Hello hello all!
While I've been spending much of my time mentally preparing to teach (a feat which I still find rather daunting) and listening to tons of French shows/movies (and dubbed American ones as well. Apparently all it takes for me to get hooked back into American culture is for it to be in French), I did have a nice few days break from my self-imposed solitude. Anyway, one of the few businesses in this small town that avoided the omnipotent flush down the crapper of the American economy is the recording studio where J works. Since we moved out here about 2 years ago, the only people whose company is all that bearable are those connected with said studio and the bands that come through/are imported from overseas. I have to admit that I have met some very badass dudes and dudettes and definitely have some stories to tell (let's just say that the phrase 'no one parties like a Norwegian' is incredibly apt and I don't think I will be drinking much Jager in the future). This week a couple folks from the New Zealand based group Indicator Dogs were here, and being the incredibly outgoing, hospitable, and just downright awesome, not to mention starved-for-decent-conversation/company, people that we are we decided to show them some of the sites. So our little quatrumvirate (is the 'vir' applicapable if two of said quatrumvirate are women???) lunched at my favorite burrito bar, Dos Geckos- seriously, if you are ever in Mt. Shasta Ca, eat there! It is amazing, healthy, and the couple who runs it are always very friendly. We then proceeded to tour a few of the shops and realize our true obsessions for books and tea since the shop, Serenitea has some most delicious concoctions and well any shop where you can spend as much time as you want smelling different samples of tea is automatically fantastic. We didn't spend all of our time in the 'city,' however, oh no we gave them the full round and headed out to the lovely headwaters of the Sacramento River to quench our thirst in the clear waters and visit the park. Later that night J and I headed to the Mt. Shasta Stargazers meeting to look up for a bit and realize how insignificant we are when compared to the vastness of the universe, but also just what an integral part we play in said vastness. More on that later though. Afterwards, bowling with the studio folk and some beers. Merriness abounded despite all the annoying weirdo local people.
Today, Indicator Dogs had to hit the road again, so we took them on a quick detour to Hedgecreek Falls since it was on their way. I must say that these guys are very cool laid back folks and you should all check them out. You can thank me later ;)
