Vignette: Letters to Ista, Weather Edition
Written 10.10.15
Sent same day
Dear A'son,
Wow, is Ista ever /hot/. I mean, really, I had no idea it /stayed/ that warm in the fall. I mean, I know it's a warm place and everything, and I /have/ been there before but I guess not often enough to really realize just how warm and wet it is there at this time of the turn. How anyone stays dry is a mystery to me. It is really pretty though, so green, though I'll bet that probably drives you nuts. All that greenery. Must give you fits about Thread and it must be a lot of work for the riders and weyrfolk to keep the area green-free.
I like that bar they've got there, the Sandbar, the way it's perched out over the water. That was fun to sit there and chat and look out at the ocean. You couldn't have a place like that at the Reaches, or rather, you'd have to shut down in the winter because it'd be too cold to hang out in a place with no real walls. I think that's the real difference actually between Ista and the Reaches. Everything is so /open/ there, because you need to catch the breezes to stay cool and there's no point really in futzing around inside when it's so warm out all the time, even when it's raining.
Here we're pretty much starting to hunker down for the winter, tithes still and shifting around supplies for the colder weather to make sure everyone's got enough sweaters and scarves and warm socks and so on. There's still some of the later tithes trickling in after the harvest, but we've got almost everything in. It's looking good for this winter, no worries there.
The weyrlings seem to be doing well too, the dragonets just get bigger and bigger and bigger and tackle more and more every week. They're starting to not look cute anymore, more leggy and coltish almost, like runners. Only not. Because they're dragons so they don't really look like runners, but you know what I mean.
Anyway, I guess it's just more of same. What's that saying? The more things change, the more they stay the same? Yeah. Things haven't really changed here and everyone's doing well.
Love,
Millie
Pressed carefully between this hide and the next, is a vibrantly red and gold autumn leaf.
Written 10.22.15
Sent same day
Dear A'son,
Okay, so today I'm missing that warm breeze from Ista because the weather's gone and shifted here and oh my goodness, the /wind/ is blowing something fierce. It's the kind of wind that tears your breath away and gets in under your collar. Comes howling down the Bowl walls through the Spires and just hits you right in the gut. Oof. You know the kind I mean. It makes a mess of everything down by the lake, tosses leaves in the water and if you're wearing a skirt it can be a hazard. I've been wearing leggings underneath, it's a lot warmer and more practical than stockings. Even with the wind so cold, I like to walk out in it, it's kind of wild you know? Makes my heart beat faster and if I spread my arms out it's almost like I'm flying like a dragon. There's something really exciting about that feeling, but it's hard to put into words.
Anyway, there's just one more wagon slogging through the mud to get up here and then that's it, tithes all in. It's not a big delivery either and I think a couple of riders went down to help dig them out. There's already snow on some of the higher heights and it's getting easier to get someone to pop over to Ista as more of the Thread turns to crackdust. Here's to a nice quiet winter with plenty of transportation!
I had lunch with Leova the other day and she still seems pretty tired and out of it. It's funny to see how the different weyrlings deal with being weyrlings. I mean, they're all tired, but Leova seems pretty hard hit and E'dre's Wroth is still a handful, I guess he's kind of grumpy and that makes E'dre cranky too. Some of the others are still in that kind of dazed state, but a few are coming out of it and looking more like themselves only you know, dragonriders now.
What was it like, when you Impressed Nikoth? You'd been a handyman for a long time and a weyrkid like me before that. Was it a big change? Were you really surprised? Or did it just seem right? My mother says that sometimes it's hard to remember what it was like before Impression. Do you think the same?
It's interesting talking to the weyrlings about this stuff. When they're checked enough to talk at all.
And I'm up way too late writing this, so I'd better get some shut-eye. Stay dry down there, you.
Love,
Millie
Written 11.1.15
Sent 11.2.15
All decorated with uneven stars around the edges.
Dear A'son,
More and more snow on the heights and some dusting the Rim now, otherwise it's more really cold rain and sometimes it's frozen in the morning. I'd rather have snow than ice, frankly, with the snow at least you can still walk in it, but ice is slippery and dangerous. I almost knocked my brains out the other morning coming outside for a walk. Just whoosh, patch of ice I didn't see and bam, fell right down on my bottom. Boy did I ever feel /dumb/. At least it was late enough there weren't that many people around to see. I mean, how embarrassing to just fall like that.
Long story short, it's really getting cold now, especially at night. I go out to walk and blow out long breaths to see the steam curl away against the stars in the sky. Sometimes all that big sky with the stars so bright in it makes me feel really small. Do you ever wonder if there's other people out there standing looking up at the same stars?
Anyway, the weyrlings seem to be over that tired hump for the most part, Leova's talking again, a lot more than she was. And they're all starting to pack on muscle from all the sack tossing and exercises and everything, which means some of them are busting out of their clothes. So I've been helping to make sure everyone's got what they need for shirts and pants. Practical stuff mostly, though I can't help slipping a nicer shirt or two in too. Even weyrlings need to feel pretty or handsome sometimes, right? They need to stay warm too. Poor E'dre's freezing his little Igenite behind off as it gets colder and colder. I'daur gave him a really short haircut too, so lots of hats for him. And I hope Iesuth learns to fly soon so Carisa can give her baths in the hot spring instead of the lake. She's a fussy green and wants more than one bath a day. Can you imagine having to wash Nikoth that often? I mean, Iesuth's smaller of course, but still. That's a lot of washing especially in icy cold water. Poor Carisa.
Time seems to be flying by. The real snows are about to dump down and bury the Reaches for the winter. There's snowballs and ice skating and my turnday to look forward to not too long from now. Mum's still talking about going to the Hall for the concerts at turnover and I'm still excited at the idea of going. I'll bet the music is really nice when you have that many Harpers all working on it.
I've got a really good story I'm reading, so I'm going to get back to that before I sack out.
I'll write again soon and see about getting down your way in the next seven or so.
Love,
Millie