w.w.w.

Pues, yo resolvé gustar mi lugar nuevo antes de mudando, pero la verdad es, !me encanta!

Así, una lista corta de las cosas me gustan hasta este momento:

-yoga classes! and dance! and a free Y membership for the month
-biking to get around!
-biking to the reservoir. running and hiking on the trails there.
-new people, new friends.
-seeing guys in their 20s. everywhere. unreal. and women too. come on!
-frozen yogurt. duh.
-farmers market, of course.
-hearing spanish. speaking spanish. latinos.
-tres universidades!

growing up again

Not to be overly excited about a car, but this baby can haul my bike and kayak, is a manual, gets good fuel mileage, plus it's my favorite color. So long, seven years of Corolla driving. You were good to me.

adjusting

Things I've Been Missing

-a certain man's packing skills a few days ago. and steadiness.
-the sun. the warmth. a tan.
-mi 27 queridos.
-la culabra. hiking everyday.
-mi besinos.

and wasn't missing

-obesity
-white people
-English all the time
-the cold, cold, cold

and the strange

-ice available? refrigeration? no power outages?
-food everywhere
-options
-indoor bathrooms. and showers.
-full length mirrors. mirrors everywhere.
-no ants attacking my food, legs, house. or flies. or beetles, mosquitos, tarantulas.
-still the automatic spider-check in my shoes.
-the size of everything. food portions. houses. cars.
-driving again.

[Tip # __

You know you might be in trouble when death by bus accident seems a desirable way of getting out of the mess.

on moving south

Hiking today a companion pointed out a rubber tree
and I thought, so this was a reason King Leopold raped the Congo.
Very good resource, he told me, but look at the roots--
this one is only ten or twelve years old, but the roots grow fast,
go anywhere for water. They push through pipes, burst through walls,
destroy things.

I looked down at all the roots,
spreading circumferences I couldn´t see
random roots showing here and there,
roots I´ve never noticed before,
roots connected to trees,
roots under all things and in everything.

Life, I am learning, is roots,
is what you are rooted in, is who you are growing into
is how desperate you are for water.

The adjustments between my Northwest woods and mountain village Honduran life so far are extreme, nearly impossible to articulate, rich as the plantains and beans we daily consume. The strongest and oldest oak roots, I read, are gnarled, twisted, deep, forced to cling to storm-beaten hillsides, made strong by all the earth pours out.

But when I lean over the chasm of myself,
it seems my G-d is dark, and like a web:
a hundred roots, silently drinking.
This is the ferment I grow out of.
More I don´t know.

The first snow!

Woke up to three or four inches this morning
(now we know Sister Winter is on her way).

And in other news:
Aung San Suu Kyi was released today from house arrest.

Pray for Burma.

Welcome to the Bird House!

So I promised to post some photos of our new casita<3

a picture is soon on its way...

Kate and I moved in to the Bird House! And it is wonderful.

And today I made the best, best discovery while walking by the cedars:

a Seventh Day Adventist health food co-op and bakery. About ten minutes from our front door, and less expensive than the natural market I normally frequent!

Woot!

01.23.09 [on the occasion of the author's 21st birthday]

okay, so, truth be told, i have not felt this young for many, many years