grey

cloudy. a bit rainy. orange sky at night.

beautiful.

we’re over the hump, vernal equinox is in a week or two. fall is falling. the days are getting shorter, the nights are (finally) getting cool again and it’s not so insufferably hot all the damned time.

this is my favorite half of the year, and really, christmas is the capstone. after that it’s just drab because nobody is enjoying anything. the holidays at least give people something to look forward to, but once that’s over, everyone else just spends the next three months complaining about how damnably damp it is all the time.

i can ignore this before new years, but afterwards it’s pretty bland culturally as well. no new movies, just studios dumping crap. no new games, just catching up on the christmas blitzkrieg. there’s no holidays, no excuses to party, no reasons to go out. a good time to read, to netflix, to play games, to stay in and stay warm. so we do, and those who thrive on socialism wither, their hearts grow black and bitter, and they scowl out their windows, waiting for the summer sun and the bared skin and the warmth, for the pollen and noise and unyielding humidity.

i love winter all through, but it’s hard to enjoy it when no one else is. still, i take solace that any sweat for the next six months will be well-earned, and not a survival mechanism. that i’ll be able to see the skyline more clearly going down the hill in the morning. that though the beautiful girls are buried in hoodies and thick coats, long scarves and knit hats, they are there nonetheless.

the people are bundled and the trees are bare, the clouds ominous and the light fading. it takes a certain effort to see the beauty in wintertime, but it’s there for those seeking it.

i should be living in scotland.

in a tower.

on an island.

instead i’m trapped in portland with a million people who can’t accept that northern oregon is not southern california.

ninety-nine shopping days until christmas.

cheers.