Taste of Summer

It has basically been summer here the last couple of days. Today I got my latte iced and it was delightful.

The Meltdown

Winter just doesn't seem to want to stick around out here. Everything started melting today. It made for some pretty photos, but not exactly the kind I was hoping to take. Oh well. I was just excited about being able to squeeze in a half hour photo walk before my afternoon class. Sometimes I'm pretty certain that art and my friends are the only things keeping me from having a total meltdown.

A frozen pond and a metal blade

Tonight I realized that I haven't been skating this winter. By no means am I a good skater, in fact I look like a total fool most of the time, but I really enjoy it and usually try to go at least once a year. But I haven't been yet this year. I think I need to remedy this situation sometime soon. Now before you start thinking I'm crazier than I actually am, this realization was actually prompted by something, specifically the snow. It's snowing again, and while we certainly don't need any more snow it was so pretty when I was walking back from work that I couldn't be annoyed about it. It was the perfect Hollywood, giant flakes, take a walk with your lover kind of snow. I normally hate snow. But for this kind of snow I can make an exception. It is truly lovely. And I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be the sweetest date ever to go skating in this kind of snow?" And then suddenly I realized I haven't been skating this year. So, I bring you a picture from a few years ago when some of my friends from school came skating with me on my birthday. It was lovely. No snow, but a beautiful sunny day. One of those rare days where the presence of the sun doesn't actually mean that it is freezing cold outside. I think this is a phenomenon only understood by people who live on the prairies. At least Gabby, who is from Ontario, is still a bit baffled by it. Out here, when it is winter and you look outside to see blue sky and sunshine, you brace yourself for frigid weather, so the fact that it was sunny and warm enough to enjoy ourselves on the outdoor rink was quite remarkable. We stayed out there until the sun set (which in this part of the world is pretty early in the winter) and the way it cast its last few rays across the ice was gorgeous.


Wow, that was a random post. My mind makes strange connections sometimes. I hope you don't mind when the posts are less than organized. Sometimes that is just how I roll.

Icy

I was sitting at my desk on Monday when I looked up and realized there was ice on the inside of my window. That my friends is how cold it is. This was a very depressing realization. Fortunately I have a space heater. Unfortunately, as soon as I step outside of the lovely little bubble of heat produced by said space heater I turn into a popsicle. Oh Winter. What a joyous season.

Sink or Swim

So, I have had three days of classes and I already feel like I am behind on my reading. Apparently this is a sentiment shared by many of my fellow fourth years, who seem to be just as flabbergasted by the amount of work we have already been assigned as I am. Seriously. I know I wrote about this on Wednesday, but apparently once you get to fourth year you no longer get a grace period at the beginning of the semester. Normally the first couple weeks of school are pretty light. You'll get some readings, but assignments don't usually rolling in until mid-September, and any of the insane reading loads don't show up until October or so. Definitely not the case this year. I am already overwhelmed. Instead of letting the waters of academia thaw after the break and warm up to a decent temperature they just chuck you into the icy cold water of academics and your only choice is to thrash wildly in order to keep yourself from drowning. Oi vey. And yes I realize that seasonally that imagery doesn't make sense since water is actually getting colder and more frozen this time of year, but it just is so perfect for my current experience. I am trying very hard to not get too stressed out yet. And actually, despite the frantic tone of this entry, I am doing pretty well at it. If you know me then you know that this is a MAJOR accomplishment. This picture is exactly what it feels like I am being thrown into: a half frozen lake. And I can't swim.

So that is my rant. I feel like I can now stop talking about this. I should also clarify that I am still glad to be back at school. I'm just a tad overwhelmed.

Death by Cold

Winter Landscape, with Rooks
Sylvia Plath

Water in the millrace, through a sluice of stone,
 plunges headlong into that black pond
where, absurd and out-of-season, a single swan
 floats caste as snow, taunting the clouded mind
which hungers to haul the white reflection down.

The austere sun descends above the fen,
 an orange cyclops-eye, scorning to look
longer on this landscape of chagrin;
 feathered dark in thought, I stalk like a rook,
brooding as the winter night comes on.

Last summer's reeds are all engraved in ice
 as is your image in my eye dry frost
glazes the window of my hurt; what solace
 can be struck from rock to make heart's waste
grow green again? Who'd walk in this bleak place?

It is May 29th and it is snowing. I just love Alberta weather (note the intense sarcasm). I am a naturally chilly person most of the time and my parents' house isn't exactly the warmest place in the world so I have been freezing cold all day. I'm decently warm right now because I am sitting on my bed wrapped in a fuzzy blanket with my laptop producing heat. I've basically been drinking tea non-stop all day in an effort to stay warm. My hands are still cold though. The snow/rain combo thing and the cold have made me kind of...I don't know exactly how to describe it. I just get into my own head and things become kind of...off. It's kind of like being upset about something without knowing what you are upset about. If you've lived with me you probably have witnessed these moods multiple times and know what I'm talking about. Some days I just get into this mental space and can't quite pull myself out. Now this isn't always a problem, but when it is compounded by bad weather or something not working out or tons of stress or something, it can become downright unpleasant, especially for those around me. Anyway, that is kind of the head space I am in today. Whenever I get like this I have the urge to read Sylvia Plath. I know that may be disturbing for some people, but honestly it isn't. She just has an incredible ability to capture raw and intense emotions in words. So, I picked up my trusty copy of The Collected Poems: Sylvia Plath, which I hunted for for quite a long time before finally finding a copy in Munro's in Victoria (a GLORIOUS bookstore), and "Winter Landscape, with Rooks" seemed appropriate for today's weather and my mental state. I love the line "Last summer's reeds are all engraved in ice". There is something about it that seems appropriate for a May snowstorm. And "feathered dark in thought" seems to capture the brooding quality of my state of mind right now.

I took this picture on choir tour a couple of years ago. We stopped in Waterton, but because it was still the end of April it was still cold enough for there to be some snow around and the lake to be all icy. These were the sweet ice formations along the shoreline. I think they are pretty awesome.

I hope all of you who are Albertans are staying warm in this freaky weather!