Thursday, November 28, 2002

So who needs drugs when one has satellite TV? Especially now, when every other channel seems to be running marathons (Whose Line Is It Anyway, X-Files, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Star Trek films, James Bond films, blahblahblah). All one has to do is turn the television on, settle down in a comfy chair and sink into a channel-surfing stupor. Which is kind of what I did for a while tonight, a while being somewhere around three hours. Which brings up the other use of satellite TV: time travel. You sit down, pick up the remote, next thing you know it's hours later. Creepy.

It's been snowing here for most of the last 48 hours. Lightly, most of the time, sometimes so lightly you have to step outside to get that there are actually snowflakes drifting down. The temperature hovered around 20 all day today, the sky was partly to mostly sunny most of the afternoon, the snow coming down anyway, at times heavily. Beautiful, really.

Christmas lights have slowly, quietly been appearing on more and more houses. The holiday season has crept in and made itself at home. In Montpelier, the streets have been adorned with strings of lights, every downtown pole wrapped with garlands of evergreen branches studded with bells. As I walked down Main Street yesterday, enjoying the cold weather and the holiday ambience, an attractive woman in business dress passed in the opposite direction, a Santa outfit folded neatly over one arm.

It's a sweet little town. Madrid may be a bit of an adjustment after these months in the north country. On the other hand, I'll get there just as the Christmas decorations are blossoming everywhere. Not bad timing.

Sunday morning I grab a bus down to Cambridge, Mass. to spend the night with friends. Monday night I board a plane to Europe. Tuesday morning I'll be back in the Spanish capital. The days are slipping quickly by, and I'm feeling tremendous gratitude for being alive here in the middle of it all.

There is so much to be grateful for.

Have a fine Thanksgiving.

rws 12:36 AM [+]

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