Sal's Taco Night

You know you're in a little town when

a) everybody waves

b) the main source of information is the post office bulletin board (not even free WiFi!!!)

and...

c) the major social event is the TACO TRUCK that rolls in from Mariposa every two weeks!!!!

I'm not kidding.

Sal's Taco night is a BIG DEAL, and it is literally the only time when you can buy your dinner in town (twice a month). The truck parks outside the community center, which sports a nice set of picnic tables, an outdoor stage, and Christmas lights. Tonight, a small winter storm is rolling on, so mostly, we were indoors, where there was a local band playing on the indoor stage. I ordered a burrito outside at the truck and a beer indoors at the bar set up by the Yosemite Employee Association. There was a bicycle stand, tool, and help from the community
bike lending program. I knew basically none of the hundred or so people milling about, so I spent a bit of time petting dogs and helping (new friend) Kate fix one of the bicycles. I spotted my officemate Nanette, and met a few more folks from her, made some new random friends, talked to 2 neighbors that I recognized and somebody from yoga class, and ended the evening chatting with a couple of officemates who arrived late. In all, it was quite a fun evening, somewhat milder than the summer Taco Nights (I'm told), but more lively than the winter Taco Nights to come, since there is a mass exodus happening tomorrow. Yep, the trail crews were in full beer-drinking force, celebrating and lamenting the end of their employment. These are the guys (and gals!) that wake up at 5:30 am to hike and haul rock around all summer. I know because they live upstairs from me and I hear them leave every morning. Speaking of... they're all up and partying now up there! Not sure I'll get any sleep tonight. I suppose that's okay, they deserve it.

Some more things I realized: a lot of folks working here grew up really, really close by, which, for some reason, surprised me. And secondly... there are several seasonal people who are hanging around as volunteers for the winter, performing important duties while not being paid. Something about that unsettles me: maybe it is because I came from a defense contracting background, where... well, it was the opposite situation (chew on that), and I know that we contractors spent more money in a week in a single research project than scientists here spend in a year, and the scientists here are scrambling for bits of money here and there. The contrast is really striking, having been in both places, and as a taxpayer and citizen of the world, I don't like it. Despite the lack of funding, they still manage to churn out some (really!) interesting science here, but a little more money would really go a long way. I'm not really here to provide political commentary... that is just a striking observation.

I'm on my way to making some new friends here. Not that I'm lonely... Booty has been up every weekend, and Kent and Mike were both here, and I've been enjoying the company of colleagues in the office and in the field. I've even been climbing recently, you know, to check out some tension cracks on the a future Open Book. But those are all stories for another day... for now, I leave you with a recent photo of Booty enjoying a morning on my porch and me at Olmstead Point after the last climbing day in Tuolumne.