The turtle IS beautiful

< | Boring Part | >

Snow days, other than summer, are one of the best things about being a teacher. I was informed yesterday not to come in to work on Wednesday (today), and naturally I assumed they were finally fed up with me (and what better way to fire someone than over the phone?). Considering that I previously got an e-mail (CCed to other higher-ups) about checking my student's laps for food to make sure they weren't eating (fine, it was phrased a little differently but it did use words like "laps", "food", "eating" and "no exceptions for your group").

Anywhom, they informed me it was going to snow and I thanked them for the weather update. Now with this information in hand I decided to stay up all night and act a fool (watch tv, do some linear algebra, talk about the deep-rooted bitterness/hate/anger in my soul, finish the raspberry gin and so on).

The following afternoon I woke up at 4pM, and upon realizing it was about to get dark and I might miss the snow day I quickly got dressed, tossed some food in my mouth, [for some reason] took 10 minutes to do leftover dishes, and ran out to Ft. Tryon Park.

< / Boring Part >

< | Mildly Entertaining |>

Fort Tryon is stunning in any weather, but it becomes a magical winter wonderland (redundant?) during a blizzard. I have photographic evidence to support the previous statement, but imagine hills and bare trees covered in fresh powdery snow. Perfect for snowballs, snowmen, snow barricades and other major snow products. The lampposts are very reminiscent of Narnia, but better because Narnia only had one, and Ft. Tryon has multiple well-spaced lampposts that light up one by one as the sun escapes to the other hemisphere (oh no, i just had a horrifying thought - what if we are the OTHER hemisphere? No it couldn't be, it's too hard to think about).

Despite the approaching darkness, there is the laughter of children, cute little pawprints from doggy-boots (i guess dogs get cold too?), sledding races, snowball fights, snow angels, deep philosophical discussions under the home tree, and squirrels desperately seeking their recently hidden nuts. It would warm your heart if you had one (I was worried all this joy would spontaneously generate me a soul).

After taking some pictures, enjoying the snowy wind in my face and watching a 10-year old wipe out and knock over a big metal trash can, I felt that my outing was complete. It was already getting dark and I began to briskly walk back, past the Dominican[-American] mother disciplining her son for taking off his hat and other such nostalgic scenes. I was almost out when a woman asked me, "Красивая черепиха?", which in Russian means something vaguely like "Is the turtle beautiful?". Caught off guard, and confused about how she knew I spoke Russian (let alone what she meant),I replied in Russian "да, черепаха красивая" , which translates to "yes, the turtle is indeed beautiful." Apparently I startled her more than she startled me as she just sort of pointed towards a little plastic turtle shaped snow-form thing beheld by some kid just a few feet away from her. "Ah", I thought, and quickly ran off.

< / Mildly Entertaining >