The Note

 

Dear Hopeful,

You do not own the street outside your house. The council does. If they didn’t want me to park on the street, they would have a sign saying so. So no, you can’t have my car towed. And in case you didn’t know, you have a community mailbox. That means that only you and the mailman can put things in and take things out. So in the unlikely event that anyone was going to give you $20 for their right to park on a suburban street, they can’t put it in your mailbox.

Yours sincerely,

Miss ‘likely to park outside your house a lot in the future’.

Halloween

In Australia, Halloween is given a cursory glance by most people and usually means a lame attempt at trick or treat by the odd pack of teenagers. Nobody buys lollies for them. We’d rather risk toilet paper in the mailbox or an egg on the drive. So it was with some amusement that I watched the spectacle of an American Halloween unfold. It starts at least 2-3 weeks before the 31^st. Weekend trips to a pumpkin patch are made to peruse and purchase the perfect pumpkin for carving. Houses are adorned in cobwebs, strangled farmers (or scarecrows I am not sure, still trying to work this out), broomsticks, ghouls, ghosts and pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Entire graveyards pop up on front lawns. It is like the Christmas lights only less cheerful.

A few days before the big day, I attended my first pumpkin carving party. I learnt to gut the inside and then use a stencil to carve out the face. It was great fun. A sort of grown up craft, only very serious. There were power tools such as drills and dremmels, scalpels, scrapers, punchers for marking the skin and little serrated knives for carving. So much science to what I had previously thought was only done by bored kids. Here is my attempt.

Homage to Momo....

Pumpkin carving underway...

 

Note to the uninitiated; after 3 days of being candlelit each evening the pumpkin develops a kind of large brown-spot measles and smells a bit like custard.

The big event is actually very civilised from the trick or treat perspective. There is no trick element. So if you forgot to buy ‘candy’ then the kids just go away looking disappointed but don’t egg your house. Amazing. You can even turn off the porch light and they don’t come begging. What is more amazing is that I never realised that Halloween is really an excuse for adults to don some fancy dress and get drunk. So the bars in town are packed with everyone from Sheldon (Big Bang Theory), Wilfred (Wilfred), the Jamaican bob sled team (?) and the Royal Tenenbaums to the usual smattering of mad scientists, zombies (very popular) and well, scantily clad chicks. The drinks were cheap, the music live and the people watching unparalleled. Big thanks to Kaylynn for making my first American Halloween the real deal.

 

As it turns out, cats like beer.

 

And here is the most mind blowing bit. They don’t eat pumpkin..... No pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkin or any of the plethora of savoury pumpkin recipes we make at home. They do make sweet pumpkin pie. But that comes out of a tin.

Road Trippin' - Arizona

Arizona is red. Very red. Actually parts of it are very like the red centre of Australia.  But rather than the odd big rock in the midst of the vast tracts of red dust Arizona has the opposite. Large, deep scars in the earth that make for amazing vistas. Canyon de Chelly near Chinle is one such canyon. Lesser known than the big one everyone visits, it is no less beautiful; just a little less grand. Mum and I hiked from the rim to the canyon floor to see some ancient Anasazi tribal ruins. Like all things in a desert they were remarkably well preserved. Wall petroglyphs were also still in sharp relief. It is interesting to think that native Americans were communicating via rock paintings in much the same manner as the aborigines despite their distinct origins and disparate modes of survival.

Canyon de Chelly

Mum going down....

Me coming up (mum abandoned me earlier!)

 

The canyon was definitely the high point of Chinle. For dinner I ate grey lamb stew with carrots (complete with bite marks from the previous recipient) and potato in hot water. Mum tried to eat roast beef but after eventually getting a corner of the beef off and into her mouth she got a 20 minute jaw work out. Eventually giving up she spat the beef out and it looked completely unchanged. So, trail mix and york mints for dinner it was.

In addition to the canyons, Arizona is rich in sharp weathered rock formations - mesas and buttes that rear up out of the dust in remarkable patterns. Monument valley is quite incredible. We were lucky enough to arrive in the late afternoon and organise a private jeep trip amongst the rock formations for sunset. Note the particularly rare Arizonian wombat behind the petrified tree.

 

And, it seems, Oklahoma follows me wherever I go....

