| It's 11 in the morning in May. As a Southern Californian, I
am confused by the drizzle, wind, and overcast sky. By now I am used to it,
though. Like my roommate, Ned, said a few days ago, it's reminiscent of the Pacific
Northwest, so that's redeeming.
There's something calming and comforting about this weather. When it is sunny
out, you need to do something; everybody is running around trying to get the
most out of the day (of course, the fact that they don't actually stop to enjoy
the weather is beyond the point). When it is really rainy, there is a tension,
you can't go outside; there is a danger out there.
But when it is overcast, I feel a sense of community as we are all huddled
together to stay warm and group together to get from one place to the other. It
engenders a contemplative sense in me which focuses on our shared conditions. I
feel a softness to everything and a warmth on the inside at thinking about a
peaceful coexistence which pervades the air.
I am sitting at the top of a tower-like part of one of these ancient,
Harvardian, brick dorms. I am in the middle of Harvard Yard; the middle of
Harvard. I can look out and see all of the school and out towards Boston,
with its skyscrapers. The sky on top of everything is a blanket of gray. Poking
into this blanket are trees blowing in the wind, church steeples, tall
buildings, ivory towers, and flagpoles. Some of the buildings are very old.
Great things have occurred in them, from housing influential minds to releasing
powerful ideas to staging important events. A Kennedy lived here, George
Washington stationed his troops there, students occupied this building. I
wonder. I wonder what great things are happening now in buildings like these. I
wonder what earth-shattering actions are taking place which will affect my
life, completely out of my control. I wonder how much ability any individual
has to change these events.
I think of our past and I am amazed at what has been achieved. I look out at
the flag bracing against the strong wind and imagine how what it represents
will change and how that will affect so many lives throughout the world. Yet, I
am preoccupied. I feel a connection to that flag. I feel the strong wind
billowing against it. I feel the immense impact it represents for all people...
I have to wonder how it will affect me, and how I will affect it. |
