As if the doggie acupuncture wasn't a clear enough sign, I just realized that I've totally and completely assimilated myself to the laid back, West Coast type Boulder lifestyle. I just read this article in the New York Times about people being too busy to chat with doormen, (which makes me wonder, do they have door women?)hair stylist, sales clerks, etc. and I found it funny how people in larger, east coast cities are "too busy" to interface with the people around them. So many people are so busy creating their life, their image, etc, that they're too busy to live the life that's actually in front of them.

But a few weeks ago, a friend of mine from back east was in town visiting. We were at a martini bar in Boulder at like 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon. The bartender was carefully crafting our martinis with excruciating attention. We were the only people in the bar but still, it took us like 20 minutes to get our drinks. While I was a wee bit amused at the spectacle my friend definitely was not and it made me realize there was a time when I would have felt the same way.

When I first moved out here, I remember getting completely annoyed at a cashier at the grocery store who wanted to chat with me about his new job teaching English in Japan. As he was talking, I was thinking "Just put my groceries in the bag and let me get out of here..." and that seems so silly to me now. Why not stop and chat and take your time? Where are you going that's so important anyway? Life is here. Now. Not somewhere else.

But who knows, maybe I'll feel differently after I get back from spending next week in the eastern time zone, with cloudy skies and crappy weather, after I've re-learned to jump the light when making a left-hand turn...