Alone

I am alone . . . and lonely

My own sadness makes everything around me
more beautiful.
The dusk falls softly,
As simply as a page turning or a bird lighting on the ground.
The sky grows dull rose near the rooftops
And, high above me, a sea-blue green.
I am caught up in it all - and small.
I search for words. I ache with words I cannot find.

Inside, the phone rings.
"Where's Kate?" Dad asks.

I am here - but I say nothing.
He calls - but I do not answer.

"She's not in yet," he says to someone.
"I'll tell her you phoned."

I could go in.

Soon it will be suppertime anyway.
Time for eating and talking and being part of things,
Belonging again to the horrible, boring, nice, funny,
noisy, angry, loving world of people.

I'll go in when I have to.
In half an hour, I'll even like it.

Now . . .
Now I'll stay out here, hugging my separateness,
my oneness.

I am alone. I am lonely.
I am growing into me.

- Jean Little

Thanksgiving? No Thanks

So it's Thanksgiving in the US today and just another Thursday up here. I like it that way. I like that we have a seperate Thanksgiving from the US. I don't like being Americanized and the more differences between us the better. But besides that (and I could go on and on on that theme - even the fact that we are so aware that it is Thanksgiving there today and I am writing about it bugs me) I much prefer our Thanksgiving date for more practical reasons as well. Sure it's a nice lead in to the Christmas season, but it's too close. Why would I want a break from school now when there's only two weeks left before the semester is over anyways? I'd rather have the day off back in October when there's no other break. We have class all September, and then just when we are first starting to get sick of it, we have a break for Thanksgiving. Then we have another month or so of school and then get a break in the beginning of November for Remembrance Day, leaving just a month of school before we break for exams and Christmas. Having Thanksgiving in October spreads the breaks out much better - and for that I am truly thankful!
But not as thankful as I am to be Canadian. : )

(On a related note, my HumanSuperman (or HS) and QuestionBoy (QB) are in Las Vegas this weekend for a soccer tournament. They left this morning at 1 freakin 30 in the morning to drive to the worst city in this province for a 6:00 flight. Hope they're having a safe trip, a good time, and that they bring me back something cool! Plus Mom left this afternoon for the cool city where Batman now resides, so it's just me and Blondie here this weekend. Yay for the peace and quiet, but I wish I didn't have to work so I could have gone with her and gone shopping at the giant mall and spent the whole weekend illogically hoping to run into Batman and then being disappointed when I didn't. But that's a whole other story)