Good morning to all of you! At least its still morning as I write here, one of those rare mornings where it seems New England has rediscovered impossibly blue skies. Walking to my blog-writing seat in admissions from Philosophy class, I witnessed a Wellesley student rescuing a fuzzy little brown and black caterpillar from an oncoming admissions tour on the sidewalk, and for some reason the little gesture lifted my spirits. It’s been a challenging week, full lab report, Econ midterm, lab practical, the whole lot. But, in getting into Thanksgiving spirit of gratefulness, here are the things that made it better.
- Pre thanksgiving dinner and impromptu jam sessions. Miraculously last night, scheduling with friends aligned enough for us to actually be able to sit down to dinner together. Not just any dinner, but a completely unexpected Thanksgiving feast – all the comfort food we were longing for and working towards. As we were finishing off the last of the mashed potato seconds we got for dessert (they were that good, thanks Tower Wellesley Fresh!) it was revealed that Ariel had been secretly communicating with a café in the town of Wellesley looking for live music, and they wanted a sample of our playing. We had played together before just for the fun of making music with friends: me on the violin, Ariel singing and on piano and Vanessa singing and on guitar, improvising to Taylor Swift and Simon & Garfunkel alike. So we had a little impromptu recording session of “The Cave” by Mumford and Sons. I’m not expecting anything to come of it, but it was just cathartic and lovely to be able to play music with friends, and with the (self-imposed) pressure of upcoming juries it was a reminder I needed to hear.
Remember the name (oh wait, we don’t have one yet)
- Having the symphony to look forward to. Remember when I stress-bought tickets to see the Boston Symphony play Shostakovich 5 while studying for my first Chem midterm? Yeah, that’s this Saturday!!! I haven’t been into Boston in ages, and I haven’t been to see a professional symphony orchestra in much longer. I’ve played this symphony before with the Brandeis Wellesley Orchestra, and my younger sister is playing it with my old high school orchestra this year, so I have a personal connection to it and emotions are running high. I’m probably going to cry during the third movement (have you heard it?) and it’s going to be amazing.
- After all this work; the seven page lab report on the random mutation hypothesis in Serratia marcescens, the constant redrawing of IA/AD diagrams for Econ, the fact that I was so tired in my chem lab practical my hands I nearly knocked the volumetric flask over, next week is going to be a welcome breath. I’m taking some time to gather myself. Classes are winding down, but my bus home doesn’t leave until Wednesday morning. As much as I would have loved more time with my family, I’m planning on using this extra time to do what I’ve been too busy to do otherwise: declare my major, research internships, and spend some quality time with my violin. And then it’s back home (!!!!) to see my dog, oh, and yes, my wonderful family as well, who I haven’t seen for three months. I’m very excited!
T-5 days until this happens again! (His name is Shadow)
Lots to be thankful for. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and as always,
Ever lovely yours,
Eleanor