8

The coffee dragon

Purrs as it fills the room with

That sweet bitterness.

7

Be still, my doubting

heart and wonder: life is not

inevitable.

6

If studiousness

Is a disease, beauty has

Vaccinated me.

Note: The ice cobwebs covering the trees and distorting the lamppost light into strange, blue shadows effectively prevented me from studying for me tests today. How could I study when the one and only February 22, 2011 I will ever have beckoned me with all the beauty of ice and snow? Also, I'm pretty much incapable of expressing this any other way than in ridiculosity.

5

My red dress will force

Spring to arrive. Weather gods,

Are you listening?

Notes: Ever the optimist, I wore a red dress today (without tights!) in anticipation of fine May-like weather. Alas, though it was certainly warmer than your typical Thursday in February, it was hardly spring. It surely must come soon, though!

4

Deconstruction leads

To deeper understanding.

From small things comes truth.

Notes: There is nothing more satisfying to me than spending a few hours examining details. Studying the construction of an infinitesimally tiny protein, the subtle chord progressions of a string quartet, or the intricacies of the shadows on the ceiling at night calms my soul after the teeming largeness of the world.

3

If I choose the path

Less travelled, how will I know

What I am missing?

When I read Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novels, I would mark every choice I made so I could follow each path to its end, experiencing the full variety of life offered to me. Sometimes, I wish real life was that way, too.

2

Snow camaraderie.

Boot-wielding, mountain-climbing,

Pancake-making peace.

Notes: Hillsdale has cancelled class due to snow for the first time in 14 years. In celebration of this momentous occasion, my suitemates and I have planned a full day of studying, frolicking, eating, and celebration. These girls are the reason I love school.

1

I can imagine:

Never a dull moment at
The cliffs of Dover.

Notes: A friend and I discovered that the snowpiles at the end of the plowed parking lot next to the sports complex look a lot like miniature cliffs of Dover. So naturally, we climbed upon them. Or some of us did; I just fell off a lot, which was much more fun. The winter is beautiful.