 

We finished our foray into Arizona at the biggest hole in the earth and it was just as grand as it was when Jude and I visited 12 years ago. Only this time I was not trapped on a Japanese tour. Visiting in fall was spectacular – fewer tourists and beautiful colours. However, we did run into some inclement weather. I convinced mum that a light, 12 mile stroll along the rim was a good idea. It was cold but we had all the gear so she acquiesced. Just prior to setting out I decided a toilet stop was necessary. I returned to the deck 3 mins later to find mum looking forlornly out into a snowstorm. A bit early in the season but a decent swirling snowfall. She looks around at me and says in a resigned tone “I suppose we are still going on our walk?” I conceded that we could wait out the snow in the lobby by the fire. Still, we set off half an hour later to an improving skyline. Well that didn’t last and I dragged poor mum along the rim in the snow, hail and sleet with rather repetitive canyon vistas of white cloud. After 4 miles and in a torrential downpour we succumbed to flagging the shuttle and holed up in Hermits rest to drink hot choc by the fire. After a while we started off again but a further 2 miles down the trail mum wisely decided the monotony of the dense cloud was defeating the purpose and caught the shuttle back to the village. Not to be dissuaded I carried on and was rewarded by an eventual late afternoon break in the weather and a very clean, sparkly canyon resplendent with a full rainbow.

 

 

The following morning at sunrise we found 6 female elk grazing on the lodge lawn. They were soon joined by an eager male and decided to move on out of his clutches. We finished our last half day with separate hikes – me down into the canyon (only some of the way as it takes nearly a full day to get to the canyon floor) and mum along the best rim section she had missed the day before. All in all, a grand canyon experience. Thank you Arizona!

 

Road Trippin' - New Mexico

Oklahoma shares a small border with New Mexico, at the end of a long ‘panhandle’ that consists of nothing. Nothing but rolling plains, cattle and dust. It is quite amazing to drive through, well once anyway. All 5 hours of it. The plains go as far as the eye can see, as does the road. Which is a bit depressing from a ‘getting there’ point of view. But get there we did. To our ultimate destination for day 1 – New Mexico. We left the plains behind us at the Cimarron canyon, a beautiful winding road through the floor of the canyon flanked by auburn trees resplendent with fall foliage.

Road through Cimarron Canyon

 

The day ended in the old town of Taos, high in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Finally; some good food and wine and the odd mountain to break the skyline...

Main St of Taos Old Town

 

We enjoyed great mediterranean food, Muga Spanish rose (reminded me of those summer evenings on the deck at Ennever St - you can get it at Wine Experience in Rosalie for all those wanting to try an awesome, not so sweet rose) and well, hornets in our room at the Lodge. Never mind, can’t have everything I suppose. After a couple of days of ancient pueblos, adobe churches and incredible scenery we moved south to Sante Fe. More of the same – life’s tough.

Sante Fe

Microbrewery and pizzeria right on the Old Town square of Sante Fe

 

Leaving Sante Fe we drove through Los Alamos (not an atomic bomb in sight but we did have to drive through a National Security checkpoint to get out of town) and across the Jemez mountains. Huge green valleys suspended between jagged mountain ranges and grazing bison. New Mexico is so diverse – desert, mountains, bleached cattle skulls on gateposts, adobe villages and great New Mexican food. So close to Oklahoma yet so far.....

Valle Grande

My most recent escape....

As I sit here on the flight back to Oklahoma after a glorious week in New York and Boston I have to admit to suffering a little ‘Sunday-itis’! Following a week of fantastic meals, family time and then a stimulating conference that renewed my enthusiasm for research, I can’t help but give a little inner sigh at the prospect of returning to limp produce and the endless screaming neon signs of the multitude of fast food establishments that populate Stillwater. But, on the positive side, I ate so much in the past week I will have no need to consume either fast food or rotting vegetables!

The Little Rascal (not Fe...)

It is not often you go on a trip and fail to eat a bad meal. Every place we ended up eating in NY, either through careful research and planning or simple convenience, was fantastic. The only possible exception was a NY ‘institution’ that may have finally succumbed to the tourist dollar and taken the ‘New York attitude’ a touch too far. Luckily, you can’t go too far wrong with pizza and salad.

