My walk

You know, there are a lot of things that I could blog about.  I have tons of pictures to share but haven't and almost a hundred outings/vacations/feelings/future plans talk endlessly about, but today I just wanted to talk about my walk. 

Every Tuesday and Thursday I walk from the institute building to just a few blocks down to the ugliest and muggiest building on campus, the building without even a name, 1701 University.  You know, I used to think that the walk was a little long.  It seemed forever until the two intersections that I cross came out with the white little walking guy light.  When it's cold, it's probably the most uncomfortable 10 minutes of the day, and I hold my hood closed the whole way trying to see from the little crack for my eyes.  When I was pregnant, I waddled.  When it was icy, I slid.  When it's slushy, my boots push through the slop.  But lately, now that it seems like I seldom have 10 minutes that are as relaxing as walking down the street on a cool autumn day, I just spend the time reflecting or getting lost in my thoughts, or maybe listening to something on my ipod or phone.  I always look at the view of Minneapolis from the street, which is just about perfect and somehow seems to always in the right light for a picture that I have never taken. 

Now that it's getting to be the end, it really makes you start thinking about the beginning.  This is my third fall semester at the University of Minnesota and my fifth semester.  After this semester, I should be receiving my third college diploma.  And now that it's the end, I think about how hard it was in the beginning and how much I wanted to just learn as much as I could.  I think about how babysitting worked and how much I cried and she cried in the first weeks that Ariana went to the Chinese daycare.  I think about how third year Chinese was 4 days a week and that was hard on me, and how much I looked forward to those Wednesdays without class.  But how whenever I got done with the class, I just always felt so good about what I was doing.  I thought about the future back then, about how by this year I would only have to go to class 2 times a week and how that was so great.  I thought that I would be able to read and write like a pro by now.  And that by now we might know what life will hold for us after residency.  And now that Reuben has his first offer, we see that the future really is now. 

And so I go back to my walk.  However slushy, bitterly cold, windy, or miserable it gets during that short walk, I think that I might just miss it when I will be done with this, my last college experience this December.  I've been going to college since I was about 16 and have attended about 8 colleges during this time.  This long road ends with my short walk to 1701 University.