Snow!

Well, I am no longer a California resident. I arrived in Charlottesville, Virginia on Thursday evening. My plan was to rent a car and drive all around until I have to leave for Dallas, but that has been thwarted by SNOW. So, I'm going to rent a car tomorrow and drive up to Philadelphia via Washington and Baltimore, to Shelly's place, and fly out of the Philadelphia airport. That should be fun, and less scary than driving through snow.

Having lived in southern California for half a decade, I'd forgotten that Los Angeles isn't a fair representation of the United States. I didn't fully realize that by relocating I would have to adjust to another culture. My flight stopped over in Cinncinnati and I stepped out into the magical land of Chik-Fil-A, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, bad winter sweaters and teased bangs. On the next leg of my flight, I sat next to a Political Science professor from Nebraska who was adamantly opposed to leaving the United States for any reason, convinced that every other country hates us (probably true) and would shoot on sight. This guy's a POLITICAL SCIENCE professor! He confessed to me that he actually didn't know any "African Americans or people of color." Wow. Nice enough guy, though. Also, walking through town yesterday, people said "Hi" and "Good Afternoon." That's awesome! And so begins the thawing of the ice-trapped chamber of my heart associated with "friendliness to strangers."