July 25, 2005
my hippie holiday
So we spent a LOT of time last week hanging out at the Whole Foods Market in Albuquerque. It’s right down the road from my parents’ house, which makes it convenient, and they have great coffee and EXCELLENT baked goods (my god the almond croissant is to die for) and a nice little outdoor cafe area where the boys can play while we relish our breakfast. The kids also love the produce section (this time they were fascinated by the coconuts). Wade and I just like to roam the aisles and see what the wealthy hippies are eating these days. It kills us that there is NOT a Whole Foods in Oklahoma City (Tulsa, yes, which just proves that Tulsa is way cooler than OKC).
Because I was on vacation, I bought magazines, and of course, at Whole Foods, the magazines are things like Body + Soul and Breathe Magazine, both of which are ‘lifestyle’ magazines for the yoga and organic veggies set (Body + Soul is published by the Martha Stewart people–and speaking of lifstyles, take a look at the Vanity Fair article about Martha’s home arrest. I’d wear an ankle bracelet too if I could live on her farm! But I digress). I spent two days reading articles about Taking Your Yoga Practice Outside and Rediscovering Fun and The New Feng Shui. It was all very soothing, the idea that backyard yoga and an organic dinner salad could improve my life. But I’m just not convinced.
For one thing, it is REALLY FREAKING HOT here in Oklahoma just now, so the idea of taking my yoga practice outdoors is not all that appealing (not to mention that our Bermuda grass makes me itch, and we have millions of mosquitos in our yard). Somehow I don’t think the road to inner peace is really supposed to be sweaty and itchy (then again, maybe I’m just missing the point, which could explain my daily lack of inner peace). Then there was the design article about the Buddhist principle of wu wei. I will admit to being intrigued by the idea of feng shui–we have a wind chime outside our front door, to bring good chi into our house, and our foyer is painted red, which invites happiness and positive energy. Wu wei, however, is less about following certain patterns to create happiness and more about ‘letting objects go where they want to be in the world.’ In my house, this seems to be the kitchen table, which is where everything you can imagine ends up. Again, all that crap piled everywhere doesn’t make me feel relaxed. And of course the woman in the article had a home filled with beautiful artifacts–my home is filled with action figures and plastic dinosaurs, which is just not the same thing.
And then there’s the cost of the organic life. I’ve been going back and forth about buying organic milk for the boys (and yes, in the end, I will most likely start doing it). But I compared the prices and was startled, to say the least–a half gallon of Horizon milk costs nearly THREE TIMES what the store brand costs. Yikes. Yes, yes, I know, it’s my children’s HEALTH we are talking about, but still! Those kids drink a LOT of milk.
But for a week, because we were on vacation and cost was no object and we had all the time in the world, we lived the organic chic life, and it was fantastic. So when I got home last night, I dug out my yoga mat, and today at the grocery I bought Horizon organic milk for the boys–I’m hoping that this will keep the vacation buzz going for a few more days.
And then I need to figure out how we get a Whole Foods here in OKC.
We were all very very tired (and very VERY cranky) when we got home. So the boys went to bed (all three of them) and I caught up with my Internet friends. And now it’s off to bed for me, too!
