Kamal on his way to campus for TAing
Cornell in fall colors as I walked to the store to buy the shirt my Father wants.
And as I walked back to Upson the other way.
Ganesh in his office, fiddling with his computer and explaining to me how the continuously tipping bird is crucial to his graphics research 🙂 Those graphics people have all the fun – the other people in his office had grass growing and were filming a clock, also reportedly for the sake of graphics research. Perhaps I chose the wrong field 😉
Later that evening Ganesh came by to give Kamal an a-bit-too-late birthday gift and me an a-bit-too-early one. There was no choice but to force hot chocolate on him. He took it well 😉
He and Kamal are discussing the charms (or lack thereof) of the Family Guy movie.
… And I already got to use the deliciously sharp knife he got me for a gift. Mmm… sharp.
Random leftover pictures
I’m going back to Denmark tomorrow and I’m rather sad about it.
The Leopard switched to playing on my side at chess, but quickly got frustrated with losing all the time. It pounced on the dark king when no one was looking.
That’ll teach him to win!
For my birthday Kamal got me sundae glasses (it’s not yet, it’s the 6th of november, but he didn’t think I should have to bring the present with me home unopened) remembering how I wished for them while in Japan where ice cream is always served very decoratively (as is everything else, they are big with decoration) in tall glasses with long spoons.
They work quite well for breakfast as well. Mmmm… Yoghurt with grains soaked in it overnight and pieces of cantaloupe stirred in. I conclude that decorative breakfast is much more fun than just breakfast 🙂
Simple joys
Smooth apple skin under the knife in my hand, the other one cupping it firmly but gently lest I’ll be reproached for stealing its hide.
Bright time-change-day sunlight on my head and back through the kitchen window, a warm embrace of midday accompanying the slicing of now-naked apples.
The smell of cinnamon and Oreo crumbs on my fingers patting the crust in place, sticky sweetness in the folds of my fingerprints.
Rasping of the brush in time with the music. A stripe of clean floor by my right hand, dirty zone to the left still awaiting my attention and another song. The scent of sweet things baking mixing with that of soapy water.
The count of the crochet stitches like a string of pearls in my mind, doubles and trebles making figures and shapes in my lap. Bright morning sunlight and the sound of a keyboard tapping, my needle instinctively following its rythm.
Everyday-life-contentment. A complete lack of the ambition expected of me.
Need there be more?
Frost
I går morges var der rimfrost på græsset og himlen var mild og vintermorgenblå. 
Da jeg så det sprang jeg straks hen og kom sengetøjet i vaskemaskinen og hængte det ud, og hele dagen gik jeg rundt og kiggede utålmodigt ud ad vinduet til det og ventede på at det skulle blive nat så jeg kunne krybe ned under det frostvejrsduftende, knitrende rene linned. Misse havde ret i at høflighed ingen penge koster, men de andre gratis glæder er nu heller ikke at foragte 🙂
Da jeg jo godt kunne indse at tøjet ikke ville tørre hurtigere af at jeg stod og sendte det våde, længselsfulde blikke, greb jeg Kamals hat og handsker (yndigt, ikke 😉 )
og vandrede ud i den frostklare luft. (Bemærk græskarret på fjernsynet ved min side. Det bliver mere og mere uhyggeligt jo mere det rynker – som en vred gammel spøgelsesmand.)
Jeg har haft fire somre det sidste år (i Wellington, i Tokyo, i Danmark, og her da jeg kom tilbage til Ithaca) men kun en vinter. Da jeg så den lave sol danse over rimfrosten og oplyse de gulnede træer
rykkedes jeg øjeblikkeligt tilbage til sidste vinter her.
Der var meget mere vand i vandfaldene, men det har også regnet i stride strømme hele den første del af ugen.
Nede i kløften hvor vandet løber var der ingen spor af morgenens frost – da jeg kom om et hjørne i stien på vej op så det nærmest sommerfrodigt ud.
