Dear Impending . . .

Dear Impending . . . ,

Hey there. How you doing? I see you threatening on the horizon, and I just felt like there's no reason ignoring the elephant in the room, so to speak, so I might as well just send a letter your way. And here it is.

Now you might be wondering which particular ellipses I'm referring to in writing you. I suppose there are a few, but there is one that I am thinking about the most these days - the end of summer. Yeah - I know - I should be enjoying what I have without worrying about the coming dearth, but that's just not how I roll. I'm ridiculously conscious these days - as the sun sets just a little bit sooner each evening - of the upcoming lack of sunlight and the likely effect that will have on me. And I'm not so excited.

Because this is the thing - I'm doing pretty damn well these days. I feel great. I'm getting a lot of exercise. I'm eating relatively well. I'm socializing (during the daylight hours). I'm absorbing some sunshine. I'm not all pale and white-ish. But these salad days can't last forever, and soon all those things will cease to be. Maybe not the exercise (if I can keep my athletic obligations rolling), but the rest, most likely. I'm going to start losing my energy. I'm going to start being just a little less likely to go out with friends. And when I do, I'll be a little less likely to be witty as Hell. I'll start eating a lot more chocolate (that was my strange twist last winter). I'll get all pale and white. And we don't even need to talk about the sunshine.

And I'm going to try to combat the light-less onslaught that is you. I am. I'm going to try to remain as productive as I have been. As I said, I'm going to try to keep my athletic obligations intact, so that should help out a bit. I have also promised myself I'll be more social, and I have already lined up some possible ventures to the horse track come Fall to follow that up (as we all know I'm just not so likely to do the evening-time smoke-filled-room-fests that normally go on through the winter). School seems like it might just be a tad bit less stressful (I'm not going to kid myself and say anything beyond that), which just might get me a little bit more energy to do things. I am planning to talk ish about white folks to make myself seem less pale. I'm covering every base.

But there's only so much I can do, and I'm frightened. That's right, Impending . . . , I'm frightened. Because the last winter was so miserable in a lot of ways, and this you one can't be too much better (even if I'm taking all these precautions). Although I do have my Free Round-Trip Ticket to try to get me to a sunny place. And Becca just moved to Arizona, where I hear there is sunlight . . .

Maybe it WILL be a little better. Maybe I WILL survive. Who knows? Maybe I can run my air conditioner at full blast with my windows open for as long as the warmth remains to speed up the global warming process to get me some more sunny days. I will do whatever it takes.

Because it's no fun to be thinking about you things. Even if doom doesn't seem to be in the works (that's not until 2012 - which, I suppose, creeps a little bit nearer all the time). Hmmm . . . maybe I need to write a new letter.

Well - until then, Impending, thanks for getting me to keep my head on a swivel and to look out for myself. That's a good thing, overall.

Glancing over my shoulder,
CVT