The Night Before Los Angeles

So, tomorrow I am leaving for Los Angeles. That is exciting! Except that I will get there at 1:00. To get to Los Angeles from Roseburg at 1:00 I must leave for Eugene at 6am, fly from Eugene to Portland, be annoyed at having to fly North to fly South, then fly from Portland to LA. After my recent experience with changing planes I am concerned. We are going to LA for our VISTA orientation, which begins tomorrow evening. Hopefully we will arrive on time and in the proper city.

It is late here. It is weird that this is my first full week in Oregon. So far I have:

• Gotten an Oregon bank account.


• Gotten an Oregon cell phone.


• Applied to rent an Oregon apartment.


• Applied for Oregon food stamps.


• Eaten Oregon Chinese food.


• Drunk Oregon beer (it's really good!)


• Drove an Oregon truck.


• Gotten an Oregon bike (yay!).


• Paid NO Oregon sales tax, because they don't have it!
  


• Made a couple of Oregon friends.


• Still at the awkward stage there.


• Skipped Oregon Mass yesterday and felt terribly guilty, since I live with an Oregon priest.

My current review of Oregon: Wow, it's different from Pennsylvania. But maybe not that different. Maybe people are just Americans, here in America. But I don't completely know yet. At the same time, I feel like every person I've met in this town has been incredibly friendly. VISTA people, bank people, waittress people, ranchers, farmers.

Oregon trees are different from Pennsylvania trees. Lots and lots and lots of Pine and Oak, Douglas Fir. Haven't seen a Spruce, a Hemlock, a Maple.

I cannot identify any other trees and only know the Douglas Fir because it was pointed out to me.

Lots of blackberries here.

Blackberries are invasive exotics and they are everywhere. Everyone else in the forest thinks they are bad, but I disagree and so do you and the sparrows.

Of course they are not out yet.

People here think I am insane because I do not drive a car. And maybe they are right. All of America that doesn't live in a city has to drive a car. But, they keep being shocked and horrified when I walk distances greater than half a mile.

Granted, I have been deliberately pushing it: on Saturday I did a 7-mile round trip to the bank and back, because the only bank I could find open was 3 and a half miles away.

But historically, that's not even that much. Hunter-gatherers walked on average 7 miles a day.

And you know, I feel like, if I said to people "I did a seven-mile HIKE today," everyone would applaud and be all Oh yeah that's very good Yeah hiking Hiking's good I respect that Yeah I really respect that. And what I would really be saying is "I went and walked seven miles in the woods for no goddam good reason." But say to people, "I needed to go somewhere today, for a good purpose, and I walked, thus simultaneously accomplishing my necessary tasks AND getting exercise" and everyone turns up their nose.

Of course, it's exceedingly respectable to get exercise provided it:

1. Serves no useful purpose whatsoever;
2. Is facilitated by the purchase of unnecessarily expensive equipment;
3. Takes place within a gym.
   

Hypotheses:

1. If you walk (or get any sort of exercise) for any useful reason it says that you couldn't afford to have a machine do it for you.


2. But if you get exercise for no reason, it tells everyone that a) you're above manual labor, otherwise you would be too tired to do this, and you wouldn't need to anyway; b) you have money for a gym membership; c) you have money for running shoes; d) you accept Middle and Upper-Class values--you are running, not smoking.

Consequence:

America is a nation of depressed, obese, but rose-scented and spotless Middle-Class mannikins who would be happier, healthier and even fucking wealthier if they would just get off their asses.

Even when it's a little cold out!