bironic

I am, The Weather Channel tells me, witnessing what will be a hundred-year record snowfall here in D.C., although a foot is still less than what's fallen in Boston and on Long Island many winters in my lifetime, including the year we had early school dismissals and I lost Peter David's DS9 paperback in the ice on the front lawn for a few days. Last night on the way home I passed three spinout accidents on the highway and one moron going the wrong way in the right lane; and when I tried to pick up some supplies at the supermarket at 11 p.m., the lines were so long I just came home instead.

Now, safe beneath my blanket, laptop warming my legs, while cars inch down the road below and bundled-up pedestrians pick their way along the sidewalks, I am content, and remembering.

Let's start Memoryfest early this year.

For new friends: This is something I started in 2006 where I post a random memory each day (ish) for a month, and invite you all to read, comment, share your own memories, and above all, talk to each other. Some really wonderful discussions come out of seemingly inconsequential moments in our pasts. More thorough explanations and posted memories can be found in the indices to Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 (such as it was). Since last winter got skipped on account of grad school, this will technically be Year 4.

Day 1: Middle School

When I was in sixth grade, I was the first to get home from school or work in the afternoons. Although this was a habit for a while, I have a clear memory of one winter afternoon in particular when I made a packet of chicken noodle Cup-A-Soup in a mug, with its stiff little rectangular noodles and tough bits of chicken and carrot, and put on my mom's Windham Hill Sampler '94. I remember standing in front of the CD player and listening to the crescendo of my favorite track over and over.

I had chosen to learn the flute as my instrument in elementary school, in part because my mom said flutes made nice duets with the guitar, which she played. It didn't work out, but the piano did. I think I was thinking about that as I listened, even though the duet was between the flute and piano and there wasn't any guitar at all.

Track 3 was the only song my mom tried to learn on the piano.



Hope you're all safe and snug, wherever you are.