Okay, okay, here's the good things

Photo of beautiful Emerald Bay

Ok, so I got all slappy about Reno in my last post. Now I guess I will show my adopted hometown a little love. I know I am here for some very good reasons, and some good is coming out of it. Here's the goods:

• Proximity to Lake Tahoe: That is some good stuff right there. I love just driving around/hiking up there.
• Little A: I am quite certain we were destined to come here to be a part of her life. She is the perfect kid for me, and I treasure her.
• My school: I probably wouldn't have gone into the nursing program if we had not come here. My job thing lined that up nicely.
• View of the Sierras: They are so pretty. I love mountains. I have no talent for snow sports any more complex than sledding, but it is nice when my ski-crazy relations come to visit.
• Friends: I have made some great ones here, in the little pockets of intellectuals and artists that hide in between all the rest.
• Walking by the Truckee river: That includes the path that is great for Little A to ride her trike. It gets a fresh batch of baby ducks every spring. Baby ducks are good.
• Tony's grandma Helen lives here: She's a total sweetie and a kick in the pants. He also has some cousins here, and we get the occasional family picnic out of it.

See? I am not a TOTAL sourpuss! I am making lemonade, see?

I Disapprove-Reno Edition

I feel like bagging on Reno today. I mean, I live here and have for a while now, so there must be SOME redeeming things about it, but today is not the day to talk about that. Let's trash talk!

• You have to water trees here: every damn thing has to be hooked up to a drip system because it is the desert. Not much in the way of rain.
• Tumbleweeds hitting my car: This is the time of year when this happens a lot because it is extra windy.
• Too damn hot in the summer: I just wilt like a damn gardenia. Yeah, I know. Then why did I buy a black car? I blame hormones. I was trying to get pregnant when I bought that car. I should have been able to use some kind of progesterone defense and get my money back.
• The Yee-Haw factor: Yeah, the whole red state thing gets me down.
• Taggers: I know every city has those. But ours don't even have much imagination. Lame graffiti is extra dumb.
• Casinos: I don't bother unless I go to Vegas. But if I want to play a slot machine I need go no further than my local grocery store. Who cares?
  
• Smoking: I can't get over how many people smoke here. Gross. And forget going to a bar. You will smell nasty when you get home from the secondhand smoke.
• The whole methamphetamine/trailer park/white trash factor: Do I really need to explain this one?
• The lack of cultural diversity: I really lament that there isn't a better mix here. Reno is such a white folk's town. I grew up in one of those in Ohio and look at how it warped me.
• Crap schools: Nevada rates very low for education. That is starting to really bother me now that I have a kid.
• The barest handful of good restaurants: Believe me, I worked as a food critic for both newspapers here, and you run out of awesome restaurants in about 2 minutes.
• Brown hills year round: Except when they are covered with snow. God, my eyes just STARVE for green sometimes.
• Weird concert choices: There are always some strange acts in town. Reno just isn't a good venue for the concerts I would be interested in seeing.
• Everyone thinks it is lame: I have some friends who totally won't visit. Even my mother won't come often-even to see her grandchild.
  

Why am I trashing Reno today? Mostly because I am contractually obligated to stay here for a few more years. I don't have the choice. That and Tony and I have recently been to San Francisco and got reminded of how much we miss it. That and I am thinking about the future, and I can see myself outgrowing this town, if I haven't already.

That is all.