click here for photos of the journey to boise idaho, and our time there.it's very dry and flat, the land, in south central idaho. there are a few hills here and there, and now and then very intriguing geographical formations, and distant mountains bit enough to capture snow. we've crossed the snake river several times - presumably that's where all the irrigation systems are drawing their water from. there's definitely a lot of wild sage, but i haven't noticed any potato fields .... then again i've been mostly heads down answering email i downloaded while enjoying fair trade organic coffee and choking down my first non-vegan muffin in 8 years at lucy's coffee show in boise, trying not to think of the suffering factory chickens who contributed to it. i've been fairly lucky with food thus far, and i do still have a supply of vegan munchies on me - it's an interesting balancing act between wanting to maintain that supply in case of dire emergency and making compromises because i don't quite trust the universe enough to believe the supply will be there when i really need it. it's the same relationship people have with money, i think.
last night we were very fortunate, thanks to an amazing woman named alex mcnish and her friend marianne who prepared a magnificent feast of salads and edamame and veggie/dead animal sausages, and chips & salsa and potatoes with wild rice and cheesecake and nectarines for dessert. alex is boise's local activist media dynamo - she was telling me how easy it is to access their public access television station, unlike the more 'corporate' style public access (we'll tell you what's public rather than you submitting your entries) stations. individuals or families can buy a sort of 'membership' for a nominal fee, which gives them an opportunity to air a weekly show. boise's city council meetings are taped and aired, for example and alex, trained in communications and video production, has a weekly peace-oriented show that airs just prior to democracy now. after she fed us last night, alex set up her tri-pod and interviewed each of us caravanistas in turn, on the back deck of a house that someone had offered for our stay. sandy, the home-owner, will be meeting us in texas. her house-minder, abby, was kind enough to stay with a friend for the night so we could have the house to ourselves.
we decided to give john, our driver, the room with the bed so he could have a good night's sleep and some privacy. i crashed before the rest, still recovering from the noxious diesel fumes headache and sore throat acquired a couple days prior, in a small office, my yoga mat serving very nicely as a sleeping mat. the others filled the small living room and tv room couches and air mattresses. i don't know if nita slept outside or not, there was quite a thunder/lightening wind storm when we arrived, though it did subside during our visit. alex said it's very unusual weather for this time of year, usually those storms wait for july or august.
we're nearing pocatello now, where we'll be picking up caravanistas max and katie. i'm selfishly reluctant to give up my comfortable and spactous arrangement on the bus -- the others, i think appreciating the value of allowing me to do this media work, haven't bothered me about occupying two seats that face each other. i'm actually getting a fair amount of work done so if you want to write me email feel free! my routine is to download email and update the blog whenever we're stopped somewhere that has wifi or a connection (so these updates are a tiny bit out of date), then i sit and read through email, work a bit on the august street newz, write blog entries, sort photos, and slowly learn how to use the film editing software so i can put some sort of documentary together for viewing when i get home again - a long time from now! this morning i was entertained by the caravanistas learning to sing the song for the 'cuban five' (my throat's still too sore to participate) and kept half an ear open during spanish lessons led by jim from nova scotia. today i learned 'verdura' and 'puedes ayudarme?'
