I have actually resolved to update this every other day for the summer! Woo!

I think I might finally be getting into the groove of summer after the stress of final exams and moving out, which was more tedious and time consuming than I would have hoped. Let’s just put it this way: I did not sleep the night before moving out, my parents were late, we have a very small car, and I was sure that I had done more packing than I actually had. If that doesn’t sound like a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what does. Well, after exactly 48 hours, I had all my stuff cluttering the living room and the unpacking began so that we could put things into storage. Thankfully, I have managed to find the majority of my belongings and I can now see the floor once more. Truly a momentous achievement!

I celebrated the end of exams and the banishment of my boxes with a long-overdue trip to the Met with Alex. We must have wandered through the labyrinthine galleries for about 4 and half hours. Step one was to throw away the floor plan and get lost, starting with Greek and Roman Galleries, followed by the Modern, European Paintings, Egyptian, American, Storage, and concluding in the newly- and beautifully-renovated Medieval Wing. It suffices to say that after being cooped up indoors writing papers for 2 weeks, we were both exhausted by the end of the day.

Now, being the migratory creature that I am, I am up in the Green Mountains readjusting to the decidedly cooler temperatures (it’s supposed to freeze tonight) and bucolic atmosphere. I have yet to find a job—a task which I had not anticipated on account of my belief that I’d be studying abroad for the summer. We’ll see what happens. Right now, I’m just biding my time and spending lots of time in my garden, weather-permitting, and my extensive and self-assigned summer reading list.

All in all, life is pretty good. It’s nice and quiet up here, Vermont has no cases of swine flu, the weather is gorgeous, and I’m free to do as I please. Granted I am rather lonely, being used to the constant swirl of people at school and not having any friends my own age up here. However, I’ve been using this time to rediscover the little pleasures in life. I bought myself some peach-infused black tea and teddy grahams (which are very exciting indeed, especially when paired together), I’ve been biking every day, I’m hoping to start doing yoga again, I finished some great books, I’m going to start writing my column and stories any day now, I have a list of people who I am resolved to write and send letters to, and I’m slowly but surely planning and executing my garden for the year. A new thrift shop opened up in the village, which I am terribly excited to check out. In addition, I found this fantastic new CD of Celtic music (yes, I’m crazy. I know) with an interesting mix of techno, Riverdance-esque rhythms, and traditional bagpipe and flute airs. It’s basically amazing and I’ll be playing it on loop. I have also resolved to actually keep this blog updated with both my mundane daily activities and my musings regarding art, philosophy, politics, etc which might prove interesting to those who prove patient enough to read them. So, stay tuned...