Sun Rising

(the title of this blog is in reference to and in appreciation of my friend Scott Donovan and his blog Redbird Rising that tells his adventures as a second year JV in Pheonix. If you want to feel a little better that someone is helping the wounds of the world heal, read his blog. Then, send him a postcard or something fun because he makes no money doing this...)

So, sun rising. I looked out the window just about 10 minutes ago and saw the sun rising. I am fortunate enough to have a window seat in my office, and though I'm not staring out the window every second, when I'm looking at my computer screen, what's going on outside is visible at all times through the wonder that is peripheral vision. Pretty much every day for the last few weeks, I have taken a minute or two when the sun is set to rise to just look at it, to see the snow glistening, to take a few pictures of the ball of orange come up over by the radio tower, then the shop, then City sub as the sun has moved where it rises in preparation for the solstice.

I'll be at home for the shortest day of the year, which makes me a little sad. It seems like an overly sappy theological comparison, but I like to see the darkest day turn into the day after, that no matter how bad, is, by comparison, a little lighter. I guess I think of it as a little Dark Night of the Soul business.

And up here, it's dark. Today, official sunrise was 10:50am, sunset 4:30pm. 5 hours, 40 minutes of day.

It's also -25 degree windchill, which is the topic for another day. That is FINE if you are just walking from your house to your car, but the frostnip on my face has not been enjoying the walks to/from work. Tonight it's supposed to get a little colder, and tomorrow and Thursday are expected 20 to 35 below. Washington is going to feel absolutely tropic!

Speaking of, I'm excited to be home for a few weeks (just short of two), it'll be good to see friends and family, and eat all the Polish food I possibly can. YUM.

Love, Bethy

...and all of a sudden, it was December

Where is the time going?

It honestly feels like I've just been back in Bethel for a month or two, and already, I'm starting to prepare to head home for Christmas. Month 4 is coming up, and winter is in full bore. 2011 is coming in less than a month, and my first semester classes at KuC (guitar, science fiction movie class and jumprope) are either ending soon or have already ended.

The Swan Court String Band performed at the Cultural Center on Saturday to an absolutely fantastic audience, and it was a blast! It was amazing feeling to do a whole show by ourselves. If nothing else, I think that sometimes I need a little reminder that I'm essentially a performer at heart, and the stage lights always remind me of that - every time.

It's cold this morning - with windchill, -22 degrees. It hasn't been that chilly recently, and honestly, I'm hoping that the cold will wait until I'm back in WA for Christmas. Haha. That's probably a completely unrealistic wish, but I will wish for it anyway.

I'm cooking and baking more, which I love, and making up recipes with whatever I can find. And I'm working on my guitar skills especially now that my class is over, and I want to keep working on fine tuning some of my violin skills. I think I'm ready to retrieve my copy of my Mendelssohn concerto when I'm home for Christmas, and start working on it again. I need to find that drive to perfect it that I had senior year of high school.

I find that as I grow older, I don't have the same push to be better at things. I tend to avoid things that I'm bad at instead of trying to get better at them. Maybe in 2011, I'll start working on that, haha.

Enough for now - work, then violin lesson, then dinner, then sleep. Sleep just isn't happening as much as it used to/should. Sometimes I miss it, but more than that, I'm just tired all the time, and I miss feeling rested. And it's doing bad things for my coffee addiction. :)

Love you all, see many of you in 3 weeks!!

Bethy