Peace, Love, Boone

Another of the many things I will miss about living in Boone, NC, for this past month, will be the unique atmosphere here.  Boone is about as hippy dippy as you can imagine, and it is reflected in the food, the culture, the love for the environment, and the slower pace. And the ubiquitous peace signs. My Birkenstocks are a perfect fit for Boone, and, more than once, I wished I had the long straight hair from my undergraduate college days.

Food is pretty hippy dippy here and has an international influence, as well. Forget meat and potatoes!  While in Boone, I have eaten such wonderful foods as tempeh, babaganoush, fried green tomatoes, okra, nori seaweed rolls, chlang mai noodles, tofu, sprouts, more sprouts, and every kind of fresh vegetable imaginable.  Milk is usually soy, and you are almost always offered gluten-free anything.

Recycling is also much more a way of life around here than anyplace else I have been.  Even in the residence halls, there are separate containers for paper, plastic, and glass.  "ASU Recycles" signs are everywhere.

The campus, here, is beautiful, and while we are quite spoiled by the grounds of Edison State College, certainly one of the prettiest campuses in the state of FL, the care that is taken of this campus truly rivals that of Edison.  There is always somebody doing something to improve something.

I'll miss the peace signs, but I will certainly continue to eat the wonderful organic foods I've had while I have been here.  And I will definitely miss the slower pace of life.  In Boone, you do stop to smell the flowers.  I guess that's because they freeze and die in the winter, but everyone does give them their due attention while they bloom.  In FL, most people run over the flowers in their rush to get things done in a hurry.

I want to be more Boone-like when I return home to FL.  Perhaps I shall even hang a peace sign in my office.