Good Things Don't Last

Well, I've felt this coming on for a few days, but I am well and truly ill now. Steph had a head cold/sinus-y thing this weekend and shared it with me - so now I have a stuffed up head and I look like death. My appearance has not much been helped by the fact that I slept through my alarm this morning, woke at 9:30 and realized I had only twenty minutes in which to arrive at class on time. Since I live twenty minutes away from campus, I only had time to throw on some clothes and grab my books.

By the time I arrived at school, I realized how sick I really was only because when I climbed out of my car and stood up, I nearly fell down. Monday is, of course, my busiest day and as I ran through classes, I could only think of one thing: my bed, and how far away it seemed.

I did all right during the morning, but by the time my 1pm Environmental Issues class rolled around, I was flagging a bit. Dr. Callo was looking a bit concerned by the time the class period had ended; and I still had to drag myself up the hill to Basic Math. I gave up on trying to pay attention to what Dr. Gentry was actually teaching and instead only wrote down what we were covering, so I could go over it later with Solomon. I walked up to commuter parking with the intention of dropping my books off in the car, but halfway up, brain and body rebelled simultaneously against the idea of waiting around until 4:50 and going to choir (where I would have to stand and attempt to sing - which, in my present condition, is well-nigh impossible!). So, I climbed in and drove my poor abused body home to a hot meal and a warm bed (with a warm kitten, who is currently curled up on my frozen feet).

After spending three days in a place as crowded and hectic as Manhattan, it's really very nice to be home again. However, living in a city has once more reminded me of the importance of public transportation and the severe lack of it in most of the US. It would be nice to have a train running from Charlottesville to Waynesboro to Fishersville to Staunton, with branches running off to Weyer's Cave and Harrisonburg. It would save on gas and would be better for the commuter rush in the AM when we're all dodging school buses and moving at a crawl so we don't get pulled over by the police for even a 1 mph violation of the speed limit (they will pull you over and ticket you, even though 5 mph over the speed limit is permissible). Moreover, it would be very useful for the students who want to take an afternoon to hang out in downtown Charlottesville, since Staunton resembles something like a ghost town on weekends and there really is nothing to do.

I think that when I "get all growed up", I'll need to have two homes. One in the country, where I can be my hermit-like self and hide with my books and my gardening and my kitchen all I want; and also a place in the city, where I can do things like dress up to attend the opera and hop on the underground public transport to anywhere I need to go.

Next week, I go home - home, home, HOME! I haven't been home in months and this is the first time in three years that I'll see the leaves changing.