Effects of An All-Nighter

I love this time of year...when each day is just a little bit longer than the last. It is 8:15 here and the sky is still increadibly blue..the sun is still pretty bright. Sometimes I forget that if I were at home, I would be going on at least the fourth week of summer. Oxford is just in a time of its own, and I still get to enjoy the world of learning for a full week before I turn in my last essay and my summer vacation starts.

The real reason I probably haven't noticed that it is summer is because it does not feel like any summer that I have ever experienced in June. Today I had to wear a jacket riding into town and on the way back in tonight my face actually became cold from the wind. I noticed it even more because I forgot to wear my ipod. I also noticed how loud the cars were as the whizzed by WAY too close for comfort. Seriously, there is no reason for a huge van to need to venture into my bike lane. As if he is not taking up enough of the main road. I feel for the drivers here. I would never know how to handle ALL the cyclists....but I do know that I would want to NOT hit them..starting with an attempt to not drive in the bike lane.

It feels much more like late April...the middle of Track season. It still smells like spring here...and it makes me feel like I have a Meet to go to where I will stress out all night until the gun is shot for the start of the 4x400. I should be spending at least an hour stretching on the the multi-million dollar grass of the infield.

I like this weather. (when it doesn't rain) It is nice to not be miserable in the heat, especially with all the cycling. Plus riding a bike in shorts makes me uncomfortable and self concious. I wore a tank top out for the first time yesterday and felt completely naked. My arms seem longer, and I forgot what it was like to worry over whether I was tan enough or not. Most of the people here I've met are very fine with being white. I'm going to miss that.

I love the fact that there are no mosquitos here.

I hate the fact that there are no fireflies. One of my favorite times of summer was a night in early june when the field behind my house was swarming twinkling lights of the fireflies. My house is at the top of the hill and so there is kind of a miniature valley behind it. It looked like there were millions of them from far away...but sort of the same way that fog doesn't feel like a cloud, when I walked in the middle I only felt surrounded by ten or so.

The days of summer are long here though. Even longer than at home. Last night the sky was still somewhat blue as of 10 o'clock. It is dark soon after, but around 3:30 the shades of blue return and by 4 am the birds become as bothersome as having a single cricket trapped in my room. I can't see the sun from my room...but by 4:30 it may as well tomorrow. I know these things because lately my body feels the need to live on some strange schedule in a time zone somewhere over the Atlantic. I haven't been to bed before 4 am in at least 4 or 5 days. Obviously, I sleep in late as well. Last night I didn't go to bed so I'm hoping to be back on track this week. Although, I have considered the benefits of staying on this pattern in avoiding jet lag when I return 2 weeks from tomorrow. But it just isn't natural- or easy- to fall asleep when the birds are singing.