På vej tilbage til huset var solen krøbet så højt op på himmelen at rimfrosten var ganske væk. Den var ellers fin da jeg gik den anden vej:
Men den lurede stadig, frosten. Foran indkørslen fandt jeg årets første vandpyt med is på 🙂
Igår aftes ved madlavningstid kiggede vi tilfældigt ud af køkkenvinduet og så 9 rådyr. Der plejer at komme et par stykker lidt inden tusmørketid, men 9 er vist rekord. De græssede, moslede og sprang rundt og nægtede at stille op til gruppefoto, så jeg kunne kun fange 5 ad gangen.
Slutteligt en anden leg: I torsdags kom Kamals venner på besøg med kage for at sige tillykke med fødselsdagen (han blev 25 i mandags). Ganesh havde taget lys med til at sætte i den kage vi lavede – bemærk hans ansigtsudtryk her hvor Kamal prøver at puste dem ud: 
Ikke længe efter gik det op for Kamal at det var selvgentændende lys, og han gik over til at prøve at klemme dem ud.
Det endte alt sammen lykkeligt med at vi spiste kage 🙂
Ønskeseddel
Forsøg forefindes her. Grundet en interessant Mac <-> Blogger tegnsætkonverteringseffekt er de store Ø’er interessante. Beklager ;-/
Nær afstand
Du har været meget i mine tanker de sidste par dage.
Jeg ved godt at du ikke læser dette her, at du er langt væk fra mig, men jeg håber alligevel at du ved at jeg tænker på dig.
(())
Leopard i et spil skak
Jeg hævder typisk at jeg er en overmåde ussel skak(og ethvert andet strategispil)spiller. Som I her kan se er det den rene skære sandhed.
På det lille bord ved siden af sofaen hvor Leoparden som regel daser står et skakspil. Den anden morgen opdagede jeg at den var hoppet derop og havde flyttet en brik. Så kunne jeg jo ikke rigtig undslå mig for også at flytte en.
I løbet af dagen så det snart således ud:
– bemærk Leopardens snedigt eftertænksomme mine. Derudfra burde jeg nok have kunnet regne ud hvad der fulgte ikke længe efter:
Skakmat ;-(
Her
Der er kun her. Resten er langt væk og dunkelt, halvglemt som en drøm efter daggryets komme, uvirkeligt i skæret af genkendelserne her.
Vil der mon senere kun være der?
Kanelsneglsmorgenmad
Man kan få alting i Amerika:
Så behøver jeg vist ikke sige mere 😉
Buttermilk Falls
Today, while Kamal was at class, I gave in to the call of the crisp clear fall morning and went for a hike down the gorge trail of Buttermilk Falls State Park. Naturally I could not resist the urge to bring the camera 😉
The trip started with the 15 minute walk from Kamal’s house to the edge of the park. The gibbous Moon was mild and white over the leaf-flaming trees.
The trail descends steeply from the road into the gorge and passes several smaller falls on the way down – all quite photogenic.
Near the top is a bridge, permitting passage to the rim trail on the other side of the stream. I tried for a mirror-effect picture as there was only a very faint wind today, but it did not come out entirely to my satisfaction.
This one turned out a little better.
My entire body happy to be finally moving – I’ve been mostly in front of the TV, the computer or a book the last few days, and getting more and more twitchy as a result (I wonder why when I get so restless from sitting still, working out always feels like such a chore. On occasion a walk can be nice, but mostly I’m just bored silly as soon as my brain is no longer occupied 🙁 ) – I was skipping, jumping and half-running down the trail when I saw this:
An abrupt and sobering reminder that here the nature might be beautiful, but it is also dangerous.
Walking at a less leg-breaking pace I had a glimpse of the wood covered mountains surrounding Ithaca.
A close-up of part of the larger fall:
As I got to the end of the trail and looked back up the largest of the falls, the sun was at a perfect angle for trying some sun-glare camera tricks. It’s a bit like the lottery – what you see on the camera screen is only with very low probability recognisable in the outcome.
The Moon was still up there as I walked up to the highway where Kamal had agreed to pick me up, so I snapped another picture while balancing on the guardrail waiting.
Looking back up, a glimpse of the falls could still be seen from the parks main entrance.
Later today the cold that’s been bothering me the last week or so got hold of Kamal as well. Here he is, fever-sleeping under several blankets.
He woke up enough to get a bit of dinner and catch me mothering him and doing the dishes.