Answer Week: Day 2

KathyR asked, Now that your time in New England is winding down, are you looking forward to going back to Iowa? Or wishing you could stay longer? Or what?

Hmmm. That's a hard one to answer.

I started out by writing out some pros and cons.

Pros about New Hampshire
Glorious landscape
Ocean nearby
Summer mildness

Cons about New Hampshire
Cost of living
Stand-offish nature of people
Feeling of entitlement in this university/medical center town
Whiteness

Pros about Iowa
Being back with our friends
Getting back to our big house
Our big yard
Big-city library
Coffee shop, wine bar, video store, movie theater, sandwich shop, mini-mart all within walking distance
Diversity of people
Midwestern cost of living
Midwestern hopitality
Variety of restaurants and stores

Cons about Iowa
Speakerboxes (the bane of city dwelling)
Midwestern landscape
Humid summer

This year has underscored for me the importance of friendships. Perhaps because we knew we were going to only be here for one year, we haven't really tried to make friends. On the other hand -- no one around here has been particularly welcoming, either. I don't really have much in common with these people. We have an awesome group of friends in Iowa. They are kooks, just like us; they are always willing to lend a hand; they make us feel welcome.

I really don't like the midwestern landscape. Prairie, schmairie. My soul is in the mountains and in the craggy oceanfronts. I'm in a quandary, because although my spirit thrives in a rural woodsy landscape, I like the variety inherent in city-living. I miss my library! The one that always has whatever I'm looking for, that orders books when I suggest it, and that introduces me to different musical artists, rather than reminding me that the 1980s can get boring if that's all you listen to.

I'm glad you asked this question, Kathy, because it forced me to make these lists. Returning to Iowa is going to be great. But I think I'm going to be more insistent that we take time to be out of the city on a regular basis. And I'm going to be so glad our friends will be nearby.

Gratitude Griday, No. 3

I am grateful for our mail carrier in Iowa, whose schedule is such that we get our delivery around 11 am. That's when I'm ready for a quick break to the door after a morning of work at my desk.

Early mail delivery is a necessity for a home-office person. It keeps us sane.

What I am not so grateful for is the mail carrier here in New Hampshire, whose schedule is such that mail often doesn't get delivered until after 5 pm (which means that I have to go out to check the mailbox with a flashlight).

Where's my darn mail? I got none yesterday, thanks to Thanksgiving; I want my mail!

How to Ruin My Good Mood in 2 Seconds Flat

I finished two projects this morning, for the same outfit. I had enough time to drive into town, drop them off at the UPS store, and get back before the girls got out of horse camp (Their aunt’s birthday gift to each of them: one week of horse camp. Hmmm. That lady’s sneaky!). I went in singing along with the radio. I was in a Very Good Mood. Things got a bit complicated at the UPS store. See, whereas at a FedEx store, you can drop off a package with a third-party’s account number for the billing, at a UPS store, you can’t. They won’t bill third-party, even if the account number is a UPS account number. Oh well, I didn’t let it get me down, I just took my parcel and headed to the FedEx store just down the street. (I usually use a FedEx account with this client, but they prefer [not require] us to use UPS in New England.) Sang a bit more to the radio, parked, got out of the car, started whistling (I tell you, I was in a good mood), walked into the FedEx store, and told the guy behind the counter that I was soooo happy that FedEx store policy is a bit more reasonable than UPS store policy.

“Yeah,” the guy replied. “What I hear all the time about that UPS store is, ‘That man is very nice, but I just can’t understand a word he says!’”

BANG!

That was my mood dropping.

Sure, the man at the UPS store had an accent. Sure, his skin tone made it clear he was an immigrant. But that had nothing whatsoever to do with my complaint with UPS stores.

I recall several times, growing up, when jackass American idiots made my parents’ lives difficult because of their accent (a particularly rude incident at the Ringling Bros. circus ticket window is still fresh in my mind). The Consort jokes that when he was a kid he had no idea his dad had an accent and was confused when a schoolyard friend called it such!

Over the years, fewer and fewer people have had difficulty understanding my parents. Some of it is certainly due to my parents’ English getting better (but it was pretty damn good even then). Some of it is due to more Americans seeing themselves as part of a world community (I suppose that’s one positive result of globalization).

The past three weeks here in New Hampshire have reminded me, however, that insular thinking isn’t wiped out yet. (“I have nothing against Muslims, but…” “ I never understood the talk about lazy Hispanics until…” “I just don’t understand what he says…”) It has also made me realize that in seven years in Iowa, I have never heard such ugly talk, either in the cities or in the countryside.

