The sneezing I mentioned yesterday turned to snow, proper. It snowed most of the day, though it had calmed down by the time I left work at six o'clock last night. Evidently, Hurricane Wilma (yes, that's Wilma, with a W. We've already had a Tropical Storm Alpha--that means they ran through almost the entire alphabet [they leave out the difficult naming letters, otherwise every hurricane when we went that far would be named Xavier] and came all the way back to the front) decided to join forces and give us some remarkably unseasonable weather, dubbed "SuperStorm 2005" by AccuWeather, though it wasn't so Super. From the forecast I linked above, I assumed today would be just as bad, if not worse, so I bundled up before heading out this morning. Sweater, trusty toggle/duffle coat, etc--expecting that I'd have to brush off my car and all. I walked out into a bright, surprisingly warm morning, the sun coming up at an angle under low, dark clouds.
The snow had almost entirely melted around my place, except for little bits near curbs and the edges of our lawn. Driving in, there was still snow atop The Village at Penn State (more info), but anyplace the sun had touched was bare. Most of the drive, I was entertained by watching the waving of a little yellow leaf stuck in the remnants of the snow under my windshield wipers.
On campus, the sun (just peeking over Mount Nittany) reflected off the all-glass newest expansion to Beaver Stadium. I tried to get a quick shot of it while I was in line at the three-way stop, but my camera battery died at an inopportune moment.
The field hockey/lacrosse field that I can see from my office window is still pretty well covered in snow, though it's melting rapidly. Work's getting steadily accomplished in between typing sentences in this thing, though some of it's on hold due to me having to babysit my phone for the next few hours (phone duty, you know). Today's another pumpkin-scented day, though I'm feeling more parenthetical today than yesterday (I think).
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
sneezing
It's sneezing out there. No, seriously. It's not sleet, it's not snow. It's not quite freezing, either. It's sneeze.
It's snow (sort of) until it hits the windshield and melts, or until it hits the ground and turns into rainpuddle.
J. wants me to take a picture of Mount Nittany in fog. I've seen so many variations of that lately, but none that are photo-worthy. It's always been raining (doesn't make for a clear shot), or I've been late to work and didn't have time to go to a good spot to shoot it from.
Nor have I really found the right vista from which to take it, although the new Outreach Building out at Innovation Park has a fantastic view from the third floor conference room, I found out on Friday. We were kind of doing a preliminary meeting (hour and a half long, and we didn't even finish what all we could have covered) to see if we might be able to share info/knowledge about how to/what we're doing online. I found it useful, but I'm not sure the rest of the team did.
In any case. I'm at work, getting stuff done (well, not right now, but soon), I smell like pumpkin (thanks to Bath and Body Works' Pumpkin Body Butter and one of the Pumpkin Patches from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab), and all is right with the world. Other than the major sneezing going on outside.
It's snow (sort of) until it hits the windshield and melts, or until it hits the ground and turns into rainpuddle.
J. wants me to take a picture of Mount Nittany in fog. I've seen so many variations of that lately, but none that are photo-worthy. It's always been raining (doesn't make for a clear shot), or I've been late to work and didn't have time to go to a good spot to shoot it from.
Nor have I really found the right vista from which to take it, although the new Outreach Building out at Innovation Park has a fantastic view from the third floor conference room, I found out on Friday. We were kind of doing a preliminary meeting (hour and a half long, and we didn't even finish what all we could have covered) to see if we might be able to share info/knowledge about how to/what we're doing online. I found it useful, but I'm not sure the rest of the team did.
In any case. I'm at work, getting stuff done (well, not right now, but soon), I smell like pumpkin (thanks to Bath and Body Works' Pumpkin Body Butter and one of the Pumpkin Patches from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab), and all is right with the world. Other than the major sneezing going on outside.
Monday, October 10, 2005
prelude to winter
Today belonged in the middle of winter somewhere. I'm sure its spirit was there, somehow. All day, a low, grey blanket of clouds covered the area, barely letting a wan half-light through.
I woke to little light outside. I drove back in similar dimness. My usual corner of campus was quiet.
I blame the weather.
I woke to little light outside. I drove back in similar dimness. My usual corner of campus was quiet.
I blame the weather.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
changes in the Valley
On the way out to see Serenity, the clouds were hanging so low that Mount Nittany was mostly obscured. That sounds impressive until you note that our mountains aren't really all that high--it's just that the clouds were really that low.
The leaves are starting to turn. Most of the valley has at least brushes of yellow and orange, though the color hasn't started climbing the mountains yet.
There was one car in the parking lot when I arrived at about ten to noon. Just call it a quiet morning in Happy Valley. Quiet because most are probably sleeping in after last night's important win against Ohio State.
Most of the time State College's football habit is just a source of background noise to me. This year, due to excited co-workers (and a much better record than we've had in years), the noise is much more clear. And I have to admit it's kind of cool. An old student of mine made the partially game-winning last sack, cited by ESPN as the "It was over when . . ." of the game. For example.
