Two examples of why I love where I live.... (and reveal what a true dork I am)

I grew up in a different area of the country than where I live now as an adult. I am so incredibly thankful that I no longer live in that area. First off, it's a red state. In fact, it's probably one of the top 5 most red states in the country. I say that because I know there are red states that were barely red, with a lot of sane-minded people, but the state I grew up in was very red. I won't specifically comment on the sanity of the people there, but let's say most of them think we should not teach evolution in school. See this for ways to quantify the red-ness or blue-ness of a state.

I digress, this post was not going to be about red and blue states... But rather, why I love where I live as an adult. (It is a blue state and I live in a very blue area of the state.)

Back to the point of the post... Reason numero uno: Tonight I was in my very blue grocery store. I love this place. The produce is amazing (mostly organic). The meat section is very nice and very clean with lots of organic options. I rarely buy meat, or rather, I rarely buy meat when I'm not pregnant or nursing. When I am pregnant or nursing I crave meat. Tonight I was buying some organic chicken to help with my need for protein. Just as I was getting my package of organic chicken, a guy, in the 25-35 age range, started asking the butcher questions.

The guy wanted organic ground beef and asked they ever had it because he didn't see any. The butcher replied that they did usually have it, but late in the day they sometimes ran out of it. Organic ground beef can only be ground first in the day before other non-organic meat to avoid contamination. (Very clever I thought.) The guy also seemed to think this was a good idea. He inquired when they ran out of the organic ground beef most days. The butcher said it varied, but they usually still had it around *** (I couldn't hear the time, and I didn't want to look like I was totally evesdropping).

The guy kept going with his questions. He inquired as to whether the organic beef had been grass or grain fed cattle. The butcher replied that the cows were grain fed.

The guy then discussed the merits of grain fed versus grass fed beef with the butcher. He (the guy) was concerned about the well-being of the cows if they were grain fed. He worried that they might have been kept in small pens. I couldn't hear the butcher's responses, but I must say that I really was deeply moved by that guy and his questions (seriously). He inspired me to do a couple of web searches to find out more. This and this and this and this are interesting.

I look forward to not craving meat in the future... Most likely around August of 2007, though I'll crave it less after baby T starts solids.
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Reason number two for why I love where I live: A woman in my dance class remarked to me that when I got home my baby was going to get a milkshake. I laughed. Yes, I was jumping around a lot. Yes, I am breastfeeding. Yes, I live in a great place where people assume that I'm breastfeeding because it is a cultural norm. Of course, people could assume that I'm breastfeeding due to the extra large boobs that I currently have... However, I'd rather think that it's the former and not the latter reason.