Today I was so surprised at seeing this ugliness again, I didn’t say anything (plus, this man was responsible for getting my package to the client; I become a wimp in cases like that). He must have noticed something was up, because my answers became monosyllabic and I tried to complete my business as quickly as possible. Next time (I imagine there will be a next time, somewhere) I’ll be able to gather my wits about me more quickly, and I will have a scathing reply ready.

Any suggestions?

PS: Wondering how the weekend marching went? I’ll be posting about that on my flickr daily photo diary in a little bit.

Getting Back in the Saddle

We've all talked about it. The difficulty in blogging after taking a few days off. As usual, I've got ideas, but I can't get them from my fingers to the keyboard. You'll just have to make due with this nothing post today, so I can get the juices flowing.

Let's see...

Oh, yeah! The girls had a fencing tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska, this weekend. It was the first time I had ventured into our neighbor to the west (we have visited the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha several times, but that's just across the river, so it doesn't really count).

What a different world. It could just as easily have been October 2001 in Boston or New York, for all the patriotic messages and flag stickers we saw everywhere. I know I pick on Iowa often (heck, I even have an Io-whaaat? label for the blog), but golly gee, we are so much more open-minded than many of the states around us (and, to be fair, I also have an Io-aaaaah label). I don't know if I could live in a place that still lives the jingoism that reared its ugly head in the post-September 11 days.


And I'm sure it says alot about me as a person that I come back from a weekend away with a picture of a hotel room card sleeve, but no pictures of my offspring fencing. (But really, fencing shots all look the same after a while, and with that mask, it could be anyone under there.)

A Balanced Weekend

It's always a joy to have a weekend with the right balance of work and play. Being a list-maker type, I like to do the work part first, because then the work to be done doesn't weigh heavy on my mind. So, on Saturday morning, the Consort and I cleaned up the big room in the basement:

This is a weight off my shoulders, as it was one of the Big Chores that needed to be completed before we left for New Hampshire. Then, we celebrated the beautiful weather and Earth Day (one day early; I always think of it as April 21, because the solstices occur on the 21st of their respective months) by taking a walk in the woods. We followed a trail we hadn't taken before, and ended up at the Des Moines River, where we played in the mud, in the water, and climbed fallen trees:



Impera pointed out a bald eagle to all of us, too.

On Sunday, I went through winter clothes and summer clothes with the girls, we cycled our wardrobes to the correct season, and collected three large plastic bags of clothes to donate to the Salvation Army. In the evening, we had friends over for potluck.

It was a good weekend.

"Spring Break": A Pondering

Some people stay home during Spring Break.
Some people travel to far off lands.
Who has more fun?

Some people choose their vacations for action and adventure, feeling the thrill of fast living in dangerous places:


Some like to try exotic foods,


prepared in traditional old-world style:


Some search for art in the everyday, knowing that a little afternoon light can turn any scene into something beautiful:


Some like to see wild animals, and remember not to feed them (especially the rarely seen Pasta-Lickin' Dog)


But whatever they do, people on Spring Break like to enjoy a delicious meal with their family:


Some people stay home during Spring Break.
Some people travel to far off lands.
Who has more fun?

Hi/Lo

There was a friend of Trixie’s whose family would do Hi/Lo at dinner every night: What was the high point of your day, what was the lowest. Here are my Hi/Lo from last night:

High
Going to the all-city invitational middle school music concert last night and seeing so many different kids doing something they love: playing music. Being happy that I live in a multicultural city where I would see:

Every continent represented. From helping out in the schools, I know a number of them are first-generation immigrants, too.

The Surfer Dude (although where he catches wave here in the midwest, I don’t know) playing violin.

The two girly-girls playing bass.

The kid with the shaved head (except for a small topknot’s-worth, which was strategically laying right down in front of his eyes) playing viola.

Girls represented in all instrument sections, even the traditionally “male” percussion section.

Boys represented in all instrument sections, even the traditionally “female” flute section.

Watching the percussionists move from snare drum to xylophone to snake shaker, all within a single piece.

Lo
The two-days’ worth of warm weather we’ve had, which means all sorts of people are spending more time outside and thus I would hear:

Speakerboxes booming at 9:00 pm.

Cars honking at 9:30 pm because the drivers are too lazy to go ring the darn bell.

Big dogs barking at 9:45 pm, because their owners figure it is warm enough out that they can stay out there for a while.