Musings

It's unfortunate when one has tired of winter by early December, particularly when one lives in the Northwest, where the prospect of snow continuing into May is not unheard of.

I'm a dynamite whistler - Patience by Guns N' Roses came on the radio while I was driving home, which is an excellent song for showcasing my mad whistling skills. (even if I'm alone in the car...)

I don't like to kill bugs (particularly ones that crunch). I'm more from the "trap-them-with-a-cup-and-a-magazine-and-free-them-outdoors" school. I used to just roll up the magazine and take care of them the old fashioned way, but that was before I encountered the stink bug. This is the most revolting creature I've ever seen. Not only are they creepy looking, but they smell to high heaven when messed with. We have vaulted ceilings in our living room, and this fall I spotted one of these guys up near the rafters. We didn't know what they were at the time, and Luis and I made the mistake of using the vacuum attachment to suck it down from the wall. The apartment smelled for hours. Ew.
(The bug story started because I just had to kill a spider. He was too high on the wall to trap in a glass.)

There is nothing slipperier than snow that has been trodden down to slush, which has frozen into a panel of ice, upon which a light dusting of powdery snow has fallen. Walking across campus, I like to count the number of people who lose their footing and slide around on the way to class. My solution? I walk in the snow. My feet may get cold, but I remain vertical.