Another Reason Idaho Is Better Than California

Contrary to the belief some have expressed about me, I am not a transplant from California. I was born and raised in Las Vegas. While I love where I'm from, I have been fully committed to my new life in Idaho that's not feeling so new anymore. It really is feeling like home. Moving here in the summer and experiencing this glorious transition to fall has been awe inspiring, to say that least. Yes, I'm a softy baby who tears up while running the Boise Greenbelt, taking in the radiant colors of the leaves falling around me.

Well, in California there's a little grocery chain out of San Francisco called Bi-Rite that's selling bouquets of "organic fall leaves."  Essentially, you're buying a handful of red, orange, and yellow leaves for $15. The leaves come from maple trees on a California ranch.

Forgive me, but this is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. I understand paying for flower arrangements and such, but for bundles of leaves? The ranch owner says "They are three- to five-foot-tall branches with beautiful leaves." (Vice) I definitely agree the fall foliage is gorgeous, but to have to cough up $15 for it? Yikes.

How great that Idaho is full of trees resplendent with leaves of every color, ready to be gathered after gently falling away from their branches. I can make a bundle of autumnal magnificence myself. I can make many bundles and never dream of peddling them for $15 bucks a pop. Seriously, not everything needs to be monetized.