Winter on the Horizon

Last week was a long one. Perhaps it is because winter has finally arrived here in Oxford...yes, after weeks of wondering whether or not I might accidently have come to the wrong country...the cloudy days and SNOW have arrived!

As I was working on my essay around 6am Thursday, I received an email telling me that morning Rowing practice had been cancelled due to heavy snow! This seemed odd to me as I had not noticed it snowing the night before, but sure enough I pulled back my curtain to find myself surrounded by a winter wonderland.
(This is a picture from upstairs my house looking out of the front window)

Unfortunately I had to spend the day working, but I enjoyed watching the snow lazily fall in front of my window.

(View from my window)

Pictures of the front yard. >>>

(View from upstairs at the houses behind ours)
Now, any day where I am able to do something I have never done before, I consider to be a worthwhile day of my life. This particular day became one of those as I ventured out to afternoon rowing practice....on my bike.

While the snow covered rooftops and trees make for a magical scene.....muddy slush covered highways and sidewalks do not. Making it on the main road was not so bad after I got used to the idea of being splattered with smush from the passing vehicles. However, when I turned on the side path to the athletic complex I encountered quite another obstacle in the snowed that had been packed down on the pavement. Sliding in a car a bit is one thing, but when the slightest sway one way or another might mean a runaway cycle, careful steering takes on new importance. Now, I suppose I could have gotten off the bike and walked it to the complex, but seriously, where's the excitement in that? I faced my new snow biking challenge head on like I stubbornly or curiously do many things. After Rowing I caught this sight of the most massive snow man ever on my way out of the athletic complex.

The next morning (Friday) most of the snow had melted, but winter's wrath showed no mercy on crazy Oxford cyclers like myself. The morning commute to college seemed unusually long as my face endured the fierceful beating of tiny ice pellets and a ruthless wind. Memories of Cross Country and Track seasons came flooding back to me, as I recounted many a race where I willingly subjected my self to far more serious sleet attacks wearing far less layers of clothing. I eventually just accepted the fact that I had to possess either a touch of insanity or stupidy or maybe a little of both for continuing those races....and 4 years later this bike ride to college confirmed my original conclusions.

What a day.

My 4th tutorial occured later Friday afternoon, and while my essay could have been much better than it was, I still enjoyed discussing the topic with my tutor a bit. If only I could understand the arguments as well from my reading as I do conversing with my tutor! But I suppose that's not how its suppose to work. While I felt like I had finally figured out the reading/writing process the day before, my tutor proved to me otherwise. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I again realized that I simply cannot let up here one bit, especially because by now my tutor knows precisely what I'm capable of in his opinion and striving for any less than that will make for a very pointless/awkward tutorial session at the end of the week- as he and I both know that I can do better. So, as I begin the second half of my Hilary term, I am newly challenged to push myself a little, or a lot harder to continuing improving on, well basically everything that goes in to producing good work.

It is interesting to me how I am having to adjust my work ethic- because it's not just about how much time I put in or how hard of an effort I am making, but I must improve upon actual skills that I'm suppose to already possess...such as comprehension, analysis, and developing an argument within a very short amount of time- it's not just about spending 5+ solid days working independently, but about making every hour count for something in improving intellectually as well. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who looks at it this way or not- but I do know that my tutor is going to notice and acknowledge it if I don't make these efforts. And, next to living up to my own unrealistically high self- expectations, that is possibly the most challenging accountability I've ever had as a student.

So here's looking to another week of trying my best to actually get to that level of feeling like I am doing my best...and realizing that might be one of those things like the horizon...remaining just out of reach with each step towards it.