Idyllic
Today, the sky is rumbly and dark. The dampness makes it seem cooler than it is. It's the perfect afternoon to curl up on the couch with a cozy blanket and a feline footwarmer, drinking a cup of Lady Grey while reading
The Thirteenth Tale. Perfection.
Labels: everyday musings, weather
Spring Happy
For as long as I can remember, I've felt something of an ownership for spring. Probably due to the fact that I was born in late March, and despite my adoration for snow and winter clothes, each time that spring makes its appearance, I feel like at least a little part of it is just for me.
My grandmother had planned flowerbeds and dozens of places were daffodils, lilies, irises, tulips, and things I don't even remember would pop up each year. She always fed the birds and spent hours outdoors, enjoying the sunshine and the dirt and the smell of life in the air. I would spend time with her, perhaps being more trouble than I was worth, but always enjoying her company and the results of her gardening efforts. I didn't grow up in a house where we cut flowers and brought them indoors - they die too soon. Rather, we would go outside and enjoy them while they were alive, pushing their way through the soil and waving in the light breeze.
I love the appearance of spring vegetables and fruits, because even for a fabulously unhealthy eater like me, fruit with breakfast and gorgeous, fresh salads for lunch are incredible. I love fresh scents in the shower and lightweight dresses skimming my body and lovely little sandals that my pedicured toes poke out of. I like going for walks with friends and talking the entire time about absolutely nothing. I like taking Puck outside so that he can eat grass that grew from the ground rather than a pot.
I love falling asleep during a thunderstorm and the way that rain sounds hitting the ground outside my window. I get a weird thrill from the heavy, ominous scent in the air when the conditions begin to appear perfect for tornadoes. As long as it's still warm enough for a skirt and sandals, I like to walk in the rain and listen to the drops hit my umbrella.
I love the pastel colors of Easter and the more vibrant colors of the things that actually occur in nature. I like celebrating my birthday different ways each year, but always with a dinner with my parents. I love that they don't get me birthday cake anymore because they know it isn't my preference. (Usually it's cheesecake; last year, I got dutch cherry pie and it was phenomenal.) I love the scent of lilacs on the bush more than almost any scent in the world. I love sitting outside and eating a sandwich with lemonade and calling it a private picnic.
So tell me: What do you love about spring?
Labels: everyday musings, weather
Tundra
I have returned to College Town, one week later than anticipated. My apartment is still sans-electricity, which means that I'm staying with Bradshaw and her three roommates. This drives me crazy.
If you recall, I'm quite fond of
living alone, and now that I have to stay with Bradshaw, things are interesting. No nudity. Carrying my things back and forth to the shower (which I haven't ever done--my dorm room had a bathroom), listening to other people, not watching the TV that I enjoy, no chance of watching my Gilmore DVDs*, and generally feeling like a charity case, a feeling that drives me absolutely up the wall.
I was tired of being at home with my parents. I've spent one night at Bradshaw's, and I desperately miss my apartment now, with the well-stocked refrigerator**, fun new surround sound, complete and total control of the remote, a shower I'm used to, my computer, my own freaking bed for heaven's sake.
This is Nic being sad.
*I am desperately in need of a Gilmore marathon. There were two seasons that I left here in College Town when I went home, and now I want to watch them.
**I've been up for four hours and have put absolutely nothing into my stomach because I hate wasting money on fast food and I hate to take up space in their already-crammed kitchen. I hate being a houseguest.Labels: weather
Ice Age 2
College Town (as well as Small Town) has again been hit by a crazy winter storm. One that has killed electricity in about a third of the city (including, according to Bradshaw, my apartment), destroyed tons of trees, and caused the re-opening of the university for the semester to be delayed at least one day, if not more. Therefore, I am still in Small Town, where I can be toasty warm and well entertained in the comfort of my own home instead of crashing on Bradshaw's couch.
In the meantime, I'll leave you with this lovely photo, taken somewhere random in College Town by Bradshaw's roommate and stolen from facebook by me.
Fantastic, right?
Labels: weather
The Storm: Update Three
It finally started snowing about an hour ago after sleeting all day. Accumulation report tomorrow, along with the class attendance results. I'm praying for a four-day weekend.
My life is so boring.
Labels: weather
The Storm: Update Two
Still sleeting. The sidewalk outside my apartment is scary. Weather.com says it's snowing, but I think they lie. Snow does not make noise, nor does it bounce when it hits the ground. Sleet does both of those things.
Despite all of this, my presence has been requested at the home of one Bradshaw, so I think I'm going to brave the roads (and the scary sidewalk).
I'll let you know how that goes later.
Labels: weather
The Storm: Update
I've dubbed the weather of the next few days
"The Storm", and I thought I would be so kind as to share an update with you.
When I posted last night, it was raining. Soon after, the rain turned into a "wintry mix."* I was hopeful for the icing to begin and classes to be cancelled across the university.
No such luck.
When I got up at 8:30, I checked my email while watching the school closings scroll across the screen. Small Town. Quasi-suburbs surrounding College Town. All schools in the College Town district. I decided that those people knew what they were doing and skipped the 9:30 class in favor of my warm, cozy bed.
I kept re-setting the snooze on my phone, thinking to myself that it was a bad idea for some reason, but not knowing why. When I finally got up at 10:30, I realized: I had class at 11 and a fifteen minute walk ahead of me.
