Winter is loooooong

I finally understand why no one wanted to commiserate with me when I lived on Maui and complained about how hot it was in February. It is so DARK and CHILLY in the Pacific Northwest! Stormy winds blow frothy white capped waves against the piers downtown and snow falls and melts and falls again. I am dreaming of warmer days...

I'm passing the time living in a colorful apartment/garage, going African and contra dancing, crashing potlucks, making batch after batch of chocolate chip cookies, listening to moody lounge music and applying to grad school. That last task has breathed much needed purpose and direction into my Life. (I've even started reading again! Haven't done much of that since college.) I'm applying to IslandWood, a one year grad residency program for environmental experiential education. The second year I'll transfer to UW and study education, behavioral conservation psychology and environmental justice. I'll finish with a M. Ed. in Science Teaching/Curriculum. And start paying off my exorbitant loans with a teacher's salary? Ha. Maybe I'll go work for the Gate's Foundation. I'll bet they offer a sweet benefits package... I sound old...

To Do List:
Take GREs
Remember how to write an essay
Buy plane ticket for Maui visit
Start planning 25th birthday bash
Learn to play the guitar
Stop complaining about job

My favorite winter moments- watching the snow fall on the sea, hearing Annie's new born baby over the phone on his first day of life, drinking gallons of tea, choosing what hat I'm going to wear from a pile of colorful woolly warmies, getting into the local pubs for free and dancing until early morning, sleeping in when I'm supposed to be at work, beach walks, weak winter sun, improv dancing on trampolines and in dry golden fields, eating too much cookie dough, going for long runs, listening to This American Life with Ira Glass, making new friends, planning one million trips to take when winter lifts, daydreaming about living on a boat, salsa dancing, making enchiladas, cooking kale, finding the perfect shampoo at the grocery store, wearing skirts over long underwear, finding the perfect sweater at the thrift store, babysitting kids who are having the same PT childhood I had, the moment direct deposit puts my paycheck in the bank and narrowly saves me from overdraft fees, political debates with my mom, making mini snowmen, that rarest moment when my laundry is clean AND my fridge is full AND I've paid my cellphone bill, sleepovers on the futon, knitting nights, driving the little blue truck to On Common Ground for a brie cheese panini, reading Op Eds in the NY Times and feeling smart, listening to friends wax poetic about Barack Obama, alternating between intense highs of manic socializing and uproarious laughter to mellow lows of hibernation and quiet introspective journaling.

Trying to love winter. It's a full time job.

My unwarranted advice: Stay warm and don't get SICK! Theraflu is for suckers.

xoxK.

postscript "I always found the flavour of the sky in the water, in the earth, and the wood and the sea burned together through the lonely winter" pablo neruda