Thoughts on Birds, Snow, and Other Topics

I meant to post on the weekend, but I ended up working for most of the weekend on a terrible math assignment. It was terrible, since I had it mostly completed except for 2 small parts of 2 questions that had me completely stumped. And then when I went to see the professor today, of course the answers turned out to be simple, but tricky, things that I would have probably never figured out on my own. And then, to my annoyance, the due date for the assignment was changed from today to Wednesday. What, did I do all that work on the weekend for nothing? Anyway, if there's anyone out there who's studied topology, you may understand.

Last Thursday, I went early in the morning to the computer lab. On the way, I saw the full moon hanging between a low-hanging cloud and the horizon. I have always read that the moon appears (though not actually is) larger when it is just above the horizon, but I had never noticed this effect until then. (I have also read that the effect apparently goes away if you look at the moon with your head upside down - I didn't try it though.)

There were hardly any people or cars about, although I did see over half a dozen magpies clustered around a puddle in the parking lot. When I went back to my room half an hour later, I heard a curious sound, sort of like the barking of dogs from far off. Finally I placed the sound. "Geese," I thought, looking around in the sky. I could not see them at first, but then I did - they were flying higher than I expected, in a small flock of about 2o individuals.

It snowed here on Friday - the first "real" snow. By "real" snow, I mean snow that actually sticks to the ground and stays there for a while. I watched as the hills and valley disappeared and the air was filled with snow. It felt like winter. But it only amounted to about a centimeter and was gone by the next morning. I was actually rather disappointed the snow had all melted; I had wanted to walk around that morning and look for deer tracks in it.

These past few days have been difficult for me. I haven't been sleeping well, and I have been feeling that sense of despair that creeps up on me from time to time. It is too easy to get caught up in the unimportant, ephemeral sort of things - difficult assignments, impending final exams - and forget the simple, lasting things that nature offers. The full moon, magpies, geese, snow - these are the things that are real, that are important.