Fickle weather

This week has been slightly bizarre. Freshly recovered from my incapacitating sickness, I ventured to church on Sunday morning and then spent the remainder of the day in the school library, whittling down my finals. Monday it was 60°, which was about a 30° leap from the previous days, and disturbed my soul greatly. I went with a couple of friends to ice skate at Bryant Park, but it was so warm that the majority of the ice was covered in a couple of inches of water. Not okay. So ice skating didn’t last long, and I went home to finish writing my final paper. Tuesday was the day I achieved (temporary) freedom, and it was also the day of the first snowfall of the season. When I came up from the subway station on my way to school I was met by the fattest, laziest snowflakes I’ve ever seen. They were floppy and beautiful and vanished into themselves as soon as they hit the sidewalk. For the length of my short walk they continued to attach themselves to my hat and coat. It continued to snow – albeit not nearly as beautifully – for the rest of the night. While I shopped for Christmas gifts it snowed and as I ate dinner with Erica it snowed and while I celebrated my (temporary) freedom with friends it snowed. My affinity for snow is no secret… it does good things for my soul.

In a matter of hours I’ll be on a plane on my way to Texas. I’m most excited about the change of pace, hanging out with my brothers, and driving down the highway with country radio blaring. Additional pleasures during my two weeks in Texas include nighttime dates with old friends; a couple of days at the ranch with the extended family; my mom’s home cooking; sleeping in a bigger bed; my parents’ house covered with lights and garland and nativity scenes; DVRing late-night movies to watch the next day; cheap cigarettes, and loads of time to read for pleasure. I plan to devour at least half a dozen books before classes resume in January.