lakes and mountains

NOLA posts still forthcoming. I'm still in the midst of working through 3.5 gigs worth of pictures to accompany them.

As a side note: I love having good dental insurance. I hate that my jaw is still sore from it, though.

I ran home for lunch today. Upon exiting again to come back, I smelled a lake.

There are no lakes in this region.

A couple of workers were doing something to the sidewalk pavement a few doors down involving a power sprayer of some sort, as well as some other equipment. The combination of gas and airborne water particles smelled just like the lakefront where my dad lives on some days. The fact that the wind was blowing a bit and the sun shining helped too, I'm sure. It's strange--the addition of the gas makes it not necessarily a good smell, but at least one I associate with good things. And water spray--well, who can argue with that? It makes you feel like you're on vacation, even if it's just the lakefront of your hometown.

I rather lament the fact that there aren't any good large bodies of water nearby. One of our interns just wrote a story about our crew team, which of course emphasized that fact, so it's been in mind for a bit lately. But then, there I never had the pressure in my ears pop on the way to and from work, as it does here each day. Which is strange, because we're in a relatively flat area--a valley between ranges. Bellefonte's hillier than State College, really. Some of the roads there are truly frightening on first drive-through: there's one in particular that just drops from beneath you, so for a few seconds you truly cannot see where you're headed. But it is a minor thrill, of course.

I appreciate mountains, but I also like lakes. Makes me think that I might be better off out West: Colorado or Washington or Northern California or some such. Though those bring with them their own complications, of course. Cost of living being a big one.

Enough rambling. Back to it.