Kristen Smirnov

State of Things

I’ve made it through the first semester of my program and things are looking good, if still very challenging. The real trouble is coming not from school, but from the weather. I am terribly happy that January is almost over, as this means two things:

1. The days are now significantly longer than the winter solstice, when it would start getting notably dark at about 3:30.
2. With one more — short! — month to go, we will be in the month that might have some reliable highs above freezing. At least by its end.

Hey, I’ll take these pluses where I can find them. And really, it’s only a fair trade-off for the summers we get here.

I’m ready for one of those any time now, thanks.