August 2009 Archives

We officially moved in to this house a week ago, although technically at this time last week the movers were probably just climbing into their trucks to head to our townhouse. By the time they wrapped everything up at the new house, night was falling and we were about to make our first two observations about how much different life is in the country. Specifically how dark it gets and the noise level.

We're roughly five miles from our townhouse here and I was surprised how much of a difference five miles can make. When it gets dark here, it gets fucking DARK. I think there's a streetlight about half a mile away. Otherwise the only lights come from the other houses, and there aren't that many of them. It is both very quiet and very noisy. When I can get my anxious mind to settle down, I can actually sleep through the night, which is unprecedented. If you listen really, really hard you can hear cars off in the distance, but the everyday neighborhood noises I grew up with are gone. There are few cars driving by, no neighbors on their deck making noises, no kids running and screaming while they play, no dogs barking, no trash truck with bad brakes squealing its way up and down each street. Well, actually, there are probably all of those things, it's just that we're so far back from the road. Instead the noise comes from nature. The crickets and cicadas in the woods are so loud at night you almost think they are massing for an attack.

There are a lot more bugs in general, which is going to require some adjusting on my part. I am not a fan of bugs, and there are some seriously large insects around these parts. The first day the biggest fly I had ever seen in my life got in the house. Big to the point where we were joking that it might not be a good idea to try to kill it because it was big enough to be carrying a gun. The other day I went out on the back porch to put out the recycling and when I turned back around, there was a grasshopper on the handle for the screen door. I waited him out and he hopped away after a long minute.

Our driveway is long and steep. The long I knew about, but the steep was harder to detect in a car. Hauling my ass up that driveway with Seamus every day should give me some nice hamstrings, but if it snows, there's no way my little Honda is going to make it up to the street. I find I don't mind the idea of being snowbound for a day in my snug little house. Speaking of walking Seamus, there are no sidewalks here, so everyone just walks in the street. There aren't many cars going by, so it seems pretty safe. I'll admit I'm a little worried about that.

Now obviously, five miles from where I used to live doesn't really put me in the country. I'm sure the residents of places like South Dakota and Idaho will scoff at me. I'm only a couple of miles outside of Frederick city, I'm less than an hour from DC and Baltimore, and there are multiple grocery stores and Thai restaurants 10 minutes away. It is a big change for me though, and so far I'm liking the country life. I had no idea what I was missing before.

It doesn't feel descriptive enough to say that the last two weeks have been busy. Busy is too short a word to cover all that I have done in that time frame. I went to Boston with my mom for a family wedding. I came home and frantically sorted and packed stuff into boxes in preparation for our move. Then Seamus had a major health scare. I thought we might lose him, and there really aren't words to describe how I felt about that. Start with terrified and heartbroken and inconsolable, and then go into soundless weeping, maybe. He's on the mend now, although he may need surgery and he definitely needs medicine. The good news is we found out yesterday that he does not have cancer, which is what the vet feared.

My sweet puppy collapsed the night before we closed on the house which meant we spent half the night at the ER vet. We couldn't leave him alone, so he went to the closing with us, his little paw all taped up from where they put in his IV, and curled up under the table while we signed papers. Then the movers came, and worked and worked and worked. It was 11 of the most hot and humid and miserable hours I have ever spent, and they were ones doing the heavy lifting! Oh yes, and also in the middle of all of this, the product launch I've been working on for almost six months now, the most delayed launch in the history of my personal career, yeah, that went in to high gear right before I left for Boston. I haven't been to the gym in weeks, I'm behind on assignments for my writing class, and most of my stuff is still in boxes.

On Sunday I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I love the new house. It is wonderful, and every day I find something new to like about it. But I was more tired than ever before in my life, I was so worried about Seamus I was practically throwing up, and there was just so much to be done. I'm glad to say I'm feeling a bit better now. Getting a diagnosis for Seamus lifted a huge weight off my shoulders, plus you can see him getting better. The house is slowly coming together, I actually handed in my writing homework on time last night, and the launch is theoretically kicking off at noon today. I shaved my legs this morning and I'm making my triumphant (where triumphant = pathetically huffing and puffing on the treadmill) return to the gym tonight. Hopefully my next stop is contented blissville.

So what you all been up to?

A study came out last week that said that - gasp - organically grown foods do not have substantially different nutrients from regularly grown foods. This immediately led to a bunch of smug articles about how all we crazy hippies who buy organic have been wasting our money.

To which I reply, no, actually, we haven't wasted a penny. When we say that organic products are healthier, what we mean is this: Organically grown foods are not drenched in endocrine-disrupting, potentially cancer-causing pesticides and chemicals. Organically grown foods are grown in ways that are better for the land they are grown on, better for the people and animals who live on that land, and better for the water affected by that land. The dairy products I buy aren't full of growth hormones and antibiotics that my body doesn't need or want.

It doesn't just apply to food, either. When I buy soap and shampoo and conditioner made with organic ingredients (and I admit that I don't always), I know I'm getting stuff made with ingredients that were grown responsibly, not tested on animals, and are paraben and sulfate free. That's also better for my health and the health of the earth.

Then there's the benefit that organically grown fruits and vegetables just plain taste better. Stack an organic tomato or peach up against a regular one in a taste test, and I guarantee that the organically grown one will have more flavor and a better texture. They might not look as pretty, but in the end, it is taste that counts. Organic butter tastes approximately 1 million times better than regular butter. The same goes for organic cheeses.

So feel free to make fun of me. I'll get the last laugh in the end.