Back again. Six weeks earlier, I looked forward into the remaining few weeks of 2009 and saw a large expanse of time before me. I had an informal agenda; catch up with old friends and tune into their experiences in university and college; read more books and enlarge the number of classic literature pieces that I had under my belt; and practice lots and lots of creative writing. It was somewhat successful, but as always when we stand here on the other side and look back at the previous weeks...and time has slipped from our fingers the way water slips away as we desperately try keep it in place. We feel it flow away, watch it disappear, know it's gone forever. And so I've been away from college - and in a flash I'm back again.

Welcome to a wintry Minnesota! Today's weather forecast is obviously cold: maximum temperature around zero degrees Fahrenheit (approx. -17 C) which to me is an ungodly figure and one that I've never experienced before during my eighteen years of life. The walls of snow on the sidewalks, rooftops, and fields will probably be the same white snow that we see melting four to five months down the line. Again, the time will undoubtedly slip from our fingers just like the melting fresh water from the snow.

Welcome home to Carleton College. Welcome back to the 2nd Trimester of my freshmen year. I have to say that I'm very thrilled to be back.

And to top it all, I'm still severely jetlagged.