Virginia

I am sitting in a blue wing-back chair from Goodwill looking out a double window onto the street. An occasional runner passes by. I notice with a special kind of longing today. Usually, the feeling is more akin to dread and wishing it were me, finishing my run, so that I wouldn't have to think about going out. But today, I was actually looking forward to running. I have new running tights with extra insulation against the cold that just arrived by UPS, and I was excited to try them out. But obstructing my view from the window is also a pile of wet laundry that my husband just got out of the washer which needs to be air-dryed. Among the tangle of clothes is every single long-sleeve running shirt I own. And they are all wet. Very wet. And it is cold outside. Very cold. In the 20s. For me, who's been living on the California coast mostly for the past 9 years, that's frigid. (And yes, I know that last sentence was grammatically incorrect. These days require liberty of pronoun and punctuation.)

Virginia is an interesting place. It is gray outside, and the light is waning. Winter gray here means the possibility of snow, which is exciting. But walking outside is always a little disconcerting for my nose. Winter gray on the coast means the smell of ocean fog. Here, the impending snow-smell is a very different scent, and I can't re-train my nose. It has culture shock everytime I step outside.

It is almost dark, so I guess I didn't have time to run, anyway. I haven't yet graduated to runs wearing a headlamp. I'm going to be a grump this evening, what with no exercise and the embarrasing number of homemade chocolate chip cookies I've put away in the last 2 days.

Last night, I saw Busta Rhymes in concert. In rural Virginia! He played at Washington & Lee University, a small, private, liberal arts college whose students are mostly white, clean-cut, and drive astonishingly nice cars. I've never seen so many khaki pants at a concert, let alone a hip-hop one. And I've never seen a more depressing person than Busta Rhymes. Uck. Most of the students seemed too drunk to notice or care. Luckily the group that opened for him, Bassline Entertainment, was AMAZING. They were a group of teenagers singing real hip hop and having a great time. Infectious. I ordered a CD moments ago.

Well, this is the update, from the mountains of Virginia. I see now it is precipitating...something very fine and hardly discernible, or else my eyes are doing something funny from staring at a computer all day. In either case, it's time to shut down and think about dinner. Damn those chocolate chip cookies. Til next time...