Between Thanksgiving And Christmas

Hello again! 

Since the last time I posted, a few things have happened. From English projects, to driver's tests, to football and the Bronx Zoo, it's been a nice break from Hell Month. 

Recently, my American Lit class started to read Walden by Henry David Thoreau. For those of you who haven't read it or heard of it, I'll explain. Thoreau was a strong believer in Transcendentalism and wanted to prove that you could work one day and have six days of rest, instead of vice versa. So, he moved to Walden Pond and wrote about it, like any good Transcendentalist of the era. Each chapter details something - what he saw, heard, etc. So for every chapter we read out of Walden, we must go somewhere and write about it. If we read "Sounds," we must go to our Walden Pond and write about all that we hear, like the budding Transcendentalists we all are. My Walden Pond? Frenchtown Park. I haven't sat in that park since my first grade field trip. Needless to say, I've enjoyed having homework where I only have to sit and enjoy and write a couple words. I've forgotten how pretty the park can be, although all the leaves have almost fallen. 

Of course one of the bonuses of doing this project is that I can officially drive myself there. That's right, as of Wednesday, Nov. 30, 3:15 p.m., I am a licensed driver. It's exciting, not gonna lie. It's nice to be able to drive to a friend's house, and not rely on my parents to come pick me up. It will certainly help when Drama Hell Week comes along. However, Friday proved to show me the downside to driving. Winter SUCKS when your 12-year-old car is parked outside. The steering wheel is frozen, the windows are covered in frost, and the heater takes especially long to work, if it works at all. My dad laughed the whole time I scraped off the windshield. 

And finally, we're sitting in those awkward weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a terrible and endless onslaught of school without any holidays. Depressing, I know. I'm not sure about you, but going back to school on Monday was especially painful after the Thanksgiving holiday. My family and I hiked over to New York to have Thanksgiving dinner with my cousins. The food was amazing, and we got to go to the Bronx Zoo the day after. (My biology class was the ONLY ONE to get skipped over on the Bronx Zoo field trip. I was ridiculously excited to go.) Even though it was a little chilly, the animals were on their game. I saw tigers fighting, bears fighting, and a polar bear with one leg straight up in the air. If you haven't been to the Bronx Zoo, you seriously need to go. It's life changing. 

So here's to the next couple weeks before Xmas vacation! 

(P.S. as promised ... shout-out to Tommy! :P )

Send Me On My Way Rusted Root