Jacques in Soho

It is amazing how much you can achieve in 5 days. Both Mum and Fe were new to NY so had free reign over choosing the activities. Day one involved Times Square, a few cathedrals, 5^th Ave (numerous famous building sighted), lunch at the Shake Shack, Staten Is ferry and the green lady, 9/11 memorial and a great Mediterranean dinner (naturally with champagne). I think poor Mum was wondering if she should have packed a scooter after all that walking. Each day was similarly filled with NY wonders and I hope they both felt they have seen a good chunk of the city. For me it was an opportunity to go back and re-do some of my favourite things and also have some new experiences. In particular, looking down into the depths of the 2 large square foundations of the WTC was definitely a different experience to craning my neck skywards to glimpse the tops of the buildings 12 years ago. The Met was a firm favourite of ours and was flanked by the best French toast of all time (not in the museum but on the upper east side) and Central Park in the rain.

 



View from Brooklyn Heights Esplanade

From NY I flew to Boston for an equine endocrinology summit that was in a gorgeous luxury hotel in the Beacon Hill area of the city. The summit program was fairly packed but I did get out a few times for a cycle along the river and a couple of walks through the city and gardens. I think I could definitely live there – an inviting and easy to negotiate city. Yet more amazing food and wine was consumed. Poor me!!

Well, as I wing my way closer to the mid (wild) west I am grateful for the disparate experiences that this time in the US is giving me. Lots of interesting people to meet and places to see. And another reason to be excited about heading back to OK – the summer heat wave (that lasted 4 months!) must be declining and fall is arriving. Cooler temps and pretty colours will be a seasonal experience unique to this part of the world. I just have to survive a brief return to tornado season first.......

The wedding

A few weekends ago now I made a return trip to SF for the wedding of Julia and DJ. Having never been to an American wedding I didn’t quite know what to expect. When Jules and I lived in the UK she often waxed lyrical about this wedding (not that she knew DJ at this stage). There was to be an entrance in a pink Cadillac, an orchestra (possibly that was an embellishment from my mind) and a giant white meringue style gown. I was slightly trepidatious about the formality of it all. For a start I only brought one dress over to the US with me that would be suitable for a wedding, and not a hugely formal one at that. Oh well, thats the beauty of existing out of 2 suitcases worth, I didn’t have to spend any energy deciding what to wear. I also only have one pair of heels here and in a moment of uncharacteristic foresight I must have considered the remote possibility of needing to tart up (I didn’t know about the wedding before I left) because they matched! However, my concerns about pink cars and pavlova style gowns abated as soon as I arrived in SF and realised this was to be one very cool wedding.

Events kicked off on the Thursday night with an evening of distilled spirit tasting for the out of towners. It was fantastic to catch up with my mate from the UK, Simon, whom Jules and I met while travelling through Africa and some of Julia and DJ’s friends who had flown in from far more glamorous corners of the US than Oklahoma. My current address drew many responses of “oh, I’m sorry, how is that going?” or “Hmm, I’ve never been there”. Ah, the easy assurance of knowing that California is not a bad place to be!

Anyway, back to the spirit tasting. Not something I had attempted before. Prepaid, so no chickening out.  15 spirits in a row, starting with vodkas, then gin, then something I had never heard of, can’t now remember the name of but thoroughly enjoyed, then whisky, bourbon and finishing with absinthe. See just like wine tasting – starting light and easy (sav blanc – frankly I think sav blanc and vodka are equally nasty) and finishing dark and alcoholic (port) with everyone buying bottles of things they wouldn’t necessarily like the next day! Luckily for me I was doing carry-on luggage for the weekend so the 100ml rule saved my wallet and liver.

Next day Simon and I hauled ourselves into the city and cycled along the waterfront and over the Golden Gate which was fantastic. Such a better way to see the bridge than what Jude and I did years ago which was walk from Union Square over the bridge to Sausalito (yes many hours and blisters worth). Well, we were younger then so maybe it didn’t seem like such a trek at the time, I can’t remember. That evening was the rehearsal dinner which we were kindly invited to. Fantastic Vietnamese at a restaurant owned by a friend of theirs right on the water. And another opportunity to meet more of their many lovely friends.

Next day, the wedding – such fun. Not a meringue or pink car in sight. Stunning location on the bay looking at the sun setting over the SF city skyline, one of their oldest friends as their celebrant (yes he became a reverend online thanks to a church in Utah), beautiful speeches during the service and a sunny day. They are a couple who have so many people who care deeply about them. Getting to the reception involved turning around and walking into a aircraft hangar turned winery bedecked with lanterns, a trapeze (yes supper club came to the wedding...) and a sterling dancefloor. Soon we were stood about with our personalised pitchers filled with their signature cocktails munching on sliders, watching the sun set over the city before eating the most unusual but ideal wedding meal ever. Make your own burgers and fries from a food van parked in the doorway of the hangar. Capped off with ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Heaven!

