Day trip in my mind

So it snowed last week. And the week before that. And guess what it's doing this week?

And by snow, I mean mountains of white stuff. I mean that every time we drive by the Jewish high school in our town, which happens to have a great hill in front, there are always kiddies there on saucer sleds.

The snow has led to some great mini-adventures in addition to all the snowboarding - like making a snow angel for the first time in years, having plenty of snowball fights, or shall we call them run-ins?, with S the human-being boyfriend and O the cat, and getting to sit on top of my car. I suppose I could sit on top of my car any given day of the week, but she's an old lady. It only makes sense to sit on top of my car in an attempt to save the old gal from the 4 feet of snow piled on top of her, and otherwise lacking the height or a shovel to remove it any other way, that's what I have to do.

I tell you of all the great mini-adventures I've had in the snow, including eating it, outside, right after it's fallen, and getting the pure, clean, freezing, amazing sensation of thrist quenching that only fresh-fallen snow can bring, because other than these fleeting moments of glee, I am pretty much in favor of an 85 degree heat wave to head up to New England, the sooner the better.

Overall, I've been opting to day dream of summer instead of bagging on winter too much, which got me thinking about a less than recent trip to the land of 70 degrees and clear skies, San Diego, CA, back in good old 2008.

San Diego is the only place I've ever been inside of California, and only for 3 days in fall of '08, but the experience was pretty priceless. So much so, I can't really put it into words, and when I reflect upon it, I pretty much remember feelings more than sights, sounds, or a chronology of events. But for the sake of my currently chilly toes and my pale skin, I will try to record my time in the sun.

I went to San Diego for 3 days in October 2008 to present at a public health conference. I'd been working on the research for the conference pretty much up until the minute, and to me, it was actually pretty exciting, novel stuff. But I stress, I had been working, in the way where I was putting in full-time plus hours at an internship and an assistantship and researching in my free time, when I wasn't spending it revising my thesis.

I was pretty much going full speed since the summer, and I was really ready to move on with my life. I was at the end of my current period of schooling, and I was really trying to close it out well, but nevertheless, to bring it to a close. I wasn't going to go on a long vacation to anywhere exotic anytime soon (I have yet to do this!) and my Baltimore home was sinking into cooler fall weather, soon to be winter. San Diego, California was a great idea. Presenting at a professional conference was an "eh" idea.

So I did what I needed to do. I went to my presentation early the day it was scheduled, I stood there by my poster for hours, I answered a bunch of questions and exchanged email information with those who wanted to learn more. Then I left that beautiful convention center for good. No mixers, no keynotes, no extra-learning, no above-and-beyond stuff involved at all. Not this time.

Instead, I woke up for yoga and water with orange slices. I walked over to the contemporary art museum and to the naval memorial at the harbor. I shopped for halloween costume acessories at Max's Dollar Store. I ate a really massive burritto.

harbor daisies, october leaves, and so much sunshine

The next day I went to the San Diego Zoo before my flight out. It was the first time I had ever gone to a zoo alone, and first thing in the morning. Most of the animals were asleep when I got there! But because I was so early, with that bright, steamy sun already warming up my forehead, there were no lines and no little munchkins in my way to view the great cats, the camels, the porquipine, or the pandas.

And then...I met a man. Not like that - I met and made friends, in an hour's time, with a teeny tiny Chinese man who was elderly and spoke no English. We met because he had the habit of being the only one to be visiting the exact same exhibits that I was, just moments after me. I laughed at the monkeys jumping around in the trees, then he did too. He pointed to the baby gorillas play-fighting, and I nodded in acknowledgement. He and I walked round and round the manatee tank trying to find where those guys had swum off to.

Maybe this little guy made friends easily at the zoo. When I tried to talk with him, to share my name and to express my fondess of the creatures we were looking at, he showed me an ID of his, which happened to be his zoo pass for the year. It was battered and obviously very well used. I bet he made lots of of people's zoo experiences a bit more fun and cheerful, quiet as he was, but kind as he was. But for me, he did more than brighten my day. He made my year, my life, instantly more peaceful. He made it make sense that I study in a field seeking after ways for humans to live healthy, happy lives, connected to one another, but content within themselves.

He and San Diego will now and forever be my sunny day to remember.