Holy Freezing Windstorm, Batman!

My room has a radiator/heater that goes on and off without my control. Up to now, mostly the heat has been high and stifling and I am forced to put on the A/C or fan or open the window.

For the last...fifteen hours or so, and huge windstorm has raged outside. It whistles through the fire escape so loud that occasionally it drowned out the television.

Also, the wimpy heater has not been on at all. In the middle of the night I got up to put on full pajamas as well as socks and a hat. Still very cold and uncomfortable.

When I finally got up, I lit all the candles I could find and layered on my grape penguin suit and slippers, on top of my previous pajama outfit. My toes are still nearly numb and soon now I'm going to have to put on gloves. Inside my own room.

It is very neat that snow has fallen outside during the storm. Though frankly, I can't see how the snow has actually fallen anywhere; as opposed to being blown all over the place and left to pile up in corners.

This windstorm reminded me of college, when I lived in a dorm up on a wooded ridge. The wind blew in strongly off the bay in town, rustling through the three-story-high evergreen trees.

I came to love the sound of that wind blowing through the trees. With everything that goes on the first and second year of college, I often felt very stressed out and/or depressed. Hearing those gusts made me feel like I could fly away on them. Something was always yearning to be up there in the trees, blowing around on a whim.

One night, a bunch of my dorm friends went out somewhere and came back later during a nice windstorm. I decided to go for a walk and just revel in the strong winds. The boy who freshman year had been my first boyfriend for a month in the fall, and with whom lately I had been feeling another connection growing again, said he would come along.

It later became known as "The Walk." We were out for like two hours, strolling around the dark and windy campus, talking and flirting gently. We found the spot between the edge of a building and a wood that acted as a natural wind tunnel, and laughed as the breeze threatened to push us over. We found a patch of mud in a secluded area of lawn, and lost a couple shoes, wandering after that barefoot. We explored new corners of the open spaces, looked at all the outdoor sculptures in a new light (literally), and had an amazing, magical night.

That night made us both realize the connection that was there between us. It took another six or seven months to have both of us ready to act on it, but eventually we did. We were togther for a year and a half after that. Sadly, we had both left that school and didn't have many more nights that could touch the magic of that first one.

So, though I loved windstorms before, after that night, they meant even more to me. It reminds me of that youthful glee and hope for love, flying off into the night.