We all wish for money to grow on trees, admit it.
But what if we came across a magic tree that produced other things?
I would want my magic tree to grow love and beautiful dreams.
Yes, quite a bit intangible, but I’m a dreamer.
Also, if the tree grew plenty of food for me to live off of, that would cut grocery costs quite a bit.
To describe the town of Radford, or I should say, the CITY of Radford…it is a dreary scene. It could be more, and in the past it was a happening place. But that was when the baby boomers were in charge and life was fine and dandy.
And then came along the generation I grew up in, where everyone wanted to leave Radford as soon as they could. Nobody wanted to build our city anymore.
Today, the city is dismal, trying to keep up to pace with the college scene in town, but turning into a ghost town when all the college kids leave for summer/winter breaks.
All small towns seem to try to keep up with the national scene, bringing in chain restaurants to have people want to stay. But who cares to eat at another Applebee’s? Shouldn’t we, the small cities of the world, be promoting LOCAL food like all the city hipsters? We have MUCH MORE to be proud about here. We have plentiful land here, not like the big cities. But even they are doing a better job at farmers’ markets and such.
It saddens me to see how people in the community here don’t care to see changes much. I read in the newspaper the other day that Christiansburg, the next town over, is trying to establish their own farmers’ market. Let’s see if any interest actually crops up.
I thought I’d be happier returning back to my hometown for these next few months to recuperate from emotional distress. But, just from the few days of being here, I already feel dismal from the landscape. Local businesses disappearing…the giants coming into the city trying to resuscitate things…the university growing ever larger and wanting to devour the eastern side of town. It is sad.
To me, I still cannot see how people would want to stay and settle here. But that’s the exact problem this city is having: all the young people, the 20somethings, want to bolt as soon as they can. Well, at least the ambitious ones do. That leaves the treaders here and the aging baby boomers.
Of course I can never forget my roots. Nobody can ever forget where they came from, no matter how hard they try. I just want to see a better future for my hometown, instead of it dying off within the next twenty years because no young adult wants to stay and re-build the city.
The last time I was in Japan was in 2008. My friend had just arrived back in Japan and I wanted to maximize our time together before I left for the States the next day.
We stayed up all night and she showed me the seedy parts of Shinjuku, which is a part of Tokyo. We went to a club where we women sat lined up under numbers and men chose from us based on how attractive we looked. The men and women were only allowed to interact by talking or flirting, nothing more. My friend and I were the odd ones there, since we weren’t drunk nor were we meek like the other women. My friend put on her intimidating stance while I just felt amused by the scene. “See these guys? They’re all gross here,” said my friend.
Next, my friend took us to an underground bar where she was friends with the bartender. We ate a little snack as she chatted with him in the empty bar. Also, luckily in Tokyo, all-night karaoke existed, so we went to one karaoke place to sing until 5am.
We were already exhausted when the sun came up, but we were also hungry. We went to McDonald’s, ate breakfast amongst drunk patrons, and took the train back home. We were both full of adrenaline by this point.
We briefly went back to her apartment to relax a bit and so I could pack up the last of my luggage. I had been without sleep for 24 hours or more; she had been without sleep for much longer. We were growing delirious yet we pushed on, visiting a few small stores to get a few more things for my friends back home before we parted ways at the train station.
Immediately when I took the train to Narita Airport, I fell into a deep sleep. Luckily I was able to wake up in time to get off the train and get on my flight. That plane ride over the Pacific was spent sleeping most of the time, but also chit-chatting with my seatmate and helping her with her English (while I pretended to be Japanese and responded to her in Japanese).
It was an exhilarating experience, to stay up that whole final night before leaving for the US. I can’t say that was the longest I’d been without sleep, but it’s certainly one of my more memorable all-nighters.
What can’t I say no to? I can never say “no” to someone asking for my help.
Yes, even though I am very guilty of putting others’ needs before my own, it’s just in my nature to go into action when others ask me to help them out. “Will you fill up the gas tank?” “Will you go buy groceries?” “Will you sit with me awhile and let me muse?”
It is rare for me to say “no” to this at all. I can’t turn others down when they are in need. It’s a trait I’ve learned from my father, who rarely turns down a plea for help from others.
However, I know I give too much of myself in this way. I need to take better care of myself, to not say “no” to helping myself out.
I’ll admit, I have had trouble sleeping for awhile now. While in New York this past month, I couldn’t fall asleep at a normal time due to the change in time zones. You’d think I could adjust quickly from the three-hour difference but I kept my California time to stay in touch with loved ones back West.
I also end up overloading my mind with too many thoughts before bedtime. Which in turn spins my train of thought into many other paths and I roll around in bed for many hours not being able to fall asleep. Even white noise sometimes doesn’t help as my mind’s chatter becomes louder over the white noise in the room.
Maybe I lack a sufficient amount of melatonin. Or maybe I just need to not use electronics so close to bedtime (studies say that electronics keep the brain alert, so we should all power down at least an hour before bedtime). I’ll try out different methods and see how things work out.