Dark Night

Analysis

Zero Week was as much fun as ever, and I joined a couple of groups just for grad students, including a climate change club. Cass was stunned by the activities fair and all the other activities. We went to a concert and a few other of the formal activities. And I met with my faculty committee, who were pleased to see me back and had a lot of guidance for me. I had a new advisor too.  Additionally, they had a reception for all the grad students, snacks, punch, and socializing with other new students as well as those who were continuing. And on Thursday, I had my beach party, to which I invited Cass, Zayna, Maya, my brother, Paul, some of my other friends who were still undergrads, the grad students I'd met in my program, and told everybody to bring whoever they wanted.

Cass and I went out early; she wasn't interested in surfing but was happy to watch our stuff and read something frivolous. She brought a cooler for our water and other beverages and snacks, and it wasn't long before other people started to come on by. There was volleyball and tag football and swimming and socializing going on, a few other surfers, including Paul.  Who had brought his brother along with some of his fraternity brothers and other friends. Zayna and Maya showed up after lunch, ready to take a little break from their studies and blow off some steam. There was a good crowd when I came in and took a break under my beach umbrella. Everybody seemed to be having a good time. My brother brought his roommate and a few of his dorm mates and settled in nicely. Paul had survived his freshman year with his enthusiasm undaunted and was eager to get into more interesting classes. Cass had invited a few people she'd met in the dentistry program and introduced me; they seemed nice and were also eager to have some fun before buckling down. At around three, I asked Cass when she wanted to go, and about a half hour later we packed up. She asked if John could come back with us, sparing Paul the drive since the grad student apartments were quite a ways from The Hill. I agreed, of course, Paul has a tendency to get cross when he's tired and dropping off his brother would be kind of a pain. And we'd driven for a couple hours together without a single homicidal impulse on my part. Conversation was focused on our classes and what we were expecting/hoping/dreading from our programs. Nice and light.

"I didn't hate it," I admitted to Cass, Maya, and Zayna Saturday morning when we met for coffee.

"He stayed down here for the summer, got a job landscaping, did his therapy," Cass said. "His grandma kind of strongarmed him into studying Buddhism to kind of level him out, provide some balance."

"Mrs Park?" I said, surprised. She wasn't very dictatorial, or so I'd thought.

"No, the Chinese one. Paul said they came over for a visit when John graduated and she sat him down, told him to get his shit together, that he needed to learn how to deal with disappointments better, learn how to see the beauty in simplicity. They took him to a temple here and now he does tai chi on a regular basis and meditates every day. Paul said he didn't think it was going to work, but it helps keep John grounded. The tai chi practice he goes to has mostly elderly people in it and he's learned a lot from them."

"Huh," Zayna said. "He seemed to actually be having fun at the beach. Maybe he's pulled his head out. He used to be a lot of fun."  Then we moved on and she told us that her boss at the publishing house she'd interned at that summer wanted her back after she graduated. She'd be a junior editor, learning the ropes, getting all the crap jobs, including slogging through the slush pile to find good manuscripts. The pay was on the crappy side too, but she was really excited, and I didn't allow the sadness I felt to show; she'd be clear across the continent. But closer to Carol, so that was something. Carol was settling in, studying hard, a little adrift; the East Coast was a whole different culture and the California girl felt the culture gap. But she was also having a good time, she'd been into DC a couple times and visited some historic sites in Maryland as well as having her studies in public health and epidemiology to keep her afloat. Keshondra was having a blast in Chicago, exploring the pier and nightlife with her new friends. And studying her beloved economics, of course, but she was an inspiration for me in remembering to stop and smell the roses. Maya was glad to be back although she'd enjoyed Texas, and we were thrilled to have her around after four years of just seeing her in bits during vacations. She'd gotten internships too in the National Parks system. She'd learned a lot from them, one of which was that she didn't want to be a ranger.