Beautiful Cooling

For the first time all season, it's been cold! For some odd, profound reason that I've never been able to give a good answer for, cold weather livens up my soul. Last night I was taking a walk around Campbell, and, as I sometimes do, I drifted up toward the practice soccer field that lies on the outskirts of campus, past the baseball field and across the a very black road. Usually when I come to this field, I like to amble about it, talking through some thoughts and looking up at the stars, which usually shine very brightly there, and back at the foot prints I leave shimmering in the evening dew, but last night, as rare as it is, there was no dew on the grass at all. Remember wind was dry and chill, and there was no way of seeing even a single star through the thick cloud that covered the sky in varying shades of grey. That may sound dreary, but to me, it was one of the most beautiful nights I can remember.

I had a grey stocking cap on over my ears, and since there was no dew, I laid down on the dry grass, and it was as soft and clean as if it a blanket had been laid down. I felt the wind blow over me like water, and I laughed at just how beautiful it was to me as I tried to distinguish one part of the giant cloud from another. It must have been the street light or something reflecting off the clouds, because it was unusually bright out--I could see everything. My hood of my jacket was piled underneath my head, and I felt like I could have slept there the rest of the night.

Earlier that night, we celebrated the Moon Cake Festival, a Malaysian tradition in which paper lanterns are made by hand and have wishes and the names of friends written on them. My God... If you could have only seen those lanterns--greens, yellows, reds, and oranges--glowing softly by candle-light in that small tree on this brisk night... I swear it would have been enough to bring you to tears. I can't describe how beautiful it was. It was simply breath-taking.

I had so much to think of and smile about it was unreal. Only two nights ago, when I was looking up at the moon in that very field, and I saw--as clear as a flying spark--a shooting star streak overhead and die away. It lasted less than a second, but my eyes were so wide! I felt extremely lucky to have seen it, and, as I'm sure you may be screaming in your head, I couldn't help making a wish, and the one I made was a simple wish, I think.

Amazing what happen in that field at night. It's finally getting colder, and, happily, my walks seem to be getting longer and longer.