my snowy winter has been a nice 72 degrees all day. I LOVE CALIFORNIA! in your face winter! ha!

My daughter and I are visiting relatives in California, and yes, we're really enjoying the sunshine, and yes, it was nice spending Xmas eve on the beach and watching a bunch of dolphins jumping around, and yes, it was nice gathering arugula and rosemary from the backyard and picking lemons and tomatoes, but despite all that, I would hate to live here, because where would I buy groceries? Yesterday we went food shopping at Whole Foods and it was a completely dehumanizing experience!

First of all, customers have to park in a subterranean parking lot, with no windows and horrible artificial lights. The store offers valet parking! When we saw that, I said to Phoebe "I don't think they're going to make us bag our own groceries here." And she replied, "I don't think they're going to LET us bag our own groceries here."

We had to note that we were on P2 as we got into the elevator up to the health food store -- there are three parking levels. The store itself was insanely crowded, and enormous, with two storeys. There was a little directory that explained what floor the tapas lounge was on, the espresso bar, the bakery, the deli, the juice bar, the nut roastery, the massage room, and the eco-chic clothing corner.

All we wanted was some yerba mate and some organic Pink Lady apples. But we were oddly fascinated and horrified at the same time. Then something triggered a craving for kombucha -- I just couldn't leave without it -- so we wandered the vast store looking for it. The second floor was accessed by a dual elevator system -- one elevator for human beings, and one for shopping carts. There was a huge array of kombucha on display at one of those endcaps, decorated with mandala-like designs -- very slick.

We both hated the hugeness and the sophisticated marketing vibe, and kept saying to each other "I miss the Co-op, I miss the Co-op" like a mantra. When we got to the check out with our apples and our teabags and our delicious organic fermented beverage, I got to chatting with the cashier. A young woman of color, she told me the store had been open since November 7th, and that it was a really fun place to work. Over 300 employees... err.. "Team Members." She seemed really happy to have the job. And we were really happy to get out of there, into the crowded elevator, and down to level P2. We really love the Olympia Food Co-op, now more than ever!

This world's crazy, give me the gun. -- P.J. Harvey

Joey did it.