a perfect world
april 1, 1997 05:00


i was going to go to sleep. but alas, nature had it in for me. getting in toward the end of winter (end? beginning of spring) everyone's packing up their winter-wear, and all of a sudden, watch out, blizzard city.

don't know where it came from, but i know what it feels like. it started out cold, and wet. awoke to find the rain beating down. not a clean rain, but more of a driving, angry one. that lasted until it turned to sleet.

the sleet. pain. like walking through a curtain of broken glass. look up a moment to see where i'm going and get pelted with bits of ice, falling from the sky, screaming from the sky.

much better to find shelter inside.

But when that sleet turns to rain. pure perfection. almost scary, being inside for hours and coming out again to see the world blanketed in a layer of snow. the power and the beauty of these tiny little flakes, by themselves completely useless. but together. the power.

boggles the mind.

and after the initial blanketing, a walk around in the snow. Getting out of the lab, i just couldn't go back inside. So i walked. Trees downed on the green. The whistling of the wind as it gushed through the snow encased trees. The snow as it rips against my face. As it rushes to earth.

There's really nothing i can do that can even begin to describe the feeling of standing on the main green, the snow falling all around, the grass unmarred by the students that are sure come, come morning. The trees, bending under the weight of the snow. The snow falling in the amber of the street lamps.

The book that's given to prospective students has a picture of the campus, at night, in the snow. I knew i wanted to come here when i saw that. As i looked at the green, with the branches bending and breaking, i knew that i was in the right place.

In the morning, everything will be different. The paths will be plowed, the branches cleared away. Students will have run through the snow (covered grass). The lights will be out. The sun will be shining.

But for these hours, the world is perfect.

what little imperfections that have arisen from attempted plowings are already covered up by the falling snow.

look at that. the sky is lightening up. Soon it will be morning.

I think i'll sleep now,
and dream of a perfect world.

jcn@brown.edu


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