Fuck.With the makeup finished and five minutes to spare, I went into my room to get dressed. I suddenly heard tiny little "tap taps" on my window. I looked. Sleet. The "wintry mix" had changed to straight-up sleet (or freezing rain, if you will).*
Fuck class, I'm not walking in that! I'm now sitting comfortably at my desk sipping a cup of coffee and eating a lightly-warmed apple cranberry muffin. My plans for the day: Watch
Center Stage, finish decorating my apartment, maybe put away the boxes. Eat soup. Drink copious amounts of delicious coffee.
I love snow days. More updates coming as the world outside my window becomes more wonderland-like and less like a slick, disgusting mess.
*Thanks to weather.com for all the appropriate terms for the stuff falling out of the sky.Labels: updates, weather
Let it Snow!
It’s been raining since about four this afternoon. Apparently the weather around here is going to be just beautiful for the next couple of days. Let me just give you some insight into the forecast.
Tonight: Quite contrary to the almost 70 degree temperatures of the past few days, the temperature is steadily dropping into the mid-30s. Rain, which started at about four this afternoon, will continue in copious amounts, leading to possible flash flooding. There is also a chance of hail and gusting winds. How gorgeous. Around 3 am, the icing will begin. Clearly, the ground is too warm at the present time for the ice to stick there, but it will certainly stick to trees and power lines, leading to possible mayhem.
Thursday: Somewhere between 6 and 9 am, the air will finally be cold enough for the icing to turn to snow. They’re predicting about half an inch before a lull in the conditions.
Thursday Evening: Early in the evening the snow will begin again, possibly including thunder and lightning (aka
thundersnow).* The later it gets, the faster the snow will fall, with predictions of six to twelve inches here in College Town, falling on top of the ice and making the roads a slick, disgusting mess.
Now why does all of this have me so pleased? I love snow. No, seriously, I love snow. I think it’s one of the most beautiful natural elements that we can see, and it’s definitely my favorite weather phenomenon. The fact that it could get me out of classes for the next two days is really just a bonus.
Weather updates coming tomorrow. The update will come much sooner if I manage to get out of classes.**
*I dream of seeing thundersnow. I love snow, I love storms, what’s not to be excited about? Here’s hoping. **Who am I kidding? If I don't have class, I'm going straight back to bed!Labels: weather
Why I Hate Autumn
Autumn is my least favorite season. Everyone fawns over the so-called pretty colors and crisp air, but I genuinely couldn’t care less. Besides, I live in Missouri—most of the leaves turn brown. Not only are the colors lacking in my part of the country, I’m missing the whole crisp air thing too. It rains in autumn where I am, and, frankly, that sucks.
I love rain when I’m curled up inside in comfy clothes with a cup of coffee and a good book, or when I’m tucked away in my bed, lulled to sleep by the sound of raindrops against my window. As long as I’m indoors, I love rain. Hell, I don’t even mind driving in the rain as long as the windshield wipers can keep up. I like walking outside in summer rain, when the cool drops cut through the humidity in the atmosphere. Rain can clear, clean, soothe. Unfortunately, it wasn’t doing any of those things today.
First, a bit of background. I only live about three blocks from campus, but the wrong side of campus for my class buildings, meaning that I walk about half a mile to get there. To be perfectly honest, I’m lazy, so I have a parking pass, which allows me to drive to a parking lot that cuts my walk down to less than five minutes instead of the fifteen it is from my apartment. However, I do not have my parking pass right now,* which forces me to walk to class. When I woke up and saw that it was raining, I was less than pleased.
I dressed in what I thought were clothes appropriate for the weather (jeans, t-shirt, a lavender polar fleece jacket, running shoes), put my hair up, grabbed my umbrella, and left behind the
dry, cozy warmth of my apartment. Another fun fact about Missouri: It’s windy almost all of the time.** Today was no exception. Thirteen minutes after leaving my apartment, I sat down in my first class. It wasn’t pouring outside, just steady rain, but I was still drenched. My jeans dragged the ground just enough that they had soaked water up to the back of my knees, the wind coming out of the north (yes, it was cold) had been at my rear and ensured that I was wet up to the middle of my back, and just enough water had gotten into my shoulder bag that the top of the papers in my notebook were wrinkling. The only parts of me that weren’t wet were my feet, my face, and my hair.
Two hours later, it was time to make the return trip home. The good news: I was fifteen minutes away from warmth and dry clothes. The bad news: The wind was blowing in my face and I swear it had gotten both windier and colder. By the time I got home, the front of my jeans was visibly wet, my sensitive ears were bright red, and I had the sniffles. I immediately dropped the umbrella in the bathtub (useless piece of junk) and removed all of my clothes—because everything was wet. I changed into sweats and a thermal shirt and drank a cup of coffee while warming some chicken noodle soup. I was still cold after the first bowl of soup, so I wrapped myself in a blanket and spent thirty minutes on my couch doing nothing but concentrating on being warm. It did work, eventually.
Is it any wonder that I fucking hate autumn?
*I would tell the story but it’s not very interesting and I come out of it looking like an ass.
**The exception: When it’s 96 degrees with 84% humidity in the middle of August and you would pay someone to blow cool air in your face because it’s so disgustingly hot.Labels: weather
dry, cozy warmth of my apartment. Another fun fact about Missouri: It’s windy almost all of the time.** Today was no exception. Thirteen minutes after leaving my apartment, I sat down in my first class. It wasn’t pouring outside, just steady rain, but I was still drenched. My jeans dragged the ground just enough that they had soaked water up to the back of my knees, the wind coming out of the north (yes, it was cold) had been at my rear and ensured that I was wet up to the middle of my back, and just enough water had gotten into my shoulder bag that the top of the papers in my notebook were wrinkling. The only parts of me that weren’t wet were my feet, my face, and my hair.
