Monday, September 03, 2007

relieving the pressure

So, I took down poor Miss South Carolina's botched response. Is it fair to say that something like that could happen to any of us? Perhaps not to that extreme, but my intentions of putting her up weren't so much to poke fun as they were to attempt some kind of tele-empathy session. Is it any wonder that we fear public speaking more than we fear death?

Anyway, I finished up the first full week of classes (the first week that I speak of below was really only 3 days). Things are going well, I think. Though the pacing/routine hasn't yet solidified. Once that gets in place I think that I will start to feel more productive.

We've been in Champaign a month now. I have to admit that the fun "newness" has begun to fade. Which is good, I guess, because in it's wake is the feeling of familiarity and home. We know how to get around town now pretty well. We have a few favorite treat shops. Campus also has begun to be more familiar as well. I have done some exploring, begun studying in the same places (so far, the best reading place I have found is in the reference section of our Main Library--nice soft chairs, computers nearby for hourly email check/fix).

I think that the "newness" feeling may return once the weather begins to cool down significantly. It's been 20 years since I lived in a place where it snows. I don't even know what it is like to have to function productively in cold weather. My only exposure to cold weather since our move from Logan has been in vacation visits to my parents in Wyoming and Utah. And how did I handle the cold weather while there? By staying indoors and watching many movies. I remember the one time that I attempted driving while there was snow on the roads. It was during an attempt to start the trek home to Arizona from Utah. When our car slid off the road down the street from my parents' house, we drove back, got out of the car, and stayed for three more days.

5 comments:

  1. having lived in a somewhat snowy climate for 4 years, my observation is that it is pretty similar to living in extreme heat. you learn how to move from heated house, to heated car, to heated destination. i didn't worry so much about driving/maneuvering/walking in the snow as much as i worried about everyone else around me! but, flagstaff has a much shorter snowy season (as is apparent by using a snow machine to keep snowbowl open) and probably not so windy.

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  2. ha! i can't wait for the honda to experience what it's really like to drive in the snow.

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  3. you know what you're gonna LOVE though? autumn. for SURE. As the season is starting to change here, and it all the sudden "smells like football," I can't help but be so excited for pumpkins and leaves changing and jackets and brisk walks through chilliness on campus, and socks and shoes and apple cider..it's really quite fabulous. :)

    let's just not talk about winter yet. autumn is too cool to hop over so quickly.

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  4. you are absolutely right, Michelle. Autumn is my favorite...possibly stemming from the similar (but different) feeling of relief from the heat that Arizona fall brings. I love Autumn so much that I wrote a song about it when I was young and creative (17).

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  5. Arizona drivers. . .

    It used to drive me nuts when I first moved to Arizona from Kansas and people didn't know how to drive in the rain! I wouldn't even want to think about what would happen if it snowed one day in Phoenix!

    Funny thing is though after living in Phoenix four a few years, and then going up to Flagstaff to visit my family, the snow really threw me off! I almost slid off the road once, then had to reprimand myself for blaming other drivers for the way they drove in conditions they were unfamiliar with.

    And I have to agree with another comment: I LOVE Autumn. My favorite time of year. When it's cool enough to wear a jacket, but you still want to be outside. When the leaves change colors. . . ahh!

    One last thought from me. I am not a fan of the cold. COLD COLD that is. I remember it getting so cold in Kansas that it felt like my nose hairs were freezing (sorry for the explicit example!) Good luck with that one!

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