Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Look, the Feel of Autumn... the Seasons of Our Lives

I haven't blogged much lately. This is because, although there is, ahem, an awful lot going on in my life right now, I'm not at liberty to tell you all about it. Mysterious, right? Well, sorry. You'll know soon.

Meanwhile, it's getting to be fall, and I'm waxing poetic. I LOVE FALL. I love the smell and feel of the air, how the wind changes, crunching leaves, drinking apple cider, wearing sweaters, and starting the Megan Mason calendar year. Yes, my year still revolves around the fall, because as a friend pointed out, I haven't had a fall without school since I was five. Possibly four. So even though I'd love to be done with my institutional learning at this point, I still am filled with excitement when I walk back onto a college campus for the first time that year. I love the anticipation of each holiday, each semester ending, and each degree I work towards. I've had good years and bad years, but none of them have ever been boring. And I think this will be a good one. I have a lot to look forward to, and I can't wait to see how things sort themselves out. Little (and big) frustrations aside, it's good to be here.

One good piece of news I can tell you is that my quartet was invited to stay at CU for a third year. Certain imminent events will determine the outcome of that invitation, but it's great to have it. Yay for a place to be, plus health and dental and Takacs.

I hope you're all enjoying the late summer/early fall. I'm missing Michigan right now, because it's the scene of cider mills and Halloween parties for me, but I'm trying to create that upper-midwestern friendliness right here in the mountains. And if any of you feel like visiting, cider and donuts are on me.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Freeganism, and Other Ridiculous Boulderisms

The other night I went out to dinner with some friends. We were in two cars, and my group arrived a little before the other. We waited for what seemed an extreme amount of time, and then my friend Jen came bouncing in, waving what appeared to be a flag of some sort. In reality, it was a scrap of fabric with Freegan mottos written on it in black magic marker. Freegan, you ask? No worries, I'm getting to it.

From my Boulder posts, you probably know by now that it is often appropriately called "the People's Republic of Boulder." In the words of my sister-in-law upon a recent visit, "Wow, I've never seen so many granola people gathered in one place." I concur, but even I didn't know the extent of it until Jen told me what happened when she parked her car. Apparently, as she was turning off the engine, she saw a man pop his head out of a nearby dumpster. If it were me, I would have gone out of my way to avoid eye contact, but one of the girls in the car recognized him for what he was... a freegan. So, we return to freeganism. A freegan, you see, is someone who dumpster dives for foods and only eats what others throw away. The idea is that we humans have a tendency to trash perfectly good food, and freegans want to eliminate all that waste.

Dumpster Dan was thrilled that someone knew what he was doing, and he spent the next twenty minutes explaining his rules for picking out food. He never takes fruit from the bottom of the pile, he never takes meat, and he only takes canned/bottled goods that are less than a few days past their expiration date.

Fascinating. I have to give the guy props, although I find his lifestyle shudder-worthy. If I weren't such a germaphobe, I might even test it out. But, seeing as how I'm nervous to eat a piece of fruit from the local farmers' market without soaking it first, I don't think I'll be taking up freeganism anytime soon.

Viva la Boulder!