For the past eight weeks, I’ve been immersed in French class at night and work during the day. I can speak basic — very basic — French now, yet I’ve barely looked at the local poetry reading calendar.
It’s dark at 4 or 5 p.m. now. When I used to live in Florida, I’d return to DC for winter holidays and be surprised at how dark it was so early in the day. How could people live with such darkness!? Yet, I’d lived with this early darkness year after year only a few years earlier.
When winter arrives, I enter hibernation mode. Those random 70-degree days in November completely confused me. How is it possible I wore open-toed sandals to a wedding on November 7 and then had my down jacket with hat and gloves on a mere 36 hours later?
During this hibernation of mine, I think I should be at poetry readings. I want to be at poetry readings. What I don’t want is to attempt to navigate this city at 6 p.m. when it’s dark. People drive much slower and at least 30 minutes must be added to travel time for any location in this area. That means at least an hour each way to said reading. I have to listen to a lot of Mozart to stay calm. I can’t bring myself to get in the car and sit there for an hour to get to a reading only to have to spend another 30 minutes searching for parking. If only the poets would offer streaming video of their readings, and I could watch from home.
For now, I’ll stick with French class and get back to attending readings later.
