Off to California

 I'm off to California tomorrow on a "workcation" with family. I am told that I am going to miss the change of season in Mass, which is something of an occasion. By the time I return, the famous New England autumn coloours will be all around me. Summer will be truly over and so will the spell of unusally dry weather that we have been blessed with almost ever since I arrived here from the UK. I have made the most of the weather by packing in a whole lot of trail running and hiking. For the past few weeks, I haven't made any purchases for the house even though my living room still  looks pretty bare, and I lack a bed-side table. Exhausted by the number of decisions that setting up house requires and singed bya  fwe wrong ones, I decided to put them off till I return from California. I have been to California three times before but this time we will be spending most of my trip in Lake Tahoe. I will be in the mountains for the first time since Nepal in summer last year. As much as I have enjoyed the hillas and pine forests of Western Mass, its time to head to the mountains now. depsite some teething troubles, the start of my life in the US has been pretty good, and I will look forward to coming back just as I am looking forward to going away for a shot break. 

Saying Yes to Everything

 Since I arrived in the US, my maxim has been to say yes to all invitations, and so far it is working well.. This weekend, I attended a conference and I enjoyed myself. I had found the last two conferences I  ateended in the UK pretty underwhelming, and I am begining to realise I had mentally checked out of the UK long before I left. I don't know why and maybe the reasons will reveal themselves in the coming weeks, months or years. On the face of it, there is a so much to dislike about the US. Maybe it is the novelty factor that is making me feel more buoyant and extroverted. But, saying yes to everything has been a positive experience. When I moved to the UK, my main vehicle for trying to meet new people were meet-up events. It didn't go well, and I feel the experiences sharpened my misanthropic tendecies. Here, I am fortunate to be in one of the biggest commuinties of heterodox economists in the world. 

Surround Sound

 I have bought dozens of things over the past month, small and big, cheap and expensive. I have regretted many purchases, some expensive ones, such as my bike and my first mattress (and maybe its even more expensive replacement, but only time will tell). I have made peace with those purchases and the money I have lost on them. But, there is one purchase that I absolutely do not regret, and that has boosted my quality of life appreciably. In my last house in England, my landlord had a Bose surround sytem and he encouraged me to use it. And, use it I did. A good sound system creates a sound cocoon from the soundwaves boucing off the walls of the room. It can be intensely relaxing and/or uplifting. I haven't tried high-end earphones but I can't imagine that cocoon effect can be replicated by music that is beamed directly into your ear. So, here in Amherst, when I saw someone was selling their music system, I leapt at the chance. As it happens, it was on the day that I bought my bike, which I didn't like from the moment I took delivery of it. But, the surround system was a great buy and redeemed the day. Its not a Bose, but it is still pretty good. I highly recommend it to everyone who is single and lives alone. There is nothing like it to beat the blues. 

Runner's High

 When I used to run in Bristol, runner's high was elusive. Maybe it was because I had tired legs from commuting by cycle in hilly Bristol, but runing in Bristol would leave me knackered. The exhaustion after a run would hit once I had showered and eaten, and I would plan my runs so that I didn't have to leave the house after returning. I would not be very productive for the rest of the day, but that was also an unproductive period of my life. So, I am pleased to report that running in Amherst has been a very different experience. Firstly, the landscape--pine forests, streams that would be called rivers in England, and solitude. Secondly, I run early in the mornings when I have the whole forest to myself. In space-constrained Bristol, it is impossible to get away from people. For the first weeks here, I ran on trails close to my house, and I had begun to feel a bit bored. So, today, I cycled to a trail that is a but further from my house and it was a short but beautiful trail. It was also a relentless ascent, which I prefer to trails that go up and down. And, on the trail itself I felt the strongest runner's high I had felt since my holiday in the Peak District and in Scotland last year, which is when I discovered trail running. Cycling to the start of a trail opens up many more trail options for me, and I am keen to explroe more trails.  It might also push me to get a car so that I can access trails which are even further out. And, that is a much cooler reason to buy a car than, say, grocery shopping.