Things I think in the city on the verge of winter

Winter is almost here. You can never tell for sure at this time of the year. One day it is warm, the next it is cold. But for the past couple of weeks, the Fall has been wrestling, and losing, to Winter. The mornings start out very cold, and slowly the day starts to warm a bit as the sun comes out. But the Cold stands patiently in the shadows, hidden from the sun's warmth, waiting for you to walk into the shade of a building or tree to show you how cold the air really is and remind you to bring a scarf.

Today was especially chilly. Even our apartment made me wrap up a little tighter. It also made me close some of the windows that we had wide open. Our whole building is heated with a giant coal furnace in the basement that tends to turn our humble abode into a living inferno. We balance this out by opening windows. It is a terrible waste of energy, but we have no control over the heating. I read that madrid still has over 2000 buildings running their heating off coal. It is terribly bad for the environment, but like I said, we don't have any control over it in our building. We are just 4 people in a building of 100, and we dont even own our space.

in other news:

I was reading today, and I ran across the word "calamity". I think it is a really pretty word. Calamity. Would my daughter hate me forever if I named her Calamity? Cally for short? I like it. She would be fiery and full of spirit. She wouldn't take any crap from anyone. She would be the kind of daughter that I wouldn't have to worry about getting taken advantage of by boys. Late at night, when I would get up for a glass of water and pass by her room and she wouldn't have come home yet, I wouldn't worry about her health but about the health of anyone who tried to get smart with her. She would be passionate and explosive, able to feel deeply, but she would love her father. Unless she didn't like the name he gave her. But if I know Cally like I think I do, she would get a kick out of it.

Comments

Anonymous said…
AAAAAAAAAmen to pt. 1 of your entry.... it is cold out there.... and as cold inside my house as it is outside.... (almost) because the calefaction doesn't work....

and to pt. 2 of your entry.... (calamity jane) it really made me smile, especially because i'm having a little "calamity" of my own very soon now:-)

hope to see you soon man. drop me a line.
Ryan said…
yes, but it wouldnt be Calamity Jane. Her name was Jane, and they added calamity as a nickname. Calamity would be the real name.
Jenn said…
You could name her Calamity Patience to help balance out her personality a bit.

The girl you describe would inevitably give her father a run for his money at some point. But she sounds like the sort of girl I would like to know.
A Guided Drift said…
i quite approve of the name calamity. when i was little i wanted to name my daughter envelope. but it would be pronounced like penelope. for some reason i thought that would be a really pretty name for a girl.

oh, and i really enjoyed your winter descriptions. way to go, english major!
Miriam said…
If you had a daughter named Calamity, she would probably kick your ass for naming her so. If you were willing to take that risk, than go for it.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
Please name my grand
daughter Serenity. Take it from someone older and wiser. A Serenity will have an easier life than a Calamity. Although Calamity does roll off the tongue nicely.
Anonymous said…
The twenty comments are NOT my fault...this computer is gone crazy.
D said…
i like serenity, its beautiful. anyhow, i checked with my josh parks source. he's getting married in december with 2 best men, and the girl is south american but no one can remember from where..peru maybe.
i worked with josh and nate and even sarah at camp.
nepali keti said…
calamity is not as bad as what i wanted to be. when i was in 2nd grade i went to an international school in hong kong which was most populated with americans and chinese. so there were two types of names: alida d'angona, ruth buckner and owen swerengen or joel yang, tiffany pong and paul tang...which is better than what some of the asian kids called themselves when i was in 11th grade in melbourne "hello,my name is frederick" or "hello, my name is gregory"....all to say, back in 2nd grade 'sradda' was just plain so wanted a nice, pretty name.....cornelius. i thought it was the most beuautiful name. thank god my parents didn't think so and let me change it.
Reesa Wood said…
I must say I nearly fell off my chair when I saw 25 comments...

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