Thank Goodness for Fall

I seem to be starting off my "year of summer" with an extended fall season. I find this rather appropriate. I am enjoying fall so much more than normal because I know it will be followed by summer rather than winter. I have always liked the season--albeit hesitantly( because it precurses the cold, snow, and grey that I dislike). This year I am falling in love with fall because it is not carry the impending doom of winter on it's back. I am feeling particularly grateful at the moment for my extended fall before summer because I spoke with my parents today and, back home in Driggs, they are looking out their front window at 25 degrees, three inches of snow, and more coming down. I, on the other hand, am sitting in Virginia enjoying 75-80 degree weather and anticipating the explosion of beautiful fall colors that is just beginning to creep into the vast spread of deciduous trees common to this part of the world. The sunshine makes me happy.

The last week or so has remained entertaining and relaxing at the same time. I was glad to leave Seattle and find myself in a warmer climate with new friends and places to see. I spent the last week with my cousin Coral and her family just South of DC. It was such a pleasure to hang out with her two young children ("let's play rock-star, ok?" read: will you go bang on the piano downstairs with me?), my other cousin Carl (her youngest brother with a knack for engaging in conversations of depth/debate often centering around religion, politics, gender relations and other simple topics-both exhausting and enjoyable), and Coral and Johnny themselves. We all spent part of the weekend in the city, taking ourselves and the children on a paddle boat ride, walking around the mall, visiting the National Cathedral and enjoying one another's company.

I went back into the city another day on my own for some more sightseeing, so me of the day's highlights being the botanical garden and the Post Office Museum. I am absolutely fascinated by the mail system and have always found it incredible that so many packages and pieces of paper get sent around the country (and world) with a fairly high rate of success and efficiency. What I hadn't ever thought about was the mail system's location in American history and how it both affected and has been effected by the changing American landscape. For example, the first mail system in the states was a colonial mail system owned by the British Crown. When whispers of defiance and revolution began to run through the colonies, the Crown began intercepting and reading correspondences between revolutionaries, making widespread coordination difficult. Therefore, a need for an independent, non-Crown mail system emerged (the beginings of the USPS, to be made official by the Second Congressional Congress) and also the reason we have a law making it illegal-even today-to open other people's mail. Anyway, call me a nerd, but I highly recommend the Post Office Museum if you are ever in DC.

I was a little sad to say goodbye to the Faradjians and have an unsigned, verbal contract with Jack (the four year old) that I may possibly be able to visit again after he is six years old. (He was a shrewd negotiator and I several times found myself nearly agreeing to a contract that would have me for sure returning when he was five and in kindergarten, as that was a more agreeable contract on his end. I was unable to successfully explain how this would be impossible-"I'll be far away on a trip to Southeast Asia when you are five, so can't come back then" is not a valid excuse for a four year old--"Then fly in on a plane...").

From DC I took a train down to Richmond, VA. (Trains are my new favorite method of transportation. There is something quite romantic about traveling through the landscape by train and the comfort they offer is far superior to a bus. However, train travel is not reliable if showing up on time is extremely important; I don't think they are ever supposed to arrive on time.) My friend Hilary, from Whitman, met me in Richmond where she is now living and attending med-school. We spent Friday night at a free folk festival down near the river (how often do you get to hear bluegrass, reggae, Taiko drumming, and African blues in the same evening, live, for free?). We woke up early Saturday morning and drove into the Shenandoah wilderness for a beautiful hike called Old Rag. There were a ton of people on the trail, but the scenery was gorgeous and the hike entertaining. About half of the uphill portion consisted of some pretty serious bouldering and rock scrambling and definitley kept things interesting. The trees are just starting to turn color and it was a beautiful, clear sunny day. She dropped me off in Charlottesville on her way back to Richmond at my friend Laura's house (another doctor in the making) where I am right now. She is, unfortunately, starting finals tomorrow so I am trying to support studying rather than being a diversion...we are sort of pulling it off.

My yoga stay starts this Friday and I have one more friend to see before then. I really have no idea what to expect at the yoga Ashram, but am getting ready to be in one spot with a regular schedule for (gasp) an entire month. (The name of the Ashram is Yogaville, if anyone is curious, google it and their website comes up.) I'm constantly in the process of deciding what exactly I will be doing once I fly overseas and am not yet sure. It will work out though, I think of it as my "job" right now--not too shabby of a job if you ask me. The biggest concern at the moment is my 24 hour layover in LA, since I don't really want to pay for a hotel, but won't really be able to get in through security until half-way through the layover...if anyone knows anyone in LA that would be up for helping out a stranger/friend of a friend...let me know. Ok, that's enough for now. Here's to Fall before Summer!