But on the way back home last night, around midnight, I saw the glow of the stadium against the low-lying clouds and all I could think was "light pollution." So I suppose that football fever hasn't really caught me, quite.
On the way back from the movie today, the clouds had lifted some. The top of Mount Nittany was visible again, and things still seemed quiet. Happy Valley's sleeping extra late.
The leaves are starting to turn. Most of the valley has at least brushes of yellow and orange, though the color hasn't started climbing the mountains yet.
There was one car in the parking lot when I arrived at about ten to noon. Just call it a quiet morning in Happy Valley. Quiet because most are probably sleeping in after last night's important win against Ohio State.
Most of the time State College's football habit is just a source of background noise to me. This year, due to excited co-workers (and a much better record than we've had in years), the noise is much more clear. And I have to admit it's kind of cool. An old student of mine made the partially game-winning last sack, cited by ESPN as the "It was over when . . ." of the game. For example.
But on the way back home last night, around midnight, I saw the glow of the stadium against the low-lying clouds and all I could think was "light pollution." So I suppose that football fever hasn't really caught me, quite.
On the way back from the movie today, the clouds had lifted some. The top of Mount Nittany was visible again, and things still seemed quiet. Happy Valley's sleeping extra late.
Lucky
I'm tired, and should be in bed by now. But I know I haven't written here in awhile, and I have a few things I wanted to note.
Preparing to, and then actually visiting A. in New York City, as well as trying to catch up on all I've missed while I was away, has been a bit taxing. I think I've finally managed it, though.
Right now, I feel very lucky. I'm in a good space, but so much not-as-good to downright bad is going on around me that I don't feel like I deserve it.
Frankly, Hurricane Katrina kicked this off. I've got a friend (who started off as an Internet acquaintance, but we did meet once in person, and I do consider him a friend by now) who had just moved to New Orleans. Luckily (though he might argue this one), he was out of town at the time, and, for that matter, had moved into an area that escaped relatively unscathed.
Then it got even more personal. My cousin's oldest daughter--a mere 13-year-old, by memory--started getting migraines. They eventually took her in and did an MRI, which found something (undefined, of course). They decided to do a biopsy, which happened recently. During that procedure, they figured out that her optical nerve and her pituitary gland were both twice the size that they should be. She has since gone blind in one eye. The decision of what to do and the results of the biopsy should be in this week, I'd expect. If you have spare good vibes to send, she could use them.
Tonight, I learned that a gaming bud's house burned down about a week ago, taking his car with it. You can actually see his car burning in the background of the picture here. He was on the first floor, and got out relatively easily, luckily.
Then the earthquake in Pakistan caught my attention. I know these things happen all the time--from the fire effecting only a few people to the gigantic tragedies--but it hits me no less, sometimes. I'm very glad to be happy, warm, safe, and sound. Just a bit ago, I emailed a friend from college back and explained a bit about my job. I may repost that here, just to give folks a bit of a reference point. Right now, though, I'm going to sleep, so that I can hopefully catch up with some local friends for a noon showing of Serenity.
It's the small things.
Preparing to, and then actually visiting A. in New York City, as well as trying to catch up on all I've missed while I was away, has been a bit taxing. I think I've finally managed it, though.
Right now, I feel very lucky. I'm in a good space, but so much not-as-good to downright bad is going on around me that I don't feel like I deserve it.
Frankly, Hurricane Katrina kicked this off. I've got a friend (who started off as an Internet acquaintance, but we did meet once in person, and I do consider him a friend by now) who had just moved to New Orleans. Luckily (though he might argue this one), he was out of town at the time, and, for that matter, had moved into an area that escaped relatively unscathed.
Then it got even more personal. My cousin's oldest daughter--a mere 13-year-old, by memory--started getting migraines. They eventually took her in and did an MRI, which found something (undefined, of course). They decided to do a biopsy, which happened recently. During that procedure, they figured out that her optical nerve and her pituitary gland were both twice the size that they should be. She has since gone blind in one eye. The decision of what to do and the results of the biopsy should be in this week, I'd expect. If you have spare good vibes to send, she could use them.
Tonight, I learned that a gaming bud's house burned down about a week ago, taking his car with it. You can actually see his car burning in the background of the picture here. He was on the first floor, and got out relatively easily, luckily.
Then the earthquake in Pakistan caught my attention. I know these things happen all the time--from the fire effecting only a few people to the gigantic tragedies--but it hits me no less, sometimes. I'm very glad to be happy, warm, safe, and sound. Just a bit ago, I emailed a friend from college back and explained a bit about my job. I may repost that here, just to give folks a bit of a reference point. Right now, though, I'm going to sleep, so that I can hopefully catch up with some local friends for a noon showing of Serenity.
It's the small things.
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