Missing Utah

A note found in one of our many boxes. It's on our fridge where I look at it daily.

Some days are great. We go to a playgroup, hang out at the library, or stop by the farmers market and chat with "the Pork Man" (Doodle's name for him). State College feels comfortable, familiar.

Other days just feel off. I don't know where to go in town for kid shoes, a cast iron pan, how to find a babysitter, a dentist, a fillintheblank. I long for the familiar. I miss dropping by a friends' house and hanging out for hours or just a few minutes, having that already established relationship. I miss feeling comfortable in my own skin, feeling confident when I go to dance because I know the moves and I know my fellow dancers. I miss my small friends who I could invite over to entertain Doodle and who I could chat with, play with, and win over with homemade fruit leather. I miss their parents, and our conversations that ran the range from deep and philosophical to silly or strange. I miss people knowing me through academia, and not just because I'm Doodle-n-Roo's Mom. I miss talking science. I miss many things.

I know it'll get easier here, as we make more friends, more connections. It's just hard to start over in a new place, knowing the awesome wonderful people we miss so much are so far away.

I miss you too, Utah.

Support Solar!

I just found out about this event, Solarfest, happening Saturday May 30th in Logan. From their website: "Solar fest is a fund raiser to support the development of an outreach center that will show the residents of Cache Valley how to develop our plentiful solar energy resources." Come support Solar Power in Cache Valley!

Roundup

Wow, life is busy right now. Here's a quick recap of the past week, and a glimpse into the future:

• My mom came to town on Wednesday last week. We loved having her here. Doodle got to play with her a bunch, and calls her "Gaa". We took mom hiking at Tony Grove (the wildflowers are awesome right now), climbing at Fucoidal Quartzite (OMG, I actually got to climb too!) and climbing at Rock Haus. Throw in a LLL meeting, a trip to the gardener's market, and playing at the park while I had a dress rehearsal and it was a busy few days for all. We had a blast.
• Mom was also here for my bellydance show, in which she got to see my first duet! It went really well. I had fun, my troupe did pretty well, and our duet rocked. I am so happy with how it went. Oh, and Doodle was a big hit - she was dancing with her play silk and getting a lot of attention during the performances. I think she loved it.
  
• This Thursday is Pioneer Day. (sidenote for which J deserves credit: why is Pioneer Day celebrated as such a patriotic holiday now? The Pioneers whom are being celebrated moved out here to get away from the United States gov't. Anyways...) State Holiday = Parades and Fireworks. Which, in J&K(&C) land = riding on floats and conducting voter registration drives. If you are either A) a supporter of the Cache Democrats, B) a supporter of Breastfeeding, or C) just want to ride on a float, let us know. J and I have ins with the Cache Dems and La Leche League, both of whom will have floats in the Logan parade. Yeehaw!
• With the above-mention of floats comes float decoration and prep. Tomorrow night I get to help decorate the LLL float. Sadly, I doubt we'll have giant papier maché boobies on the float, nor will said boobies have fountains pouring from them. We're shooting for modesty here, folks. Yes, the pioneers breastfed. But I doubt they would have flaunted it with big hooters on their wagons. And so, we go simple. It'll still be fun. I'll take pics.
  
• The next big thing in my forseeable future is my sex-ed teaching assignment. This is a visiting-lecturer position I was offered for one week in the Human Physiology class. They have one lab (4 sections) in which they talk about contraceptives, reproduction and birth. I was asked to be the instructor this semester. YAYYYYYYY!!! I know it's weird, but I'm really excited to teach this unit. Most of these students have never had a formal sex-ed class, or if they have it was heavily abstinence-based. Now that a lot of them are married or thinking about it, they NEED this info. And no one gives it to them. Enter...ME! I get to talk about the different forms of contraception on the market, and the risks associated with each. I also get to talk about the female cycle (when ovulation happens, changes related to fertility, that sort of thing), and birth. The #1 thing I'm hoping the students take away is simply to ask questions, and do research. I hope I can instill in them the importance of finding out for themselves what's right for them, and not blindly accepting things without looking at the fine print when it comes to their reproductive health. I'm hoping for the best. Wish me luck!
  

Air pollution

According to the American Lung Association, Logan is ranked #6 on their list of worst air pollution cities in the U.S. for 2007. Okay, so this is just for short-term particle pollution, meaning our air doesn't suck year-round. But in the winter when we have inversions, it's bad enough and often enough to earn us a ranking among cities like L.A., Sacramento and Washington D.C. That's bad. Really bad. Here's the list of the top 10 worst cities for short-term particle pollution:

#1 Pittsburgh, PA
#2 Los Angeles, CA
#3 Fresno, CA
#4 Bakersfield, CA
#5 Birmingham, AL
#6 Logan, UT
#7 Salt Lake City, UT
#8 Sacramento, CA
#9 Detroit, MI
#10 D.C./Baltimore, MD
(Provo, UT is ranked #12)

Here's a little bit of info on particle pollution from the ALA's website:

• Particle pollution is the most dangerous of the widespread outdoor air pollutants. It is typically made up of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. Particle levels can spike dangerously for hours to weeks on end (short-term) or reach high levels for most of the year (year-round).
• Breathing particle pollution can kill. Breathing particle pollution year-round can shorten life by one to three years. It triggers heart attacks, strokes, irregular heartbeats, and causes lung cancer and premature births. Particle pollution harms people in many ways, even when the particle levels are very low. Particle pollution worsens serious respiratory disorders, including asthma and causes wheezing and coughing.
• In the eastern U.S., many particles come from power plants that burn coal to produce electricity. In the western U.S., particles come from diesel buses, trucks and heavy equipment, agriculture and wood burning.
• The body’s natural defenses help to cough or sneeze larger particles out of our bodies. But smaller particles can be so tiny that they can become lodged deep in the lungs and cause major damage, or pass from the lungs into the blood stream and then throughout the rest of the body.

That's scary stuff!

The ALA also assigned a grade to the counties of Utah for our short-term particle pollution. Care to guess what Cache County got? Yep, we failed. Though if it makes us feel any better, most of the other counties in Utah that were evaluated failed as well.

Now for the resources: Check here for the air quality forecast. Want to help make a difference in our air? Utah Moms for Clean Air are an active group trying to make political and community changes to improve our air quality. Or check out the Choose Clean Air website from the UT DEQ for ideas on minimizing your contribution to the air quality problem.