Friday 17 February 2012

Spring Has Sprung?

Yes, this is another post about the weather here in Britain.  Now that our very brief period of "cold" and severe cold warnings and two brief snow events has passed, the weather is now back up to a warmish 10 degrees centigrade, which means I can go back to wearing my spring/fall coat.

It really feels like spring, though.  The trees are starting to bud.  There's new growth on shrubs and hedges and sedums.  Young green shoots are blasting out of the ground.  Snowdrops are blooming at Mansfield (my college).  This is all very surreal and frankly feels slightly wrong.  This is stuff that should be happening in April.  The date we use at home as the day when the snow really must be gone is my Dad's birthday, April 20th (incidentally, also Hitler's birthday).  And trust me, we've cut it pretty close on many years.  (Also, this does not mean that the snow can't come back again.  I remember having snow during our 7th grade camping trip at the beginning of May, for instance).

So, spring in February, anyone?

P.S.  I've just completed the introduction and chapter plan for the first chapter of my thesis/transfer paper.  I feel reasonably good about my plan, though I know I need to do some more reading in order to execute it properly.  In any case, right now, I'm just happy it's done.

P.P.S.  At my college today, we were graced with a visit from Booker short-listed author Hisham Matar.  Everyone had received a copy of his book, In the Country of Men, and many, many had read and thought about it.  A great initiative to encourage lifelong reading and thinking and engagement with the humanities in general.  I'm so glad my college made this happen.  Hisham Matar himself is a really thoughtful writer, who in one session earlier today, graciously answered many questions on his book, writing, and publishing by Mansfield's literature students.

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