approaching the year's end

And suddenly, for a brief and glorious interval, everything stops. I am sitting in Sawyer with very little to do. Certainly nothing is due tomorrow and I'll have some free time this weekend to get everything else done. I am surrounded by zombie workers who, perhaps, think I am writing a paper.

I spent much of today at the J chopping tomatoes for the salsa for the Friday night dinner. Since no one else was there for most of the time, I was allowed to choose music! I listened to all four Brahms symphonies. I miss Noah, with whom I studied Brahms symphonies in our conducting class. They made him so happy.

I ate dinner with good company at a picnic table in the middle of Paresky lawn. I keep thinking about how in a few weeks, a good chunk of the sophomore class will disappear from my life for something like 14 months. I've been slowly learning from people, mostly in passing conversation, that they'll be gone for the entire year or for the spring, when I will be not gone.

Maybe this is why I have been being so sociable lately. Well, one of the reasons.

No time to waste, eh?

Not to mention the seniors. I wonder how many of them I will stay in touch with. Though I liked or admired many of them, I didn't really connect with any of the '08 seniors. I'd like to think that this year has been different, at least in certain cases.