for him anyway. And now I see they're right."

"Hmmm..." I replied "You know, a lot of people say things about his bills that aren't exactly true."

"No, I read it myself. I read the whole thing."

I thanked him and ran out of there.

What was he talking about? There is no immigration bill right now and there's no way that's true. I will criticize Obama plenty (for being too similar to past presidents), but there is no way he has interest in any of those things the man claimed. It was nuts, but I am told this is typical for Nevada. Hmmm....

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I had a great realization yesterday. R feels the same. Now that we know our time is limited, we love Ithaca! We love how we can walk everywhere, from the bar to a friend's house to home. Almost everyone is nice. It is beautiful. I have a nice routine where I go to the coops regularly. There are lots of concerned people trying to improve things (not so many, but compared to most places). I guess it takes a very long time to become comfortable in a new place.

Vegas--part 1

Great trip to Las Vegas area. I'm waiting to get photos from friends.

Two friends and I camped in Red Red Canyon, which was gorgeous. Sadly, it was not hot, but the landscape was amazing. It was dry (of course, the desert!), windy, with beautiful land formations. One friend is a fan of natural history and was able to explain the origin of the area. We were also able to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the Vegas strip. We spent some time there, enough to know what it was all about, but I didn't gamble or drink there at all. We did go to the spa with our friends who were staying at the hotel--they assumed we were too, so we got spa access for only $10: use of bathrobe and slippers, sauna, hot tub, showers, free juices/waters and fruit.

spring...

Ithaca is so nice now that I know my time is limited. It always was, but now I'm really enjoying it all. The beautiful sunsets, the gorges, the greenery, the blossoms, all the gardens in people's yards.

Weds I go to Nevada! We arrive late, so we're staying in a hostel the first night, but the next three nights will be spent camping in a nearby state park! I wish it were warmer (it will get down to the 50s at night), but it will be fun. The best thing about going to the Tree of Life was seeing the mountainous desert, so I'm excited to see a new kind of desert (flat? non-mountainous?).

A lady (teacher) is blogging about the school lunch at her school here. Ahhh, brings me back to the days of picking at my lunch and throwing it away, coming back to class hungrier than I started, and getting a nice huge snack as soon as I came home. Obviously I am spoiled, to have experienced self-imposed hunger. But really... the lunches are no good.

I'm watching the movie Yoga, Inc (free on Hulu.com). There is this part of me that wants to know how to be snobby about yoga--I am doing it for the right reasons, and everyone else is stupid and materialistic. So instead, I'm becoming spiritually materialistic, eh? Or maybe it's just interesting and it makes sense that it would get popular in that way in this country. It loses a lot when it becomes a fitness routine, but then people who are interested can pursue more. So maybe this is just how it goes. It's interesting enough.

This makes me not interested in Bikram yoga, though. I would do the practice (sounds too hot for me though), but I'm not a fan of copyrighting poses and all that.

I'm officially sick. Not horribly so, but sneezing and coughing and all that jazz. But today is sunny again, and hopefully warmer. The greyness in Ithaca just weighs so heavily...

Despite the sickness, I'm doing spring cleaning. Getting rid of all the junk in the house. I've been a spice pack rat in the kitchen and a clothing pack rat in the bedroom.

Mmm, I am eating my red bell peppers that I froze last fall. I keep avoiding them, thinking they will be soggy, but they are actually really good once defrosted. It's nice to know exactly where they came from, and how they were grown. We put them on pizza a few nights ago (half Daiya vegan cheese, half nothing) and it was surprisingly good.