It's like being in a pool and being asked to tread for 16 minutes. Halfway through, your coach swims up to you and adds 10 pound weights to your ankles and tells you to keep it up for the next couple of minutes. So every muscle strains, and impolite four letter words pop up into your mind repeatedly. Every so often, you start a serious debate with yourself over the possibility of quitting. But eventually, the weights do come off. It becomes a little easier to breathe; the idea of completing this 16 minutes of treading doesn't seem as daunting as it did a moment ago. However, your brain quickly reminds you that there are at least 5 to 6 minutes left of this task and the idea is enough to add its own 10 pound burden to every muscle in your body. The end feels like it will never come.
I am sitting at an awkward place where only one of the weights have been removed from my feet. It is an interesting feeling that is forcing me to re-evaluate the process of treading as a whole. I'm exhausted, I'm hitting a limit - and every day I have to remind myself that it will be worth it. God does not waste experiences, even awkward one-footed weight ones.
November is an interesting time here in Boston. According to many who have lived here for at least a couple of years, I am being spoiled by the weather. It is supposed to be cold, cloudy, and miserable from now until April. I even had a roommate tell me that if I wanted to stay productive, to just stop looking out the window.
Now, maybe this is my Texan showing, but I'm pretty sure it's fairly cold and cloudy. In fact, it has been raining all day and probably will for the next few days. 50F here is not the same as 50F at home, and it is even worse in the rain. If there is not a reason to leave, then don't. If there is, you better hope that you have a great pair of boots and the wind isn't strong enough to flip your umbrella inside out as you walk. (This happens a lot more than one would think).
So yes, I am in a current state of being a little black rain cloud.
October is a long month to push through, but it has been completed. November brings the promise of a break and December the promise of home.
Good luck to all my fellow student friends out there, we are almost there!
Until next time,
Kaity
