There is a cliché, "time flies when you're having fun." While it may be true, it is more specified than required. Time flies. Period. I remember at my last job, after I was hired, and before I knew it, I had been working there a year. I could attribute the passage of time to any number of things, but that would just be for the benefit of categorization, and no real other benefit. The time slipped past and there was just so much I tried to catch.
I didn't accomplish everything I wanted; in fact I think I have a decent laundry to-do list after the masters degree. But thankfully, regardless of the situation, I have always found myself supported by the most wonderful family and friends. Perhaps I have not always realized that, but looking back it's pretty clear. Above all else, the people in our lives are the most important part of it. That said, I reflect, almost daily, on how very difficult it is to keep in familiar touch a world away. This blog was established in part to address that problem; however, going to school is not nearly as interesting as going on trips throughout the country and learning their history.
Despite how quite I might be, and the lack of breaking news, consider this my firm proclamation: I am here and I am quite alive. I am also quite a bit cold. Would you have imagined I'd say that? I don't remember it getting this cold this early last time I was here. It's also been raining quite a bit, but I urge all of you to keep sending your wishes and rain this way! Getting out of the rain last Friday, I had dinner with a few friends and it was absolutely delicious. It is wonderful to sit and eat with friends after a long, cold, hard week. It lights a warmth in the heart that goes beyond food or a warm house. It is, simply put, a rekindling of spirit, a invigorating engagement after a week of near seclusion, surrounded by texts dry enough to spontaneously ignite. Of course, despite how much we may grip about our studies and papers, they invariably manage to make their way into the table conversation.
Speaking of food, and being grateful, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I can only assume my friends and family in the United States have already had your fill of Jingle Bells and other assorted Christmas carols. I wonder if it's as ridiculous elsewhere in the world? I remember last year in SC, Turkey Day went pretty well. I made the same mistake I did as an undergrad and underestimated the time needed to thaw the turkey, and a twenty-two pound turkey does take a while to thaw. I think there were at least seven or eight people over at my apartment, and we had a fantastic time. This year I will not be cooking the turkey; however, I will be attending a thanksgiving dinner, and there is a strong possibility of pumpkin pie. So come next week, you can be sure there will be a little on our Israeli Thanksgiving dinner.
I just want to leave you, as I normally try, with a thought. I find that it is easy in any given day to get swept up in the river of events. It's like trying to ford a river, and regardless of how shallow it appears, you'll always lose something, just don't lose yourself. Instead of creating a massive list of things to do, pick one thing, right now, and make sure it's done by the time you go to bed. The saying is attributed to Mark Twain, "Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain."
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