A Narrow Line

I’m technically on Spring Break this week, but between one thing and another it’s almost busier than usual. Still, the change of the usual flow is welcome. If only the rain would lift.

I’m bound for a job fair this evening. I’m a few months from graduation and it’s not a bad idea to see what’s out there. Pulling out my old business cards this morning I realized that only my name was still current. A trip to the store and a bit of design work and I’ve got some transition cards.

Taking a cue from my hastily printed cards, I’ll make this break a transition for myself as well, moving from one thing (or one set of things) to another.

As the weather warms, everything comes to life. I’ve got the image of the city as a huge organism, with individuals as cells. As soon as the cold is shaken off, we travel the pathways of the cities in greater number and frequency. Bicycles and pedestrians proliferate. We fill the empty parks and greenbelts, and we all breath easier as the city inhales and becomes flushed with new energy.

The end of the Winter term is so close I can practically taste it. It’s been overwhelming cumulatively, a ton of bits adding up to a crush of activity. A few weeks of rest is on the ticket.

By rest, I mostly mean that I can program without being interrupted by classes for a few weeks. Prior to starting school, I had a few years of routine built up, and sliding back into that for a while will be a treat. There’s a fairly large pile of work to do, and I look forward to it.

Here in metro Boston we’re recovering from some serious flooding. The has come out after the storm passed, and it seems that Spring is moving in with inevitability. There’s a feeling of doors opening, as there always is with me in this season.

You are an ocean in my chest
Where everyone changes places

— Rumi

The truck is in the garage getting a new compressor. It started making a pssssssssssssssssssssssssh sound every now and then a few days ago, and apparently the compressor was getting ready to stop compressing, which would have been bad. It’s never a bad idea to pay attention to new and unusual behaviors, mechanical and otherwise.

Stopped in traffic yesterday, the driver in the car in front of me rolled down the window and threw a piece of trash on the road. I was filled with anger and was working up the will to get out of the car and pick it up when the light changed and opportunity was lost.

The anger was replaced with the subtle sadness that I carry close to the heart, eventually lost to my perception by rain and engine noise.