It has become that time of evening.....

....the time of evening when one sits and listens to Barber and wonders why it is warmer outside than it is inside. And furthermore, why is it 65 degrees in Boston in January? Confusing, really. One might even say it was unseasonably warm. The two phrases at which my husband rolls his eyes the most are, in order of usage,
1. Social Darwinism and 2. Global Warming.

When Joel and I drove down from Middlebury in the summer of 2005 to look for a Boston apartment, we called AAA, we printed out maps from Mapquest with our route clearly marked, we filled up our water bottles and got snacks, and prepared for our road trip. I wouldn't consider myself a novice at road trips, quite the contrary. My parents are really into the whole Great American Road Trip thing, so I was subjected to many trips in the back of the Caprice Classic (sidebar: this Christmas vacation was no different - we flew into New Orleans and then drove to North Carolina. You tell me how that makes sense and I'll send you a praline.) and as a result, I know exactly how long I can hold it before it becomes absolutely necessary to stop, which truck stops are less sketchy and therefore worthy to eat in, and what snacks are best for car travel (mess/taste/sustenance). We read our directions, followed them exactly, and where did we end up? Woodstock. We ended up in Woodstock. And after concluding that the smallest part of each Northeastern state's budget is devoted to signage, I developed the Emily Hindrichs Lecture Series on Urban and Suburban Development, a sixteen-part lecture series that deals with how to properly lay out and obscure city structure as to confuse and obfuscate tourists and travelers. Part 1 is appropriately entitled: Signage and Social Darwinism.

While we were in the South for the holidays, my husband and I managed to drive from New Orleans all the way to Asheville, NC by way of Birmingham and Atlanta, without consulting a single map. And do you know why? Because there are SIGNS that say where you're going before you get there. Social Darwinism my friends. If they want you to know how to get there, the signs will be there. If you don't know where you're going, you obviously don't belong and should therefore turn around and go back to wherever it is you came from. Welcome to New England, please leave now.

The Global Warming thing is different. I'm touchy about weather, coming from the south and growing up with hurricanes and tornados and tropical depressions and all that whatnot. You notice when the pressure drops, you notice when it's windy in the mid-afternoon (almost invariably means rain) and you notice when those clouds start to turn green because that means the sirens are going to go off any moment and you'd better get in the hallway. And with all of the press surrounding the hurricane last year, more studies are being done that deal with global warming and its effect upon things like water temperatures, storm strengths, wetland preservation. Not that many people are paying attention more than they did before, but when we drove down I-10 to the airport the other day, it had not rained in more than a few days and I couldn't help but notice that the water levels were so high, they were creeping up to the interstate and even pooling in one of the off-ramps. So I turn to my husband and say, "Global Warming." He thinks I'm an alarmist.

I'm not suggesting that everyone go out and buy a hybrid car and recycle every little stitch of paper in their house. I'm just saying that it's worth noting that people get paid NOT a lot of money to tell the federal government that water levels are high and perhaps we should do something about it. Call me twitchy, but I still have the pictures of the sludge line on my momma's wall and it makes me ill every time I think of her holed up in the loft for three days. End of sermon.


In other news, Sam got us a digital camera for Christmas. Good dog he is, and we have put it to good use, so I think I'll include a few pictures from our holiday trip. I hope everyone's holiday was festive and whether you spent it bundled up in sweaters and blankets or in t-shirts with the AC on, you spent it with people you love. And with that said, I'm going to watch a movie with the dog. He got his toenails clipped today and has been looking at me very mournfully for subjecting him to such an injustice. And if anyone comes up with a way to surreptitiously clip a Lab's toenails, you just let me know and I'll send you a praline for that too!