This trip continues to surprise me

I never ever ever ever never thought I would be lounging by a pool in Florida, COMPLETELY.  JEALOUS.  of the weather in Seattle.

I also never thought I would be a party to the perpetuation of the tooth fairy conspiracy.

Kanapaha

Last weekend my aunt, uncle and I went to the Kanapaha Botanical Garden. I've kinda been going to a lot of those over the last year, and they weren't all in season, but even if they had been in season, I don't think any would have been as good as this one. My first indication that it was a good place was the presence of a bottle of Off! insect repellent in the entrance building, available for everyone to use. Good idea! The place is huge-- 62 acres total-- and seems to have been carved out of a large forested area. There is a loop path that meanders through the forest, connecting the separate gardens, and is lined with those little signs describing the native flora. The herb garden is huge, with separate sides for edible herbs and scented herbs, and guests are invited to touch the scented herb plants to get all of the scentiness. I could go on and on, but it might get boring, and the gist of it all is that this place is really well designed, and if you are at all interested in botanical gardens, and find yourself near Gainesville, FL, you should most definitely check it out, giving yourself at the very least three hours.

The nannying continues to improve as the boys and I get more used to each other. If anyone reading this is considering getting work in the field of home childcare, I would suggest getting a job that pays in beer and has a pool. I dread the days in which bad behavior forces me to take away pool priveledges, because I suspect I value that time even more than they do, so that is always the last resort. It's so hot and humid down here, you can't just send the kids outside to play, because they can only tolerate about ten or twenty minutes before they turn bright red and sticky...

Hot and lazy...

Being a nanny is just about as easy as I thought it would be, which is to say not really at all.  But we're learning who lays down the law (what has two thumbs and is the boss?  This girl!) and it goes more smoothly every day.  Other than that, Florida is awesome.  We go swimming almost daily, and my aunt and I philosophize the evening away out on the patio, listening to the chorus of birds, frogs and gators.  The gators make a gentle piggy grunting noise quite often, and it is a lot less worrisome than the bellowing.

I have also been back in the kitchen, and you may notice I've added a new recipe blog to my links, as making another blog seemed to me to be the simplest (laziest?) way to share.  So if I've cooked for any of you, and you are missing the food, the recipe will probably show up there eventually, and of course there will be new things as I discover them.  If you are looking for a particular recipe, drop me a line.

Brr. I'm heading back to Florida.

The Minnesota trip was a whirlwind of driving (1538 miles total!), family time and very little sleep, except for the day I got to nap twice at my aunt's house near Bemidji.  I very nearly accomplished everything I had hoped to, so it was a good trip.  It was nice to get back and see people I just saw last July, and didn't think I would see again so soon.  It would have been nice to spend a little longer, but circumstances made that difficult.

So now I'm back in Gainesville, fully ready to chill with my aunt and nanny my cousins.  Wish me luck with the humidity and the, you know, children...

Taciturn Update of Nothingness

Unexpected family business has brought me back to Minnesota for a week, then I'm headed back to Gainesville, FL, because one week wasn't enough.

Tucson was Tucson.  It's still not my favorite city, but I like it more than I did before.  I wish I had gotten more of a chance to check out the city and scene, but maybe next time.  I spent the majority of my time split between hanging out in the retirement park with my grandparents, and relaxing at my cousin's house out in the desert outside the city.  The stars were out in full force there.

It was around 100F every day, so outdoor time was limited to early morning walks and pool time.  Toward the end, my aunt and uncle came down from their place in Bullhead City.  The plan was to return to their place with them, but the aforementioned family business threw a monkeywrench in that plan.  It's okay, I'm going to try to get back there in the winter when it's cooler, since it's in the Mojave desert and all...

I went out!

To celebrate my road-iversary, I went downtown to the Solar Culture Gallery, to check out the Joe Lally (who is a tiny little man!) show. I took the bus (sadly, Tucson is no Austin), so I got there a bit early, but it was okay, because the venue is also an art gallery. I spent a bunch of time checking out the paintings and listening to the trains go by the back door while I waited and waited for other people to trickle in. Not only was it Cinco de Mayo, but it was apparently also finals week, and they were competing with another show.

The audience ended up being me and a dozen or so other music dorks. The opening guy had to cancel, so Joe and crew played two sets, which was fine by me. Their style was... I dunno... I suck at describing music... Jazz, punk and blues influenced mellowish trippy hard rock? In the same basic vein as Fugazi, but differently interesting. If anyone knows some kind of music geek terminology to describe this, please share, because I always just want to sum up this type of music as "adult punk." It has the same sensibility as punk, but with a greater range of style and talent. Joe Lally was solid on bass, and although I don't feel he's the strongest vocalist, I was digging the lyrics. The drummer, Ricardo Lagomasino, was heavily jazz influenced, and proved that it's not the size of the kit, but how you use it. He had his eyes closed for most of the time, and when they were open he was kinda staring blankly into space. I wondered where he went, but it must have been somewhere good. The guitarist, Elisa Abela, was tight, ranging from bluesy to controlled noise with plenty of stops in between. The crowd was subdued and respectful. I wished, and thought others were with me on this, that we could have been more people for them. We stood up close and clapped a lot, but it still felt kinda sad. Maybe it was just my mood and extreme lack of energy, due to me being on the retiree schedule, and the show starting after my bedtime. Also, this is an art gallery, not a bar. A beer or two might have upped my energy levels a tidge.

Between sets I chatted with Elisa about tattoos and travel, and she told me about some women she had met on the Isle of Lesbos. She also said it didn't bother them that it was such a small crowd, that they just loved to play. It showed.

Sorry about the super detailed show review. After five or six days as a retiree, all of the stimulation kinda got to me...

365 days of loafing like a bum

Yup.  Today is my one year road-iversary.

I wanted to write something all contemplative and meaningful to mark the occasion, but I got nothing.  I've just been chillin' here in Tucson with my grandparents, enjoying two more members of my family with whom I have not spent enough time.  It's interesting how this trip started out with a desire to travel and see the parts of the country that I had never seen, and talk to people from all over, but every time I stopped at a relative's house, it became more about that.  When people ask me what the best thing has been about this trip, sometimes I say something about having time alone to think and discovering my mental and physical limits, but I always end up talking about how great it has been to have extended one on one time with family members.  In families as scattered as both sides of mine are, it can be difficult enough just to get at least half of us together for a family reunion, and when that happens, most of the focus is on large group activities, so there's not a lot of time to have real conversations with people.  I don't know how everyone else feels, but I feel like I grew up so far away from my family, and then spent so much time depressed and lazy, not even trying to form relationships with them, that in a group setting I feel like a bit of an outsider.  This year has been good for my soul in that it has brought me a lot closer to people I probably should never have felt so far from.  It is only natural that even though I am burnt out on the other aspects of travel, I still have a list of people I want to spend time with.  And cook for.

I'm excited about the coming months.