talking god

Talking God is the title of a novel by Tony Hillerman. Several people mentioned to me that Tony Hillerman is an author I should read. His literary topic of preference concerns mysteries in the setting of the Navajo community. I look forward to reading this book.

The picture today is of the final leg of the drive. I took that from my dashboard. Please to note the numerous bugs on the windshield, accompanied by bugs that you can't see on the grill. I have killed an alarming number of bugs throughout this trip, a feat of dubious intent, and one that I am ashamed to admit.

The house is very large. Too large, in fact. There is more room here than I have stuff for. I think that is better than having not enough room, though, so that's okay.

Worf is enjoying the outdoors quite a bit. Too much, in fact. Having him with me is not unlike having a child. I find myself being very concerned with his whereabouts and his present state. I wish I had that clock like in the Weasley's house in Harry Potter.

I think I figured out the big over-arching motif at play with my move out here. Besides a number of epiphanies about the way I was living my life, and the suffering inherent, I think one of the reasons everything is nice here is that everything is much, much slower. I imagine that when I start work, things will heat up a bit, but on the surface, everything proceeds at a different pace than anywhere else I've lived. It's almost as if this town is stuck 50-60 years ago in history, and that this is scarcely more than a silver boom-town that has been transitioning to ghost town for the last four generations. The Eisenhower-era Interstate-40 that runs above the town can't have helped anything. Route 66 is clearly a fascinating place, very dynamic with many different elements (not unlike the Mos Eisley bar in Star Wars IV). But unless you're a tourist or for commercial purposes, there's no reason to get off the main highway. As a result, the core industries of Gallup haven't really changed all that much, but it's almost as if all modern (or what I may think is modern) culture just up and forgot that Gallup existed. As someone who is very much an outsider, it is an interesting phenomenon to observe.

The sheer ease of living here stands out as one definite positive. I needed to hook up my power today, or rather, to transfer my name onto the bill. So, I went down to town hall and showed them my lease. That was this morning, and this afternoon the power guys came and hooked everything up. The library and the DMV are next to each other, around the corner from where I live. And there are no lines at either location.

So I may be totally FOS here, but I don't think I'm too far off. Depending on what one is used to, and what one can tolerate, a slower pace of living isn't so bad. DC is a cool city, but it's very complicated and nobody seems to ever know what's going on. Plus, there's always this Bureaucratic-Industrial-Complex that's designed to ruin your day.

Gotta run, I hear Imperial Storm Troopers on the move...