dreamy mornings

I have been fighting an awful viral infection for the better part of a week now, and I have never taken so many pain medications in my life. Alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen, this dreamy state I find myself in this morning might just be drug-induced. 

All the same, it's a hot, steamy, midsummer morning, and I found myself on public transit instead of my normal bike ride because I am still too weak to do the 12 mile round trip, especially in this 90 degree heat. After a quick shower, I threw on my new purple chinos and a rust-colored blouse, grabbed a cardigan and bus money and ran out of the house in a hurry, hustling to catch the bus, as usual.

Thankfully, the bus route I chose allowed me a quick visit to Java's on Gibbs St., where I ordered an ice tea and breakfast bar. Wishing I had just a bit more time to sit on the patio and watch the birds pick up bits of food off the sidewalk, I returned to the bus stop near the Eastman School, when I noticed the free university shuttle was rounding the corner to make a stop. On a whim, I dashed down the street to catch the bus, curious about the route and looking for a change to my normal city bus route. I sat in the back of the bumpy bus, sipping my iced tea and listening to a random mix of music on my phone that I could not have picked out more perfectly for this spontaneous morning. Zee Avi, Adele, Ani Difranco, etc. put me in a dreamier mood than I was expecting. I watched as students stepped onto the bus, swiped their id's and sat down with friends, making conversation about summer courses and weekend plans. Something about being around college students is inspiring to me. It's not that I want to be a student again, 21 and still so uncertain about the world. But I think I appreciate the intensity with which they live their lives, and being around them opens me back up to that electric pulse of new ideas, dreams and possibilities. It is refreshing and also satisfying, to reminisce but also feel grateful for the years and distance between that bewildered college girl and the person I am now, nearing 30 with a life and career and ever expanding circle of family and friends. 

After a winding route through my beloved city, we arrive at the university library, where I step off and begin a long walk to the other campus where I work. The air is thick and humid, but after the cold blast of AC on the shuttle, I'm grateful for the way the heat wraps around my tired and still sick body. My trips to the Caribbean have eased my dislike for hot weather and now I relish the memory of those tropical days. The campus is lush and fragrant with bright flowers and green grass and although there are people everywhere, I can be alone in my thoughts as I wind down narrow paths alternating between shade and bright sunshine. This walk through campus with more Zee Avi and Amos Lee puts me in a peaceful state, and I am so satisfied with life and all the moments that brought me to today. I know that I won't be able to sit down to my work until I get these words out, and yet I'm grateful that I can allow myself the bit of time it takes to really savor these feelings and this moment. 

There really is nothing like Rochester in the summertime....

You know how the time flies

Only yesterday was the time of our lives

We were born and raised in a summer haze

bound by the surprise of our glory days

- Adele, "Someone Like You"

Reflections on Health Promotion (while procrastinating)

I'm writing up a final take-home exam for my Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine course, and I just stopped downstairs for a snack. I had just finished the question talking about dietary patterns, and I poked around my cupboard and fridge, feeling satisfied about my eating habits.
In our cupboard, we have whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and oatmeal. We have dried beans, nuts, and seeds galore. We have a lovely stash of nutritional yeast, a delicious Vitamin B12 supplement. We have whole wheat pasta, canned tomatoes, natural nut and seed butters, vinegars of various flavors, and sea vegetables. In the fridge, we have unsweetened almond milk and flax milk, bags of apples, carrots, kale, celery, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and mushrooms. We have cilantro, basil, and parsley. We have homemade leftovers like split yellow pea soup, tomato and chickpea soup, and vegetable paella. We have some vegan meats, cheeses, and margarine, tofu, tempeh, wholegrain English muffins, jams, soy yogurt, and day old bagels (that I picked up on a 4-mile walk this morning in the sunshine). I have a pound of beans soaking in the crock pot to be cooked tomorrow while I'm at work. In a bowl on the table, we have a huge bowl of oranges, kiwis and an avocado. And I didn't even mention the freezer. Can you tell we went to the grocery store today?
We eat pretty darn healthy. It's sometimes hard for me to remember that not everyone eats like me. I have to remind myself to laugh when people ask if I'm getting the nutrients I need on a vegan diet. Except for a few supplements (B12, D, Calcium), I get everything I need and more from this diet. Without this diet, I'm sure I would be much further off course and struggle much more in getting the things I need.
I also happened across a series of photos of the foods families from across the globe consume in one week. Randomly enough, these exact photos also appeared in a lecture I looked at a little while later, and it listed the dollar amount spent on these foods. In the US, a family of 4 spent nearly $400 on food, and much of it included fast food, chips, soda, pizza, etc. Today, Adam and I spent $187, including about $20 extra for prepared sandwiches, sesame cashew noodles and drinks for dinner. I estimated this week that I have been spending about $50 a week buying breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner at work, so we threw in some extra things to try to save me money (yogurt, hummus, English muffins, almond milk in small boxes, salad fixings, etc.). Generally, we spend around $100 per week, and we shop at a natural food store. Most of the food we buy is organic, some of it is local, and almost all of it is healthy.
At any rate, I was just thinking, as I grabbed a spoonful of no-sugar-or-salt-added natural peanut butter and my glass of flax milk, that I could give myself a break for once.
And, then there's all those animals whose body parts and excretions I didn't buy. :) It's so rough, being a vegan.

career musings

In my professional life, I spend a bit of time doing Spanish to English translations, both written and verbal. Sometimes I wonder about changing jobs to do translations all day long. It would be pretty stimulating for me, and probably less stressful, to focus on this particular discipline that fits with my perfectionism and love of MS Word formatting. 

However, in the course of about 24 hours, in working on a large translation project where edits are constantly being made and I have to go back to make changes in one language based on changes made in the other, I have consumed an entire bar of chocolate, a slice of pie, french fries, and chocolate soy milk. And that's just the non-meal foods....

...on second thought, I better not quit my day job.