I feel really lucky to have been over here at the time of their wedding and to have been lucky enough to be invited. Thank you Jules and DJ!

PS This is me and Simon with the bride (groom was the unfortunate focus of some kegging (head first into a keg) at this stage)!

Getting around town

America – the land of the great road trip. From the moment I arrived it became abundantly clear that there was no other option for getting around town but to get a car. However, due to not having a car, that proved to be quite difficult… Here is the story of my 14 week endeavour to get hold of one.

My first apartment was on campus. I arrived at the start of Spring so weather was variable but not horrific, perfectly reasonable for the 15 min walk from the apartment to my office building (most days). However, the idea that I walked to work (and god forbid, home again for lunch) was met with abject horror by my admin person. ‘But you can’t’ she wailed. There is a bus (yes one that went to the other side of campus before going anywhere near the vet building). Still, she insisted on trying to get me a temporary staff card so I could ride the bus (my staff card took 6 weeks to materialize – without it I couldn’t get into the building, ride the bus or use any facilities – but that is another story). She was devastated when she couldn’t arrange it and asked me daily if I was coping ok with the walk!!

 

Imagine her absolute devastation when I moved off campus and the bus dropped me even further away - a 20 min walk to the office. ‘But you could change to another cross campus bus’ (yes after waiting up to half an hour – the maths just didn’t add up) she bemoaned. I needed to get a car just to reduce her blood pressure. I also needed to get a car so I could do stuff before 8am and after 6pm. People tell me I should be grateful there is even a bus. And, I suppose, in a way I am. But seriously, what kind of bus system stops running at 6pm and doesn’t even go at all on the weekends? The need for alternative transport was pressing…

However, on the up-side I did see a side of Stillwater on the bus I would never have otherwise experienced. The fellow who was already on the first bus each morning with his pants around his knees. The Mon-Wed-Fri driver who yelled at everyone and once told me off for asking him to stop when he drove right past my stop (yes I had pushed the bell). The Tues-Thus driver who was sweet but deaf – “HOW YOU DOIN TODAY LADY?” The nurse who couldn’t get out of the two seats she needed to occupy – mostly because she wouldn’t let go of the supersize chip packet.

 

So back to my problem with getting a car – the dealerships were all out on the highway into town so I needed to get the bus there. Only problem being when I was free to go, there was no bus. Frustrating. I was saved from this annoying dilemma by a very sweet fellow equine researcher who gave up her Saturday morning to tote me around to the dealerships. Our experience was awful but had the bonus of making us great friends. Dealer one – busily shifting from one foot to the other, drooping lip, trying to sell me an SUV (shortly after being told I wanted a small efficient sedan/coupe). Dealer two – well, I just wanted to have a shower afterwards. Dealer three – refreshingly honest, ‘no we have nothing for you’. Dealer four – ‘what you lookin for don’t exist luvey, now you just need to buy that good ol wagon over there (I kid you not the thing was from the 1800s). Dealer five – fuel efficient? Cheap? Well I’ve the perfect thing (it had done 348,000 miles). We gave up.

Enter Huffy. My sweet, trusty cruiser bike. Some birthday money and a long Saturday morning walk to Walmart bought the two of us together and me a new lease of life. She is a bit like riding a couch and has introduced me to a new way of cycling – slowly (which merges into inertia with a decent headwind) and meanderingly. Lovely. Until I met with a small tractor and shortly after, the pavement. She now has a bent pedal shaft, a split tyre and a distinct screaming noise with each tyre rotation. Sigh.

Princess Huffy

Fortuitously, shortly after Huffy’s demise I was lucky enough to come across the perfect opportunity to get a car I could afford. Again, the kindness of strangers. A local owner, one family (admittedly over 20 years including 2 sons) and a situation of one too many cars… So, $1500 later I am zooming around town (occasionally on the wrong side of the road – but only momentarily) and promising myself I will take Huffy to the infirmary.

Do I miss the bus? Yes and no, but mostly no…

A dwarf amongst the utes...

Tinted windows - very 90s like the car