Various and sundry
The snow has disappeared, but Venus is here to make up for it. I got to do a bit of brilliant naked eye-observing the other day, which is really one of the best kinds of observing. I climbed and rambled through the forest, dressed like Amundsen, a small pair of binoculars in my pocket, while the sky turned a lovely shade of aquamarine and the birds grew silent in the trees.
Winter is a good time to be here. I fall in love with the countryside all over again, and am prone to solitary walks in the spirit of Wordsworth -- all grand romantic thought and youth and singing brooks -- I mean, you have to make the best of your dull everyday life, do something to counteract all the homework and train journeys and sci-fi tv show-watching.
And of course the dullness of dull everyday life is relative; it's really a blessing in itself. When I am tired from a long day at school or work, that's a very good sign, and I know that I have taken a step closer to a normal existence -- I'm coming closer to a place or state of mind where different things matter, real things, things outside my own brain and fear of phantom catastrophes. Maybe the real world isn't such a threat, after all. I don't know. I still prefer the library and the evening sky, and I'm not so sure I want that to change.
Winter is a good time to be here. I fall in love with the countryside all over again, and am prone to solitary walks in the spirit of Wordsworth -- all grand romantic thought and youth and singing brooks -- I mean, you have to make the best of your dull everyday life, do something to counteract all the homework and train journeys and sci-fi tv show-watching.
And of course the dullness of dull everyday life is relative; it's really a blessing in itself. When I am tired from a long day at school or work, that's a very good sign, and I know that I have taken a step closer to a normal existence -- I'm coming closer to a place or state of mind where different things matter, real things, things outside my own brain and fear of phantom catastrophes. Maybe the real world isn't such a threat, after all. I don't know. I still prefer the library and the evening sky, and I'm not so sure I want that to change.