Good Morning Friends and Family,
As I am writing this, the sun is rising over the Sierra Nevadas into a clear blue sky, illuminating the mountains with a rich pink glow. The dry desert air is crisp and cold, soon to be warmed by the sun to sixty degrees or so. The earth is quiet save for a few rabbits skittling by, flicking sand into the air with their humorous hind legs.This brief trip to Annie's parents in the Mojave really reminds us how much we miss the West Coast, it's mountains, weather, people, music, and scene. Not that we particularly dislike the East Coast, it is that we miss those elements that the West Coast has in abundance and the East Coast has a derth of. Certainly the music scene is better in Boston than in Seattle. Certainly I can toodle down the "B" Line and hear the world's foremost authorities on subjects wide and varied. Certainly having snow, bitter cold, lighthouses, the MFA, fall leaves, the Sox, the Pats, and all the awesome people we have met over the past few months is wonderful and joyful, but we miss the mountains, the creeks, the sand, the family, the laidbackness, the West Coastness of all that we have left behind, if only for a brief spell. I think this missing also plays into my latest post on Cupertino in talking about the elements of travel. Travel is only valuable if you have a loved place to leave behind. Our love is left behind, bringing into relief that much more the beauties we can enjoy in Boston.
This coming semester brings new classes, new schedules, and new endeavors. I'm taking two courses, one on Soren Kierkegaard, covering his major works and Insight taught by Patrick Byrne. The Insight course is one of my major reasons for coming to Boston College so I am rather excited about it. I'm also sitting in on 2-3 courses: Heidegger and Lonergan, von Balthasar, and maybe Modern Philosophy. I'm also taking Yoga again! This time at Back Bay Yoga... three times a week Ashtanga style. I'm planning on taking a teacher training course in the fall so I can teach Ashtanga at some point.
We're still trying to find a good dance place for Annie and I to continue our West Coast and Latin dancing. Hints are much appreciated.
I've been reading up a storm as I often do over breaks, GK Chesterton, Dietrich von Hildebrand (my new favorite being Transformation in Christ), Lewis, a few works on the MA reading list, poetry and the Harry Potters, for which I have a renewed respect.
Transformation in Christ is now a close second to the Silmarillion... and I'm not even finished. The book is a tour de force in combining the best of most of my favorite authors and philosophers in an existential format worthy of Augustine, Chesterton, and Boylan. I cannot recommend it enough. It is also very readable and accessible, unlike much in its genre.
All the best!
