Hello! Today is Sunday, January 27th, 2008. I moved to Arcata just over a week ago. I love it! Because there is so much to tell, and so many people to tell, I decided to create a blog. I've never created a blog so please be patient with my efforts.
I honestly don't know where to start. Arcata is absolutely wonderful. The enviornment is beautiful. I live about 5 miles from the ocean and less than 2 miles from the Redwoods. I'm definitely enjoying all of the fresh air. I haven't been hiking yet but I have visited three beaches. Luke and I went to a beach in Samoa the first time I visited the area (about a month ago). This beach far exceeded my expectations. Before Samoa, when I pictured a beach in my head, I pictured the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Now, I have a completely new perception of what a beach is. In Santa Cruz, the ocean was pretty but the beaches were always dirty and annoyingly crowded. In and around Arcata, beaches are quiet and serene. They're definitely cold but still so much more enjoyable than the beaches I visited while living in Santa Cruz. I've visited two other beaches here since the beach in Samoa. Last week, I took Mushko to Clam Beach; I believe it's a state park. It was about 5 PM and we observed a beautiful sunset. The beach was massive but there were only about 5 other people and 4 other dogs for as far as we could see. Yesterday, I took Mushko to a beach in Manila with my roommate, her friend, and four other dogs. Mushko is a bit of a wanderer so I was nervous about letting him off-leash. I let him go and he stayed relatively close to us the entire time we were there. We walked up and down the beach which took about 2 hours. Other than the day I adopted him, I think this was the best day of Mushko's life (so far, lol). The dogs had so much fun. They ran in and out of the ocean during the first half of our walk and then up and down the dunes along the beach during the second half of our walk. When we finally got back to my truck, I realized I'd lost my keys. I jogged back down the beach, prayed, and, much to my surprise, found them! I have several pictures from our trips to the beach. I'll post these as soon as I figure out how to do so.
The trees around campus are almost as beautiful as the ocean. They're huge! HSU reminds me of a smaller UC Santa Cruz campus. UCSC was beautiful but very spread out. While at UCSC, I often had to take buses to get to classes on time. Humboldt is a lot smaller but it's nice because you can walk everywhere. Walking from one class to another is a small adventure. How many other students get to take dirt trails, walk around giant Redwoods, and see rare wildlife on their way to class? I still haven't decided which campus, UCSC or HSU, I like better.
I can't count how many times a stranger has waved or said hello to me. Whether I'm walking Mushko or leaving the grocery store, random strangers almost always smile and/or say hello to me. This is definitely not the case in Modesto. Furthermore, at least half of the population here has dogs. I see them everywhere; leashes are apparently optional. Some of the stores downtown even allow people to bring their dogs inside the store with them! I thought only Petsmarts and Petcos allowed dogs inside. I don't know how to explain the
I don't know how to explain the mood here. It's cheerful, easygoing, and sustaining. It's important to be physically, emotionally, and socially healthy. People walk and bike everywhere. People take their time walking around town. It's common to find people sitting on park benches with a newspaper or book. People visit coffee shops to relax and chat with friends. Isn't this how life should be everywhere? To hell with working 60 hours a week. No matter what I do with my life, I'm going to have time to do what I enjoy - talking to friends, playing cards/games, and walking my dog(s).
My roommate's name is Sandy. She's the head track coach at HSU. She's sarcastic, a tomboy, and is obsessed with her dog... we get along quite well. She doesn't drink or smoke and won't allow smoking in the house (not even on the porch). I'm glad. I probably found more people who smoked (and even grew) than those who didn't. The only drawback here is that her dog is much older than Mushko. Mushko constantly tries to play with Javelin but Javelin usually prefers to rest. This is partially because Sandy takes Javelin to work with her everyday. Eventually, she'd like to take Mushko too. Regardless, having another dog is better than having none at all.
As far as drawbacks to living in Arcata, the only thing I can think of is the high prices. Gas is easily 30 to 50 cents more here than in Modesto. Even the Safeway in Arcata seems to charge more than the Safeway in Modesto. Still, shopping at Safeway is MUCH cheaper than shopping at the local Co-Op. Natural and organic food is very popular here and there are several natural grocery stores. Andrea would be proud, I really have been making an effort to eat and drink better. For breakfast yesterday I had an organic chai latte (organic chai tea with organic soy milk) and an organic banana. You'd think that all bananas were organic, but they're not. Organic bananas are about 50% more expensive than non-organic bananas but aren't grown with pesticides. I spent the extra change and bought the organic bananas. For lunch, I had organic pasta. I used organic tortellini with organic marinara sauce. This meal was also a bit more expensive than the non-organic option. For a beverage, I drank organic grape juice. The grape juice was delicious! For dinner, I had left-over pasta and a Dr. Pepper. I'd hoped to make it an entire day on only organic food but Luke was here and he wanted a Dr. Pepper. It looked way too yummy to pass up. I can't say I'll continue to eat as organic as I did yesterday but I'll definitely make an effort.
I still have a lot to say but this blog is already pretty long and I'd like to start my homework. It's Sunday and the homework isn't due until Tuesday. If I finish it tonight, you may see flying pigs tomorrow. Speaking of seeing crazy things, it snowed today in Arcata! It was a light, wet snow, but still really cool. Anyway, I'm off to begin my homework. I'll post another blog soon.
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