Same Work, Different Location

Right before I left town for two weeks was probably a bad time to start a new blogging schedule. Oh well, I will do my best to resume it when possible, but “Menu Mondays” won’t be happening until I’m back near a kitchen. But I do have some pictures to share! On Sunday morning I woke up bright and early (actually, I woke up dark and early) and Geoff dropped me off at the airport for the first of the three flights it took to get me to Albequerque. While at the Dallas airport I saw this floor:

Those of you used to flying over the Midwest and other agricultural areas will immediately recognize this as the pattern you see when you fly over irrigated fields. Like this:

This view instantly transports me to when I was little and we would fly out of Wichita with all the agricultural land out by the airport (now pretty much surrounded by urban sprawl). There is something about it that makes my heart race with the giddiness of a child going on a big adventure. Eventually the view of the plains gave way to the high desert of the Southwest which is weird to me every time I see it. Mountains to me growing up always meant Colorado and splashing around in cold streams so to see snow capped mountains and scrub brush in the same view is strange to me.

I spent yesterday at the University of New Mexico in the Anthropology department which is housed in a quintessentially Southwestern building:

How perfect is that? The central campus is mostly low buildings like this one with the exception of the med school part which looks more or less like every other med school I have ever seen (boring). I love how much this campus has a sense of place. You couldn’t swap Penn State or KU with UNM and have it look like it belongs. After I finished my work, I strolled around the campus in the warm sun (having wisely put on sunscreen in the morning) and then over to the student union to grab a quick snack and a drink where I found SONIC!!!!! I love Sonic and hate that the commercials air nationally but there aren’t any in PA. So I got a cherry limeade bigger than my head and an order of cheese tots (my favorite) with an added New Mexico twist – roasted green chiles. Can’t you taste it?

Okay, back to work, I have to present at a conference on Friday so I need to finish up my presentation. But keep an eye out for a very special birthday post coming on Thursday!