man oh man

Have I mentioned recently that I'm the luckiest stasia in the world?

I haven't? Well, pardon this self-indulgent post;)

Despite the glorious sunshine that kicked this week off, I woke up this morning to a dusting of snow--nothing stuck to the roads, but a lovely covering on the grass, neighbor's roofs, some trees. As James and I biked to PSU together, him for work and me for my geography class, the sun was starting to shine, and we could see the West Hills all sparkly with snow between the gleaming buildings of downtown Portland. Our breath was billowy and white around our heads, and we wore our biggest snow gloves; the cold made me feel alive and alert.

After class, I usually go straight to work at the zoo. But this week our old roommate is in town, and he wanted to see the Japanese garden. Since I go right past it on my way up the hill, since I'm a member and can get him in for free, since I love the Japanese garden, since my work time at the zoo is somewhat flexible, I met him up there after class and we got a rare treat of seeing the garden under snow. The sun out was melting it quickly and it fell around us like rain. Despite being nearly frozen stiff by the time we left, it was amazing.

And then, the zoo, the loveliest job in the world, working with awesome teens, teaching little kids about nature, getting to do awesome things like go out and collect all kinds of winter twigs to bring to classes so kids can learn about buds and what plants do in the winter... Have I mentioned I love this job? And even better, when I leave it now, even at 6, it's not dark out yet. Every day is a little bit lighter, a little bit more springy. It's still a ways away yet, but I've got the taste of long summer evenings, of riding my bike into the never-ending evening, of being outside as much as humanely possible...

Life in Portland is so good, and I'm so grateful.